Kalsubai - Journey to the top

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Tzu 

I stood with my arms outstretched like a starfish announcing my latest conquest. At 5400 ft the entire state of Maharashtra lay at my feet hailing the conqueror. I had successfully climbed the ‘Everest of Maharashtra’. An exhilarated feeling ran through me giving me goosebumps. Nestled in the Sahayadri ranges, Kalsubai is one of the prominent trekking points in the Western Ghats. However, unlike other trekking points, proper pathway and well laid out steps and ladders make the climb a less daunting task for the ‘muggle’ trekkers.

Like Ninja turtles, the four of us mounted our backpacks and started off from a small village called Bari, a little after two in the afternoon. The village showed signs of an impending season of merciless summer. The sun had soaked nearby ponds dry. Women with their earthenware queued up at a nearby borewell while some elderly men sat under a tree that spread its wings to provide shelter from the sweltering heat. The grass was sparse and what was left of it had turned yellow. Intermediate breeze was a welcome guest. Even the livestock acknowledged the summer that was upon them and made sure that none of the water that spilled over went waste, lapping up excess water.

An uphill task

We began our journey at quarter to three. After receiving some preliminary advice from a localite we set off on our journey. My journey to the top was more of a start-stop campaign. I had scaled the much more treacherous Harishchandragad year ago but Kalsubai proved to be an onerous task from the word go. Probably it was the heat or just a mental block or maybe both. I was to find out soon. 

As our journey to the top gathered pace I began to slow down. The winding paths and the upward trajectory kept adding a few pounds to my untrained leg muscles with every step. Shallow quick breaths made me feel as if oxygen was being sucked out of my lungs. My mouth soon turned dry reflecting the moisture-less environmental surroundings. I began to thirst and stop at regular intervals. My friends kept egging me on sometimes hurling abuses at me and sometimes there were just kind words. Either ways they meant well and proved to be just the sort of push I needed under the prevailing conditions.

The journey was fraught with stamina and mental strength issues. Every time I rested to catch my breath or have water it kept chipping away at my confidence. I kept telling my friends I can’t do it and they kept urging me to push on.

It was not all gloomy though. Breathtaking views of the villages and the farm areas in the surrounding Nashik district were a sight to adore as we kept clawing our way to the top. At regular intervals there were small sheds made by the villagers. Some were used my villagers as refreshment kiosks for the trekkers.

Task accomplished

Our major concern was reaching in time to the top of the mount to catch a glimpse of the sunset and set our tent before the light fades. My pace was slower than a tortoise on its worst day. I kept backing myself to do it. I knew I could do it. One step at a time. The perseverance and constant encouragement from friends paid off and I made it to the top.  I did it. It took us 3 hours. The view from the top of Kalsubai was breathtaking. Gusty winds and a fading sun made all the struggle and pain disappear. We set up our tent just below the top of the peak. Collecting dry sticks from surrounding areas, we set up a bbq area. Using basalt stones which proved to be good enough to make a sigri, we designed a makeshift bbq. Using slender sticks as a makeshift grill plate we used a handy trident shaped tool as skewers to bbq sausages and kebabs. The thrill of barbequing in the wild was simply wonderful. The ingenuity of using tools made available to us by Mother Nature made us feel closer to our ancestors.

All’s well that ends well

After drowning our exhaustion in mild spirits and gobbling up our barbequeued food, we retired for the day in our humble tents. The next day we packed our belongings, cleared the area of all rubbish. We refilled our bottles with the help of a nearby well which was shortly followed by our descent. The climb down the mountain was relatively easy but slippery at times. The view of the valley down was simply awesome. We had a bird’s eye view of the contours of the land. It took us just under 2 hours including all the stops we made to capture precious moments through our phone lenses. Just before we could reach our starting point we quenched our thirst with some home-made lemon juice. Upon reaching the start point we rushed straight to the bore well pump to quench our thirst. After that we helped ourselves with some lip smacking kanda poha and local tea. After cleaning ourselves up we packed our trekking kit in the car’s trunk and headed back to our homes. Thus came to an end a memorable trek. 

