Good friends don’t let you do stupid things… alone! This stands so true for five of us. Since our first day at college, we have been so stupid yet connected to each other. I was lost in these thoughts of mine when Peeyush pulled my hair… “Get up! We are at Manali, the bus ends here.” he said.

I told him… “Believe me, thinking nice about you guys is a sin”.

“Then welcome to the reality Mr Raghav and if you don’t mind, we need to get down and take another bus to Leh, Ladakh”, said Gaurav.

At 6 am, we boarded bus to Leh, soon we realised that we are the only Indian tourists in that bus who were on their way to the little Tibet.

Every turn on the Manali-Leh highway imprints unforgettable images. In summer, it seems that everyone heads towards Leh. There was a stream of buses and motorbikes travelling along the second highest motorable road in the world, which reaches a dizzying altitude of 5,328m. Path to Leh depicts some very dramatic scenes from bumpy asphalt to dirt tracks slices by glacial streams. On our 485 km long journey, we passed through different river courses and had an overnight camp at Sarchu.… At Sarchu, due to altitude, my nose started bleeding and lack of oxygen sent me out of this world. I acclimatised to the conditions by the morning. It took us around 24 hours to reach the final destination.

Our first expression for this amazing place – Leh was, WOW!! It’s a desert amidst mountains. Five of us reached Leh –Ashutosh, Gaurav, Peeyush Abhijeet and me – to escape the crazy heat of Delhi. After reaching the common thought that hovered in our mind was- now what…? Walking aimlessly like nomads through the tiny Ladakhi Hamlet… we saw some colourful hand-made posters hanging along sides of the pathway. These poster said – “Invitation to every one local or global, be a part of THE LADAKH CONFLUNENCE, 2010.”

Peeyush read it first and showed his excitement towards the event. “Hey guys let’s check this out, we might find many reasons to spend some good time here” said Peeyush.

Gaurav and Abhijeet were not interested as they were keener to do rafting at Zanskar River, to which I gave a BIG NO. Ashu and Me took Peeyush’s side; majority won – we noted down the address of the venue, it was only 15 minutes of walk from the hamlet. What a pictorial setting it was, there were some make-shift camps, with adequate arrangements to keep them warm at night, three of its sides were guarded by some of the world’s most impressive mountain peaks. Entrance of the confluence welcomed everyone with the message – -

“The Ladakh Confluence is dedicated to improving public understanding of the environmental, social and cultural importance of Ladakhi ecosystems and fostering a spirit of conservation stewardship.”

We entered inside and everywhere around us we could see buzz of activities. It was a mixed community, some of the most talented people from across the country and abroad. They were all working together to make this confluence a success.

We were basking ourselves in the glory of this place, at that very moment we heard a very concerned voice of a girl. The voice came from the control room set-up in a canopy at the centre of confluence campus. She was talking through a satellite phone to someone stuck at the Manali – Leh Highway. We were facing her back while trying to listen to her conversation. As soon as she disconnected the phone, we approached her. Ashu made an attempted to ask her, what is the matter? At his politest best behaviour, he asked “Excuse me can we help you with something?”

She turned towards us and a gentle breeze of air made her hair fall all over her face. She tied them and looked at us. Her glowing face had loads of worries on it; there were some immense concerns in her deep blue eyes. Standing half in the shade of the canopy and half in the sun – her fair skin seemed to have a day and night impact on it. She was tall, dressed in yellow T-Shirt, denim jeans and a red journalist type jacket – she looked stunning, especially in the clear environs of Leh. These were not the colours which would look good on anybody, of course not on me.

She told us that a group of 10 school students who were coming here for the performance are stranded at least 20 kms from here because their bus had got punctured. They should have been here by evening otherwise. “I am worried for them, it is getting cold and I don’t think there will be any means of transport available late in the evening.”

Peeyush promptly asked her “Do you have any vehicle to pick these students from that place”. She said “I do have, but who will drive?”

“We will drive to get them here” said Abhijeet.

