Mission Vellayangiri !!!

What I am about to write consists of all the elements fit to make a block buster of all times. To put it simply if Tom cruise is to star in the 5th installment of his MI franchise it can certainly be named as "MISSION VELLAYANGIRI" (play the theme music in your heads).

It's not often in a man's life, having taken an outrageous decision turns out to be one of his best decisions and this is one among those rarest of rare decisions. We have been planning eons for a trip like this and it took considerable time and good fortune in the form of the co-trekkers to materialise. People say travelling teaches more than a collection of books and that too in a short duration that lasts longer than anything that you could come across. This trip is the perfect example for it.

Vellayangiri is just a one hour drive from Coimbatore. One look at it, I consented to its reputation of Kailash of the south.(It doesn't matter even if I haven't seen the actual Kailash).

A few steps into the trekking and I realised it's not going to be just another difficult endeavour, but an impossible endeavour. All the doubts whether you can complete the trek in time, all the second thoughts to abandon the trip if the going gets tough(I guess subconsciously I wanted to fall sick so that I can return midway) popped in my head. An hour into the trip I began to ask some of the fundamental questions like "why was I born?, what's the purpose of my life?" and the most important of all "Why the heaven did I agree to come here?" They remained unanswered.

There are 7 hills to be trekked and at the end of the second hill with 3 to 4 short breaks in between we settled for our breakfast. We had bread and biscuits for breakfast and resumed our journey. It had been almost two and half hours since we started our journey at 5:30 am and most of it had been under trees and shade. Once we crossed the third mountain it was clear sky and bright Sun greeted us and reminded us of the gravity of the rest of the journey. 4th & 5th peaks by themselves are not draining but after you have crossed first three peaks you start to clamour for your breath. Standing straight becomes impossible partly because of the steepness of the terrain and mainly because your hips and back can't hold your body any longer.
It is at that moment of helplessness you arrive the 6th peak and there you will find a stream forming a small puddle. Drinking that water I would rather say is next to divinity. The location of the puddle and its purpose is nothing less than perfect. We even took a dip in that icy cold water and as soon as I got out believe it or not, pain in my legs vanished. It's amazing to know that you can feel refreshed and rejuvenated within minutes after four and half hours of arduous journey. That gave us the impetus to continue and complete the penultimate peak whose terrain is mainly dominated by descent. But our luck ran out at the foot of the seventh hill. One look at the seventh hill and I couldn't help but revere its beauty and and at the same time feel apprehended at the challenge it posed.

After enduring so much it felt that scaling the seventh peak alone is equivalent to scaling all the previous 6 peaks. It's very steep with no shade with a pathway that has no grass and a bit slippery if I might add. At that moment nothing else mattered. Pain is so much that senses stop working. It's like trying to measure the speed of a sports car with an instrument whose limit is just 60km. The car may be travelling at a speed of 200km/h but the instrument shows only 60km/h. My situation was similar to that.

But amazingly I made it to the top of the mountain. I did overcome the pain which I thought I couldn't bear. I did cross the sea of fear I had, about the condition of my health while climbing. I did get up whenever I slipped though I wanted to take rest. It was a constant battle between stronger me and a weaker me and to my surprise and disbelief stronger me prevailed over weaker me and in the end I was standing in front the three lingams. It's only then I felt like that moment is worth all the efforts.

In a way this journey through 7 peaks personifies the spiritual journey through 7 major chakras from "Mooladhara" to the "Sahasrara". More than just trekking it is the culmination of what one thinks as his optimal physical, mental and spiritual tendencies and then taking a step further. It may sound dramatic or you may even say that I assumed, but I wold still reiterate that it taught me many things.
Life just like this journey has many highs and lows but with a purpose.
Always have good people around you. That makes the journey interesting.
Always have less baggage i.e, minimal or no emotional attachments. This enables to sustain the energy for your journey.
Make hay while the sun shines or in other words make sure to complete major part of your journey during the night and plan to reach the ground in the morning hours. This way you can avoid the unforgiving Sun. :-)


EPILOGUE: In the end this experience is not meant to be known but it's meant to be felt and this is a feeling that surely will stay with you for at-least two days if not for a life time. (For, two days is the minimum duration for which the pain in your thighs lingers :-) ).

You can check out some of the photos in the link mentioned below.
https://picasaweb.google.com/prasad.che/Vellayangiri?authkey=Gv1sRgCKy76t-eu_KhJA#

Those who have missed the trip, just have a look at the unexpected trekker and our inspiration for the journey. :-)