It's never solo

 

Sandakphu

 

My brother Vishal had come from Vapi for our trek. We had decided to go to ‘Sandakphu’ in West Bengal. For that we had to go to Darjeeling. We were told that there would be too much cold and were advised to bring ample woollen clothes and thermals. On the first day at home my brother told me that he didn’t feel much cold but on the second day, he felt cold. So I told him and my other friends that I didn’t feel much cold and they should not imitate me and buy some inner thermals. They followed my advice and bought thermals.

We took train to Delhi and a flight from Delhi to Kolkata. We reached Kolkata early in morning and freshened up. Our next flight was from Kolkata to Bagdogra.  The flight took off in time.  It was a small flight of 30 minutes only. I ordered some nodules on flight and the air-hostess was delaying the order so that we land but then the flight was not able to land because of bad weather even after taking 2 circles and we had to return. Then I told the air-hostess to bring my nodules as it would take 30 more minutes. She smiled and brought my instant nodules instantly. The announcements were going on at the airport that if we want fare to be returned they would return it as there were no more flights on that day. The next flight was on the next day. We decided not to take any refund. We all were new there so Sandip called his dealer at the airport. I asked the port manager of Jet Airways if we could get any accommodation nearby as we didn’t know anyone there but he said there was no hotel around. Sandip’s dealer also came but he was also not aware about that area. We decided to search for ourselves. As we were leaving, the port manager came and said, “Do you want to arrange for hotel?” I said “Yes, but in how much?” He said it was free from ‘Jet Airways’ and we all agreed. He explained that a taxi would come to drop us to hotel and the same taxi would come to pick us up in the morning at the time of the flight. We thanked him and moved to a hotel which was around 5 minutes in taxi. Instead of resting we decided to get out and roam around as we just had a single night to roam around.

It looked like we had returned in old India, small shops and hand-pulled rickshaws. It looked like a scene from film. We enjoyed a night there and the driver took us to the airport and this time we landed in Bagdogra. We went to our camp and the trek started. In this trek we stayed one night in Nepal also as it was along the border of Nepal.

I was made the trek leader of our group. I had protested against it by telling that I was used to trek by seeing everything in detail and therefore I was always the last to reach. It was the duty of the trek leader to reach first, so they appointed a deputy trek leader to stay ahead and I stayed last as always. My friends and my brother demanded the best room in the hotel telling that it was for the trek leader. I was comfortable with any room but still enjoyed whatever they were doing.

The atmosphere was too cold that we had to wear our socks, gloves, jackets etc. while sleeping also. We were advised to put camphor tablets in our socks for heat. Everything we saw on the way was frozen. We saw many frozen water falls and some sparkling icicles. This was the longest trek where the longest distance covered by us was 14 kilometres in a day. There were some ‘Land Rovers’, which were taking people to Sandakphu in just 5000/- rupees. These were very old and even the Land Rover company had disowned them so we didn’t take the risk.

There was a point from where we could see mountains at 360 degrees. I mean wherever you see, you can see mountains only. We came to know that it was illegal to take garments from India to Nepal so the garments were smuggled from there.

Finally we reached Sandakphu, the highest point of West Bengal. Temperature there at day time was around -4 to -5 degrees Celsius but at night it fell to -8 or -10 degrees Celsius and wind blew with full force. We were housed in a wooden hotel. One had to melt snow for water requirements. In the morning water in the pipes would be frozen so I had to change my toilet habit and to go at night time. There was also army check post and we were required to register there. They did duty in such atmosphere at night also and the person on duty would have to empty all the rubber hoses of water otherwise they would burst when ice was formed at night. I felt proud of our army. Hats off to them for doing their duty in such harsh conditions where fumes rose when we urinated in bathroom and the water kept in the bucket turned into ice at night.

The sun rise of Sandakphu was amazing but we had to get up at 6:00 AM to witness it and it was so cold that after clicking just one photo one had to wear gloves again but it was a mesmerizing experience. After eating some momos on the way we returned to Darjeeling, the tea capital of India. The trek got over and we had kept 2-3 days more for Darjeeling.

