Night under the constellations and Morning above the clouds - Trek to Horagina Betta
Horagina Betta Aka. Brahmagiri, is a fellow mountain in the
Nandi range. Just another trek I thought, but a night trek. I have Nyctophobia
(fear of darkness), I have to overcome my phobia sooner or later in life and
what best can be the occasion than a trek with BTC!!!
The journey began in the evening, we assembled at Majestic
bus stand at 4:30 PM and from there we reached Devenhalli. The plan was to
board next bus to Karahalli cross. Due to some reason the bus was delayed and
we were not expecting any public travel sooner, so we decided to make our
journey exciting. We hired a tempo, all of us hopped in and the journey
continued in full vigor. Fifteen minutes and we reached Karahalli cross. There
was a small restaurant, we all had tea/coffee and for hunger bite onion
pakodas, well they came with peanuts something different for many of us.
It was already dark by now, my fear was out but
I was determined coz for me travel means exploring new places, meeting
new people, discovering and rediscovering myself. It was pitch dark in the
street next to the restaurant, from where we had to start the ascend. Our
torches were out. It was plain path initially with plethora of air, but my
hands were sweating. Slowly we were trying to figure out the trail. When I
registered for the trek, I thought hillock would be like Nandi hills, but wrong
I was and sometimes it is pleasant to stand wrong. The trek was definitely not
an easy one. There were long shurbs, the steep path and for me night added to
the adventure. I managed to be all good, the air was so soothing that at
our first halt there was silence, which engulfed my soul, so relaxing it was. The
place away from pollution, traffic, noise, chatter. It was heaven. There were
energetic souls from BTC who discovered the way for the entire team, they used
to run in different directions to find the best trail for us, while we relaxed
and enjoyed the serenity.
Two hours and we
had reached Lord Shani-Eshwara temple, the top was not far from here, yelled
one BTCian with full enthusiasm, which meant pray and waddle on – don’t stop,
the destination is yet to arrive.
Woah, in next few
minutes of trek we reached the hill top. It was so calm there, I wish I could
capture that air, that tranquility, that stars sheet for everyone, but somethings
are better explored by oneself. For first half an hour I was away from
everyone, yeah, in dark I went all alone. Just found myself a place, where no
one can see me, where I couldn’t hear any sound of excited people around me, I
just wanted to drench in the aura. Sound of breeze and presence of stars, which
seemed so close to my naked eyes; eyes which refused to turn its sight from the
beauty of sky.
When I was back, people were all ready with the
wood and it was all set for bonfire. We had fun, stories and more stories,
songs with barbecue at its heights. It was fun, it was beyond imagination. Desi
life is actually better than hippies’ life we lead every day. At 2 AM, I called
it a night for myself, while others continued to share their experiences and
stories - horror, college ke kisse, office ki masti.
I
happily parked myself in my sleeping bag in the clearing and smiled at stars,
who had no sign of sleep, they were shinning and twinkling, seemed like they
were listening and enjoying our stories. Don’t know when I slept while
talking to stars and figuring out the constellations. My alarm woke me up at 6.
I was all covered with clouds, turned around to see bonfire was still there,
there were people who had not slept and humble souls, the BTC organizers were
preparing tea and coffee for everyone so that we can enjoy the spectacular
morning view.
Felt like I was walking on the sheet made of
clouds, the feeling and experience were amazing. I had lemon tea and went to
the edge, it was time for group photograph and most importantly time to
descend. Descend was equally amazing on the rocky terrain and …. ultimately the
Good Byes!!! Which are difficult.
Woods were actually lovely,
dark and deep!!!
Written
By : Himanshi Mundeja
Date
of event : 5th March, 2016
Place
: Horagina Betta
Members
: 25
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