Simla; Queen of mountains, day 2

if you wanna read about our first day in Simla, click here..

The next day I opened my eyes with the breaking news that we have 40 min to catch the bus to Manali, where we would finally see the Snow. So, again I opted for a ‘dry-clean’ and we were at ISBT but only later I came to know that Amit was not going with us. The previous night, even I wasn’t sure of going to Manali but thought it would be fun with everyone going but now I didn’t see the point with one of our chief-Bargainer opting out. Without wasting much time, I joined Loki and his two friends Ajay and Praveen who were not going to Manali and had plans to roam around in Simla. The moment I reached their room, 2-3 km uphill, Amit called me to inform that he has changed his mind and now going to Manali. There was hardly any time left to reach ISBT again but I decided to give it a shot (although when I retrospect now, I know it was crazy). The bus had left long before I reached but they couldn’t inform me as my battery had discharged. Anyhow, I resumed loki and his friends once again and went to the Skating Rink. Like small kids, we were trembling with joy on seeing the ice at the edge of the rink. We even clicked few pics holding balls of that artificial snow and carefully excluding the portions without ice in order to mock the 4 guys who were heading towards Manali. But as luck would have it, the skating time was over and we had to wait till the evening to experience the thrill.

The next thing we did was, we checked out, submitted our luggage in the cloak room and inquired about the buses for Delhi, manali and Chandigarh. No bus to Delhi and Manali till late in night and that too ‘ordinary’ and for Chandigarh at 4:30. So effectively, we had only 4 hours together and we wanted to make the most of it.

We headed back to ‘The Mall’ and had a filling lunch at ‘the Indian coffee house’. This place still gives you the feel of 70’s or 80’s through its interiors. In no other restaurant I have ever seen a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and waiters wearing pure whites and a ‘gandhi topi’, looking more of a politician. But the Paneer dosa was superb and the nariyal ki chatni, yummy!

Next we went to the St. Micheal’s church and this was one church in which you have to take off your shoes before entering; an amalgamation of hindu and Christian faiths, I guess. The church was beautiful and peaceful and we offered our prayers as well. But god wasn’t going to let us that easy; he tried us. The moment we emerged out, an immensely gorgeous girl was sitting in front of us, taking off her shoes. We were dumbstruck. I was thinking, “Common, it’s a church for god’s sake”. It was really embarrassing for all of us to act like that. But those famous lines by Ghalib, recited by either loki or Praveen, alleviated some of it.

“peene de mujhe is masjid main ae galib

Naahin to dikha de ek jagah, jahan Khuda na ho”

The laughter session never seemed to end after that.

We drifted a bit from the mall road this time and roamed on the adjoining road. Soon it was time for Loki and Praveen to bid adieu.

After sometime, Ajay and I went to the Skating Rink once again but it was not our day probably. Due to bright sun, some part of the ice had melted and was unfit for skating; dejected, we returned. But the fire of Skating had already been lit and now it was impossible to quench it. We decided to give the indoor skating rink a shot. But when I entered it, I realized how incapable I was to even stand on the rollers, let alone skating on them. Small kids, three or four times younger than me were effortlessly flying in the rink and I was getting jitters by the thoughts of the inevitable and innumerable falls I would succumb to and the number of people I would entertain with those falls once I get into those rollers.

If I was scared, then ajay was terrified. He almost dropped the idea but finally our patented ‘never say die’ attitude coerced us to jump in the battle field and emerge out as winners (no matter how much wounded!)

We paid 75 bucks each, for 45 min; it was like Isant sharma has been given the responsibility to hold on for 45 min against the Aussi’s Assault. When I swim, the same 45 minutes seems too less to me. Anyhow, both the Gladiators entered the arena holding the railing! To take even one step without jeopardizing your life was an ordeal. One guy, who, I came to know later, was the son of the owner of the rink as well, gave me some tips to maintain my balance like keep your body forward, walk by raising your foot comfortably high, don’t fear a fall and the biggest of them all – don’t hold the railing. Considering those advice as gospel truth, I left the railing and headed towards the centre. But you see, there’s gotta be some difference between a veteran and an amateur. And the difference was a fall, flat on the back. Fireworks have just begun and the remaining 45 min, that skating rink witnessed unprecedented no. of falls with occasional spurts from Ajay and other skaters. Auntijis laughed initially but they also resigned after sometime. After all, how can someone laugh for 45 min watching the same act!

One aunty said to her novice daughter, “go beti, go skate and don’t be afraid to fall but itna mat girna (pointing towards me) !!” but After initial few moments of mortification, I was enjoying each fall. People were appreciating me for the rare form of courage I had displayed by not accepting to skate along the railing despite my ass, back, knees, palms and elbows crying foul of pain and probably abusing me for giving them ‘step-motherly’ treatment! I felt like a freedom fighter, who, despite all the atrocities, didn’t take the easy path, rather carried on with his mission. I can’t define how ecstatic I felt when I was coming out of the rink; as if a whole stadium is giving me a standing ovation for making a century (maybe I actually made a century of falls!).

We were damn hungry after that self-fracturization session. We opted to have some Chinese (a very bad choice, which I realized later) and then we rushed to ISBT, in hope to catch an AC bus and avoid the jhatkes of an Ordinary bus. Ajay was lucky, for he got a seat in the AC bus. Mine was a semi-deluxe at 8:30. So, after a hilarious time in Simla, we took leave of one another. I boarded my bus. The ticket man gave me seat no. 34 but allowed me to sit on seat no. 1 but finding it uncomfortable after some time, I decided to more to 34. But jaws of misfortune were avidly waiting for me there. It was nauseatingly smelly at that seat; probably some bastard had removed his shoes and let his socks to spread the sickening odor. I could sense that something wasn’t right but before I could go back, the reflex action had already started. Ironically it started minutes after I took the tablet to stop vomiting. I was questioning my decision to go to Manali in those moments. This was only the beginning. It started again after 30 min and yet again after an hour. All those beautiful memories of Shimla suddenly evaporated except the pain in my right elbow (Which is still irking while I am writing this). I just wished that night to be over. If I could have spotted a bus going back to delhi at that time, I would have certainly hopped in. I just prayed to reach Manali as soon as possible.

to read about the roller-coster ride in Manali, click here

to read about our first day in Simla, click here..