We went to market and we saw many of the shops had some colorful square pieces which looked like erasers to me and like loban to other friends. We asked to a shopkeeper and he said it was cheese and it was hard cheese. I wanted to buy some green tea for friends at home so went to a tea shop and asked about green tea so she asked whether I wanted green tea or black tea. I did not know the difference so she explained me. Then I asked her frankly, “How can we check the quality of tea?” She told that the tea with 1 flush was costliest and its price decreased with number of flushes and also to know the quality and fragrance of tea leaves we need to crush them in our fist and smell them. I learnt a lot about tea from her and also bought many packets of green tea and black tea for my friends and family. I saw a wind flute in the shop of ‘Tribes of India’ and bought it also. I was awed by the collection of ‘Khukuris’, the traditional weapon of the Ghurkhas, in Khukuri house shop. I wanted to buy one but then they were priced very high and secondly it had no use for me. We did buy some trekking equipments. I came to know that Sandakphu was the training ground for Himalayan Expedition and one could hire Sherpa from here for the expedition. Some of the fellow trekkers also went for some country liquor made from rhododendron flowers. I could not get any chance to taste it but it smelled nice. I celebrated my birthday there by giving party to my friends.

Finally we took train to return as we had not booked our return flight. We enjoyed some great Gulabjamuns and Rosogullas on the station sold by vendors. I also bought some wooden toys as they were fascinating. It took around 42 hours of travel and it was cold so I decided never to book train for return journey. I got fever in train, something which had not happened even in the sub-zero temperatures. Finally we all reached home after lots of boredom and lots of sleep.

Link to the book

Auto

Yusuf and Amna were like made for each other. They loved each other from the days of schooling, which lasted only till fifth. Then Yusuf’s time went in roaming and chewing mavas and Amna’s father decided that if she will study more then it will be difficult to find a matching groom from their community. So she was made to leave school and learn house hold chores and to help her mother in taking care of their house and four other siblings.

As time passed their love was growing desperate, but Amna’s father was adamant in not marrying them as Yusuf had no other work except to roam and spit. So finally they ran away from their house. They landed in a big city where one of the friends of Yusuf was living. This friend’s economic condition was also pathetic as he used to drive an auto by morning and drink by night. Even after being in this profession for years all together, he was not able to own his auto. Leave aside owning, the simple idea of owning also was not in his mind. He just drank all these years while his poor wife toiled hard working as house maid in the rich neighbourhood. Yusuf saw all this; he had no choice so he took up the job of driving auto with his friend. Their boss was hard but caring and due to that reason only Yusuf got the auto to drive. Amna also joined to work as house maid, and all the wheels started to turn.

One year passed like that and Amna gave birth to a girl, she was named Khusi, for she bought happiness in their life. Amna being sensitive to the pressures on her husband had taken leave only for fifteen days. But fifteen days were enough to be thrown out of the job. Anyway even Khusi was too small to be left alone. So understanding this situation even Yusuf advised her to stay at home and rest. Yusuf started to run auto in both the shifts during the day also and during the night also. He also made a major change in life style by shunning mavas to make way for baby food for Khusi. Amna was overjoyed and she thought that birth of Khusi had worked the wonder in making Yusuf give up his oldest habit; the habit which even her love could not remove. They also moved away from their friend’s house as Yusuf thought that the environment of the house was not conducive for healthy growth of Khusi.  Another year passed like that. Yusuf had also taken the work of delivering big parcels from the industrial zones. The birth of Khusi had changed Yusuf entirely. He was once very gruff and worked only on his condition and on his mood; even his talking style was not harmonious. But now he mellowed down and treated his customers with care and was friendly with everyone. Even his fellow auto drivers were stunned by these sudden changes. These changes proved highly profitable for Yusuf and there was no dearth of customers for him. Finally he was able to earn enough to buy diapers for Khusi and even Amna was freed from reusing cloth diapers and her work as house maid. She wanted to start that work again but it was Yusuf who explained her mother’s role in the child’s development and persuaded her not to work, so she had not taken up any work after the birth of Khusi. But still her conscious bit and always she thought of making her husband’s burden light. One more year went by, but the change of attitude had helped Yusuf in thinking new and he was thankful to god for his gift of happiness in form of Khusi, which had opened his all doors of intellect, humour, friendliness, love, family and above all self-respect.

One day the wife of Yusuf’s very friend came running to Amna’s house with the news that her husband had attempted suicide by throwing himself in front of an express train. Amna called Yusuf instantly. He arrived fast and all went directly to the hospital. Luckily the friend was saved but train had taken away his feet with it. All were shattered by the condition. Yusuf started to think by waiting outside on the hospital bench. Amna persuaded the friend’s wife and their two daughters to live with them. Yusuf was impressed by his choice of Amna as his wife. For a person who can’t understand pain of others will never feel the pain even of his family members.

