The unforgettable Journey -Jasmit Singh I am a cliff. I have lived in Himalayas for all my life. I have seen over two hundred summers and winters. Weather changes but I am still the same. I have experienced several hailstorms and snowfalls. Many explorers pierce my body with their axes and crampons. I love bird's chirpings and their songs. They always make me feel good and my life worth living. Today I will tell you a story of love, endurances and emotions. A group of university students planned to explore the Himalayas for finding some new plant species at the summits of some high mountains. They were planning to explore nature's hidden treasures in my heart. Seven student were selected for the expedition. Actually, I don't believe in naming. But, Humans do. So, I will tell you the name of all the members. It will make you understand the story more easily. Their Team name was "Seven Stars" and the members were: Jasmit, Chhavi, Akhil, Abhishek, Vinisha, Pallavi and Amit. They all had different talents. "Congratulations, dude. We are selected for the expedition to the mighty Himalayas " Amit grinned and thumped on Jasmit's back. "Same to you. Dude, It means a lot to me. I have always dreamt of going to the Himalayas. So, Let's celebrate for this." Jasmit replied. "Sure Thing, man. I'll call others to come to the 'Foodtastic' restaurant in an hour. That restaurant is just awesome." "Okay. See you at the 'Foodtastic'." Jasmit took his bike and reached Chhavi's house. He called her. She picked the phone on the fifth ring. "Hello." A sleepy Chhavi said. "Guess what?" "What? It should be pretty important, coz I was just driving a helicopter in my dream." "We are selected for the expedition to he Himalayas!" "Now, That's the best thing I've ever heard! I didn't even expected it. I sucked in the Interview." "Me either. Now get your sleepy ass and come outside, We are going to the 'Foodtastic' for the party" "Where are you?" "I'm outside, waiting for you, my highness." Chhavi rolled the curtains of the window and saw Jasmit sitting on his bike. "OMG! Can't you call me earlier. I am not ready for the party." "Just put a good dress and come in two minutes. And no makeup, you are naturally perfect." "Aww! You are just being sweet. Coming in two minutes!" As usual the two minutes of Chhavi were ten minutes of Jasmit's watch. She finally came outside. She was wearing a ravishing Black gown. Jasmit's eyes were glued to her. Finally, the trance was broken by the ringing of Jasmit's phone. "Hey, Amit." "We all are waiting for you. Are you lost or something?" "Just coming." Then Jasmit started the bike and they went to the restaurant. The party went well with all the seven friends feasting on the delicious food. Finally, the journey day arrived. They all were super-excited for the trip and had all the essentials items packed for the journey. They reached the airport on time. A special plane was for them to took them to an airport near Himalayas. Then they took an helicopter reached very close to their destination. They were given special transmission gadgets to contact 'Special rescue team" whenever they needed. They made their first camp at a place from where the Kanchenjunga mountain was clearly visible. "So, How's everyone feeling?" Jasmit asked when everyone were sitting inside the tent. "I am homesick already. I miss my parents." Pallavi said rolling her eyes to the ground. "Look, someone's scared. " Abhishek chuckled. "Shut up, Abhi. Don't worry, Pallavi. We'll be back in ten days. Don't give up, so early. Your parents are very proud of you being brave and determined. " Akhil said patting on her shoulder's. "Akhil is right. At least, we all are together. We all will have a great time in this trip. " Vinisha said. "Guys, Lets do one thing, two of us will guard the tent and the rest will sleep. Let's do these shifts of three hours each. " Amit announced. "From what we have to guard for?" Chhavi asked, raising her eyebrows. "Snow leopards or wolves maybe." Jasmit said. "And Yeti." Abhishek said in serious tone. "Yetis don't exist. They are just craptastic imagination of morons like Abhi." Vinisha shrugged. "They do exist, dummkopf. They have been reported in many areas. And especially near Himalayas." Abhishek retorted. "Cut this off. So, Me and Chhavi will take the first shift and we will wake Amit and Pallavi after 3 hours. So, Everyone take some rest. We have a big day ahead. " Jasmit said. "Okay." Everyone said in unison. "Hey, Chhavi. I think we should play a game to pass the time" Jasmit said. "Umm. Great idea. So, Which game?" "First time" "What?" "First time, It's the