I was with 4 of my friends at Sangla Valley during our 10 day Himachal trip. We were staying at the Parasol Camps, one of the better camping options in Sangla. It has a pristine location and lovely meadow just behind the camps, where you can spend endless hours reading a book, playing cricket, or simply appreciating the beauty of nature and feel alive.
It was around 1:00 am and all 5 of us were in the same camp,
very few people around in a radius of many miles. Two of my friends were sleeping and the three of us were talking and were just falling asleep. Romit sensed something and pointed a little object moving to and fro just outside out camp, whose shadow was visible on the tent. Kunal and me told him not to pay attention , that it would be just a leaf and nothing of great significance. And suddenly, the lights went off. We were damn scared. And what happened next scared the shit out of us. We heard a voice we couldn't recognize speaking something really fast in a strange language and tone which we couldn't understand.
Everything seemed planned so perfectly yet unexpected, the fall of events so much 'one after the another', it was a horror movie. What we thought at that moment was, that someone had entered out tent and something really bad was going to happen to us. (It was that moment when your brain's processor really speeds up and you imagine thousands of things in a split second). The light was back and we saw Abhishek , (who was sleeping) sitting up and shouting 'mujhe roshni chahiye, mujhe roshni chahiye' (I want light, I want light). We gave him water and lay him down and off he went to sleep, leaving the three of us in terror.
Now, it was up to three of us to decide what to do next. But what really could we do in the middle of a jungle. We were terrified but we were laughing. There's something about best friends, that you happen to laugh even in the most tense situations,and that laughter is so involuntary and simultaneous, one of those moments that remain with you forever. It's because you understand them to a very deep level, and these moments make the bond even stronger.
But now, lets get back to work. We checked a bit in our camp if there's someone, and tightened the knots of the entrance. After having some courageous talks , all three of us slept on a single mattress (somehow we managed) that night. And thankfully, the night passed happily. The morning was the same, lovely views of the Himalayan Ranges, the herbal morning tea. Abhishek didn't happen to remember anything about the night.
Some people told us, a goddess' idol was stolen from a nearby temple in the night. What really happened remains a mystery. Maybe it was just a nature's gift to us so that the beautiful place remained in our memories forever.
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| The morning with the local kids |
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| The goodbyes |