I pulled Gaurav to some distance in between this discussion and said “I think Peeyush and the Bengali babu have gone nuts, tell them not to commit to this. Damn we can’t drive, it is not New Delhi”.

Peeyush again said “five of us are ready to help you out, right Ashu.”

Ashu was lost somewhere else, he was fondly looking at the lady, and I doubt he heard any bit of it.

He said in haste and out of compulsion “Yes”, I asked him “Do you know for what you have given this big Yes”.

He was definitely in some other world, probably weaving his love story, Ashu asked the lady “May I know your name please”.

Four of us were shocked and looked at him – what a guy? Was he lost somewhere, how come he can ask something like this at such a moment?

She replied to him hurriedly – “I am Ruchika”

Promptly he said “I am Ashutosh, nice meeting you and we will get the students right here, I will drive.”

We almost laughed and pulled him… “Hold on man, you are trying to impress her at the wrong time, what if you fail”… asked Gaurav.

Ashu said “Oh I have friends like you, I can’t fail, and we can’t fail. I love her already and Raghavvv please try to be bit sensible this time. Don’t mess up. It is a question of your friend’s life”

I said “Okay, already forgetting friends hmmm, don’t worry we will get the students here and instead leave you there.”

We all laughed to this. In the mean while, Ruchika gave keys for two Tata Sumos and expressed her gratitude towards us. Peeyush and Ashutosh stayed back, so that students can be accommodated comfortably in both the SUVs. I swear Ashutosh must have been the happiest one, to stay back.

Ruchika gave us route map of the highway and Gaurav decided to lead. Abhijeet and I followed him, with me on the driver’s seat. Dusk was already falling with sun going down .Following Gaurav was getting tough. Suddenly, an army truck over took us and we lost Gaurav. Holding on to our nerves we kept on driving to reach our destination, at around 1900 hrs Abhijeet got a call on his cell, it was Ashutosh – “Reached? Abhijeet said “No”, He said “But Gaurav has reached”. “What and when, we are still driving” was Abhijeet’s reply. I applied sudden brakes to screeching halt. Abhijeet gave me the news that probably we have come far. It was 1915 hrs; we took a sharp about turn because we surely had crossed the point. We drove fast and after about 45 minutes we reached a bridge built by BRO.  It was the same bridge where we over took army truck. Both of us saw couple of headlights and parking lights flashing. As we reached nearer to those lights –it was getting dark and cold – we saw group of students standing behind Gaurav and the Bus driver.

I knew, I am going to be slogged now, I was right to think so – at peak of his voice Gaurav screamed on me – “Are you nuts, were you here for racing and overtaking, that too an army truck; I kept waving and jumping but you flew, Idiot.”

I simply said – “I never intended this, sorry boy,” But he was fuming, god damn his tamper. Well he informed organisers at the Confluence village that we were returning with the students. We did head count of students and seated them in both the vehicles. This time Abhijeet drove one and the driver drove another. Gaurav and I sat with Abhijeet in the front.

Don’t know when we reached because we both slept. Abhijeet also slept in the vehicle as soon as we reached Confluence village. At around 07.00 hrs in the morning, three of us were woken up by Peeyush. He said… look what have you guys done – main stage of the Confluence had a thanks message at the backdrop. IT said “We thank our Saviours and Heroes”.

And the event started with the song “We shall overcome”, especially dedicated to us. We were overwhelmed. Everyone greeted us. Gaurav told Peeyush “Raghav almost did it again this time” and cracked in laughter.

I asked Peeyush, where is Ashutosh. He pointed towards the left side of the main stage Ashu was standing happily, laughing and giggling with Ruchika. Peeyush said “it’s a long story but they are in Love, I guess so.”

Abhijeet said “Need to come back to the Confluence next year; who knows we may also find someone.”

Hahahahahahah………..we burst into laughter.

Friends at Leh - Part 4 - Raghav's adventure story, 6.6 out of 10 based on 13 ratings