The Guide, Chetan the young boy
Two of us reached at the Monda village...Since the Chaisheel trek was recently opened and not many groups are trekking on this trek so considering the option of taking the tougher but comparatively short route we wanted some sorts of help....Someone suggested us the name of a local villager and after necessary inquiry we reached at that house and met the owner....
By the time we indugle in the chatter the lady of the house brought 02 steaming cups of tea for us...Meanwhile we were introduced with the young lad who was to accompany us for Chaisheel bugyal..When we told them our intentions of returning back to village by evening itself they expressed their utter surprise and told us its impossible...
But watching our enthisiasm and will to come back by evening the young lad gave this option of taking the short but tough route which is used to come back..His father vetoed this proposal saying that the route is not suitable due the outgrown long grass on the trek and the difficulty in ascending the steep climb and suggested that we must take the longer but safe route and jus manage to touch or view the bugyal from a distance...We did not much discussed much and started our trek....On the way we talked to Chetan Chauhan...our guide look boy we have already covered few treks and came back by evening and our intentions are the same today also...He asked सर चल लोगे इतना ?? काफी कठिन होगा, we told bro its the best thing happened with us to have met with you and start out trek with you...Dont worry we will follow you, but you jus take us to Bugyal....Boy too was not sure and gave us the option to stay at Gujjar dera in case we are not able to come back by evening which we readily accepted jus to make him.happy...
We started our trek, I then indulged in talking to him bout his life, studies and any previous trek he has done before....The mention of any trek before brought a sadness on his face...As if he has lost in some painful memories...I was surprised to note his expressions and decided to dig further....He then became open and told yes sir I did this trek with a group in 2017 when this route was opened for the trekkers..Before that only locals and Gujjars used to visit the bugyal...In 2017 the Govt of Uttarakhand declared this trek, as the Trek of the year and tried to bring this trek on the tourist map...
For which few local youths were trained to be the guides with the trekkers...Trekkers book themselves with trek operating companies online which are numerous these days and these big trek operators do engage the locals with them to accompany the trek group as Portars, Guides, Cooks etc by paying them their दिहाड़ी । Which he told me Rs 500.00 per day...
He then narratted the incident with sadness in his voice and with a distant look...He told with much josh and enthusiasm he started his first trek with the group of around 25 to 30 trekers booked by YHAI, Mumbai....The group started their 5 days trek in the month of Apr 2017 and reached near the bugyal...But there was a heavy snowfall during the trek and few of the trekkers who decided to ventur e ahead got stuck in the heavy snowfall and as a result 02 of them.lost their lives on the Bugyal only...Being young he too was sent for the search and finally dead body of both the trekkers was brought to the village..One was one elderly person, another a youth of 24 yrs from Mumbai....
He further told that after this unfortunate incident he lost intetest in the trekking and his work of a Guide and got involved in his business of bee keeping and apple farming..Being the only child of his parents it was a risky option but then risk is the word not found in the lives of villagers of the hills for them its part and parcel of their lives right from the birth...
Considering his state of the mind and a sad look in his eyes I realised that the boy do require a positive support, I told him its not his fault at all such things are beyond control of all of us and he should not held himself responsible for that incident....I further told him look boy that was your first trip as a guide and today is the second and we assure you that under your guidance both of us would reach at the Bugyal through tough trek and would come back to village by 6 PM evening..Nothing to be worried we will.manage the things in case of bad weather and any other eventuality, our assurance brought a smile on his face and he regained his lost confidence and during the rest of the trek he was happy and led us to the trek on time successfully....
When we started our journey back he was all praise for both of us and told that सर मुझे भी लग रहा था कि आप लोग बुग्याल तक नहीं पहुंच पाओगे और रास्ते से ही वापस आना पड़ेगा, और गांव वाले भी विश्वास नहीं करेंगे कि हम बुग्याल तक जाकर वापस आये । हमारा उसके साथ शाम को बुग्याल से गांव वापस आना उसके खोए आत्मविश्वास के लिए एक बहुत बड़ा कदम साबित हुआ यह मैं अब देख पा रहा था । इसी बीच हम उसको और भी प्रोत्साहित करते रहे कि वह कुछ और भी ट्रेक करे, हर की दुन, केदारकंठा, और वहां की स्थिति से भी परिचित हो और एक दिन अपनी खुद की ट्रैकिंग कंपनी शुरू करे, अपने गांव में होम स्टे शुरू करे और अपने ही गांव में रह कर अच्छी इनकम भी उत्पन्न करे । इन बातों को सुन कर चेतन वापस उत्साह से भर गया और खुश नजर आया । घर आकर हमने उसके माता पिता के साथ पी, पूरा ही परिवार हमको उस रात अपने ही घर रुकने का आग्रह कर रहा था किंतु हमको वापस जाना ही था और हम एक खुशनुमा माहौल में वहां से निकले । अब चेतन के लिए मेरे पास कुछ योजना है, उसका अपना फेसबुक पेज बनाना, उसका यूट्यूब चैनल बनवाना ताकि जल्दी ही वह खुद की अपनी ट्रेक कंपनी खोल सके ।
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