game name. You have to tell when you did something for the first time." "Okay. First my turn. I lost by first tooth when I was seven." "I had my first fight when I was in fourth grade." "I saw my first adult movie- Anaconda when I was sixteen." "The first book I read was 'Divergent'." "The boy I sat with for the first time was you." "Do you still remember? We were only in third grade..." Jasmit asked, amazed by her mentioning him. "Of course, I do. After twelve years, so many things have changed." Chhavi replied. "Not you. You still are the most perfect girl in the planet." Jasmit said looking straight into her eyes. "Neither you. You still are the same boy who had so many fights with me before the teacher made us sit together." She said, putting her tongue out to him. "Those fights were UGLY. I still remember, you making weird faces at me." Jasmit said and the started tickling her stomach. "Hahaha...Stop...Heeheehee..Stop.. My stomach is aching. HaHaHeHe..." Chhavi giggled. "Give Up? " Jasmit asked and tickling her harder. "It ain't gonna happen!" Then She escaped from him. She dodged behind him and started tickling him. "Tap Out! You win, Chhavi Parikh. Now, You are new World Tickle Champion " Jasmit said and picked her on his shoulders. "Let go! Jasmit!" Chhavi swayed her legs and punched playfully on his back. Jasmit chucked her softly on the bed. "Duh! Why did you tossed me on the bed? I'm not a rag doll! Now see!" She strangled him mockingly. He imitated as if he was puking. She let go of him. "Hey. Three hours are up and I'm feeling dizzy. Lets wake Amit and Pallavi up." Chhavi said. "Wake up, Sleepyheads!" Jasmit stirred both of them. "Where is yeti? " Pallavi asked. "No, yeti. Just your turn. Wash your face and freshen up." Jasmit said. The night went very fast as they were very tired. Akhil woke everyone up by singing in his awesome(Only he thinks) voice. "Guys! I have made coffee for all of you. Rise and Shine. " Akhil beamed. "Mom. Let me sleep for five minutes.." Abhishek murmured in his sleep. "Pallavi is not the only one who is homesick. " Vinisha joked. Everyone laughed. It made Abhishek jump out of his bed. "Mom?" Everyone laughed even harder. These innocent humans didn't know that their second day may be their last day in the Himalayas. I still remember their ecstatic faces when they pointed towards me and said "Look at that exquisite cliff, It looks like a human face. Let's take photographs of it!" Everyone packed their backpacks and assembled near me. They decided to return to their base camp after first day exploration. "Today, we will explore the Kanchenjunga's summit!" Jasmit announced to everyone. "Yeahhh..." Everyone cheered excitedly. "This is the topographical map of this mountain. We all will take this path" Abhishek said and traced his finger in a zigzag manner on the map. "And make sure you remain warm and dry or you will get hypothermia." Amit said.. "So let's make three subgroups, First: Me and Chhavi. Second: Pallavi and Amit. Third: Akhil, Abhishek and Vinisha. Let's do it guys. We will reach the summit for sure." Jasmit said. They all geared up for the mountain hiking. They had their crampons on and everyone had two ice axes each. They had their oxygen cylinders with them. They were unaware what's yet to come. I was watching them closely as the mountain Kanchenjunga is just adjacent to me. So, they started their hiking in the early morning and planned to reach the summit around noon. Gales were flowing vigorously in the Himalayas. It was their first trip to the Himalayas and all the faces were nervous and excited at the same time. "It's so much awesome." Jasmit said striking his ice axe on the surface of the frozen Kanchenjunga. "Yeah. The Beauty of Himalayas is just picturesque. It's so much thrilling experience. " Chhavi said hiking ahead of Jasmit. "No. I mean spending time with you. It's great to be with you. " Jasmit said climbing further. Chhavi stopped abruptly. Jasmit knew that she was blushing. "Whatever!" She said kicking some ice on Jasmit. "Can you hear that sound?" Jasmit asked earnestly. Then they saw a large wall of ice drifting towards them. It was huge on my standards also. It was gigantic mass of ice and was coming from the top of the mountain. It was taking all the trees and rocks with it on his way. The sound was thunderous and terrifying. "Avalanche," They both screamed and rushed to find some shelter. They saw a cave on the side of a cliff adjacent to the mountain. That cliff was no other cliff, but me. They rushed inside the cave, half tumbling and half running. They were breathing heavily and their breaths