Mani is sitting on the compound wall of the hotel in manali and has been smoking his cigarettes for a while now. Its early evening now and we have been out all day looking for spare parts to fix Mani's bike. Somehow, I get the feeling that his heart is not set on it and he has been making a half heart attempt at finding the parts. I cant figure out this attitude of his and after riding all this way, for the trip to fall off now is unimaginable for me. And his attitude is not helping my temper; I ve finally decided to confront him.
"Mani this looks like a fairly major repair work needed on your bike. We need to get the required parts and get to Leh before Rohtang pass closes for the winter. And you dont seem to be too worried about any of this. I seriously cant understand your attitude."
"Old man, I ve been thinking, I am an expert mechanic. I ve built hundreds of bikes that ve successfully made it to leh and back, your bike included. And yet, my bike has been giving me problems and niggles right from the beginning."
"Mani, you cant be stupidly sentimental about something like that. This sort of thing just happens."
"no, old man, once or twice I can understand. But this is a bad omen. I believe in destiny and something tells me that all this is happening for a reason. Maybe this will further put either your life or mine in danger. and i dont want to do that."
"Will you stop being such a sentimental fool!! I m almost twice your age and at my age I dont get too many second chances. and yet I am here to fulfil my dream. lets get your bike fixed and leave!"
"Leave where old man? The rohtang pass closes in 2 days. Even if I can get the parts, there is no guarentee that I can get it all fixed in time. No Old man, My decision is made, you ll have to go up to leh alone and achieve your dream alone, on your own merit as you deserve it that way. I think, that will be better for you and for me."
I am stunned to hear this. The ever so practical mani being such a fool? I am thinking about what to say at this point, but mani just stubs out his cigarette, hops off his perch and walks into the hotel. This conversation according to him, is over.
I am now sitting on the steps outside the Hidimba devi temple in Manali and my thoughts are in a total jam. I tried talking to Mani again but his mind is firmly made up. He infact has ignored his bike all evening and has been checking and double checking everything on my bike. Its true that in my original dream, I did not see anyone by my side when i reached Leh, but I did not want it to come true this way. Mani more than anything is my friend now and him not accompanying me is disturbing me no end. I even thought of giving up and going home, but would I ever be able to live with that? I may not be able to make it back next year. Or ever.
Its bright and sunny, but the winds are chilly as the first signs of autumn are showing up. I am sitting in a tea shop in darcha, between manali and leh. The road out of Manali was breath taking and the all the hair pin curves and the roads through hilly passes took my breath away. I ve made slow progress since leaving Manali as my heart was heavy with Mani not joining in to this last and the most important part of the ride. He has promised to get his bike ready before I come back to Manali and ride with me all the way home.
I m riding into the twilight now. The roads have gotten progressively worse since i left Darcha, and I ve had to take care to ride without breaking anything on my bike, or on my own self. The progress has been extremely slow. But the view has gotten more and more amazing by the minute. I ve ridden between ice covered rocks and can see the ice covered peaks of mountains in the distance. The air up here is pristine. All this scenery has made me wish that I wasnt all alone on this part of the journey and that I could share it with someone.
I dont think I can make it to Leh tonight. I can see a small town coming up, the name of which I dont know as I never intended to stop or even pass through this place. The military controlled highways here stipulate that I cant ride once its dark and I have to take a room in this village for tonight. The hotel looks run down but its the only one available. I lock myself in my roon, fall on the bed, exhausted with the ride and dream of the pinnacle of my trip, Leh. I have her summons for tomorrow, for sure.
To be continued..
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