There was peace all around. The nimbus clouds were dreamily sailing over us. The cool wind continued its soft caress. The silence was weaving a mellifluous melody around us.
The concrete jungle was barely visible. There were some small huts in the near vicinity. Some cattle were grazing around. The other side of the mountain was a showcase of nature’s serene beauty. It was a flush green meadow with trees proudly showing off their green leaves. We were on top of Mount C2(we found these letters written somewhere on the rocks, smaller version of K2 I guess).
It all started while we were sitting on the banks of River Hinjewadi. ‘We’, that day consisted of Arun, Samarth, Vivek, me, OP, Bud, Sid, Hari, Nimesh, Anand (in the order of our PRN numbers).
- ‘Let’s go to that mountain’, said Bud.
- ‘Chalo’, says I. Jumping up, never expecting that he actually intended to climb all the way up that hill. The hill was barely visible from that rivulet.
The rest also sounded their approval with a resounding ‘Aaahuu’(Refer to movie 300). Nimesh was not at all enthused by the proceedings.
- ‘It’s too far yaar’, says he. He was in a philosophical mood. If someone would have given him a pen and paper, he would have started writing ‘Mahabharata Reloaded’ then and there.
He being the miniscule minority was easily overpowered and soon he was trudging along with the rest of us towards that Promised Land. Bud led us like Moses and we followed like the hapless Hebrews, trying to flee from the rigmarole of our daily life.
- ‘Let’s run for some time’, said Vivek.
Two more enthusiasts shared his emotions and before long we could hardly see Arun, Vivek and Hari(in the order of our PRN numbers), they were so far ahead.
We crossed the last visible sign of habitation another 18 mins later. Then came the visibly furious cow. She somehow had something against the section of humanity who tried to cross her and breach the part of the world behind her. Well in front of 10 determined humans a cow hardly posed to be a threat. We breached the final frontier and started advancing towards our green escape. It was a strange feeling. The feeling of freedom creeping into our soul, as we were breaking away from the shackles of MBA life. We could see the hill in front of us now towering into the sky.
I looked back and on the horizon I could see the concrete jungle. It was a awesome sight. Before us lay flush green meadows, trees, clouds flirting with the hills. Behind us was a stream of concrete high-risers lining the horizon.
We were breaking away. Breaking away from pressure, pollution, population, corruption and day to day competition.
On the side of the main hill was a small hillock. We breached that, and set on to conquer our final conquest for the day. Arun with his tall athletic frame was leading the pack. Samarth, me and Nimesh formed the left tail of our group’s normal distribution. Huffing and puffing we continued on our way up. Constant encouragements kept on coming down from the right tail of the normal distribution.
- ‘U can do it guys. Buck up. It’s beautiful up here.’
That it was. It was much more than beautiful. It was splendor placed before you on a golden crucible. It is so sad that we have distanced us so much from nature. Mother nature is so, so beautiful.
There was peace all around. The nimbus clouds were dreamily sailing over us. The cool wind continued its soft caress. The silence was weaving a mellifluous melody around us.
Our college building was visible. Yes, and that must be the D-Hostel. IIIT, Infy, CTS, all were visible. Yet we were so far away from all that.
Some leg-pulling, some relaxed banter, some photos being taken, it was time to head back to habitation.
- ‘Let’s go back guys, it’ll get dark soon’, somebody observed.
It was time to go back. Back to the reality called life. Back to the realization that life is a constant journey. A multi-variant, multi-colored canvas, with paintings of various experiences adding color to the canvas every second. Relaxing, and bantering below clouds is not life. Life is about passion, it’s about determined perseverance towards a certain goal. It’s about enjoying whatever you are doing. It’s about giving your best with grit and vigor and breaking away whenever one gets a chance with even greater vigor.
We started climbing down from the momentary high, down towards reality.
- ‘We’ll be back’, said Hari, looking back.
We would surely be back. We were rejuvenated and ready to take on the world head on. We found out yet again that Mother Nature is always there sitting there to comfort and sooth the prodigal son whenever we need. So it is very important to take care of nature as she takes cares about us.
Krishanu Mukherjee (09-11)
