Adventures of lifetime bring back joy, tears
The other day, I was casually browsing through the diary when I stopped at the page dated December 6, 2019. It brought back beautiful memories of times spent with two lovable people.
The first, a retired driver from the army, lance naik Jigmat Wangchuk, who was my car driver during an adventure trip to Nubra Valley and Pangong Lake, in June-july 2019. To go to Nubra Valley, which is about 150km ahead of Leh, I chose the Manali-leh axis from Chandigarh.
Most of the drive was through snow-bound passes such as Rohtang La, Tanglang La, Khardung La, and Chang La. The road was treacherous and literally kept me on the edge. We encountered a number of roadblocks due to shooting stones in those daunting heights. We negotiated them with difficulty. Once, we were stuck at a bottleneck all night, waiting for the traffic to clear.
On the way to the world’s highest Pangong Lake on the China border, 10km of the road comprised a ride on riverbed stones and drive through rivulets. At places, local people joined me in pushing the car.
Besides the camel ride at Nubra Valley, I enjoyed driving a four-wheeled motorised vehicle on sand dunes.
In short, my car and Jigmat Wangchuk stood the test of time.
Jigmat was gutsy, confident and
ON THE WAY TO THE PANGONG LAKE ON THE CHINA BORDER, 10KM OF THE ROAD COMPRISED A RIDE ON RIVERBED STONES AND DRIVE THROUGH RIVULETS. AT PLACES, LOCAL PEOPLE JOINED ME IN PUSHING THE CAR
enthusiastic as far as driving was concerned. With his resilience and my practical guidance, we sailed through a month-long hazardous journey. By the time the trip was drawing to a close, we had developed a bond.
On returning to Leh, I visited his house adjoining the Leh airfield.
In his neat and clean house, I met his wife and three children and we made it a memorable day by taking several photos.
Time rolled by and life was back to normal in Jalandhar. I almost forgot Jigmat when one night I suddenly got a call from him at 10pm. I was surprised and got emotional at the same time.
After exchanging pleasantries, I asked him what made him ring me up at that hour. His reply in broken Hindi was disarming. He simply said, “Sahib, aap se baat karney ko man ne chaha (Sir, I just felt like talking to you).” A long pause followed between us.
Incidentally, the same day I had got a call from my grandson, Angad Dosanjh. He is an engineer and works for an international firm at Bengaluru. I asked him, “How come you chose to ring up Dadu today?” His reply was similar to Jigmat’s for he said, “Dadu, I just felt like talking to you.”
How come two people, both so dear to me, one at Leh and the other at Bengaluru, were similarly reminded of me the same day? I was touched and felt grateful. Such pleasant surprises and warmth are cherished the most in old age. Incidentally, today happens to be December 6, 2022. Any more surprises in store?