The day I am alone!

The desire to kiss Preeti was so strong that it woke me up in the middle of the night.

I sat up.

I looked around.

I was in Gurgaon. Alone. In my bed.

Was this a dream or a nightmare?

I had dreamt that Preeti was gone. And even inside the dream, I could feel the pain. It was sharp. It felt too real. What if it wasn’t just a dream?

Forty-six years seem to have passed in a blink, and the last twenty have been the most beautiful of my life. The love I have lived with during these years has only grown. First it was Preeti. Then came our two naughty boys, Kanav and Jay, who blessed my life even more.

But it seems like I have less than 20 years left now to experience this abundance.

No, I am not sick. Nothing is wrong.

I am just being realistic. Data. Probability. Life expectancy. Women often go earlier. Statistics do not lie. And somewhere deep inside, my mind has been preparing me for this possibility.

It feels like my mind has known this for a while. Maybe the dream was its way of preparing me. So I am trying to face my fear by writing it down. I want to be prepared if that day ever comes.

The question is not when I will be alone (hopefully never), but for how long.

Can I survive without my partner?

What will my days and nights look like?

What will my life become?

Will I ever enjoy life the way I do now?

Yes, this is selfish.

But why shouldn’t it be?

I love myself. I love life. I want to live, and I want to be happy.

So let me imagine what happens after she is gone.

The First Week

My heart is heavy imagining this and I am literally crying as I write.

I would cry loud and cry my heart out seeing you there but not touching me, not talking to me and just gone.

Every step would be heavy. Every breath would hurt.

I don’t know how Kanav and Jay will react. Will I be even able to talk to them? Who will console whom? We are just going to hug and cry.

Kanav would have his friends around him. He would not be alone.

But Jay would be.

Jay would go to the mountains, or sit by a lake, and cry through the night. He would want to be alone.

The pain would be unbearable.

People would come and go. I wouldn’t talk to anyone. No one would know who you were to me. No one would know our story. No one would understand what you meant to my life.

I won’t be able to sleep. I will eat whatever I can but I will cry every time I eat. I will cry every time I sleep. Nothing is going to prepare me for that day. Not even me imaging that day right now.

I would want everyone to just go away. I don’t want anyone near me. I want Jay. Jay makes me cry more. Kanav makes me strong but Jay gives me warmth. He has your passion and Kanav has my stoicness. I want to be with Jay. But Jay wants to be alone.

These days are going to be hell and I will be waiting for every minute to get over. I will want this to be over. I want to get over you. But you have just gone. I was not ready for this. I was not prepared. I wanted you to be there forever and now every minute is forever for me.

I go out for a walk, I run, I sprint……I will not pick up my cycle. I cannot pick up my cycle. It reminds me of you and I cannot sit straight on it. I cry as I touch the handles so I walk. I just keep walking till my eyes dry out, till my legs wear out, till hunger takes over me.

I again start running, I want to punish myself. Why did I not do enough? Why could I not get you back? I keep imagining what you were going through in your last moments. I keep blaming myself. I keep running. I stop, I cry and I run again till my energy dries out.

I sit beside a wall or a tree till I can find my energy back. I might have gone far away. I cannot go back now. I don’t want to call Jay or Kanav. I punish myself by walking the whole distance back. I am tired like hell. But I am not able to tell why I am so tired? Is it because of the walk or because I have been crying or because I am hungry.

I reach back home to eat something and sit in a corner where I fall asleep. When I wake up, I am calm. Till I realize you are not there. I just cannot stop the cycle. The pain is too much and it is not going away. I keep watching the clock. I know it will take a few days for me to get over this pain. But the clock is too slow and the pain is too much.

 Days are finally turning and people are now going away. The house is empty. Kids don’t want to leave me alone. But I want them to go away. I want them to deal with their pain and not mine. I push them out. I throw them out. I ask them to leave me alone. But Kanav does not. He is always nearby.

