My Himalayan Trip (Part-1)

It's not the first attempt to go to the Himalayas. However, this time I really could go there. It was a 38 days journey into an unknown world within India. Still, there is a lot to be revealed. However, Badrinath, Kedarnath, Uttara Kasi, Gangotri, Yamunotri, Rishikesh, Haridwar, and Varanasi are no more unknown places to me. It took so many years to make it happen.

You don't need much money to go to the Himalayas if you are a bachelor. There are places which offer free stay and free food. However, I paid for every place I stayed as I had some money.

Many people are roaming in orange robes. Most of them are more psychos than Swamijis. There is no discipline. Speak the filthy language, get angry quickly, smoke, etc. I never want to be one of them. I never want to waste my time in the name of renunciation and sadhana. These all are lies. It seems that it is more of escapism than sadhana. I know many other places and options to do sadhana. This is not my cup of tea. As far as the Himalayan journey is concerned, I climbed many mountains, walked many miles, and made friends; it was a fantastic experience.

There is so much talked about #IndianRailways. However, the reality is something that didn't change much.
1. Vijayawada Railway Station Platform #
     Rs. 5/- Little Hearts packet was being sold for Rs.10/-. I tweeted the same to +Rail Ministry 

@RailMinIndia Rs5/- over MRP (Britania Little Hearts) is being chrged@Plt-10@Vijayawada Station. My PNR:4321757638— Gurunatha Lankipalli (@GurunathaL) July 18, 2016

  and I got the reply in just 2 minutes, to my surprise, saying that the matter had been notified to the concerned officials.  I don't know if there is any change in ground reality yet.

2.@sureshpprabhu, these unreserved people have started smoking in the coach S1/12687. Plz take necsry action. Thank you https://t.co/ezSUKoUEEK

— Gurunatha Lankipalli (@GurunathaL) July 19, 2016

    Police have indeed come, and they didn't have the guts to take out all the ticket-less people from the coach as they all were wearing Orange colored dresses. Why are they treated specially? Indian Railways isn't running with Hindu money. It is taxpayer's money that supports the functioning. If you have any sentiments, you should practice at home, not at work. And on top of it, it is mentioned on the train tickets that "IR recovers only 57% of the cost of travel on an average". It is a shame that thousands of people travel without paying a single penny. Will printing on the tickets help you fetch money? The journey from Hazrat Nizamuddin to Haridwar was a nightmare as most people started smoking and fighting with the people who had valid reservations. There is a lot to write just from one journey. Why don't the officials take the necessary steps to stop leakages? At #AyodhyaRailwayStation shameless Railway Police were helping the general public to board sleeper class.

   

I boarded a bus from Haridwar to Joshimath as there weren't direct buses to Badrinath. It was very refreshing to breathe the mountain air and those sceneries. Welcome to Uttarakhand. There was a roadblock around 15 Kms before my destination. There was no way that the block was cleared the same day. Many people decided to go back to stay in hotels that night. I didn't want to go anywhere, and there was a tap next to the road. I took a bath and found someplace next to the road. I spread my yoga mat and slept without worrying much about dinner. Later on, found dogs also sleeping at the entrance and felt more secure. I woke up in the morning and found everything okay and already started feeling as if I'm a monk ;-)
I didn't wait for the road to get functional. I just climbed mountains and reached the other side and reached Joshimath and then Badrinath the same day.