They had reached almost till about 8 Kms to Gangotri (Probably till Bhairon Ghati..I think in retrospect) on bikes after which they had to trek a few Kilometers through snow to reach Gangotri. Kaushik decided to stay back at Gangotri..while cat-foot Sandhu treaded on towards Gomukh and beyond. There apparently was a place called Tapovan beyond Gomukh where a Sanyasini Mataji lived throughout the year. Our brave man did try onwards beyond Gomukh but met with an obstacle too overpowering. A nasty blizzard cut his progress and he was barely able to navigate his way back to Gangotri because of the sheer whiteness all around.

This adventurous little story I have thence narrated to several of my friends, relatives, colleagues and siblings alike and all the while a secret desire was getting nurtured and getting stronger by the day till several years later I actually started an annual schedule to live my deepest passion. Naturally, even my first trip to Gomukh was actually intended for Tapovan. After that first attempt in 2001, I did come back to the Bhagirathi Valley several times in the next 30 months (5 times to be precise) but never could manage to get past Gomukh. Tapovan remained elusive for me. It was as if, my time had not come!

Ominous Begining

Finally in October 2003 Rupendra (my long time buddy at work and treks) and Pattu (My cousin's friend) and I planned out a trek to and beyond Tapovan, me persisting with my luck to have a go at it another time. The plan was to go till Tapovan, crossover to Nandanvan the next day, see Vasuki Taal and explore the Kalindikhal route the day next and camp back at Gomukh. Go back till Harshil the next day and then onto Delhi, the day next. It was a weeklong plan. Ever since our experience of summer snowfall at Bhojwasa in 2002, I had taken to the support of Crystal Adventure in all my treks and this one was no exception.

On the scheduled day of start, we started out as usual at 0400 hrs (a schedule that I follow till date). To our dismay, we discovered, we had a flat tyre just about 5 minutes after the start. Changing tyres right at the beginning wasn't surely a good omen. Anyways, after the tyre changeover at Balco market in Patparganj and the subsequent tyre repair near Mohannagar, we were delayed against plan by 1 hour already. However, after some aggressive driving on my part and some help from the sparse traffic on the road, we did manage to recover some time and managed to reach our favorite breakfast point by 900 hrs, 10 kilometers into the Rishikesh- Narendranagar highway, high up in the hills overlooking the Ashram town of Rishikesh. We had, in the meantime, picked up Harveer from Rishikesh, who was waiting for us there as escort. I think, it was my inherent anxiety to catch up on time, that made me drive rather foolishly on that winding ghat road..I do not know till date, why on earth was I attempting an overtake with a bus? As luck would have it, as soon as I overtook the bus, the car ran over a jagged stone that was lying plonk in the middle of the road and with a loud sound the front left tyre burst!!! Serial flat tires and the morning was not even through!!

It took us sometime scouting around the little hamlet of Narendranagar to find that there was not a place till Chamba that had the necessary device to dislodge a radial tyre from an Alloy wheel and we would have to risk the drive till Chamba. After an anxious but comfortable drive and after some further frantic searching around we managed to locate the shop that would undertake the job of repairing my punctured tyre. By the time we left Chamba we were behind by two hours against our original schedule. By the time we reached Uttarkashi, we found out that the usual road is blocked due to an unexpected event. The mountain of Varanavat at whose feet sprawl the town of Uttarkashi, was having some inexplicable landslide from the top and sand, soil, rubble and uprooted trees were threatening to bury half of the town. The part of the town on the true right of the Bhagirathi had been evacuated, an alternate road opened on the other side of the river and the traditional route closed for motor traffic. This, however, did not cost us much time since we were warned beforehand by Harveer and he navigated us through. Rest of the drive was uneventful, but tiring. After picking up Chandan (My friend and proprietor of Crystal Adventure) from Uttarkashi, we finally reached Gangotri in the late and dark hours of the evening.

Gangotri and Beyond

This was almost end of the season and the town wore a deserted look. The stay was arranged at the Birla Niketan guest house and with the long drive behind us, we were now stretching our llimbs to get ready for the adventures ahead. For Pattu, it was the first experience of Garhwal and for Rupendra, the first experience of Bhagirathi. All three of us were trekking with each other for the first time. Pattu was the most silent one, quietly going about his things. We ended the day with a bit of a bonding session over drinks with Harveer and Chandan. Chandan was not going up with us; he would part ways there at Gangotri after ensuring that all arrangements are taken care of.

