Brothers

Rohit was cutting his sleeping bag using his knife so that it could fit over Parminder's sleeping bag.

 

‘You need that,’ said Parminder in a faint voice.

 

‘I am not the one who’s hurt, you need it,’ replied Rohit.

 

He goes towards Parminder who was already wrapped in his sleeping bag. ‘This is going to hurt,’ said Rohit and quickly puts his arm under his neck and lifts Parminder to get the sleeping bag under him. ‘Aaaaaahhhhhh,’ Parminder moaned in pain as Rohit gently puts him down. He then lifts his legs and adjusts the sleeping bag under him.

 

Parminder was lying on thick ice and to make sure he didn’t go into hypothermia Rohit had put his sleeping bag over him.

 

He quickly adjusts the sleeping bag under Parminder and covers him thoroughly.

 

‘Do you remember the time when you came and woke me up?’ said Rohit.

 

‘Ya man, that was a good time,’ replied Parminder coughing as he struggled to talk. Rohit assembled the tent close to Parminder.

 

‘I will get you in there,’ said Rohit as Parminder looked at Rohit.

 

‘I can do it,’ said Parminder holding on to Rohit’s hand tightly.

 

Rohit gently pulled the sleeping bag. As it moved Parminder felt a searing pain in his back but did not scream. Rohit moved him further, the pain got unbearable but Parminder pressed his teeth tightly. Tears rolled over his cheeks but he remained quiet.

 

Rohit managed to pull Parminder inside the tent and looked at his face. Parminder smiled and Rohit wiped his tears.

 

‘You are going to be alright, I am gonna be with you and we will leave this place soon,’ said Rohit. He picked the stove and brought it near Parminder to give him some heat. He laid beside him putting his arm under Parminder’s head.

 

Rohit kept himself close to Parminder to give him body heat. 

 

They were stuck at the bottom of a shaft at about 6300 meters above the sea level.

 

They were approximately 900 meters away from ‘Chaukhamba I’ summit, highest of the four Chaukhamba summits in the Garwal region of the Himalayas.

 

Rohit checked the elevation on his GPS device and then showed it to Parminder.

 

‘So close man,’ he said looking at the elevation.

 

‘You leave me here, I am gonna be alright. Go ahead dude you are so close,’ said Parminder.

 

‘Shut up man I ain’t gonna leave you like this,’ said Rohit.

 

Both were seasoned climbers and had been on many such treks but this time they made the mistake of ignoring all warnings and pushing ahead in bad weather.

 

They were climbing through the North Face via Bhagirathi-Kharak Glacier.

 

They were warned, when they had reached Pauri eight days ago, about the weather. But something made Parminder take the call to proceed with the climb.

 

It was August so Parminder thought this could be one of those freak weather anomalies which might pass quickly. But he was wrong, this turned out to be the worst storm of the year.

 

*****

2 years ago

 

‘What’s the POA?’ is how everyday conversation usually started between Rohit and Parminder.

 

‘NFC?’ replied Parminder sounding confused as he just got up yawning.

 

‘We went there last week, pick any other place,’ said Rohit.

 

‘You decide and let me know, good night,’ said Parminder and dozed off even as Rohit kept yelling; ‘HELLO, HELLO, HELLO.’

 

‘Son of a *****,’ he said in frustration and disconnected the call.

 

*****

 

Rohit and Parminder were childhood friends.

 

While Rohit lived in Okhla, Parminder lived in the Amar Colony area in Delhi. 

 

They were together at the Kendriya Vidyalaya in Andrews Ganj and then now at a private college, BPD College, Noida, thanks to their lacklustre performance in the 12th standard board exams.

 

As much as their parents hated their going to BPD College; they simply loved it there.

 

Their day usually started with a coffee at the CCD in ‘J-Block’ of their college campus followed by snacks at ‘Singh’s’, a ‘Subway’ sandwich during lunchtime was a must and the day usually ended with a ‘Pizza’ at Dominos.

 

Yup, they were having a good time.

