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A Ramble In The Monsoon Rain -Anuj Bhandari I am not an accustomed hiker. But I sometimes wish I were! Hence for the second time I had successfully enlisted myself into the hikers group coordinated by Sudeep Ghimire. Just on the following day of grand Team Build Party at Gokarna, we 11 were in a mood to climb up the hills when other would rest the whole day.

Flowering plants, in fact, increase positive emotional reaction by influencing emotional displays such as smiling or, over a longer time period, do they change moods and also influence socio-emotional functions such as social greeting patterns or memories of social events. -Words taken from a research Paper

Fueling ourselves at a Misthanna Vandar at Jorpati, we drove to Sundarijal from where our hike would begin. Wondering about the weather the day would procure, we started the walk together. The morning weather suggested that we would have the best of all weathers that a hiker would prefer, at least no scorching sun. none of us had the exact idea for how long we would have to walk. But we were ready, mentally and our legs didn't bother to walk either. With the continuous cracking of jokes and decent mischiefs, we weren't distressed by the stress of the walk at all. After the quick hike of about an hour, we could feel the affectionate sprinkling rain soothing our heated body. But, the weather suggested that we would have to manage something for ourselves that will protect us from the looming downpour. Each of us had a rain suite or an umbrella. At every step ahead, we encountered something different. For all of us in common, it was a different place for a hike; grass and the green, forest and the rain, a different frog and a giant earthworm, white slug and the leech expecting our legs, fanning out fog and the cold breeze across our ears, villages and the people there; everything had a different sense to convey and we had a different way enjoy. To add to the surplus of fun, each of us would let the most comical part inside to emerge and laugh out loud to echo through the woods. Binod Pathak, did that quite well and quite often. After a 7 hours of easy walk, we were at the summit of our hike.

“It was the flower that first ushered the idea of beauty into the world the moment, long ago, when floral attraction emerged as a evolutionary strategy. A handful of plants that manage to manufacture chemicals with the precise molecular key needed to unlock the mechanism in our brain governing pleasure, memory, and maybe even transcendence.”

Before we could fill ourselves with the fantasy of the stepping at the destiny, we realized we would have to climb down the hills and get back on time. By the time, we could sense hunger knocking our stomachs. With whatever we could devour, we sought a way to relief and gathered a strength to return. Then, it was time to hurry ourselves back to the van through the greasy way and yet it was raining in a aggressive way. At about 4 PM we started tracing our foots down the same way. Refreshing and revisiting each events and objects on the way, we landed back to Sundarijal at 6pm. Thankfully, there was a wise and timely order made at the restaurant at Sundarijal. There we had a pleasant lunch. By 6:30 PM, we packed ourselves into the office van and drove back to Office. The hike was a perfect one, in the perfect day, with the perfect team and was perfectly scheduled. Acres of thanks to Sudeep Ghimire for well arranging the hike and coordinating it in a successful way. It started quite well and ended up excellent, and by the end of the day I could realize that I had an aching stomach due to continuous laughter than the legs with the continuous walk. Such memorable hikes add an adventure in life, no doubt; for this reason, though I am not an accustomed hiker, I sometimes wish I were! Please click on the image to see its large version.

01 stairway to heaven	02 aba yo baato mero ho ki....
03 Road Map	04 start of the hike
05 darho hidine bhaiyo 22km	06 under canopy of clouds
07 ahile nai thaakiyo yaar	08 brothers under umbrella
09 Khotta jammayera Subin dai...yehi ho maukka	10 deserted barrack
11 no roads,but a heliport	12 soaked into rain
13 rana tigrina in rain	14 slug and the ripple
15 tired and confused	16 the summit
17 finally we did it!	18 wah wah wai wai
19 fueling the self	20 giant earthworm
21 sweet innocence	22 isko lagaaadaala to life jhingaalala
23 behind the brume...	24 fog wrapped nature
25 euta photo daaju vaai ko	26 painted shrub
27 hikers across the haze	28 a flash for their faces
29 aafnai gaau farki aaye..	30 six at the edge
31 dawn blossom	32 women planting millet with the start of mansoon
33 busy life into bushes..	34 Courageous Kids
35 i am able	36 Home...sweet home
37 a glimpse of Kathmandu Valley	38 Hikers Back
39 mansoon sprinkled earth	40 tired and exhausted
41 a puzzle at sundarijal	42 rock sculpture...naturally
43 rock or skull	44 sundarijal maai ki jay
45 is he polluting water in open!	46 somebody help him!
47 green dumbbell	48 Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel