A Ride to Remember

Puneet and I are on a long trip traversing the Northern part of India. I proposed that we will spend our New Year in Kashmir, India. I knew he has a dream from childhood to see snowfall and always imagined when this day would come. He is delighted and starts planning instantly. We wanted to spend time with each other to know if we can spend our lives together or not. So, we are on this long trip to let time give us the answer. We are entirely different personalities. Puneet loves to talk and write, and I love to listen and observe. He wants to be a writer, and I always encourage him to pursue his dream. He has a habit of explaining adventurous moments of life in words to me.

We are going to Gulmarg via Srinagar. Gulmarg is the only place in India where you can find all the snow sports in one place. The journey from Srinagar to Gulmarg is beautiful. While we are about to reach Gulmarg, we see the place is getting covered with snow; even the trees have snow clothes. We realize that snow makes everything beautiful. We check into the hotel, the temperature is -5 degrees, and Sun is about to set. We decide to plan things for tomorrow.

The next morning, we are going to Phase 1, a place in the higher mountain, on a Gondola ride (cable car). Phase 1 is at the height of 10,000 ft.

Puneet sees the world from a very different perspective. He knows that our mind loves control over us. That is why it keeps us busy with the past events or predicting all the future possibilities. Logically, the past is gone, and the future is a myth, and traversing in both, we miss the eternal present. God gave us only two things: the present moment and the choice we make in that present moment. So, Puneet has a habit of living in the present moment. He analyzes all the information which the present moment carries and makes a suitable choice.

We are in the Gondola with a family, a couple with two small kids. The lady is filled with excitement and tells her kids about her past sledding experience. Kids are watching down the cable car on the mountain where some people are sledding down the mountain. The kids got scared watching them sledding down, and one kid said, "Mom, I won't do it. It looks scary."

Mom replied, "Ok, then you can come down by yourself."

Boy didn't know what to say now.

Puneet is busy making the video of the ride and smiles, listening to the mother's reply.

Then, Mom notices her kids worried and says, "Don't be scared about the things you have not experienced. Firstly, you should live them and then decide how you feel. In life, many situations will come when you will feel like giving up even before doing something. But, always remember, it is ok to be fearful. You should know that when you beat your fears, true happiness follows, and you feel like a warrior. Fear comes because we think something wrong might happen. In this case, nothing wrong will happen as I have already done it, and I know that you guys can do it too. So, relax and trust me. You will have an amazing experience of your life."

The moment we all got out of the cable car, Puneet says, "Shavya, we will go down sledding." I start laughing as I know from where he got the idea. I am traveling with him for the last four months and understand how he lives his life. His present moment always tells him about the next thing he will do. I like the idea as it avoids so many involuntary thought patterns, making life easier to live. He believes that the present moment is the key to unfolding the universe's plan for you, and the universe writes better than us.

We are wandering around the snowy mountain for some time, enjoying the view, feeling blessed to be here. We are capturing some pictures of each other with the beauty around us. We are shocked to see Kashmiri people serving food at this much height. It is like a food court on snowy mountains filled with tourists who are enjoying the snow sports. I am shivering with cold and chilly winds are shaking my soul. I say, "Let's go to a restaurant to have something warm." We are sitting there, and Puneet starts rolling a joint. We order Kashmiri Kahwa, a special Kashmiri drink that keeps the body warm. Kashmiri Kahwa made us warm, and the joint made our head lighter, and we start enjoying even in the intense cold. Suddenly, Puneet starts explaining the moment we are in-

"Chilly winds bring the cold to the bones.

The mouth becomes the breathing instrument.

Sun becomes our older brother protecting us.

Beautiful clouds become our enemy.

Joint burns itself but makes us happy.

Water takes the pain to change its state.

Mountains get new clothes made of snow.

And here we are enjoying the show."

OMG! He is good. I try to crack a joke, "Nicely explained, but after listening to your lines, I feel colder," and start laughing.

Then, we approach the people who will take us for a sled ride down the mountain. There are many riders there looking for a customer. We talk to a person, and after some bargaining over the price, we book the ride. Instantly, two riders take their sled and start teaching us how we should sit on the sled. Riders are telling us again and again, "You don't have to do anything. You relax and enjoy the ride. We will do all the work."