Every day I live, the pain increases. I want to hold you tight. I want to feel you again. I want to kiss you. I want to sit again in the car beside you and hold your hand as you drive. I want to hear your voice again.

I live through this pain, tiring myself out daily to reach the end of the week. I don’t want to do any pooja. You would have wanted it. But I just don’t want to do it. What use it is? You are gone now. I never believed in God. Even if he/she was there, I would have hated him/her now. I tell Tanu, I am not interested in any pooja. But please do it. Please do it because Preeti wanted it.

I cannot write more. The pain is so immense even when I am imagining it. I don;’t know how I am going to live it. Even writing down is not helping. I am now imagining if it was a good idea to write down?

Everytime, I want to end a paragraph, new feelings are bombarding me. But I want to stop now and look further into the days without you.

The First Month

Someone stays back with me for the first week. But the second week, I will be alone. I know I am going to be lonely now. I am spending time on the computer, watching your photos and videos. I try to memorize all those moments. I want to live those moments again. I want to go to the lake, I want to go to goa, I want to go to Kasauli, I want to cycle again.

I pick up my cycle and start riding long distances. I am just gone. I started travelling. I try to go to your favourite places. Naina Devi would be one of them. I go to Dharamshala on cycle. I don’t have anything to wear other than what I have on my body. I buy and discard clothes every day. I want to go to the same road on Spiti which you drove. I don’t know if I can go back to the world. I am just travelling and let my thoughts tire me out.

I imagine and live every memory. I am meeting people. I am meeting cyclists. But I cannot tell them about you because I would start crying. Possibly I do too when someone asks me over a bonfire. Possibly I make a bond on the journey.  

I still can’t sleep well most of the days. But cycling is tiring me out. It is because of my cycling that I am able to sleep. It is because of cycling that I cry every day because I know you are not driving behind me and I am all alone.

Cycling is not my freedom, I have just realised it. It is because of you that I have been cycling and even when you are gone, I am still cycling because of you.

I keep seeing your photo. I want it to be in front of me always.

I try to remember how I lived without you in Gurgaon. But I cannot recall those days. I don’t want to recall them. I just want this pain to die down slowly and cycling has been helping.

I stop taking calls from everyone finally as I want to be at peace. I tell Jay and Kanav when I will switch on my phone and for the rest of the time I keep it off.

Should I give up the world? Can I meditate? Can I live in the mountains?

I kept thinking this the whole trip and realized that I need people around me. I cannot be alone anymore. Kanav is so happy to see me back. He had been talking to me daily. Jay did not call me. He knows I want to be alone. I call him once or twice and we both cry every time we talk. He is coping up the same way I am. He is out alone in his world.

I just hope he has someone to share his pain with. For my partner is gone and I have no one to share it. I know my pain is stronger and it will take time. I am enduring it and the days are slowly becoming shorter and nights longer. Sleep is less and I wait for the sun to rise again so that I can cycle.

You have been my life for so long that life isn’t anything without you. But I know you are gone and I have to move on. I need to live a whole new life without you. I know I have to live it alone and I cry because of it. It is going to be tough but now slowly I am getting used to it. But then one day, I decide that I have traveled enough and I want to go back. I want to be in the place I have most of your memories. But I am very far away. So I started pedaling.

Because I want to be at a specific place, the distance now is longer. But the cycling training has taken over now and I have my mind diverted most of the time.

As I reach back to the place, it looks like the pain has reduced. But when I reach back, the walls again remind me of you. Have I done the right thing by coming back? I don’t have a choice anymore. I ask Kanav to stay with me for sometime. He finally gets me to normal. Jay is also steadily bouncing back. We know we have each other now.

We talk a lot about you. We decide to stop crying. We decided to celebrate you now. You were our life. You made our life and we go to all those lovely places where we went out to eat. Kanav and Jay finally take me to have a cup of tea at night. We are finally having fun.

And life seems to be bouncing back.

