At Rishikesh bus stand, a man showed me a photograph of his wife and 11-year old daughter and asked, "Aapne inko Badrinath mein dekha tha kya?" All i could mumble was "Hum sirf Gangotri gaye the, Badrinath nahin gaye." For five days, we were at Uttarkashi cursing our luck. In a way, we were in the midst of an unfolding tragedy and yet, had insulated ourselves and went about business as usual. Every morning by 7, our bags would be packed, ready to leave. But we waited. For some, that wait continues. If those rains had ocurred a couple of days earlier, it could have been my friend or relative asking, "Aapne ise Gangotri mein dekha tha kya?" A couple of days earlier, and it could have been my mother with her arms around a temple pillar at Kedarnath holding on to dear life. As luck would have it, she and her entire group were on their way to Badrinath. Safe. 27 hours in a stationary bus. But, alive. My thoughts are with the 19-year old Italian we met during the Gangotri-Gaumukh-Tapovan trek, who in all probability was at Badrinath when tragedy struck. Hope he is safe. And so is that mother-daughter pair.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Jun 2013 02:36:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015