We are listening to the riders and responding accordingly. Now, I sit on the first sled behind the rider, and the rider starts moving forward.

The sled slides swiftly over the snow, and the rider controls the sled with his legs for taking turns or reducing the speed. I am enjoying the ride and talking to the rider in between. My rider is a bit old, so we get stuck in snow many times. Puneet's rider overtakes us within two minutes.

I am lost looking at the beauty of the mountain, the pine trees covered in snow. We are watching the beautiful show while sliding down the mountain. I never thought we would be doing so much adventure.

My rider stops at a beautiful location. Puneet is there, with his rider, waiting for me.

Puneet's rider says, "Sir, this is the most beautiful location of Gulmarg. Many film shootings happen here. You guys also take your pictures here."

Puneet replies, "Indeed! This is the most beautiful location. By the way, what is your name?"

Rider replies, "Ashraf."

Puneet asks me, "How are you feeling?"

I respond, "Awesome; it is so beautiful. Just feeling scared when the turns are coming. What about you?"

Puneet tells me, "No fear. I am just enjoying."

Ashraf suddenly asks Puneet, "Brother, do you smoke weed?"

Puneet replies, "Yes, how do you know?"

Ashraf says, "Your eyes tell me that. I also smoke; that's why I understood."

Puneet gets excited and replies, "Let's have one together, I have a joint."

Puneet, Ashraf, and I start smoking and conversing. The other rider doesn't smoke. Ashraf is shocked to see me smoking.

Ashraf asks in disbelief, "Mam, do you also smoke?"

I casually reply, "Yeah, why do you ask?"

Ashraf replies, "Actually, Mam, I didn't know girls smoke as well. I have never seen that. So, I am a little shocked."

I explain to Ashraf, "The life I come from, it's not that big a thing. And I prefer weed over alcohol."

Puneet asks Ashraf, "For how long have you been sledding?"

Ashraf replies with pride, "It been 20 years."

Puneet, wanting to know more about it, asks him, "How many rounds you do in a day?"

Ashraf replies, "I complete four rounds daily. I can do more, but I must wait for my turn, as we get our customers sequentially. So, I get four rides max in a day."

Puneet asks, "It's a physical job. Don't you get tired?"

Ashraf replies, "No, Sir. I am used to it now. We, Kashmiri people, eat Kashmiri rice a lot. It keeps our bodies strong. The problem is not the physical work. Right now, it's the peak time for tourists, so we get a lot of customers. We earn money now and save for the offseason. In the offseason, customers are fewer, and many times our livelihood gets affected. I don't fear doing work. I fear the feeling of not having any work. When a person has family and has kids to raise, one can't afford not having work."

Puneet responds, "Hmmmm, I hope everything goes well for you."

Ashraf, looking at the setting Sun, says, "We are getting late. Let me capture your pictures, and then we can leave."

We captured the beautiful location in our camera and left from there on our sleds.

Again, watching the pine trees' mesmerizing view covered in snow while sledding down the mountain, I don't want to close my eyes even for a second. It seems like a beautiful, ever-changing, and refreshing nature ride.

We reach down, and immense pleasure is visible on our faces. Riders went running backward, pulling their sled without wasting a single second in the hope of getting another customer.

On our way back to the hotel, I share how I felt to Puneet. "I enjoyed it a lot. I was completely lost looking at the beauty and how this unplanned sledding turned out to be fun. I always get amazed by the way you live your life according to the present moment and what amazing moments it brings."

Puneet reply, "Do you know? You are in my life because of this habit only."

I am shocked and puzzled and ask, "How come?"

Puneet smiles and says, "When nothing was going right in my life, my business collapsed, I was broke, my girlfriend left me, my parents were asking me for money, and I wanted to run away from everything. I was unable to accept the present, as everything that was happening, I had never imagined. Past was painful, and future was a mystery. I had to force myself to live in the present moment and take appropriate action according to the choices I had in the present. In one of those present moments, you came into my life. The universe was giving me all the signs, repeatedly, that I should know you more, and I did."

"I told you universe writes better than us…"