The Second Month

I don’t want to think much about it but the thoughts are coming back. Why did you leave me so soon? Why was I not strict with you? Why did I not push you to go to exercise? Why did I not wake you up in the morning? Why did I not train you myself? Why did I not create a schedule for you? Why? Why? Why?

And everytime, I get the answer that you would never have been able to do anything I told you. You were too strong headed. Whatever I told you, you would do it for a day or maximum two and then the enthusiasm will die down.

Why did I not keep a home trainer for you?

You would have never been able to dedicate your time even then. You will have work even when you had training time. The trainer finally would have become weary and finally stopped coming.

I would have tried to block these thoughts and tried to live your memories.

I would get back to the world and I was now hating the pity I was getting. Jay and Kanav now call me daily to check upon me and I would have told them how much I tried to help you. They want me to stop repeating that.

But these thoughts keep coming back in my mind and by the end of the second month I would have started hating myself. I would have hated myself for being left alone.

But now I cannot do anything.

Have I made the biggest mistake of my life? Was I too selfish? Was I so selfish that my selfishness has cost me loneliness?

By the end of the second month I would be blaming myself and would be partly depressed. And now I am cycling again to keep sane. I want to stop cycling and stop getting fit. But then I know, I sacrificed a lot of time training myself to live a hundred years and I still want to do it. But without you it is going to be hard.

I want to stop blaming myself and I want to turn away my thoughts.

 The first 6 Months

I check the money left with me. What am I going to do with it without you? I don’t want to travel without you. I don’t want to have fun. But I want to live. I want to be happy again. But I cannot find myself doing it.

And slowly and steadily but surely, I start blaming you for leaving me. I start blaming you because you were lazy. I start blaming you because you never bothered about me. I always thought about you. I never wanted to die and leave you alone. But you never bothered leaving me alone. You never took care of yourself seriously.

Why did you not reduce your weight? Why did you not cycle? Why did you not go to Gym? Why did you not go to do yoga?

Where did you waste your day? Why is setting home so important? For whom did you do that? Why did you not tell your kids to do it? Why did you not keep a helper?

What was so important more than taking care of yourself?

Thoughts start just from here and then I start finding flaws.

I don’t want to look at your pictures anymore. It makes me angry now. I don’t want to talk about you to anyone or with the kids. I just tell them, let us get on with our life. She is gone and is not coming back. Let us live better than we have lived till now.

They still love you. I don’t want to tell them about these new feelings but I have slowly started hating you. I cannot stop loving you. I still love you for you were my life. But now I also hate you for you have made my lifge hell. And it is all your fault.

The love starts going down for I don’t want to think about you. Every time I think about you, I find a new reason to hate you.

I loved you so much. I remember the days when your body was not well and I wanted to make love to you. Your body had undergone so much change that it was unwell most of the time. So much so that we made love hardly once in a month and then finally two or three times a year. Everytime, you tried hard to not let me know that you were just doing it for me. Your feelings had died down for your body is not well because of kids, because of menopause. You had never gone out to take help.

You had stopped giving yourself and me that beautiful feeling of loving one another with full passion. Why did you punish yourself? Why did you live your life so badly? You could have easily become healthy. Probably the kids became lazy for sometime because of you. They just saw you not taking care of yourself.

I finally thank myself for at least getting our kids' lives back on track. If everyone can do it, why can’t you? What stopped you? Why could you not get out of bed, take some time out of your routine to take care of yourself? You did not love me enough! I was not selfish! I burned myself to keep myself fit for you and the kids. You did not make any effort. You loved your comfort of the bed. You did not want to spend life with me. You just wanted to spend some time and go away.

These thoughts start becoming more wild. I now blame you for almost everything. You wasted the years with kids. You spoiled them completely. You never took time out to teach them Hindi and Punjabi. The only subjects I requested you to teach them. Every year, just before the exams, you would ask them to get their books and copies. And for 3 days, you would make them write and write and write. Just shouting and complaining that they don’t do anything. After their exams you would forget about it. And the cycle repeated for 10 years till they completely started hating both the subjects. It was not by chance. It was by design that you made them lose interest. You had your own priorities. These priorities were your house. For what? For whom? Who was asking you to give priority to sweeping the floor every day?

