Cloud Nine Ecstasy – Mission accomplished - Back to the Square - Part [VIII]

Home alone, yes after spending over ten days all by myself, yesterday my family came back from the tour. During this period I also enjoyed a day with my students and of-course there was Laxmi Puja, which remembered for the prasads  that I have to consume on behalf of my family.
Now let me come to the last and concluding part of my tour. August 31, left Pipalkoti as our daily scheduled time, exactly 7am. Things were not as smooth as expected; we were stuck over one hour due to Landslide near Rudraprayg. We took that opportunity to have our breakfast. We also stopped by the Rudraprayag confluence for half hour. Four of our group members left us at this point. Suhash Kasande and  Suhash Kulkarni planned to visit Kedarnath so they decided to depart from here and Soumitra Biswas and Sutapa Biswas decided to stay back in Rudraprayg for the day.
On way to Hrishikesh ->
Rudraprayag named after Lord Shiva (Rudra), is situated at the holy confluence of Alaknanda and Mandakini rivers and at an altitude of 1000 m. The meeting of the Mandakini and Alaknanda  rivers has a unique beauty of its own and it seems as if two sisters were embracing each other. The entire region is blessed with immense natural beauty, places of religious importance, lakes and glaciers.
Rudraprayag ->>
This time too, we stopped at Srinagar for our lunch. This journey was not very pleasing one, sun was blazing and obviously it was very hot. Late afternoon we stopped by a small village for tea but I decided against it. Finally, we reached at GMVN Yatra office in Hrishikesh by six evening. From here onwards, all departed their own way. Madhusudhan Bhaiji and myself decided to lodge for the night at Gujarathi Bhavan, a mutt in Hrishikesh. Got nice hot meal served by the mutt, I was tired so gone to sleep immediately.
Village life hard way		Landslides		God is the painter
Hrishikesh or Rishikesh : is a city and in Dehradun district in the state of Uttarakhand. It is at an altitude of 372 metres (1,220 ft). It is located in the foothills of the Himalaya in northern India. It is also known as the gateway to the Himalayas and is located around 25 kilometres away from another holy city, Haridwar.
All from Mahabharata		Here comes Ganges		Born Free
Next morning, September 1, my return ticket booked for Upasana Express from Haridwar and scheduled time was night 11.55pm. Morning decided to go for little sight-seeing around Hrishikesh, Laxman Jhula and near by places only. Hopping around the temples is not a pleasure for me but visiting the bank of Ganges was a good one. After coming back to Gujarathi Bhavan had our lunch and packed our luggage. It was raining heavily, got an auto-Rickshaw and went to Hrishikesh station to catch the 2pm. Harishikesh-Haridwar train. Madhusudhan Bhaiji decided to get himself lodged in Gujarathi Bhavan but this time it was in Haridwar. For me it was just process of killing the remaining time. After a light dinner around 8pm. decided to go to the Haridwar station and waited there for the train.
River Bank		Laxman Jhula		Nature at its Best
There were no hitches, train was on time and boarded without any difficulties, but I reached in Kolkata well over 9 hour late. Indian Railways seems very rich; imagine the cost occurred to keep the coaches cool. Disembarked at 1pm on 3rd September, end of a memorable yet very successful trip. Hot and humid Kolkata climate welcomed me back with a big smile like ‘eureka! Got you ’. By 4pm., I was back to my worktable even I was tired.
I must thank a few people, Mr. Rathi, the bus driver, driving on those routes is very dangerous. The conductor of the bus, do not know him by his name, Mr. Narendra Rana the tour guide and last but not least to all my group members, their co-operation which mattered the most. While moving around Garhwal, two persons was always there in my mind, one is my late friend KS and other was a 18 years old and  innocent boy named Bharat, who worked in my office 30 years back as a peon and one day gone back home to join the Indian Army. I always treated him like my kid brother; both of these fellows were originally belongs to this district. Bharat wrote me a few letters but unfortunately, I was in aboard, by the time I received those he was not traceable. Hope he is living happily in one of those beautiful valleys.
Unbelievable, planning for next destination, this time with a few students and most probably heading same way. If it is going to happen it have to be next year itself. Because, I do not have another twenty-three years  in my hand to chase this one.
!!!Isolated? Just look within you, someone is always there to share all your emotions, your pains, gains, joys and sorrows, identify, you will always be in good company.!!! [Journey Concluded....]