Finding my soul on 2 wheels -3

For oft, when on my couch I lie 

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

-Daffodils by William Wordsworth 

Chapter 3-Into the Wild

Mountain top in Menchukha

"This is the most beautiful place in the world." Standing on the peak of a mountain in Menchukha I am spent and revived at the same time.I am standing in the mist while a fog has just lifted between me and myself. I stand, holding the waving flag ,surfing in the waves of independence and freedom.After a long time my conscience is at ease and i am in harmony with myself.It is in this wilderness I find a joy unknown to the concrete,corporeal and  material world.

Mesmerizing view from the mountain top

In the book,"Into the Wild." Jon Krakauer has reproduced some of the letters written by Chris.I quote here few lines from a letter which Chris writes to Ron,"The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure.The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon,for each day to have a new different sun." I have lately become a recluse not because i hate people but because i want to get away from emotions.We live in a society which holds comfort as the highest ideal , the everyday expansion of consumerism is a burning example of it.Khushwant Singh rightly says that reality shows are a waste of time and i totally agree with him.We are an emotional lot and people play with emotions.Into the wilderness i have often found peace of mind and clarity of emotions.I think detachment is an important thing to learn in life and living some days on your own teaches you this.In the journey to the mountain top in Arunachal I started living again.

Raft under construction

My professors at college would be happy to see that something made by their students did float.Far from the displacement calculations and resistance measurement this was made out of bamboo and ropes.The hollow structure of bamboo provides the buoyancy and horizontal wood sticks tied to the bamboo with ropes gives the strength.With a little practice of rowing in the shallow water,one could easily handle it in deep waters.Apart from the rowing the water was too good for swimming and a good part of a day was spent here.To talk of food , my friends who visited Arunachal last time would appreciate the taste of rice cooked in bamboo.I had rice , maggi while my non veg friends had chicken cooked in bamboo shells.I had one of the tastiest lunch of my life , cooked in the wild.

The Raft Experience

At my friends' village named Jini we had plans of lazing out and fishing but rains played spoil sport.But no rains could dampen our spirits and we explored nearby places in rain.This is how we landed to this river which was exactly like the sets of movie,"Into the Wild." It reminded me of the scene when Chris decides to return back and to his dismay finds the river to be invincible.I had always dreamt of being at such a  place just with my friends with no human intrusion whatsoever, of a place where the only noise was of the roaring river,a place where humans and animals lived in harmony,of ice cold waters as clear as a crystal.

  

It is in making my own trails that I have found so much joy.Come on friends pack your bags and head into the wild.