But even that was not well done. The house was all over the place. Because you did not get your priorities right ever. It was not my mistake. It was yours. You could not manage your life. But why? I don;t know. Even when I tried talking to you about it, you started blaming yourself. You never took criticism well. You just went into a shell. Instead of discussing with me on how to improve, you started defending yourself or went into a shell. I got frustrated a lot of times. But I wanted my head to be stable. There were liabilities and I wanted to ensure that my head was in the right place to cover them up. You had not become my strength, you had become a liability once you have gone. I miss you and I now hate you.

Why did you not learn to get your priorities right? I might have thought about this when I pushed you to do your MBA. It could have taught you a lot. But then the BBA exams were a farce too. You did not put in any hard work. Not even a single assignment was written by you. Every question which you wrote was cheated. You did not study at all. I studied it. I did BBA, you did not. And if someone commented, even our kids, you would piss off and go on a bad trip. Why? One one side, you did not work hard and on the other side, you don’t want anyone to make you realise it?

What was it with you and working hard?

Had you worked hard for even a year, I might not have spent so many years in Gurgaon missing my kids and you. Kids grew up without me. I could have done better in their education. I could not! Because I could not live closer to them. I cannot get those years back. I can never get the time I missed with my kids and with you back. I cannot get any more time with you. Why? Because you did not work hard enough. Not on yourself, not on your studies, not on your kids, not on your kids studies, not even in the factory.

Why?

I treated you like a princess. I think it was my mistake. You were very capable of working hard. You drove the car behind me for hours. You would travel long distances, work hard to help me as I struggled. But you did not do anything for yourself. It was no dedication, it was selfishness.

And now, you are gone and I now hate you a lot.

As the years go by

The hatred increases and the love keeps reducing. I keep hating you for going away because it was all your fault. I start hating people who don;t take care of themselves. I become angry everytime, I see Jay putting on weight because of his laziness. He reminds me of you. I am now angry all the time. You made me angry. You destroyed the years which I wanted to enjoy.. It is becoming difficult to live. I don;t know if I will remember any of the love we shared? I don;t know if we will even remember the moments we made love passionately? Only these thoughts of hatred remain because you never made an effort seriously enough.

This is what I sense is going to happen if I lose you now. But can you change this? I want to write this again in 10 years from now. I want to die a happy man alongside you. I don’t want to live alone. Can things change?

Wrote this down on 27th February 2026 while travelling in Shatabdi Train from Gurgaon to Delhi

If you met 7 year old self on the street, what 3 pieces of advice you would offer them? (Googling Myself 5)

 1. Respect every women in your life and around you.

2. Think very carefully before you speak.

3. It is good to make mistakes. Keep making them without feeling guilty.

The day I learn't the first, I got the love of my life. I wish, I had known this much before.

I have lost a lot of reputation and friends because I spoke irrationally a lot in the first quarter of my life. I corrected this mistake when I called Preeti back. I wish I could correct other mistakes too.

If I had pursued my Sainik School dream, my flat foot would have been caught at a very early stage, if I had pursued basketball, I could have made it to the National Team or even played internationally. There are many ifs in my life as in everyones. 

As a child, you doubt everything you dream of and your parents are there to tell you right from wrong. But their perspective of life is limited to their experiences. And to pursue ones dreams one has to put aside rational experiences and take irrational decisions and make mistakes. The earlier one makes mistake, the sooner they learn. 

I started making mistakes too late in life. I wish, someone had told me that it is okay to make mistakes if you learn from them.

The best thing I love about Jay is his attitude to make mistakes. He doesn't listen to me or Preeti. He just does what he believes in. And kanav on the other hand listens to me, analyzes and then makes mistakes. I wish both of them will make more of these mistakes before they get out in the real world.

What Kind of People Energize You? (Googling Myslef 4)

Positively Passionate people!