 

*****

 

‘GET UP YOU A***HOLE…’ yelled Rohit as he jumped on Parminder’s bed.

 

‘What the???’ screamed Parminder as he got up and ran after Rohit.

 

‘Aunty….’ said Rohit as he stood beside Parminders’ mother in the kitchen making a babyface. Parminder rushed in with a pillow in his hands.

 

‘Have you seen the clock?’ she said without even looking at Parminder.

 

‘Look at your friend here, he's freshened up,’ she continued.

 

Parminder annoyingly looked at the watch. It was 12:30 PM.

 

‘Beta, have some paranthas,’ she said caressing Rohit’s cheeks which irritated Parminder further.

 

‘But mom it’s a Saturday…’ said Parminder making a babyface. 

 

His mom turned towards him and he immediately looked down not being able to handle the angry stare from her.

 

‘Go freshenup now and have breakfast,’ she said angrily as Parminder reluctantly went towards the washroom.

 

He turned around teasing Rohit who teased back in return as he securely stood close to Parminder’s mom in the kitchen.

 

Post breakfast, which consisted of tasty Aalu Paranthas, they headed towards GIP Mall in Noida. 

 

*****

 

‘Ta da,’ said Rohit as he took out a brochure from his pocket.

 

Parminder looked at it while munching on his KFC popcorn rice bowl. They were in the food court area of GIP Mall.

 

‘A trip to Hemkunt Saheb?’ Parminder said, looking confused.

 

He stared down at his stomach and then silently looked at Rohit who was waiting for him to answer.

 

‘So???’ said Rohit as he looked at Parminder in anticipation.

 

‘Bhai, have you seen my belly?’ replied Parminder as he dug through the rice bowl.

 

‘We got three weeks, we will work on your belly and get you in shape,’ replied Rohit.

 

‘Bhai, you know how much I love trekking.’

 

‘We are in the first year of our graduation and god knows where our destiny might take us after college. Let’s do this together,’ said Rohit as he raised his hand for a high-five.

 

Since Rohit persisted and kept his hand up, Parminder looked on with a blank face at first and then reluctantly raised his hand as well for the high-five.

 

‘He is going get us both killed,’ murmured Parminder as he got busy with the rice bowl again while Rohit got busy staring at the brochure after the high-five.

 

‘What was that?’ asked Rohit as he faintly heard the murmur and took his eyes off the brochure.

 

‘Nothing, I just said what a brilliant plan,’ replied Parminder with a fake smile on his face.

 

‘Yes, it is going to be great,’ said Rohit excitedly as he looked at the brochure again.

 

Over the next couple of days, Rohit ensured that Parminder lost a few kilos and got back into shape. After a few days even Parminder started enjoying regular Gym workouts, early morning runs, evening walks and a strict diet.

 

After coming back from Hemkunt Saheb, Rohit got them enrolled in a Basic Mountaineering Course from HMI, Darjeeling. Though the waiting period was quite long, Rohit’s father used his contacts to get them in a batch the next month.

 

During their BMC training, they mastered Rock Craft, Ice Craft, Waterman Ship, Environment Awareness, Treks and Survival in Mountains.

 

During the final days of the course, they trekked to ‘Chaurikhang’ range at an altitude of 4450 meters.

 

Parminder fell in love with the mountains and snow on this trek and together they climbed many peaks in the coming months. They became famous in the mountaineering community as ‘Team Alpha’.

 

Five months before their final exams, in August 2018, after completing ‘Chaukhamba III and IV’, they decided to skip ‘Chaukhamba II’ and move straight to ‘Chaukhamba I’.

 

High on excitement and adrenalin after conquering ‘Chaukhamba III and IV’ in just over 5 days they decided to climb ‘Chaukhamba I’ even after the locals adviced them not to go ahead due to worsening weather conditions. 

 

They pushed hard and braved the weather conditions to push forward. They managed to reach 6300 meters above the sea level when a careless mistake by Rohit almost cost Parminder his life. 

 

They were approximately 900 meters away from the summit when Rohit decides to take a selfie with the view of the peak in the background.

