Society & Culture
Munsiyari, Uttarakhand. Near the Indo-Tibetan border. The last stop of Season 3.
A 12-hour shared taxi ride in a Bolero crammed with 15 people. A homestay run by village women who took back the work of hosting strangers. Kamla, who refilled my plate while telling me the legend of the Yaksha who fell in love with a village girl at Mehsar Kund. Pushpa, the first female trekking guide I had ever climbed with — a mother of three, an ardent bird watcher, a Pahadi woman who refused to leave the hills even after marching at Jantar Mantar.
And then the Raabta forest. A maze of entangled roots, a moaning voice we couldn't ignore, and Pushpa's whispered warning: "Peeche mudke mat dekhna." Don't look back.
This is the story of Munsiyari — an awakening journey, the closing chapter of Season 3.
Season 3 of Kathagram is a series of solo Himalayan trek memoirs by Neethu M Eldose — a former journalist, traveler, and storyteller.
From Rishikesh to Kugti, Triund to Munsiyari — every path, every person, every pause had something to offer.
Stories are life.