Real Illusion

Naini Tal is a typical hill station. All the standard features, a lake, boating, a Mall lined with shops for the tourists, ponies, rickshaws et al one finds in a hill station are present. But there is one huge feature, literally and metaphorically, which sets it apart from the other hill stations. There is a place called the China Peak, which is the highest point on those ranges. It affords a view of the distant ranges beyond- majestic, alluring and sadly beyond reach.

Not many tourists venture up the hill. It is quite steep and it is not one of the ‘sights to do’ on the tourist trail. Who has the heart to toil hard on a holiday? But I always look for off-beat trails to take me away from the crowd and so ventured up the trail. Wife and daughter cried a halt half way up but I decided to soldier on. By the time I reached the top I was panting quite hard and the legs were close to buckling. When I reached the peak and looked beyond, I gasped, this time in awe not for want of breath. I was treated to one of the finest spectacles in my life. There was not a soul in sight, nobody to spoil the silence; all hair on my body standing on end as I drank in the spectacle. The peaks Panchtuli and other peaks nearby, standing tall and magnificent provided such a sight that it literally took my breath away. The valley separating the mountain range where I was standing and these peaks were so low that I could not see the bottom. This resulted in giving an illusion that I was standing on the edge of the world and that those peaks were a different universe. It was so ethereal, so surreal and for a minute or two, I was wondering whether I was dreaming or really experiencing. I don’t know which effort was more – the arduous climb or the effort I put in to tear myself away from the spectacular sight..