I was in a group of 10, on a summer's day hike in the Himalayas. Only a day earlier, we were at the highest escalation in the Bhaba Pass. The mood was jubilant and carefree. We were past the most challenging and it remained for us to enjoy the excellent weather conditions as we made our way back to the world.

We descended into lush green valleys through lightly forested terrain in stark contrast to the snow and ice of the day before. My guide, Mohinder Singh said, "It's good we're focused on the trail ahead but also look back and see where you came from."

So I did. The view was a composite of every tree, shrub, flower I had experienced. Every rock, outcrop and drop that was the form of the land, every hue of the season's colour.

I hung back to take shot after shot of the landscape we were walking out of. At the same time, I had someone in the group within sight so I didn't get left behind. Mohinder had gone on ahead to lead. Eventually, I caught up with the person I'd been trailing. He'd stopped walking.

"Hello," I said, "where're the rest?"

"Err .. I'm not sure."

Like me, he too had been taking photographs.

Suddenly it seemed like the trail that had been so clear earlier offered far too many possibilities. My heart sank. We were lost.

"Don't panic," said my friend, "Mohinder will notice we're missing. We sit put and wait."

It was probably the longest 45-minute wait I endured. Bless Mohinder for always doing a prompt head count. He came calling in the direction we'd walked. We missed a turning in a fork, so distracted were we with the photography. A classic case of the blind leading the blind. Mohinder guessed what we'd gotten ourselves into.

We rejoined the group to cheers and hoots of relieved laughter. We also weren't spared the derision. Apparently, we had to suffer far worse fate to be taken seriously. No, thank you.

I've shared one of the shots here. Think it was worth the trouble?


Postscript added on 10 Oct 2023: Note: Thank you to those who have written to let me know you enjoy reading my column but daren't take a lesson because there are parts you don't really understand. I assure you we'll always speak at a level which suits you so that we can enjoy a casual conversation. Also, we can go through words and sentences that are difficult so that we learn together. Perhaps, they will be easy then and we'll always have something to talk about. No stress!