Passionate about anything!

Passion is a double edged sword. If it falls in the hand of a misguided person, it will not only strike him/her but everyone around them.

Positively passionate people are the ones who don't feel victimised in any situation and create opportunities for themselves. They are the true entrepreneurs in their field and are able to create positive dent in the area they wish to tread in.

They would lift you with their ideas and are not only confident but are quite self aware. Discussions with such people are enriching and sometimes even life changing.

Be it someone like Faraz, Yogi or Ranjith, I completely feel at home with them even if we talk after a long gap. I often try to read books written by such people or listen to their podcasts. 

These days I have been enjoying Vishal Gondal's Show which is probably a mine of some brilliant ideas. Even this concept of Googling Myself was suggested by one of his guests - Tirthankar Dash!

I am extremely lucky to be surrounded by passionate people including my Wife!

If you had $100million to invest in a social Cause what would you support? (Googling myself - 3)

Education! Of course!

It might be the same project which we had started in Punjab and develop it further to take it to places like Himachal, UP, Bihar etc.

The important question is Why?

When I answered this in 2008-2009, it was because I was quite passionate about teaching. And one of the best years in y life had been when I was in a teaching profile which I had enjoyed to the hilt.

But now, the reason is very different. It's not because I love doing it, but because the kind of impact I had seen a small project like Locus had created. 

Education is something which does not impact an individual rather, the whole community can feel the change.

What would be the title of my Autobiography? (Googling Myself 2)

 

The Rebel with a cause

What is a Rebellion? 

An act which does not conform to the standard norm of 'commonly acceptable behaviour' is classified as an act of Rebellion! 

When you are brought up in a typical middle class family, it is an unwritten rule that you have to step aside from your dreams and idiosyncrasies and follow a standard pattern in your life.

But how is that fun? 

How is that living?

Isn't it just surviving?

Don't one finds bound with chains most of the time?

I have struggled for freedom from these chains many times. The earliest struggle which I could remember was when I was in class 5th. I would have been around 11 years of age then.

My unrelenting passion was to join a Sainik School and train for being in the Army. This was also the time when Sharukh Khan Starrer, Fauji was released. And this dream of mine was fuelled by the creativity of this 13 episode series. I was preparing really hard for the written exams for Sainik School. I had even told a lot of friends about it. 

But Sainik School did not happen. Today as a father, I can clearly see the logic in the decision taken by my parents. But as an 11 year old it was suffocating. 

Later it was joining a taekwondo training academy, pursuing career in sports, not able to live my dream of being in defence forces. 

Do I blame my parents or anyone for it? No, never.

But this is what made my personality. The feeling of suffocation of not able to live your dream, however small is killing. Surviving is to live with this suffocation. 

I grew into an individual who would always find a way to break away from all this. It does take time for me to get on to the right path but every decision I take in my life is to breakaway from this suffocation. 

Over a period of time, I have been trying to find a way in which I can help other people to do the same. Be it by opening school in villages where we helped a lot of teachers breakaway from their suffocating lifestyles or be it as a Startup School Director at LPU, where I helped students.

People today need assurance that it is okay to breakaway. The cost of living your life the way you want is not exorbitant. Rather on the other hand it is even more worthwhile.

I hope that I would continue to create opportunity for myself and my kids to live a life one wants.

If I am locked in a room, what are the three things which I would take with me? (Googling Myself - 1)

If I am locked in a room, what are the three things which I would take with me?

1. Book - Discovery of India - by Jawahar Lal Nehru

2. A very heavy Register of atleast a 1000 pages (if possible)

3. A pen with Ink to last 1 lac words. 

Reason -

India is one of the oldest civilizations and a book which transcends time and captures the development of this civilisation provides insights into cultures, traditions, human behaviour and leadership. The pattern captured in the book is exquisite. Even after over 80 years since the book has been written, its power of capturing ones imagination is huge.

Why did I choose Discovery of India over my other favourite books - Mahabharata and Gita.

