Chardham Yatra Trip

It was a typical summer afternoon in Delhi. The heat. The never-ending hullaballoo of vehicles. The hundred thoughts racing in my mind. If not for the possibilities and promises of the pilgrimage that laid ahead, I would have written off the day as being ‘just another’. But there I was to embark on, perhaps the most iconic of all journeys I had ever been on in this mortal life- Chardham yatra. I vividly remember the first time I heard of the pilgrimage. I was in my twenties. I had accidently stumbled across an article on the four pilgrimage shrines in Himalayas, and felt compelled to read. Interesting. Maybe someday. Well twenty-five years and too many life-lessons after, here I am finally embarking on the journey. Delhi is always on my radar. I find myself being drawn to the city many times a year for the myriad demands of work and life. I chose to come a week before the pilgrimage starts so as to simply wait around in my friend’s home, and give time for the hundred anticipations that spring up before any trip to bloom wider. Well, I arrived at New Delhi Railway station to begin the journey. There I was welcomed along with many others warmly by the staff of ChardhamTour.in. My fellow passengers came from the different corners of the country. Many had arrived at Delhi the same day. For some, this was their first time in Delhi. I immediately built rapport with a Tamilian family. They were two sisters accompanied with one of their sons. We struck up a conversation talking about the weather. Then, saris. Then, on how difficult we find it to operate our smartphones. Many hours later, we were still talking.