were muffled by the loud shudders of the Avalanche. The opening of the cave was blocked by the slabs of the ice brought by the avalanche. It happened all of a sudden that both Chhavi and Jasmit were in a shock. Chhavi was gasping and her eyes were full of fear. Jasmit banged his fist on a big ice chunk. The deafening sound of the Avalanche was still resonating in their ears. They were in heart of mine and I could hear their hearts beating like sledgehammer's thuds. Chhavi was too shocked to speak anything. "Chhavi, Do you have your ice axe?" "Oh, no. It was stuck in the ice and I forgot to pull it out. It happened so much fast. " Chhavi said putting her hand on her forehead. "Don't worry, I have my ice axe with me. We will surely find a way out." Jasmit patted her on her shoulder. "Jasmit, Check your backpack for the things that can be useful in getting out of this chamber." Both of them removed their backpacks and started to look for things that come handy in their backpacks. "So, we have a pair of flashlights, a tarpaulin, a blanket, an ice axe, peanut butter sandwiches, cupcakes, painkillers, first aid box, two water bottles and a camera. " "But, the transmitter to contact the rescue team is in our camp. God know how are our other friend. " Chhavi said in a broken voice. Tears rolled down from her eyes. "They are all fine. The first thing we will do after escaping from this cave is contact the rescue team. " Jasmit hugged her tightly. Chhavi sobbed on his chest with deep sighs. They spread the tarpaulin on the floor and emptied their backpacks. "You do some rest, I will try to remove these ice slabs with my ice axe. " Jasmit took the ice axe and went to the cave's gate. He started striking his ice axe on the huge ice slabs. From that small axe only a small piece of ice was getting detached by each stroke. Jasmit hit several strokes and only 1 percent of the ice was removed. "It will take a long time to break all this ice." Jasmit said breathing heavily. Jasmit looked at Chhavi she was moaning softly. She was sitting with her legs folded and with her head rested on her knees. "What happened, Chhavi?" "Nothing." She said without raising her face. Jasmit went closer to her and raised her face slowly with both his hands. She was in tears and her eyes were bloodshot. Jasmit embraced her and whispered in her ears. "Are you Okay? Tell me." "My left foot is bleeding and it hurts like hell." Jasmit saw her foot , her socks were drenched with blood. "Oh my god! Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Jasmit removed her socks and found that her toe's nail was broken. It was bleeding a lot. "I didn't wanted to divert your mind to smaller problems." "It's not a smaller problem. You are my first priority. " Jasmit almost yelled at her. "I'm sorry. I just didn't wanted to cause any trouble to you. " "You are no trouble. You are the best thing in my life. " Jasmit said softly, kissing on her forehead. Jasmit cleaned and bandaged her toe. Chhavi closed her eyes in pain whenever the antiseptic touched the toe. He also gave her painkillers. "Let's eat something. I am starving. " Jasmit said trying to cheer her up. "Sure. I'll make you some sandwiches. " She leaned forward peck Jasmit on his lips. Jasmit was a bit too shocked to respond. Then they both had sandwiches. The dusk was approaching. "You sleep. I'll clear the ice slabs from the gate." Jasmit tucked the blanket on her and pecked on her lips. He could feel her smile on his lips. He kissed her forehead. Her forehead was hot like sun. "You have high fever. " He removed his jacket and put it on her. "I am not gonna survive. Sorry for all the problems you have faced due to me." "You will survive. You are not going anywhere without me." "I don't wanna die." Tears were rolling down her cheeks. "You will not. I will never let that happen." "I love you, Jasmit." "I love you too, Chhavi." That gave him a boost and he started to hit the ice with strong blows from the axe. It was a very tiresome job. But the her pretty sleeping face gave him power and reason to never give up. After over seven hours of thudding, all the slabs were finally cleared. Jasmit woke Chhavi up. "You finally did it. You are superhero or something? " Chhavi said rubbing her eyes. "Something." Jasmit said putting his tongue out to her. They both kissed each other passionately (On the lips, Do I have to mention? :P ). They reached their camp and contacted the rescue team. Rescue team were there in an hour. With the rescue team, they found their other friends. Finally, It was end of their journey, but starting of a new one of Jasmit and Chhavi.
