Helicopter Havoc

         Helicopter! Incoming! Where? Where is it? I can’t see it! Oh yeah, there it is! Oh my god! This was a part of a short discussion which took place between my brother and I while going to a holy temple.

It was around 11 in the morning on 23 November 2014. My family and I set out for the Chatushrungi temple in Pune, in our car. I was riding shotgun, my father was driving, and my mother and brother were sitting behind us. It was a nice morning. The sun was shining lazily, the sky was utterly clear, and the cool breeze was blowing gently, or so it seemed, as in a car with closed windows, you can’t experience it. And most importantly, I was in a good mood, which wasn’t very often.

          While looking at the clear skies, I spotted a grey helicopter in the sky, not too far. Nothing too unusual. Still, I told my brother about it. Then the helicopter did start becoming unusual. It seemed that it was falling. I had to tape this! Unfortunately, because of my usual bad luck, it went behind the buildings. I gave this news of the helicopter crash to my family. My mother, being positive, said “I’m sure it didn’t crash. It must be landing on the helipad of a building. Perspective is the culprit.”

          I was pretty sure there wasn’t a single helipad in the area. I kept a lookout for any kind of fire or smoke, or the unfortunate copter. Within a few seconds, we came into an open area, free of buildings. The helicopter wasn’t visible at all. Even the fastest of helicopters couldn’t escape in such a short period of time. Where in the world did that copter go? I was going crazy. At least the copter would make some kind of sound while flying. I opened the window. I heard a really loud whop-whop-whop-whop-whop-whop-whop. The typical sound of a severely unbalanced washing machine. Yeah, what else but the identified-flying-helicopter.

I stuck my head out of the window. The copter was insanely close, just about ten metres above us. What was the pilot thinking, landing on us, or on the road? I blurted out a funny “Aaah!” You had to see the expression on my brother’s face. It was then that I said “Helicopter! Incoming!” The copter took a sharp turn to the left and became visible to all. And then my brother said “Where? Where is it? I can’t see it! Oh yeah, there it is! Oh my god!”

Immediately, everyone on the road stopped their cars to catch this sight. This thing isn’t seen every day. The copter was flying at a moderate speed along with our car. The thing was losing altitude quickly, and before it landed, or crashed, our car stopped due to the traffic jam.

People stepped down of their cars to see it. They literally parked their cars on the left lane of the road. I remember seeing two children sitting on the roof of their car, with their parents beside them, eating chips, as if they knew the event was going to happen. I’m not kidding, the place became a picnic spot.

The copter probably didn’t crash, as it didn’t make a crashing sound. It flew into an area fenced with brick walls and barbed wires, covered with trees. It was a military base. We made our way through the jam, and finally saw the helicopter resting on the ground. People were standing on their toes, and some were even sitting on the fence of the base, avoiding the barbed wires.

Actually, there were two of them. One of them absolutely motionless, and the other with rotating blades, perhaps the one which landed just then. We further proceeded down the road, until the helicopters were out of sight. There were almost no vehicles in the road. All were busy watching the copter behind.

Some distance ahead, I noticed a third copter in the sky. It too flew in the direction of the base. “Turn back! I want to see it!” my brother ordered, of which notice wasn’t taken. It was not flying as close as the first one, and was just as grey as it. I felt that something was on. Some great personality had just landed in the city. Then even I felt that we should have turned back. I would have got a glimpse of the Indian Prime Minister, or Lionel Messi, the great football player, or Baba Ramdev, the popular yoga teacher, who knows?

After a few days, I did learn who had come to town. There was a joint military exercise of India and China in the military station. The helicopters were a part of a joint tactical exercise which included insertion of troops from helicopters to destroy a dummy terrorist hideout.

Right. So it wasn’t a celebrity. Just some Chinese soldiers coming across the border for joint training with the Indians. Nothing much to see, and certainly not a great incident for people to create a traffic jam. Oh well, I learnt one thing from this incident: Helicopters create havoc.

