A pandemic and a not so midlife crisis made us contemplate on the possibility of taking a trip to Auli. The planning of the original Auli trip idea began in 2019 and it finally came into being on 10th December 2021. We had a series of events in our lives that necessitated this trip away from all the chaos. Technically, it would be a lie if we told you that it was exactly as planned. We have always liked the idea of going on a trip with absolute strangers, and probably have the Naina moment from Yeh Jawani hai Diwani. Instead turned out to be like Bunny, who traveled with a few friends and a bunch of strangers.
The actual trip vibe started when the driver stopped at a mini waterfall at Joshimath and started shouting at us “Wake up! You guys are not here just to sleep”. After sightseeing at Joshimath on our first day, we all gathered around a bonfire for a tiny celebration of our trip. Although the event started with music, dance and fun, it later evolved into an experiential exchange of life stories. Starting from high-school love stories to inter-caste marriage problems, people shared hard-hitting life changing personal experiences. Apart from personal issues, people also shared the struggles undergone by them in their professional life and how they picked themselves up to keep going for their dreams. These stories were so inspiring that they rekindled the dulled spark in us. We had the best driver anyone could ask for as a travel companion. He seemed more than 60 years old but had the spirit of a teenager. He gave the real spotlight of the event by sharing his experiences on traveling from Kanyakumari to Leh as a youngster.
With this new found attitude, we started the next day of our journey to Auli ski destination via the second highest and longest ropeway in Asia that connects Joshimath and Auli. This ropeway offered us breathtaking panoramic views of the majestic Himalayan peaks and the pristine Chenab lake. From the ski resort, we trekked through alluring Deodar and Oak forests to reach the peak and enjoy the 3600 scenic beauty of the Himalayan ranges. This trek on the slightly dangerous snow-covered slippery slopes was made easy by the support of the stranger-turned-friends from our travel group.
On the way back to Delhi, we explored all the four rivers that unite into the Prayag that ‘connotes the sacred Garhwal Himalaya confluences’. Finally we took a pit stop at Rishikesh, where we all had the last dinner together at the banks of Ganga near the iconic Laxman Jhula before departing on our way back to the humdrum routine. Though we all may or may not meet each other again, we will cherish these memories that we made for a lifetime. We had a great opportunity to vent out our stress through exploration and spending time with people who walk in different paths of life.
Keerthic Aswin is a first year PhD student at Dr. Vivek T Natarajan’s lab. His research focuses on investigating the roles of exonucleases in vitiligo and SARS-CoV2.
Sahana is a PhD candidate at Dr. Vinod Scaria’s lab. She is currently pursuing her research in the field of Pharmacogenomics. She is a realistic dreamer who loves to break the barriers and explore new things in life.