Old Gangotri Dham, Uttarakhand. The Himalayan mountain range.
(This is a place in India, very beautiful, you can Google it.)
In Uttarakhand, somewhere on a mountain.
The view can only be described by a single word: breathtaking. A long range of mountains present everywhere the eye can see, small, big, and even bigger, their peaks surrounded by white clouds, a river coming down a mountain, going downwards.
The peaks of the mountains covered in snow make the view more ethereal.
There, standing on one of the mid-sized mountains, two young men were enjoying the view. Although it can be said that only one of them was really enjoying it, the other seemed tired from mountain climbing.
Both of them look alike, like they were brothers. The bigger one seems to be in his early twenties with neatly trimmed black hair, dark brown eyes, and light brown skin tone, has an athletic body build, but his looks are not overly handsome, just above average.
In comparison, small brother has good looks with long black hair tied in a savvy way, light brown eyes, and fairer skin tone, but seems to be lacking in fitness.
Both seem to wear a type of black body suit, underneath their jacket, big brother, red, and small brother, white, with their respective backpacks. A simple bracelet occupies both men's right wrists.
...
'Deep breathing'
'haaah'
"I don't know what this place looked like 100 years ago. What would the view have been like? But today, I can say for sure, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. What do you say, Yash? Do you like the view here?"
The bigger one exclaimed, he was enjoying the view, taking fresh air in with his deep breaths.
"Big brother, I don't know about you, but climbing this mountain definitely tired me out. Why are you even interested in these icy mountains?" Though the other one seems to be struggling for every breath.
"Haha, even if I tell you, I don't think you will be able to understand the love of an archaeologist to explore a mysterious land."
"Whatever, but I need some rest before continuing this exploration."
"Yes, I also think we should rest because there is a difficult climb ahead of us."
"Yesss, at last some rest."
Looking at his little brother, 'Hira' can tell that his soul will leave his body if he had to even lift a foot ahead.
Well, till he is resting, let's get a proper introduction by our protagonist.
...
My name is Hira Vedman, 21 years old this year. This boy, who is lying on the ground, is my little brother, Yash Vedman, 18 years old.
Before telling you guys what we are doing here, on this mountain, let me tell you a little bit about my family history.
Before the war started, our great-grandparents used to live in a small town known as Amritsar, located somewhere in old Punjab, India. They worked as a tailor. Due to the war, they had to shift from there with their children and were relocated to Varanasi with many others by the government. Later, my grandparents settled permanently in this city.
My brother and me was born in Varanasi, so we don't know what our old house looked like. Dada( a word for grandfather) once told me, Amritsar was famous for many things, but in particular, it was known for some 'Golden temple', a temple made of gold.
It is difficult to imagine how 'gold', being one of the rarest metals known at present times, can be used to make a building that big. Nowadays, you can only see gold either in some big old museums or in the houses of some of the richest people in the world. ( I want to remind you that the timeline was set around 100 years in the future)
I am a scholar of history and Hindu religion, doing my graduation from Banaras Hindva University (B.H.U.). It is a well-known institution located in my hometown, Varanasi, one of the top five in the whole Hindvarthya continent. Its foundation dates to an era before the war. (Check auxiliary chapters if confused.)
My brother, Yash, had just completed his secondary higher education. He was enjoying his vacation when I dragged him to these mountains with me.
He didn't want to come with me, but has a younger brother ever had a say in front of his older brother? (Neither in the past nor in the present, and I don't know about the future.)
My interest in history and religion came from my Dada-Dadi (grandfather and grandmother). They used to tell us stories from the old religious literature like 'RAMAYANA', 'MAHABHARTA', and 'BHAGAVAT GITA'. I do not know about Yash, but they fascinate me very much.
They are the ones who told me about this place, the Gangotri Dham, which is the source of the river Ganga. I have been taking dips in the Ganga River since I was a child. So how is it possible that I don't see this place?
We reached Uttarakhand on August 1st by the 'sonic train', one of the many inventions invented in the Yugadi era. They ran in an underground tunnel with the help of sonic waves, hence the name.
And if we are talking about inventions, let me tell you about the best invention, invented, according to my brother, an OMNIONE bracelet. a bracelet was not really an Invention. Invention is a tech chip, which can be fitted in your bracelet; it works like a smartphone from the old times. Everything can be done by an omnione, whether it is calling, streaming, documents, payments, entertainment, etc.
Let's come back to the introductions.
From there, we booked a solar bus to the nearest inn, from the trek point.
The inn was maintained by an old couple, enjoying their life here, away from the city's loudness.
The next morning, we started climbing the mountain mentioned by the old man, which was 6-7 km high.
Although the exact place where Gangotri Dham is located is lost to people due to the frequent earthquakes and landslides, I have decided to get as near as possible to that place. The old man advised us to go in the opposite direction from the river flow.
Due to the interference of rain, it took us the whole day to reach here.