143

Part VII

The train from Zurich to EngelBerg is a high speed train. Poonam was excited seeing the train and the stations. Her dreams were slowly turning into a reality. Time and again, she rubbed her hands and palmed her face, like a two year old going to an ice cream shop. At every passing station, her mind visualized Raj and Simran from the movie,”Dil Wale Dulhaniya le Jaayege (DDLJ)”. She remembered the scene where Raj and Simran are inquiring at the railway station about the next train to Zurich. She was shocked about the open PDA locals displayed at the train station and in the train and also had disgusted feeling of people smoking at the railway station. It was difficult to walk without inhaling cigarette smoke.

“Aren’t you feeling cold? I am wearing 3 layers of clothes” Sharad asked Poonam.

“Well not right now, I am just excited to be here.” She paused and continued with blinking an eye, “I will borrow one from you if I needed it”

As the train moved through the countryside with the snowcapped Alps mountains on the horizon and isolated houses with huge farms, Sharad was giving information about Switzerland. “Switzerland doesn’t have its own language, German, Italian and French is primarily spoken in different parts of the country…..”

Poonam was assimilating the ambience and listening to Sharad like drinking from a firehose.

From EngelBerg, they took a small train to the Titlis station, and from there they took a Gondola ride to the top of the Titlis Mountain. It was an off-season and also winter, so there were not many visitors. As the Gondola moved towards the height, Poonam saw a below on the hills a herd of cattle moving around with their trychel (a cow bell) ringing in unison. She remembered the scene from DDLJ where Raj gives Simaran a trychet as a parting gift. She hugged Sharad and took their selfie with the backdrop of the snowcapped mountain. With other passengers being non-Indians, she took the liberty of kissing Sharad.

As they reached the Gondola station, Poonam was surprised to find an Indian restaurant at that height. It was there to cater to Indian groups coming in tours.

As they came out of the Gondola station and out on the mountain, Poonam spotted a life-size poster of SRK and Kajol from the movie DDLJ. She ran towards the poster and hugged SRK and Kajol and posed for pictures as Sharad took the photos.

After spending the time looking at the beautiful landscape and the Glacier cave, they came back to Engelwood and took a train to Interlaken. Poonam was mesmerized by the beauty of Interlaken. Walking on the main street, with shops on one side and the tall, daunting Jungfrau Mountain far out on the other side, Poonam felt like being in Heaven. There was a light fog on the top of the mountain, clipping the top of the mountain. They held their hands as they hopped from one shop to another. She wanted to buy a cuckoo-clock and do more shopping, but then they decided to buy it on their way back. They also visited Yash Chopra’s statue near the casino. She hugged Yash Chopra and thanked him for showing the beautiful landscapes in his movies.

After spending time and having a quick lunch, they took a train to Jungfra Mountain, changing at Lauterbrunnen into a cog wheel train. The cog wheel train climbs through the elevation. There were few passengers on the train. The view of the Alps from the train was just awesome.

Finally, the train stopped at the railway station under a tunnel. They came out of the station and onto the Mountain. There was excitement running down Poonam’s legs as she remembered that this is the place where Simran steps in wild uninhibitedness for the song, “Zara Sa Zhoom lu mein” from DDLJ. There was snow and snow everywhere. There was a light fog as well.

They roamed around the mountain. Sharad saw a lone cliff at a distance and he slowly climbed towards the top of the cliff. Poonam was worried and she called him out and was slowly moving towards him. Sharad had his hands wide open. On one hand, this was the exact moment she was dreaming about and on the other hand, she was concerned.

As she was walking towards Sharad, her leg plunged a little deep into the snow. Using a hand, she bent to pull it out. Just at that very moment, she heard a buzzing sound and she looked at Sharad. There was blood flowing out of Sharad’s shoulder and he fell off the Cliff.

“Sharad…. Sharad…. Sharad!” Poonam screamed. Her voice was declining every time she screamed. She tried to rush forward but she fell and rolled down with a hard ice or rock hitting her head.

 

This is as fresh as it can be. I am in the area.