After the hustle and bustle next day morning we left for the day's destination Bhojwasa. Rupendra and Pattu had, by then, sampled the sumptuous fare coming out of the kitchen commanded by Pradeep and were all praises and expectant about the culinary treatment that waited ahead. Having offered the customary salutations at the temple and seeking blessings of Mother Ganga we proceeded ahead along the staircase leading out of the temple to the trail above. That's a tough welcome that the Gaumukh trail offers to the willing trekker right there at the very beginning. The route was familiar for me by then and I was thinking of the reasons why the trail would be as it is today. Clearly, the entire route offers several evidences of the fact that the Gangotri Glacier was indeed terminating at Gangotri at some point of time..the tell tale signs of the glacial remains in form of the rocks by the distant mountain sides..now covered with greenery, the soil, the rocks within the soil, the dried up remains of smaller glaciers that would have dried up ages ago, the easy gradient up the path and the wide river bed all tell the story that, Bhagirath, if ever there was a prince by that name, would have actually done his penance just beneath the ice mass of Gangotri glacier whose snout, those thousands of years ago, would have been at the place where Gangotri temple is located today. Obviously mythology adds its own spicy condiments to any story.but a rational explanation was perfectly plausible, even for the un-initiated into the theories of Geology. Rupendra and Pattu were obviously spell bound by the majestic vista that the trail offers and I was narrating a few stories here and there to them as well as into the microphone of my cam-corder all the while. The day was as sunny as it could have been in those days of late autumn..the greens at their peak and the snowy mountain tops reflecting the sun like giant mirrors. An occasional group of trekkers would pass by..most of them from West Bengal.

Finally one reached the rest-stop for the night ..at Bhojwasa. We were camping outside, no GMVN this time. By the time we reached the camping ground, our army of porters were already setting up the tents. Pradeep was well into his routine of pitching the kitchen tent and preparing that welcome drink- piping hot Masala tea for the three of us. I requested Harveer to arrange for some wood so we could set up a campfire, but he would not relent. He gave us a long spiel of the environmental hazard of burning wood and the tough Govt regulations regarding the issue prevailing at the place. The rest of the evening was spent listening to the gory tale of Harveer's escape from jaws of death in the Kalindikhal trail only couple of years back. It didn't help much to reduce our apprehension as to what was in store for us..cause we were going part of the way up that trail only..at least that was the objective. However, a steely determination was there in my mind this time.to achieve the objective and be back safe..at least go till Tapovan, which I had not been able to go to till then. I had never walked on a glacier before and with all that help by our side, I was raring to go.

We started little late, the next day, knowing well that the total distance to be covered was relatively less at about 11 Kms of which 50% was easy walk. We had to bother only about the 5 Kms of route after Gaumukh which traversed the glacier and climbed up sharp to the bank on its true left. Since I had traversed the route earlier, I was pointing out to the amazing view of Tapovan, Bhrigupanth ridge and the Kedardome apart from the Bhagirathi sisters. I was personally eager to also show them the markings on the stone slabs that conclusively proved the rapid recession of the glacier. Both of them were as flabbergasted as I was when I had seen the enormity of the problem first time first hand. We reached Gaumukh by noon 1130Hrs ably guided by me.by then I had been to Gaumukh some three times in my vain attempts to go beyond to Tapovan. The weather gods were kind and we had the most peaceful half an hour of meditative rest there almost beneath the cascading icefall. All of us sprinkled some cold water from the rapidly flowing stream as a token Ganga-snan. Harveer by that time was getting slightly restless about the timing and prodded us on to the sharply ascending trail towards the true right of the snout. We scrambled forth with renewed energy after that invigorating rest and water sprinkling. In about 15 minutes time we were on top of the icewall from where we could see the emergence of the Bhagirathi right underneath with gushing fury. Harveer warned us not to lean any further and to leave the place soon lest the rock-ice slab on which we were standing, gave way. We quickly scampered away to safety.

We had imagined the glacier walk in our minds entirely differently, having traversed several smaller varieties of glaciers on treks in our myriad journeys in the Himalaya.one expected some dirty looking ice with lumps of roots and grass stuck onto it, which with some patience can be dug into and one could make some makeshift snow balls out of it. But nothing had prepared us for this! Kilometers of brown, dry, ugly looking rocks. The track looked as if going through the Wild west alongside the grand canyon. Only twice did Harveer stop us to point out two menacing ice walls jutting forth from the ground. They actually looked unnerving! The base of these walls was settled deep into the earth and rocks on which they stood. Little drops of water were dripping and creating a pool at the base. Soon we forgot the apparent dangers and toil of walking on a glacier. We had expected crevasses but we found none.

I was wondering how Harveer was able to navigate through this utterly hostile and unmarked terrain. But soon found the answer. He was basically navigating us from Cairn to Cairn. Some intrepid adventurer would have started the trek first that season and would setup a Cairn as a help for fellow travelers. The trick lied in identifying the cairn in thos zillions of rocks. Soon the snowy white tip of a mountain came into view up North to the true right of the glacier. It looked as if another valley or gully came and joined from far north. "That's the Raktavarn Glacier and the peak beyond is Sri Kailash..announced Harveer. This is the route one takes to the true right of the river to explore the glacial sanctuary surrounded by the mighty peaks of Saife, Koteshwar, Thelu and Sudershan. The Bhagirathi sisters were bang ahead and the blazing sun overhead. The worn out mountain sides on both banks of the glacier indicated how high the glacier must have been in the not so distant past. The wear-out marks looked so fresh! A solid river can many a times be several times more powerful than its liquid counterpart when it comes to wear and tear!

