By: Sukalpa Dhar, Kolkata: Whenever my lawyer friend and I meet together we try to spend our day in the nature’s lap. Ujjwal Ray Rajbangshi and I first met each other during our graduation days and since then we are close friends. We didn’t start our trekking adventures during our college days. It all started with a refreshing sweating afternoon climb at the top of the Narakasura hill on 16th January, 2019. The Narakasura hill is situated in the southern part of Guwahati city. The legend of Narakasura plays a very important segment in the history of Assam, especially Kamarupa.
Narakasura is believed as the predecessor of all the three dynasties that ruled in Kamarupa during the historical times.
The mesmerizing beauty of the hill was really blissful and relaxing. When we were trekking we got a smell of something which was unusual to me. I asked my friend what it was. He said it is nothing but the smell of rice beer. The odour of rice beer filled the area. It is a homemade product of the hill tribes. Ujjwal then said that he is very fond of these places so he has a fascination to travel these kinds of hilly places.
The sun was setting down and it was glowing to the fullest. Adda, photography, trekking, nature were the inevitable parts of our journey. There were lots of Kash Phool (Kash flower) grown here and there. Each of us plucked a Kash flower and posed for photographs. There are stares made on one side of the hill to go straight upwards but we took the tougher way.
We selected the way which was sloppy, curvy and crude to feel the nature more closely. The trekking was tiring but at the same time refreshing, adventurous and thrilling too. While walking through the hilly path suddenly I remembered Robert Frost’s poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ but in our case the only difference was ours were stopping by hills on a winter afternoon.
As very less people travel in this part of the city it is cleaner and picturesque and we took the road that is less travelled by. I think trekking always becomes joyous and more enjoyable one when you have an appropriate friend with you who accompanies you in this beautiful journey. A friend who matches your real mind’s wave length is the most appropriate choice to accompany with, in these kinds of journeys. As the place is very less travelled by and scarcely populated, hence, it is very pristine and sublime.
Ujjwal was carrying with him his Sony cyber shot camera and a tripod and I was carrying my Redmi 4 mobile phone. We clicked some beautiful sunset photographs. The sun rays which fell in between the tall trees on the hill were a sheer bliss to gaze at. The atmosphere up there on the hill was very refreshing and the wind was also blowing with speed.
As the sun was setting down, after spending the whole afternoon at the summit of the hill we decided to descend. When we reached the planes it had already turned evening. Then we went to a restaurant and had a sumptuous evening snack which added a cheery on the top of our thrilling, sublime and picturesque journey until next time.