 

‘This is the perfect view,’ said Rohit looking at the peak.

 

He takes off his gloves, holds the phone and clicks a selfie.

 

‘It’s not coming through,’ said Rohit as he looked the pic on his phone. The peak in the background was not visible due to poor visibility.

 

‘Take out the DSLR,’ he said.

 

‘WE MUST KEEP MOVING AHEAD, IT’S GETTING REALLY BAD,’ yelled Parminder looking at the increasing wind speed. Though they were only a few meters apart the wind made it hard for them hear each other. As the wind brushed past their hoods it made an almost deafening noise.

 

‘We are so close to the summit let's go ahead,’ said Parminder looking at the GPS device.

 

‘Look at the view man, this is beautiful,’ said Rohit insisting on a photo op.

 

Parminder reluctantly takes out the camera and keeps his backpack on the ice.

 

He takes off his gloves and switches the camera on.

 

‘Take the wide-angle man, I want the peak in the background,’ said Rohit removing snow from his beard and mustache.

 

Parminder moves back a bit to get a wide view.

 

As he backs off he froze looking at the ice below his feet.

Parminder then looks at Rohit in fear trying hard not to tremble.

 

‘IS IT DONE?’ shouted Rohit but Parminder looked back silently without moving.

 

‘Say, something man, I am tired of smiling,’ said Rohit as Parminder remained silent.

 

Rohit annoyingly walks towards Parminder who stood at the same place frozen.

 

Parminder slowly raises his hand signalling Rohit to stop as the sound of ice cracking under his feet was audible.

 

Rohit froze instantly as he too heard the crackling sound. He carefully backtracked as the wind kept pushing against his body. Parminder too tried hard to stay still. 

 

‘Don’t worry, I am going to throw a line towards you,’ Rohit said as he picked up Parminders bag and quickly rigs a line in the ice using his Ice Hammer.

 

Parminder also slowly takes out his ice hammer hooked to the back of his harness.

 

Rohit carefully throws the other end of the line towards Parminder’s shoulder with a 'figure of 8' knot at the end.

 

The rope falls on his shoulder and Parminder slowly moves his arm to hold the rope while holding his ice hammer in the other hand

 

Parminder slowly takes the end of the rope towards the carabiner dangling from the sternal part on his harness without making any sudden movements.

 

Rohit looks at Parminder concerned, waiting for him to connect the line with the 'figure of 8' knot in his carabiner and signal that he’s connected the rope securely.

 

As Parminder moves his hand slowly towards the carabiner the ice breaks and he falls through the ice. Rohit quickly wraps the rope around his arm before the line tightens and gets ready to bear Parminder's weight as he fell through the ice.

 

Rohit felt a sudden jerk and was pulled forward as Parminder came to a halt at the other end.

Parminder was able to use his ice hammer and punch it through the icy wall next to him just before he lost his grip on the rope due to the jerk.

 

Rohit, who was holding on to the other end of the line tightly, fell backward as the rope slipped through Parminder’s hand and his entire weight was now on the ice hammer.

 

Parminder was now dangling on the ice hammer with just one hand. He pushed himself up to hold on to the hammer with both hands. He couldnt pull himself enough so, he tries to find a firm footing to take some weight off the hammer. But, his weight was too much and the ice buckled. The ice hammer came out throwing Parminder down the deep shaft.

 

Parminder comes to a sudden stop with a loud thud as he falls on a layer of powdered ice at the bottom of the shaft. As he hits the bottom of the shaft ice particles flew around as if there had been an explosion.

 

The depth of the shaft was only 6-7 meters but the impact of the fall was as such that Parminder was knocked out unconscious.

 

Meanwhile, Rohit rushes towards the opening and crawls slowly as he reaches the edge.

He looks down, carefully holding on to the line.

 

‘PARMINDER, BRO, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?’ he screamed looking down.

Parminder did not reply, he lay at the bottom of the hole with his body covered in ice.

 

‘HOLD ON BUDDY, I AM COMING,’ he said as quickly rigs the line to the carabiner on his harness and repels down the hole.