       

 

-  Manas Trivedi

 

A newspaper clip, showing the army helicopter

 

Trekking in Himachal Mountains

          Some years ago, I had gone to a trekking trip. I was somewhere in the Himalayan mountains. I’m serious. I had no idea where I was. I was somewhere, on my own....

           In India, trekking is very popular in the state of Himachal Pradesh, usually during the months of October, November, December and January. It is one of the major factors enhancing tourism. It is an adventurous outdoor activity involving climbing of mountains and hills. Trekking camps are generally situated at the base of mountains, from where people begin their hike. Overall, trekking is a nice exercise and is fun when you are with your family.

One fine day I read a pamphlet of a trekking camp. I asked my parents if I could go to Dharamsala, situated in Himachal Pradesh to join the trekking camp. I convinced them that I was able to do things on my own. Finally, I got their permission, after a lot of persuasion. I left home with my camera and a backpack, filled with essential things. I travelled to New Delhi by air, and reached Dharamsala by bus. It was the first time I was travelling without my family.

          The bus dropped me off at the trekking camp. Tents were put up everywhere. I, after ten minutes, found my tent. It was yellow in colour, and was quite small. Inside the tent was a sleeping bag, a lamp, and some weird old books. That was all. So, I was here, finally. I went out of the tent, just for the pleasure of roaming around. I saw people around me, mostly families. All of them were chattering around, creating noise pollution. This part of the hills seemed to be the only civilisation around. The camp was situated in a valley, surrounded by hills. At a distance, I was able to see snow covered mountains.

I walked a bit towards the higher mountains, away from the crowd. The place was, well, peacefully amazing. Lush, green hills and dense, green jungles on them. The air here was fresh and clean. I hadn’t seen snow for a while now. So I was instinctively attracted to the mountains. I continued to walk, passing many trees and bushes on the way. Birds were singing melodious songs, and the cool wind was blowing gently. Amongst the trees, I saw a small stream. I’m sure its water was crystal pure, but I didn’t dare to drink it, as anything ruining my health would be disastrous. I strolled around the bank for a while. Here I was completely alone. I realized suddenly that I was completely lost. I didn’t realize I had been wandering for so long. I tried to go back the way I came from, but soon I was walking in circles.

          I saw myself in the next day's newspaper-‘Boy missing. Last seen in trekking camp.’ I frantically ran here and there, trying to find my way out, but instead I made my way deeper and deeper into the jungle, and probably farther and farther away from the trekking camp. The jungle was covered with huge pine trees. This was wilderness. This includes wild animals. I heard a squeak. Out jumped a mouse, from the undergrowth. I didn’t expect to see mice in the jungle. Then I sensed something wriggling in a bush. Whatever it was, it slithered slowly and steadily. Alright, I’ve given you too many hints. It was a snake. Though small, it was thin and black, and certainly didn’t look nice. It was following the mouse, but didn’t see me. I believe it was interested in eating the poor rodent. It was about to consume it when the little rat scampered off with astounding speed.

          I became a little wary of animals and carried on trudging up the hill. The forest became less dense and soon I found myself on the top of a big hill. It had an incredible view of the snowy mountains and the valley below. I remembered my camera and took some pics. It felt great, but at the same time that horrible thought came once again into my mind. I was helpless. There was no going back.

I looked at the huge, white mountains. I had to experience them. They were the reason I had come here. They formed a range in front of me, some big, and some small. I aimed for one of the smaller ones, just to get some snow on my hands, and also due to my lazy attitude. I hurried down the hill and started my trek.