While both the other books are just outstanding in terms of the knowledge they impart and the way they make one look inside oneself. But Discovery of India sets itself apart from both these as it is a story about how we reached where we are and for me knowing both the things are important - knowing myself as well as how we reached here. I think that both these things combined will provide me direction into where I am heading. 

While for knowing myself, I am carrying the other two things where I intend to detail out myself and discover myself, this one book will help me get a perspective of the world we are living in today, the mistakes we have made, the things we could have done better and probably I would be able to identify things I need to read more about.

An accidental Journey Part 3 - Day 2 Ride to Fagu

Cycling Starting Point - Kasauli

Destination - Fagu

Route - Kasauli - Dharampur - Solan - Kandaghat - Sadhupul - Chail - Kufri - Fagu

Cycling Distance - 104 Kms

Car Driving - 104 Kms

Kanav’s Cycle Ride - 80Kms

Major Breaks - Solan, Sadhupul, Koti

Elevation Gained - 2077 mtrs.

The day started early with us planning to leave the hotel by 4:00am. But our car was badly stuck in the parking lot. But finally by 4:30am we were on the saddle enjoying our Downhill ride to Dharampur in pitch dark.

I was quite sure that we would have to ride uphill most of the day and it would take us a good amount of time to reach Solan. But suddenly after a few Kms from Dharampur, the road began to slope downhill and it did not end till we reached Solan. The view on the way was just out of this world with clouds floating along with us. People were getting out of the cars and clicking photographs and we were savouring our ride and the view.

While the quick ride to Solan encouraged us, our confidence was even further Boosted by a few young cyclists from Solan who told us that the downhill shall continue upto Sadhupul from where Chail was about 17-18 Kms only. So me and Abhishek decided to speed things up and see how far cold we reach by 8:30am as our intial target was Solan which we had already achieved by 7:00am.

But simultaneously preeti encountered her first car driving challenge. She had taken another route and was on the Solan Bypass when we called her out for a tea in the Solan Market. She took a detour into the market advised by a passerby. But this detour was an extremely steep climb for the car. The car stopped in the middle of the climb but Preeti recalled a similar incident in Hoshiarpur’s Miraj Cinema and quickly pulled the hand break and released it only after she had put her foot on the accelerator. And now, she was ready for the bigger challenges she was about to face on the world’s most treacherous road ahead.

We were gliding to Sadhupul with almost a Kms distance between each one of us Abhishek - Myself - Kanav. Only 3kms away and at 8:00am, I found Abhishek sitting with the cycle upside down and working on another puncture. I quickly got down and we worked on changing the tube of the cycle. Kanav and Preeti reached soon after and Jay took Sultan to a small trek for him to relieve himself on the nearby mountain. Jay was fully enjoying the trip playing with Sultan. Preeti was introducing him to experiences like working a hand pump, plucking flowers and fruits etc.

Suddenly a man on the motorcycle came and hushed us up by warning us of a few leopards and their cubs just a few meters ahead. The cubs seem to have attacked the motorcyclist. We were apprehensive but did not take the risk and immediately hang up the cycles on the rack and drove out in the car around 3 kms to a dhaba at Sadhupul.

I quickly began my day’s office routine while having breakfast. Kids immediately made friends with the kids of the dhaba owner and started exploring nature. They were plucking fruits and eating them while the local kids introduced them to more varieties of fruits and flowers around. While leaving the place, the kids exchanged numbers and decided to call one another. The elder one, Dhruv, even took his single gear bicycle and rode with us for 2 kms uphill when we left at around 12pm.

While I kept getting calls on the way, Kanav and Abhishek were riding uphill. Preeti in the meanwhile was disgusted with the condition of the car and was still at the Dhaba cleaning it up. She must have spent an hour in total making the car spic and span before starting off. She caught up with Kanav soon and I also was beside him just 8Kms before Chail.