 

As he pushes his feet against the icy walls of the shaft repelling down, a huge chunk on ice falls and Rohit looks down in horror.

 

To his relief, the chunk of ice hits a protruding rock and breaks into small pieces before reaching Parminder. Rohit continues repelling.

 

He quickly rushes towards Parminder and clears the ice over him.

 

‘PARMINDER, CAN YOU HEAR ME, BUDDY,’ said Rohit as he frantically rubs his hands.

 

‘Aaaaaaaa,’ Parminder moans as he opens his eyes.

 

‘That was quite a fall,’ said Parminder and laughs. He coughs badly.

 

‘Stay quiet man, let me get the backpacks,’ said Rohit.

 

‘Can you move?’ he asked Parminder.

 

‘Naa man my lower part seems stiff, can’t move,’ replied Parminder as Rohit looked on concerned.

 

He quickly rushes back to the line and climbs up.

 

He takes out the radio from his backpack and relays an SOS message.

 

‘This is Rohit from Team Alpha my team mate has fallen in a shaft approximately 900 meters from the summit, we need immediate help,’ said Rohit and waited for a response.

 

He waited for some time but there was no response but static sound. 

 

He relays the message a few more times but there was no response.

 

Without wasting any more time, he quickly lowers both the backpacks and then repels down.

*****

 

Rohit takes out the sleeping bag from Parminder's backpack and carefully puts it under him and then closes the zip over him to ensure he did not go into hypothermia.

 

For added safety, he also puts his sleeping bag around Parminder and also moves Parminder in the tent.

 

*****

 

‘Any response on the radio?’ asked Parminder as Rohit climbed down.

 

‘Naa man,’ replied Rohit.

 

‘Will climb up and try again shortly,’ said Rohit.

 

‘You need to conserve energy,’ said Parminder as Rohit poured some water in his mouth. He then lights the stove.

 

‘Save that,’ said Parminder looking at the stove.

'You need heat, we have enough to last for sometime,' said Rohit and brought the stove close.

 

‘How long before they send search and rescue looking for us?’ asked Parminder.

 

‘4 maybe 5 days…’ 

‘… after our scheduled reporting time,’ replied Rohit while pausing in between.

 

Parminder coughs badly and some blood spills out of his mouth.

 

Rohit immediately covers the blood with a cloth before Parminder could see it.

 

‘Was that blood?’ asked Parminder trying to look.

 

‘It was just your dirty ‘snot’ coming out of your mouth, Ewww man,’ joked Rohit as he subtly cleans the blood while removing the cloth. 

 

‘When the time comes, I want you to choose yourself, ok?’ said Parminder breathing heavily.

 

‘Calm down buddy, breath slowly,’ said Rohit rubbing Parminder's chest.

 

‘You know that I will not leave you because I know that you would never do that to me,’ said Rohit holding Parminder’s hand tightly.

 

‘You are pig-headed, you know that,’ said Parminder smiling.

 

‘It takes one to know one,’ replied Rohit smiling as he picturized himself insisting for that photograph. He cursed himself without letting Parminder know about it. He kept smiling.

 

‘Save your energy brother,’ he said looking at Parminder.

 

Rohit had emptied one of the backpacks and placed it under himself.

 

Rohit keeps lying close to Parminder for hours till he goes off to sleep.

 

He slowly pulls his arm from under Parminder. He clears the snow from the tent.

 

Rohit climbs on top with the radio.

 

The visibility was zero due to the heavy blizzard on the top. He looked at the GPS device, it was 17:00.

 

It had been more than five hours since Parminder had been down there and Rohit was concerned about his worsening condition.

 

‘Can anybody hear me, this is Rohit from Team Alpha, we need help urgently; we are approximately 900 meters away from the summit. Our coordinates are 30°44′59″N and 79°17′28″E. The GPS device ID is NRM22338. My team mate has fallen in a shaft near the peak viewpoint. He is injured badly. Does anybody copy?’ he said and waited for a reply. He kept the radio under his hood as the wind was blowing with almost deafening sound.

