The Cut To Crank's Ridge

by Ambuj Rajput (India)

I didn't expect to find India

It was the month of december and the snow had just started to fall all over the village of Almora where I had arrived just a night before.Almora was a village in Uttarakhand situated thousands of feet above the sea level where I decided to travel by train for just four days.One could say the journey in train was as remarkable as the destination of the majestic hills.The Indian railways being the largest employer in the world is not as disciplined as it should be but still the 1 hour flight from delhi could never be compared to the extraordinary experience I had in the wobbling train for a day. The hillstation was covered with pine trees and spruce with rocky mountains covering all the sides of the valley like a bowl.I got out of the lodge in the morning and was offered a joint(cannabis cigarette) by the lodge owner who was a man in his 50s but had a certain charm all over his face and was full of life even though his business didnt seem to be working too well.As I was walking in the stone cobbled streets all I could see was people busy in their day to day activities,some people were selling meat and spices,some were taking their herd to the plain grounds,some ladies were bringing down water from the uphill and a narrow cut went up there.I asked one of the locals where it led to and he gave me a smile and replied, "Ye rasta swarg ko jata" which meant it led to the gates of heaven.I started walking towards it and soon I could realize what that man really meant,it really looked what heaven must look like.A gushing river with huge stones and pebbles on its bank with water as clear a diamond was in front of me and ice-covered moutain ranges as far as my eyes could see. There was a certain peace I felt in that moment.As I looked towards my right I could see huge berry bushes and amongst them was an old iron sign board which was all rusty and most of it was covered by the bushes.I grabbed a stick from the ground and scribbled around the bush to see what the board said. "Crank's Ridge - The hippie hill" was inscribed on it with also an arrow pointing to a direction.I was soon lost in thoughts and started walking in the direction the arrow pointed.To what I was about to find out after walking few hundred metres between the huge redwood trees still give me chills.As I kept walking I soon came around a man-made wood stair which lead to backside of a camp.I could hear something but wasn't sure but as soon as I came in front of the camp I could see around 20-25 people sitting around a bonfire talking and hanging out.This was the lost land of The Crank's Ridge. They were just as surprised as myself mostly because many of them were looking at a new person after decades. An old man in his kashmiri(cashmere) overalls stood up and welcomed me and I was soon flooded with questions from the other people."We heard there are flying cars now?","Does the nazi control the europe now?","Do you want something to eat?" were few of the questions which were asked.After sitting with them for sometime I soon realized this was a hippie community which had set its way apart from the world we live in a long time ago.I was given some soup and I came to find out how few of them go out once in few months to get some necessary stuff from the market and how they were all dependant on each other.The community was not just a group of hippies having psychedelic encounters and living the life on their own rules but there was a sense of brotherhood and harmony which could be felt.I still dont know if the hippie culture is even a bit relevant to the economic world today but what I know is I never felt as close to mankind and mother nature the way I felt that day. P.s.- Thank you for answering my question and telling me the secret to win on your story :)