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Re: 15 year old Itch, Scratched
Background Check:
1999, the year it was when i followed J&K for more than just Kargil War. During those times, whenever you switched on the idiot box all you could see was the updates about the valiant efforts of the Indian Army to subdue the militants. That was when the new channels(Hardly any as against the case now) was telecasting mesmerizing videos of Snow capped mountains, wide open valleys pine forests and what not. It also described the severity of the lives of soldiers defending our country out there. That sowed a seed to visit the place " sometime in my life", just like deciding "i would study well from tomorrow" . Days passed, finished schooling and this idea of visiting the Himalayas was almost ignored. Whenever it poped up, subdued it citing Financial Reasons/Logistics/College and what not.*
Fast forward few years i started following few travelogues on Ladakh and the significance of the place in the pages of history. It was during the period of 2007-08, When some or the other was disturbing me from inside for many personal reasons, mainly because of the self woven cocoon of ill thoughts running across my mind. Had to get out of it somehow. Slowly I started following Travel Stories, mainly from India.*
After Quite a few months , Praveen comes out with his "Destination Unknown" which blew off the lids of so many people around that time. There are very few people who haven't given that ride a second look. It still is one of my biggest inspirations even though I have had the opportunity to interact with people who have toured the world, this ride of Praveen is very close to my heart, like the first love. Infact have made my mom and friends read it.*
Years Pass by, friends(In the riding circle) start doing Leh rides, multiple times. The time from Late May to Early October was the toughest to pass through after I started drooling over the Pics. Where ever i see/Read/Hear it was always Ladakh, Ladakh, Ladakh. A temporary fix to this frustration was given during the monsoons of 2012 when I rode northwards of Vindyas and Satpuras over a period of 15 days, the longest by then for me . By this time multiple rides down south had become too main stream. Every year Western ghats used to be a consolation prize for missing out on Ladakh.*
Around this time, comes*Motorcycle Travellers Meet, first of its kind in India. Unfortunately couldn't make it due to some other commitments, but very closely followed the event online. Every speaker had his/her own etiquette when asked to describe they travel stories of epic proportions. Come 2014, was determined to be a part of the second edition, and luckily I was in. The experience elevated me to a different level. One thing I observed in all these great travellers, including Praveen was the humbleness and down to earth attitude, which changed a lot inside me.It didn't bring me laurels, didn't add a penny on my salary statement, nor did it add some spice to the next day's meal. All it did was ask me a question with a Quadruple facepalm accompanied by Echo " What the Eff are you doing with your life? " couldn't answer it straightaway , but did get me into a lot of thinking. Couldn't concentrate on many of my daily chores.*
In the meantime dropped a bomb aat home about a Ladakh ride, initially they didn't take me seriously. Once I showed them the plan, mom was like " If you are going so far, go to Badrinath and Varanasi too " That was an approval signed and kept in the vault.
With a lot of uncertainty asked my Boss " I would like to have a leave from office for 25 days" the conversation went like this there after :
B: Are you getting married?*
Me: No.*
B: Then why so many days?*
Me: I wanna see the Himalayas.*
B: Brilliant, Whats your plan ?*
(Showing him the Itenary i had prepared over the years.)
You sure you would be able to complete it in time.*
Me: In all probability, Yes.*
B: Go on, have a safe trip.
Dont rush though things, take it easy. Enjoy. Its once in a lifetime experience.*
Happyness(Didn't care if it was an i or a Y in it ) had no bounds.*
Thus laid the foundation stone to the longest journey done by me so far. In-fact he spent the weekend researching the places. The next morning he walks up to my desk and silently slides in a News paper clipping regarding a Ladakh Travel which was published in one of the news papers and said "Found this, have a look at it. It might be useful".
The news paper article which he got for me:
To those who are interested, This was what was Planned but in the end, This was what was executed
To be Continued..............
--
Background Check:
1999, the year it was when i followed J&K for more than just Kargil War. During those times, whenever you switched on the idiot box all you could see was the updates about the valiant efforts of the Indian Army to subdue the militants. That was when the new channels(Hardly any as against the case now) was telecasting mesmerizing videos of Snow capped mountains, wide open valleys pine forests and what not. It also described the severity of the lives of soldiers defending our country out there. That sowed a seed to visit the place " sometime in my life", just like deciding "i would study well from tomorrow" . Days passed, finished schooling and this idea of visiting the Himalayas was almost ignored. Whenever it poped up, subdued it citing Financial Reasons/Logistics/College and what not.*
Fast forward few years i started following few travelogues on Ladakh and the significance of the place in the pages of history. It was during the period of 2007-08, When some or the other was disturbing me from inside for many personal reasons, mainly because of the self woven cocoon of ill thoughts running across my mind. Had to get out of it somehow. Slowly I started following Travel Stories, mainly from India.*
After Quite a few months , Praveen comes out with his "Destination Unknown" which blew off the lids of so many people around that time. There are very few people who haven't given that ride a second look. It still is one of my biggest inspirations even though I have had the opportunity to interact with people who have toured the world, this ride of Praveen is very close to my heart, like the first love. Infact have made my mom and friends read it.*
Years Pass by, friends(In the riding circle) start doing Leh rides, multiple times. The time from Late May to Early October was the toughest to pass through after I started drooling over the Pics. Where ever i see/Read/Hear it was always Ladakh, Ladakh, Ladakh. A temporary fix to this frustration was given during the monsoons of 2012 when I rode northwards of Vindyas and Satpuras over a period of 15 days, the longest by then for me . By this time multiple rides down south had become too main stream. Every year Western ghats used to be a consolation prize for missing out on Ladakh.*
Around this time, comes*Motorcycle Travellers Meet, first of its kind in India. Unfortunately couldn't make it due to some other commitments, but very closely followed the event online. Every speaker had his/her own etiquette when asked to describe they travel stories of epic proportions. Come 2014, was determined to be a part of the second edition, and luckily I was in. The experience elevated me to a different level. One thing I observed in all these great travellers, including Praveen was the humbleness and down to earth attitude, which changed a lot inside me.It didn't bring me laurels, didn't add a penny on my salary statement, nor did it add some spice to the next day's meal. All it did was ask me a question with a Quadruple facepalm accompanied by Echo " What the Eff are you doing with your life? " couldn't answer it straightaway , but did get me into a lot of thinking. Couldn't concentrate on many of my daily chores.*
In the meantime dropped a bomb aat home about a Ladakh ride, initially they didn't take me seriously. Once I showed them the plan, mom was like " If you are going so far, go to Badrinath and Varanasi too " That was an approval signed and kept in the vault.
With a lot of uncertainty asked my Boss " I would like to have a leave from office for 25 days" the conversation went like this there after :
B: Are you getting married?*
Me: No.*
B: Then why so many days?*
Me: I wanna see the Himalayas.*
B: Brilliant, Whats your plan ?*
(Showing him the Itenary i had prepared over the years.)
You sure you would be able to complete it in time.*
Me: In all probability, Yes.*
B: Go on, have a safe trip.
Dont rush though things, take it easy. Enjoy. Its once in a lifetime experience.*
Happyness(Didn't care if it was an i or a Y in it ) had no bounds.*
Thus laid the foundation stone to the longest journey done by me so far. In-fact he spent the weekend researching the places. The next morning he walks up to my desk and silently slides in a News paper clipping regarding a Ladakh Travel which was published in one of the news papers and said "Found this, have a look at it. It might be useful".
The news paper article which he got for me:
To those who are interested, This was what was Planned but in the end, This was what was executed
To be Continued..............
--
You have developed an itch in all of us for more on this. 
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