There was no going back. The mountain was brown, with snow on the top. Climbing up the mountain was real hard. I had come to Dharamsala to learn trekking and mountain climbing. But I wasn’t able to do it. But I believed that I could achieve my goal of reaching the summit on my own, without any training. The mountain was at a 45 degree angle from the ground. Something told me that once humans were here. There was a sort of path dug up.  Small stones were arranged like stairs. If they weren’t there, the trek would’ve been impossible. I started climbing. Soon, I reached the snow line. I tried to make a snowball out of the snow, but the snow had turned into ice. Now the mountain became less steep. In fact, it had become flat. I was on the top of the mountain. It felt as if I was on Mt. Everest. From the top, nothing else but the top of trees were visible on both sides of the mountain range. I took a great deal of photos as a memory, and started my descent. I decided to go towards the side opposite to the way I had come from, for the sake of exploration.

          Down the mountain arose greenery. I saw some monkeys, chattering away like the people at the trekking camp. Along with the chattering came a loud noise, just like the sound of the ocean. Wait, an ocean? Yeah, how an ocean could arise in the mountains, you must be saying. I went in the direction of the sound. The sound got heavier, sort of, as if it was applying a force on me. I came into a clearing and to my surprise, there was a waterfall. It was gigantic. Enormous. Huge. What not. The water was coming down from the top of the biggest mountain of the range and crashed, or splashed into a river beneath. And I have to say, it was loud. I mean it. It probably was louder than the noise made by a crowd in Times Square shouting at the top of their voices. I’m sure the waterfall must be the biggest in the world, breaking the record of the Angel Falls.

I took a thousand photos of it to prove my point, if I was ever to return back. While clicking a photo, I noticed a big orange animal on the opposite side of the river. It was a tiger. Huh? You serious? To be precise, yes. It was drinking water from the river. Roar! No, it didn’t roar. I stared into its eyes and it stared into mine. I was sure that it would spring onto my side and eat me alive. But it just made an innocent cat face and resumed his work of drinking. I quietly made myself scarce and ran away as fast as my legs could carry me.

I was back again into a forest. Now I was seriously tired of dark forests. Too dark and spooky for me. I kept on running. And running. And running. And abruptly ran into a creature standing on its legs. Fortunately, it wasn’t a gorilla. It was a human. He asked me, “Hello sir, what are you running from in this part of the jungle?” “A tiger” I said and asked him to take me to the nearest civilization. He took me to a village. Finally, I wasn’t lost. I was back with the humans. Oh yeah. The people there were quite polite, and curious to know who I was. I told them about my adventurous trek, though half of them didn’t believe me.

I had some money in hand, and so took the first bus to Delhi. I narrated the whole incident to my parents on mobile phone. Man, weren’t they worried? They booked a flight ticket for me when I reached Delhi. Within a few hours, I was back home. I decided that till I really grow up, I might as well be with my family. It might seem adventurous to go on a trip all by yourself, but it is always better and enjoyable to go out with your family.

-         Manas Trivedi

Trekking alone in the Himalayas

 

 

Trekking camp

The Cricket Match

          That’s the word. Oh yeah. Cricket. Man, everyone’s crazy about that game in India. The game played with a bat and a ball. Kind of similar to baseball. Though hockey is the national game, cricket is the most popular game in India.

          At the official level, cricket is played between two teams, each having eleven players. They play in a stadium, the bowler throws the ball, and the batsman hits the ball with the bat. The fielders try to stop the ball from reaching the boundary line and try to take his/her wicket. Yeah. Blah blah blah. Rules, rules and rules. Okay, so I hope you got it. It’s an outdoor game.

          In the stadium, where it is played, sit thousands of spectators watching the cricket match. One fine cloudy day I saw my father smiling. I asked him what the matter was. Then he tried to look as serious as possible. He asked me plainly, “Like cricket?” I, like every other Indian, said yes. Then he said, “Would you give the newspaper to me? On the table.” Your wish is my command, sir. I went to the table, picked the newspaper. Some papers fell from it. What else but advertisement pamphlets. But man, believe it or not, they were cricket match tickets! Four of them in all. Bingo. I was going to see a real cricket match. A first for me. You might be saying, “Yeah, whatever.” But still…