On Top Down Under

Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm   - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don’t all of us love to eat burgers? A Big Mac or Whopper takes an average of 30 secs to prep. McDonald’s in a 2013 survey found it sells 75 burgers every single second of every minute of every hour of every single day. That’s an astonishing stat. Our hunger can be insatiable. I bet no one spares a thought for the ones who makes these possible. I am proud to be one among those millions who has worked or who work at one of such food outlets.

No worries mate

The phone rings at 5:15 am. Reluctantly, I pick it up still cosily tucked under my blanket. Out comes a very cold voice that froze into my ears “Can you come in to work?” I didn’t have a choice. I had made myself available for that day. Originally meant to be a 3-4 hr shift, it ended up being an eight hour nightmare. After I had finished feeding the hungry beasts I wondered if I would manage to make it past the first month. I used to mostly ‘open’ or ‘close’ meaning I had to start either at 5 am or sign off by 12 or later. Being a night owl I hated the opening shift and the chilly Aussie weather added to my misery. But it was the closing shift that made me work my fingers to the bone. Washing all food trays, saucepans and other food handling equipments was a task. Getting stuff ready for the early morning shift was another task. In between all this customers had to be served and quality adhered to. Sweeping, scrubbing and swabbing the entire restaurant floor squeezed every last bit of strength that your body could muster. I used to look like a tramp, battle-bruised.

Awwwwesome

Then came a welcome move. The restaurant manager decided to hire young guns from other nationalities who really desired the job and who could make a difference in the working atmosphere. Needless to say, Indians were the first in line. Indians are known to have a very good track record away from home, unlike our national cricket team. It soon turned out to be a master stroke, not just for the restaurant but for me too. I resented work and now I looked forward to it.

Turning point

At first the whole place looked alien, working alongside guys who thought they were characters from marvel comics. Guys were testosterone fuelled and girls though some good others were least to say obnoxious. The accent was foreign and difficult to follow. Local slangs made matters worse. A fast paced environment with a demanding work ethic was difficult to cope with initially. Coordination and communication was a major stumbling block even for a person from an English speaking background. My confidence to operate in such a hostile and sometimes racist environment was at its lowest. This changed as more Indians were hired. As one would expect, the medium of communication changed from English to Hindi. ‘Tuh-ma-toh’ was exchanged for ‘tuh-ma-tur’ and mate became ‘yaar’. Hostility made way for camaraderie, enthusiasm replaced dull and boring. The roaring tigers had chased the hopping kangaroos. We would egg on each other when the chips were down. We loved working with each other. Even pain felt like pure ecstasy. We used to get a high working with each other. None of us had done this kind of work at home and now we were just killing it. Our working spirit raised the performance level not only of our restaurant but set a new benchmark for other stores in the area. Store and sales records were broken one after the other. Business soared. We were rewarded for our outstanding performances.  Of course, this didn’t happen without us attracting some amount of criticism and jealousy from fellow Aussies. But our charisma was just too much for them to resist for too long.

Good onya, bastard!

It is said that the first thing you pick up from a new language are the swear words. That’s right. We taught the Roos some cool Hindi words. It so happened that one of our overenthusiastic colleague happened to collide with an Indian female in a mall. Her reaction to this incident irked him and he said something that completely outraged her much to his amusement. To his defence, he didn’t know what it meant. He had just learnt the word on his previous shift and in his enthusiasm to showcase his Hindi skills put it in play. The lady at the mall came close enough to leave an imprint on his Irish face. He had just called her a prostitute! After this incident we put out a disclaimer of not owning any responsibility for any consequences one could suffer due to their verbal (mis)adventures.

Work hard, play hard

I didn’t realise how three years had passed. We dominated the proceedings in the restaurant but were never hostile towards any rookie or towards any Aussie. In fact we had crew members who would love to party with us the Indian way. Other nationality workers got a leg up to voice their concerns because of us. Finally, when I parted ways I realised three amazing things had just happened. Firstly, I got friends with whom I still share an invisible but significant bond. Secondly, it gave me the confidence to achieve anything provided your mind and heart are in it. Lastly, and more importantly it helped me pay off my Uni loan, my cross. These friends through their presence unknowingly had helped me overcome the impossible. Confucius in his wisdom once said “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” As a dedication to all those friends I through my own, somewhat bitter experience, have this to say, ‘Find friends you love to work with, and you will never feel you worked a single day.’