Treks are supposed to be fun and exhilarating. So, our gang
and our mascot-the dog Oi, got up early on a fine Sunday morning, to experience
the joys of trekking. We were supposed to climb up the hill and end it with
breakfast at one of the city’s famous joints.
While making this awesome plan, nobody factored in me
FREAKING OUT up on the hill. This trek shattered my convictions of my previous
life as a cat. As one of my friends astutely observed,
“D, I think, no I’m sure that you were a fish in your previous life.”
Fish are not meant to climb up things and neither am I. I
exhibited initial sign of the major freakdown, (my version of nervous breakdown) at a
seemingly innocent rock which lay a little to the side of our trekking path. “It barely has a 30° incline” they said.
Ha! It looked like a camouflaged dragon with its mouth wide open, just waiting
for us to climb in! With a lot of help from my friends, I finally managed to clamber up this Draco-Rock (whaaaat? I like naming things! A rock that looks
like a dragon is just begging to be called Draco!)
When I’d managed to frimly plant myself
in a safe place on top of the rock, I was told that this rock was just the
trial, the actual ordeal lay about fifteen minutes ahead. That rock (it was
actually a big bunch of large rocks) lay right in the middle of our path –no
way to avoid it.
I felt like I was on the electric chair and they were
passing me short bursts of electricity before actually frying me! My legs were
trembling and I started sweating even though it was terribly cold. I was deeply
terrified of what lay ahead but I didn’t want to look like a coward and climb
back down (besides, I didn’t want to make that journey myself. A downward,
uneven slope coupled with my incredible tendency to fall isn’t desirable.) I
was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I somehow managed to climb down Draco-Rock in my terrified
state and followed the rest of the group on our journey to the top, almost
tripping over the dog while I was lost in morbid thoughts of myself tumbling
down the side of the hill.
Just as my legs seemed to be un-jellified, I saw it. It
looked like Draco-Rock’s entire family was waiting for me............ and they looked hungryyyyyyyyy.
“AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhHHHHHHHHHH”
screamed a voice in my head. “Oh no no no NOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooo”,
I screamed out aloud. Even Oi, who until then, was running around excitedly,
was struck by a sudden attack of acrophobia.
But then, she is one tiny thing, easy to carry up. Me, on the other
hand......
Everybody else scrambled up like a bunch of mountain goats.
I was left there bleating away like an innocent, lost lamb. I was matching Oi’s
every scared whimper. Then when I finally tried to make my way up, my foot got
stuck somewhere.
I was now on the verge of hysterics. One of the
mountain-goat-boys slid down and freed my foot. He was the kind who was born to
climb up things. I was supposed to follow him up, place my foot exactly where
he did, shadow his movements, in the hope that, at least that way, I could make
it to the top.
But by now, I was in full freakdown mode. I was clinging on
to the side of the rock, positively hanging on
for dear life. My hysteria caused me to break out into uncontrolled laughter.
My friends didn’t know how to handle me! They repeatedly told me not to look
down...
That’s when the realisation hit me! I wasn’t scared of the height , I was only scared of
falling and breaking open my head. It had happened once before and I’d lived
through it!! I could definitely handle it the second time around. So I gathered
up my last ounce of courage and struggled up the
rest of the rock.
And I was up! I had done it! This
was my Everest!! I was greeted by the most amazing view of the city. I
was overjoyed that I had conquered my fears. I wanted to call up everybody I
had ever met and tell them all the details of my feat.
I fished my phone out of the pocket mentally making a list
of all the people I wanted to call when I saw the message flashing on the
screen “NO NETWORK AVAILABLE”
Bboooyyyaaaaaa!!