As usual Preeti was exploring the local plants and found walnuts hanging from the trees. She took one as a prize to show it around. Kanav soon gave up on the climb as it was hot and the climb was gruelling. Abhishek had reached Chail by now in a single shot without stoppages and I had still to climb 8 kms which were the toughest part of the climb. The forests around slowly made the climb easier and with another break for a call just 2 kms before Chail, I quickly made up.

As Abhishek had already left for Kufri, we decided to make our way to Theog that day and I did not stop at Chail. Kanav who was coming behind immediately saddled up at Chail to enjoy the downhill. But after a 10-12 Kms from Chail, in which merely 2 kms were downhill, I was feeling exhausted and went to sleep on the roadside. Preeti came with some sweets and momos which I savoured and attended a quick call with Shruti and gave her the required data while working from the forest of Chail.

In a few more kms which were more-or-less uphill only, we reached Kothi where we had a cup of tea and a few biscuits. Here Jay’s love of Dogs was quite evident when 6-7 dogs surrounded Jay and Jay was playing with them. He took a full packet of Biscuits and distributed them to his new friends.

Just 2 kms from Kothi, Kanav had a severe pressure to answer nature's call where he was stung by the Itching plant. He immediately gave up the ride and sat in the car. 

Around 12 kms from Kufri, Abhishek called up, telling us that the last 6 kms climb to Chini Bungla was a killer one and I had an option to come via Car. And he was not wrong at all. The climb came after I had done 90+ Kms for the day and was a really steep one. I took one break in between but by the time I reached Chini Bungla, it was already night.

Jay had been demanding to do some downhill the whole day, and with no traffic on the road, I obliged him. He rode very safely on the downhill to Kufri and I gave him another Km to ride towards Fagu. By the time we reached fagu, It was past 8pm and Abhishek was waiting for us with Dinner.

After a quick dinner we planned out not to ride to jeebhi instead of taking the route to Spiti. Preeti was apprehensive but was with us. Again deciding to follow the same schedule, we went back to sleep at around 10:30 while preeti was still washing our clothes and ensuring that we don’t run out of athletic wear soon.

 

An accidental Journey Part 2 - Day 1 Ride to Kasauli

Cycling Starting Point - Command Hospital, Chandimandir

Destination - Kasauli

Route - Panchkula - Pinjore - Kalka - Parwanoo - Mashobra - Kasauli

Cycling Distance - 53Kms

Car Driving - 70 Kms

Elevation Gained - 2550 mtrs.

Preeti waited for us at the Kalka Devi temple where she was surprised by the priest who suddenly called her out and blessed her by putting a tilak on her forehead (even though it wasn’t allowed under covid guidelines for the temple). Preeti’s happiness knew no bounds as she considered this as a sign of a safe and successful trip. And thus began our adventure on an auspicious note.

Abhishek is a really strong rider. It was evident on the climb from Parwanoo to Kasauli on which he effortlessly pedaled through. Kanav, as usual was in his full form, chattering all the way.

 

Being my first day, I was in a rush to reach the Breakfast point which was a small restaurant around 11 Kms from Parwanoo.

The ride steadily went into the clouds and we were all just ecstatic because the weather was just outstanding. Riding through the clouds was a first time experience for Abhishek and he was simply enjoying it.

But the ride was suddenly halted when Abhishek’s cycle got punctured. We quickly changed the tube and rode up to the restaurant where I prepared and attended my meetings. The first day of office on the road made me realize that I had been attending some meetings where my requirement was minimal and could be avoided till the point I had something to contribute. So, I and Preeti decided on a plan. Instead of not attending such meetings, I decided to be a mute spectator while I kept riding the bike. Only where I thought my contribution was necessary, I intervened otherwise we just kept riding.

Preeti told me to ride quickly because the weather was getting bad and it was raining. I pointed out that weather was not bad, we were just riding through the clouds. This is where she said that - For people like us, it is raining. Whether you call it the melting of the clouds or riding through the clouds, it's simply raining.