 

There was only static sound on the radio. He relayed the message again many times and then decided to go back down.

 

Parminder had woken up by the time he reached down.

 

‘Any luck?’ asked Parminder. Rohit remained silent.

 

‘Could be because we are on the opposite side of the hill, the signal might be better if you climb further towards the summit,’ said Parminder as Rohit shook his head in disagreement.

 

‘Listen to me buddy,’ said Parminder and coughed. Rohit rushes to him.

 

‘Keep quiet I am not leaving you,’ said Rohit.

 

‘Don’t be an emotional fool, if you stayed here with me then we will run out of food soon,’ said Parminder.

 

‘You have to go towards the summit,’ he said assertively.

 

‘How’s the weather above?’ asked Parminder.

 

‘It’s bad but I think I can make it,’ replied Rohit reluctantly agreeing with Parminder. 

 

He was not worried about the food running out but he was worried about Parminders worsening health. Parminder may not last the next 24 hours without treatment. So, he had to be taken to a hospital urgently.

 

Rohit packs only essential stuff in his backpack and hugs Parminder tightly.

 

‘You hang in there, you hear me; you hang in there till I come back,’ said Rohit with teary eyes.

 

‘You don’t look nice crying man,’ said Parminder as he hugged back mustering all his strength.

 

‘Ok, ok, don’t get all emotional on me now. Go and come back quickly,’ he said smiling and wiping his tears.

 

‘Go kick this mountains arse,’ he said while showing thumbs up to Rohit. Rohit winked and said: ‘Be right back buddy.’

 

Rohit leaves the stove burning near Parminder and quickly climbs to the top, it was quite dark and the wind was blowing at an incredible speed. To make matters worse it was snowing as well.

 

He plants a flag to mark the place so that he can find it easily when he comes back.

 

He switched on his helmet torch and, switched to fog light mode.

 

Rohit relayed the message along with the coordinates once again before moving towards the peak.

 

He braved through the blizzard talking to himself; ‘Parminder, you a******e, you lazy bum I am coming back soon, hang in there,’ he mumbled as he walked through the powdered ice.

 

The ice cleats in his shoes would throw ice backwards with every step he took as he continued moving forward towards the summit.

 

His beard and mustache were covered in ice. His face was pale and he looked like a frozen mummy.

 

He must have walked for an hour so when he heard what seemed like chatter on the radio.

He quickly takes out the radio.

 

‘Anybody there, do you copy,’ he said and waited. There was nothing but static sound. Dejected, he keeps the radio back in the backpack and closes the zip as he hears a faint voice.

 

He takes out the radio.

 

‘Hello, I can hear you, do you copy?’ he said and waited in anticipation.

 

‘We….., we……. copy….’ was the broken response from the other side.

 

The sound of a humanbeing lifted his spirits.

 

‘Must climb further for a better signal,’ he said breathing heavily and pushed further. He kept relaying on the radio but would only get a few broken words in return as the transmission was really bad.

 

He walked for a few hours. 

 

He stopped and looked around to check his location. It was hard for him to see beyond the area lit by his helmet torch. 

 

Also, the wind and the snow were making it hard for him to keep his eyes open.

 

The climb was really hard as the final few meters to the summit were at almost 45 degree angle. He had to use 2 hammers to pull himself up. He would punch one hammer into the ice and then move his feet upward and punch the cleat in the snow. Then he followed the same step with the other hammer and cleat. As the cleat was fixed in the icy mountain he would pull himself up using the hammer. He kept on climbing for half an hour or so. It was tough and he was almost out of breath so he stopped to breathe.

 

‘Must be close to the summit,’ he said as he looked at the GPS device breathing heavily. He was tightly holding on to the ice hammer with one hand.

 

Mustering all his strength he hits the ice with the ice hammer and pulls himself up. He reaches the top and rushes towards the direction being pointed by the GPS device.

 

Moving through the dark and windy environment on the snowy tracks he walks ahead.

 

‘That’s it,’ he said looking at the GPS as they had pre-programmed the coordinates in it before they had started their descent.