Soon Harveer directed us to move our burden directly to the true left of the glaciers where we finally reached. From here the ascend up was almost a vertical climb up and it looked as if we have been sapped out of our last Calories. Up above a few people were shouting out at us not to climb since they were climbing down. The track that winds up is very narrow and a two way traffic would create a non-manageable traffic jam. The scale of the rise can be seen in the picture along side. It is a very faintly visible human figure in the highlighted circle at the end of the arrowhead at the middle of the ridge. Just the view of the climb ahead took the wind out of us.

That's when a frustrated Rupendra took it out on me.

"Saale, aise route me tu recommend kar raha tha Shalini ko lane ke liye? Tera dimag kharab hai?"..Shalini is my friend's better half and prior to the journey he was seriously contemplating getting her along in the trip upon my approval.

"Mujhe kya pata tha.route thoda tough hai?" ..I blurted out. Honestly I had no idea there could be a tough stretch like that. Not that it was un-doable. But for a lady not too involved in the business of trekking, it can be a tough thing! At least Aditi, my wife would not have been able to do this..I thought.

"I don't think I will be able to do that without resting midway!" said Rupendra again, almost echoing my silent thoughts.

"Arre koi baat nahin saab.aram se ho jayega.." chipped in Harveer. "Ek ek kadam rakhiye..dhire dhire.20 minute ki baat hai bas!"

Pattu was watching all this with silent amusement. He was not the talking kind, I surmised.

Tapovan- Playground of the Gods

Anyways, we waited for the tourists up above to descend and waved them goodbye as they disappeared in the melee of rocks in the glacier. By the time the porters had also arrived. After few more gulps of water we finally decided to give the final push. I think the determination to reach Tapovan took me over, it was as if God was posing a final obstacle. Eyes focused on the trail at the heel of Harveer, who was walking ahead of me, I went forth, silently counting my breath and steps. Apparently the height was about 300 mtrs. It took us continuous 20 minutes of grueling climb to reach at the top finally. As I took the final step, a whole new world opened up. I had indeed reached the heavenly meadow where Yogis and Seers for ages have sought refuge to seek divinity, to peek into the limitless bounds of human mind under the shade of the mighty Shivling..away from the world..far from the madding crowd. The sprawling green meadow dotted with rocks here and there, the now dried morrains of the Meru Glacier, the swiftly flowing Akashganga (literally meaning- the Ganga from the heavens), the tall peaks all around in 360 degrees and the absolute blue sky dotted with tiny cumulous..one would feel for a moment what it would be in heavens. I and Harveer were the first to reach and we had to wait for the rest of the guys to arrive. It was getting progressively colder as the cardio vascular stress eased out. Ten minutes later both Rupendra and Pattu materialized from the trail. In a moment of elation I took off my shirt to celebrate arrival of the entire troupe! (I would repeat the trick in several more occasions at Mayali Pass, Bali Pass and Bamsarukhal Pass..stolen moments of boyish joy!)

From a distance I noticed a lady clad in a simple saree walking towards us. I was quite taken aback for a moment when Harveer piped up

"Pranam Mataji!"..and whispered to me "Ye Bangali Mai hain"

I had no idea who Bangali Mai was, but she looked pretty much at home there clad in a simple saree with shawl draped over her.

"Kitne log ho? Koi tour party hai?" she was asking.

"Jee Haan..Vasuki Taal trek par hain. Baki saaman aur porter aa hi rahe hain" Harveer informed her.

"Rehne khane ki vyvastha hai na? Koi zarurat pade to bolna".the lady said. I was kind of taken aback. Of all the places on earth, here, miles and miles away from what we might call as civilization one suddenly felt at home. For somebody who wasn't as prepared as we were, that would have been manna from heavens!

Soon the lady walked away as mysteriously as she had appeared. Later on Harveer narrated her story. Apparently she was the widow of a Babaji who used to live nearby. In fact the Ashram is a stone hut with wooden roof, located just about 200 meters from where the trail rising up from Gangotri glacier enters Tapovan. I am told the trail changes course every year because of the dynamic nature of the glacier.

The Babaji was fondly called Bangali Baba. He had run away from his hometown somewhere in Bengal (Burdwan if I remember correctly) and had made this place his home. Years later, this lady, his wife joined him in. The couple used to live there happily for good many years till one fine day, few years back, probably around 1999, Bangali Baba passed away. Since then this lady, his widow has been carrying on the legacy - this Ashram. Later in the evening that day we visited her Ashram for a tete-tete. One is always curious to know, whenever one comes across such people, as to how they manage life in such terms, in conditions which one is inclined to believe are impossible! She fondly narrated about her life story. How she got married and had a seemingly normal