This is how she brings us down from the clouds to reality. A trait which kept us sane throughout the trip.

Simultaneously, her outgoing nature also meant that we did not miss out most of the fun during the trip. On the ride to Kasauli, she suddenly came across a Fig Tree dangling over a ditch with fresh fruits hanging from it. Neither she nor, I had the courage to pluck the fruit. But she asked out help from a stranger from the nearby shop helped us gather at least 3 Kgs of Fresh Fig which we savoured over the trip. For the stranger, it was a simple task but for us it was a gesture to remember and repay to others throughout life.

By evening, I had attended most of my meetings and we had also reached Kasauli. Abhishek and Preeti had already reached there before us and we waited at the intersection of the Dharampur and the Parwanoo road. Around 2 kms downhill from there, they found a comfortable hotel (Hotel Kasauli Woods) in the village called Garkhal.

While I quickly dove into the meetings after a quick bite in the nearby dhaba, Abhishek, Preeti and Kids went to Kasauli. Preeti on her Window Shopping spree while Abhishek trekked into the nearby mountains.

The most difficult part here was taking care of Sultan, as while we were eating at the Dhaba, the street dogs from the villages gathered making it tough to control Sultan. He is a quick learner and has steadily become aggressive. Even in the evening when I and Abhishek took him to the nearby mountain, he met an aggressive Alsatian pet Dog whom he simply overpowered (by barking and eye contact) and made way to the mountain.

With a really good day, I and Abhishek decided to avoid the crowded Shimla and go to Chail, We created a new route from Jibhi to Manali in the evening before going to sleep.

An accidental Journey Part 1 - At the Beginning

 The Genesis

RAAM Qualifier - Romantika Uz Beas was scheduled for 13th June 2021. This grueling Cycling race was 615 Kms from Hoshiarpur to Manali and Back. But Covid’s second wave ruined the event and was now delayed by a year.

But the hard work I had put in the preparation of the event could not go waste so I decided to do the Chandigarh to Shimla ride with Kanav during the same time. Abhishek Yadav, a colleague at Grofers when heard about the plan, decided to ride down from Gurgaon to join us.

The Preparation

Kanav was really excited to do the trip to Shimla and had pushed himself hard by exercising most of the days in the month of May. I was quite sure that he would make a good headway to Shimla if not able to complete it.

But as the plan’s were undergoing a change, Kanav and Jay were even more excited to do camping during the trip and so Preeti contacted Shankar who helped her prepare a list of important things needed for the camping trip. He even gave his some favourite possessions like a Korean Stove, an Emergency light for the trip. Tried to go as light as possible but still had a car trunk full of bags, tent and cycling gear.

Luckily, I got my car insurance renewed in time and preeti got a quick service of the car done along with the change of windshield from the Motor Market.

The trip was going to be long and Sultan, our pet dog couldn’t be left anywhere so he was definitely going along. 

Just a day before, we realized that we had missed a very important component of our ride - the entry pass into Himachal. I immediately applied on the Himachal website for the pass and voila, in 30 minutes, I had the pass to enter Kasauli. This is when I first realized that the Luck was on our side as Himachal had opened its borders just 3 days before we had planned the ride. (This was our Lucky Break 1 during the ride)

But any preparation is not enough and one only comes to know about it on the road. For I had already left my cycle’s front lights back at home.

The Start

Abhishek had reached Chandigarh by 11th June and wanted to start early. I was a bit hesitant because I had not taken leave and wanted to do it on the weekend so that I don’t have to take more than a day’s leave.

But Abhishek’s persistence made me think out of the box and I decided to work while we rode the cycle. So we agreed to leave on 16th June, Wednesday morning for Kasauli. With this out of the box plan, I decided to elongate the journey and we jointly decided to see if we can push ourselves to go to Manali from Shimla and back to Hoshiarpur. 

With almost no plan in mind but with just an idea, we left our home at 4:30am in the car to reach the Rendezvous point, Command Hospital, Chandimandir and we finally started at 5:30am.