There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature.
P.G. Wodehouse (Strychnine in the Soup, Mulliner Nights)
Last year, this time, I went on another trip with The Bookoholics to the mountains in Dhanaulti & Mussoorie. A sudden plan amidst the pandemic chaos and personal fiasco, finally turned into another eternal memory that I am going to cherish all my life.
These trips enable me to meet new people from all over India with different reading tastes and varied perceptions of things, but the one thing always remains common, and that is, our love for books. We all know that we are there for having fun and enjoy these couple of days with this bunch of strangers, who we might never see again. This is as satisfying as it is horrifying on the last day. Satisfying, because if you are an introvert like me, you can be cool about it that yeah it’s okay I am not going to meet them again so just enjoy and do whatever I want to, but horrifying on the last day because in those few days we all get so much connected to each other that deep down we know that this bond is gonna last forever! It feels like I never want to let these people go out of my life. I know these people are gonna be here for me and are always ready to bear my reading moods and rants. They are gonna be here for upcoming games that we can conduct after we go home from this mountain world. And they do!
So this is an annual thing where a couple of strangers who are, however, book lovers, starts their journey from Delhi and go all the way up to the mountains to have discussions surrounding books and write-ups while sitting around the bonfire holding the drinks of their choice. There are bookish games to engage everyone, and then winners are rewarded with books!
As I was telling about last year’s trip (2021), even I conducted some games along with my favorite stranger-turned best friend, Chandni. Despite the corona fear, we managed to arrange for everyone’s comfort in one room and sat around to play fun games. People had so much to share, some had stories to tell, and others had their write-ups ready to be shared amongst all.
Apart from the bookish fun, we also went out for doing some adventure sports and a little trek to the hilltop, where stood a temple in its glorious form, amidst strong winds. I was never really a trekking person like I cannot trek even a tiny bit, but somehow I motivated myself and forced my legs to reach the top. I eventually reached the summit, panting and all tired up. It was freezing cold, and I was completely shivering, but after reaching there, it felt genuinely good. It was refreshing, and I was filled with a sense of accomplishment. It felt that all the efforts were totally worth it.
When we started our return trudge, it was pitch black, and we took out our cell phone torches to find the way back. We stopped in the middle of footslog to have a break, and a look up to the sky dissolved all our tiredness and cold. It was a sky filled with millions of stars; a clear black sky devoid of any pollution and deception. It was a sight to behold. We took a moment to stop there and just be in that moment. Everything was silent around us; it was just that star-filled sky and us beneath it.
On the final day of our stay there, we all got dressed in our customized t-shirts with a book quote that said, “Bookworms will rule the world as soon as we finish one more chapter.” We assembled at a picturesque site of the resort and had our group pictures clicked with our books, and everyone started posing for their reader-mode photographs with a backdrop of the mountains.
It was a really really amusing and hurried-up affair as we were getting late and we had to check out of the resort, LOL! (Just middle-class things!) But just in those few hours of togetherness we got to know each other very well and made new friends pretty quick. Now I proudly brag about how I am friends with people from pan India locations like Ahmedabad, Raipur, Bangalore, Aurangabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Jaipur and more!
We reached back in Delhi at night, and from there, we went on to our respective destination states with our backpacks filled with all the souvenirs and our hearts filled with myriad memories. There were promises exchanged to meet again and never lose touch, and until today we share an exclusive bond, and those people have a very special place in my heart.
Ending this blog by saying, I love you all, and I miss you a lot people! Happy Reading!
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