Everyone was getting used to the situation.  Amna had a tradition as well as compulsion in her house in her childhood days to work with threads and intricate design making in the sarees. She was expert in designs involving high level of skill and concentration. Then she had thought to start making dresses but Khusi was still small and Amna’s full time went in taking her care. But after six months when Khusi was put in a play house Amna seized the opportunity and to boost her confidence joined a sewing class. She even persuaded Yusuf to pay fees of his friend’s wife. And Amna even requested the class to take their fees in instalments, which they agreed. On the end of the training both the women were ready with their fingers to grab whatever they could get. Even their class teacher helped them by giving them few contacts of ready made stores and personally recommended them.  So they also started to earn, it was Yusuf’s duty to bring the material and deliver the dresses to the owners. He felt happy at the consideration shown by the women to reduce his burden. The work of accounting was given to Yusuf’s friend just to make him feel wanted.

One usual day Yusuf was doing his work of delivering passengers when he heard two salesmen talking about their marketing and selling and how hard it was to sell. Yusuf was interested in the work so he pleaded the salesmen to explain him their work, which they gladly did. So next morning only Yusuf tried his hand in marketing, his first call failed and for next call he had to wait as his regular passenger had already arrived. In noon too his three sales calls failed so he now realized what those sales men meant and said was correct that selling was not an easy work. But he had nothing to lose as he was doing this marketing thing in his spare time only as he could not afford to lose in his passenger income. Though his burden had become less because of Amna but still he had to have his regular income to run the house. At the end of the day Yusuf was coming in contact with at least 20 people; all with different professions and different mind sets and different psychologies. He was observing these people for fun at first and then later on studying these people for their buying and spending habits. This observation proved fruitful and he was able to sell some of the products directly to his permanent customers. This boosted his courage and later on he decided to concentrate on one product only; which he observed was selling the fastest. This was Surf Excel “Daag acche hote hain”. He then approached the wholesaler and made a deal with him for selling 500 units per month. He was offered a commission of Rs 5 per unit which was very good. But instead of taking Rs 5 commission he offered a rebate of Rs 4 to his customers and just kept with himself Re 1 commission. This worked wonders and he was able to complete his selling target. Within one month itself his sales soared to 50 units per day. He then decided that it was time to invest in his business, so he purchased his own auto by a bank loan as all the money earned by his selling was free from liabilities as his primary income was enough to run his house.

Yusuf got his auto redesigned with the idea from one of his passenger friend who was an interior designer. It was designed in the Surf style and also had glass drawers inside so that passengers can help themselves and grab the Surf unit. When he showed his auto to the wholesaler he too liked the idea and called in sales executives of the company and they too liked the idea and Yusuf was paid the full amount of the redesign for his idea was worth more than that. Now he could spare some time for himself so he enrolled himself in a spoken English class as it was his long awaited dream to be able to talk to the foreigners who boarded his auto. His family along with Amna ridiculed him but he enjoyed their teasing also. After updating himself it was time to update his family which of course included his friend’s family. He enrolled the elder daughter of his friend in a computer class to give her knowledge of internet. One night Yusuf’s wife Amna asked “Why don’t we buy another auto and keep a driver?” Yusuf replied “Oh yes, it’s a good idea, but why to buy something which we can lease or rent?” Amna was confused and asked Yusuf to explain. So Yusuf explained to her his plan of starting a travel agency. And for this purpose only he had learnt English and had enrolled the daughter of his friend in computer class. Amna was overjoyed by the thought How intelligent is my husband and gave his kisses and strong hug for his advance thinking even for occupying his friend and making him self-sufficient.

One a brand new laptop arrived and it set on their travel agency business with on-line booking from station to station including hotels, sight seeing, guides and of course auto booking. This was one more brilliant idea that culminated from the fertile mind of Yusuf. This business was entirely operated by Yusuf’s friend and his daughter. Further more Yusuf included his former boss of his first auto in the business as he had not forgotten the opportunity he had given his when he needed it the most. He names this agency as “Khusi Tours and Travels”. As for Yusuf he never stopped his auto business as it was this business that had given him lots of ideas and continued to give him such workable ideas wherein with little capital and lots of hard work and luck one could make miracles and above all could churn the dreams into reality.

Yusuf finally repaid his full loan and became a big man and above that proved himself as a great human which is very difficult to do. He never parted with his auto. When people asked him about his success he always told “I concentrated on one product, one family and one auto and rest of the things came automatically” he also added “Allah meharban to gadha pehalvan” and laughed off his success in modest way.