 

His eyes remained wide open in fear as he looked at the scenery in front of him. It was almost as if he was out of ground. Due to poor visibility, he was about to step over the edge but stopped himself and barely prevented himself from stepping over the edge. He froze and tried to regain his balance.

 

He took a sigh of relief as he stepped back from the edge. He was at the summit. He ecstatically raised his arms as he had conquered the summit when suddenly the ice under his feet buckled and he slipped off the edge.

 

As he fell, he punches the ice hammer through the ice and he was dangling over the edge.

 

He looks and sees only a dark abyss below. He manages to get a firm footing and pulls himself up.

He sat there on his knees laughing hysterically as he again heard some kind of chatter on the radio.

 

He snapped back to his senses and quickly takes out the radio.

 

‘Can anybody hear me?’ he said and waited for a response.

 

‘This is Uttrakhand Mountain Rescue team, we hear you loud and clear, over,’ was the reply and Rohit lies on the snow feeling relieved.

 

‘My friend is injured, we need help, over,’ he said breathing heavily while still lying on the snow at the peak.

 

‘Team alpha, we got your message three hours ago but you could not seem to hear us, we have already informed the army and they have deployed a chopper. But the landing near your site is very difficult to reach due to bad weather so they will try again in the morning. Can you hold on till morning? Over,’ asked the operator.

 

‘Yes, yes, yes, we can hold till the morning, over,’ replied Rohit laughing.

 

‘Ok, team alpha, hang in there, over and out,’ said the operator.

 

‘Over and out,’ said Rohit as he smiled at being called Team Alpha. He rushes down towards the shaft.

 

As he reaches the place he could not see the opening of the shaft. The entire place was now covered with thick ice and the opening to the shaft, the rope and the marker were also buried somewhere under the ice. 

 

He had to be careful while looking for the opening as even he could fall in it.

 

‘BUDDY CAN YOU HEAR ME?’ he yelled and waited but there was no response.

 

He goes towards the edge where he was standing for the photograph and imagines where Parminder was standing before falling in the shaft.

 

Using a collapsible stick from his bag he carefully pierces the stick through the ice trying to find the opening to the shaft.

 

He hits bull’s-eye when the stick goes deeper. He carefully digs through the ice using a small shovel and finally uncovers the opening to the shaft and the rope.

 

‘CAN YOU HEAR ME BUDDY?’ he yells while repelling down the shaft.

 

‘Yes I am still here man,’ he hears Parminders faint voice.

 

He quickly disconnects the rope from his harness and rushes towards Parminder as soon as he hits the bottom of the shaft.

 

He hugs Parminder tightly.

 

‘Helps coming buddy, they have dispatched a chopper,’ he said smiling.

 

‘A chopper, haan?’ said Parminder.

 

‘How exciting,’ continued Parminder as they both laughed. Parminder coughed.

 

‘Easy buddy,’ said Rohit.

 

Parminder and Rohit were airlifted by the Indian Army at around 07:00 the next day.

 

He was first brought to Pauri Civil Hospital and then was moved to Max hospital in Lajpat Nagar, Delhi.

 

He had suffered a back injury, a couple of broken ribs and hip fracture but, he recovered fast.

 

Parminder’s parents were thankful to Rohit for taking care of their son.

 

‘They must have been brothers in their previous life,’ said Parminder’s mother as she caressed Parminder. Parminder and Rohit's parents were there in the room.

 

‘This life as well,’ said Parminder as he holds on to Rohit’s hand; everybody laughed.

 

Everyone smiled and prayed to god for Parminder’s speedy recovery. 

 

*****

 

‘Team Alpha rocks,’ said Rohit.

 

‘Cheers to Team Alpha,’ said Parminder as they raised a toast at Howzatt Pub in Gurgaon. They were celebrating Parminder’s complete recovery.

 

‘This is next,’ said Parminder passing his Smartphone to Rohit.

 

Rohit coughs and almost spits his drink on the table as he sees the picture in Parminder's tab. 'Mission Everest,’ was the headline in the brochure on his phone.

 

*****