Beyond the scenery - 💪💪💪💪💪☮️💜

Observations in daily life or during a travel trip often end up as experiences which are etched in our memory forever .

Personal stories drawn from everyday moments ,internal shifts or experiences that led to insight or clarity.These pieces focus on meaning than instruction.

I recently stumbled upon a thread by Shah Huzaifa in substack.

He had invited submissions of short stories. The short stories could be from four sections he had mentioned. I chose to write for the section:

REFLECTIONS:

Personal stories drawn from everyday moments, internal shifts or experiences that led to insight or clarity. These pieces focus on meaning than instruction.

Here are mine

Whenever I step out, be it for a walk or a journey , I find myself observing the world around me. This is in my nature. These observations often find a way in to my writing, quietly weaving a story and newsletters.

So, during my recent trip to Manali, I decided to gather three such moments.

We decided to make a short trip to Manali in this month of March. March is usually a hot month across India.

But, Manali due to its altitude and given the geography is very very cold. It touches Sub Zero degrees Celsius even in the moth of March.

For me this chill weather was indeed a jackpot weather to enjoy. The reason being, we never get to experience winters in Southern part of India. Travelling from Southern part of India to Manali is a very long journey which involves many hours even by flight due to the distance involved. After some point we had to take a car to reach Manali.

As we started approaching Manali, we could see the snow capped mountains which looked like creamy layer of butter upon a cone ice cream. It was just a beginning. Once we reached Manali we were stunned to see the breathtaking scenic beauty of snow capped mountains surrounding the whole Manali.

With a view of snow capped mountains from my room I settled comfortably with a hot cup of tea to drink made in the kitchen. There were so many important spots to visit. We zeroed in a few as we wanted to enjoy the moments of living in a such ethereal, serene and beautiful scenic place.

The most important in our itinerary was to visit Jogini Falls, Solang Valley, Atal Rohtang Pass. Added to this wish list was Rafting. I had this sudden desire to become adventurous during my stay in Manali.

Women of perseverance 🫶🏿:

Our first visit was to Jogini Falls. We had to trek up to view the falls.. While climbing, other than the scenic beauty surrounding, there was this one thing which stayed with me through out the trek.

The local women.

I could see several local women, sitting( most women were of middle or above aged ) on the rocky and gravel path, knitting continuously. Through out the trail I could see women sitting on a small rock or a small space on the ground and constantly knitting to make small show pieces like small flowers, socks, shoes, caps for infants to name a few. No shop. No shelter.

They created small woollen items like socks, caps , flowers to name a few. They had arranged the woollen items hand knit by them in an orderly manner. They were sitting on a rock or gravel and knitting day in and day out, and were making a living for their daily life.

I spoke to one of them. She said that all the meagre earnings they earned from selling these items kept their kitchens running. The weather she said was unpredictable. It played a truant for most of the time. A sunny sky could suddenly change into a downpour forcing them to run for cover.

The most amazing part what struck me was, the smile on their faces which made them look more beautiful. I could see their hands knitting continuously with a smile on their faces.

Diligent men💪

Our next visit was to Rohtang pass depended totally on the weather. When there is inclement weather the vehicles are stopped from plying towards the pass through the ATAL ROHTANG TUNNEL. Fortunately that day the weather was bright and sunny, and we were allowed to pass through the tunnel.

While we drove up the car I noticed something.

On either side of the road there were heaps of snow. To keep the road clean for the cars to ply smoothly. There were workers assigned to clean the snow collected on the pathway as and when the snow fell. I could see these workers with huge shovels in their hands clearing the snow in that extremely freezing sub zero temperatures.

But I couldn’t speak to them to gather more information. But , their labour spoke enough. It made me pause and think, how many unseen hands make our experience possible.

Intrepid Rafter 🌊

I had this wish of doing an adventurous sport in my mind for a long time. My wish got fulfilled in Manali. I didn’t ponder much to decide and went for rafting. Rafting was totally fun, the icy waters tested both balance and courage. Beyond the excitement , what stayed with me was our guide. To watch his skill and precision when navigating the boat was mind blowing. The water was not very deep, but was very rocky, chilllllllllll, and was very turbulent. The way he oared and balanced the boat was remarkable.

Once we reached the end point, his work didn’t stop there. He along with few others lifted the heavy raft and loaded it on a truck to be taken to the starting point for the next group of tourists. This wasn’t a one time affair but was his routine. Yet again there was this pleasant smile on his face which was remarkable.

In all the above three stories, there is this common thread which connects all of them

Resilience

Manual hard labour

A smile

We often travel for some respite from our monotonous routine. Some travel experiences definitely shifts our perspective about life.

These are my three small fleeting observations drawn during my latest travel to the mesmerising Manali.

I am sure we all have some memories to share from what we have observe during our travel. It could be even a small incident which must have made an impact on your mind.

Would like to hear the same in the comments section friends.