          The match was in the evening. We all got ready to go. I had made a nice poster supporting my home team, Pune Warriors India. The match was between this team and the team Chennai Super Kings. I took my autograph book along, and we proceeded. The stadium was quite far from my home. On the way I saw many mountains on the way. Finally, we got a glimpse of the stadium. All lighted and ready to go. It was a summer afternoon and a cool breeze was blowing. Some clouds had started gathering in the west, which looked, well, sort of cloudy. Suddenly I thought about rain stopping the match. But the weather forecast was clear skies. I tried to forget about it and went in through a nice sweet door with a mean looking guard. I showed my ticket to him, who punched a hole into it. Thank god not through me. In the stadium was a super gigantic crowd. Amazingly enormous, to be precise. The stadium was jam-packed. Our seats were in the middle rows. We sat in our seats, ready to get tired. “Popcorn, sir?” came a man. He called me ‘sir’. I at the time was a guy of thirteen. “Sir? Are you serious?” I asked him. No reaction. My father came and bought a big bag for me. Awesome thing to munch on. Within minutes the match started. The players entered. And my seat was right next to the aisle. I stuck out my autograph book through the net bordering the aisle. But none of the guys autographed on it. Still, three of the Chennai Super Kings team’s players saw me, smiled, and left. Including the cricket supergiant M.S. Dhoni. I was two metres away from him. Probably one of the better than the best moments of my life. I let my eyes capture the moment. Probably never ever to happen again. It was an incredible feeling.

          I wanted to stop the time and savour the moment. But my incredible brother literally broke the feeling by dragging me to my seat. The match started with the Pune Warriors winning the toss and electing to bat first. It was a twenty over match, so the game was going to be short. The batsmen came. The first ball of the innings, one run. Next two, no runs. This continued for some overs. Boring. Then the ball went straight into the sky. And came down with record speed. The ball was caught by a fielder. The first shock. The batsman was out. Came in the second. He hit the ball straight over the boundary line. A six. Then he went on fire. He himself made a hundred runs in a jiffy. It seemed like today my home team was going to win.

          They made a good total score. The opponent team came in to bat. I was sure of the results of the game, but this time the team was on fire. Not a one man army, like the Pune Warriors. Sixes and fours, the guys turned the tide. After the team lost some wickets, their star player picked up his bat. M.S. Dhoni came in to bat. Enter the Dragon. I just kept looking at him, though from a distance. I mean, you don’t get to see celebrities every day. While I continued my staring, some people ahead and behind me started to shout. Through the corner of my eye, I saw a ball hurtling towards me. Dhoni had hit a six, and the ball was coming right for me.

Once in a lifetime opportunity. I jumped with all my might to catch it. And hundreds of others jumped around me. And, oh yeah, I caught the ball. The camera was on me. I was on national TV. I simply said, “Yippee!” and threw the ball to the players. My mother dragged me out of the crowd, saying that a stampede could occur. The mean guard kept staring at me from the entrance gate. But, seriously, that was cool. Some guys around me asked me how it felt to catch the ball hit by Dhoni. What else but brilliant. The rest of the match continued, the players making a spectacular show. I was meanwhile going bonkers. Dhoni saw me, and I caught the ball he hit. Ouch. I forgot all about my popcorn tub, which as usual was emptied by my brother. The match was about to end. Six runs needed of the last two balls. It seemed near impossible, only if the players didn’t hit some nice shots. Dhoni on strike. The first ball, no runs. Six runs off the last ball. The guy’s expression seemed as cool as a cucumber. The bowler threw the ball. A tense moment. Dhoni picked up his bat and swung it hard. The ball went over the fence, right on to the roof. A six! Chennai Super Kings had won the match. And yeah, my home team lost. Great. Still, it was a great match. We went back home. I told all my friends about my experience. I got some impossibly great memories which will remain with me for the rest of my life.

-         Manas Trivedi

 

The game of cricket