Breakfast at Tekla


After completing the grueling walk of 11 Km with 18 Kg of load, we were totally exhausted at Tekla. Before our breathing could return to normal or before we could rejoice the finishing of the trek, the whistle of the cook master from the make shift kitchen greeted our ears. The stronger and possessed among us which included many army guys such as Hukum sing, Sandeep singh Chauhan were the firsr to be in the queue for the brfeakfast with a shining Mess-Tin in there hands.

Later on , reluctantly the tiered ones also joined the queue. The only substitute for not taking the breakfast on time was to skip it and regret it til the lunch time. There bieng no choice, all of us , one by one took our chance and were in the q sooner or later.

The kitchen was a make shift kitchen with a canvas cloth acting as a roof preventing the dirt and the dust fron spoiling the taste of the food. Moreover it also ensured that the rain water did not dilute the fun of the Milk Porridge and the cornflakes which were a daily menu items.
For the Nonvegetarians, they could enjoy a helping of boiled eggs or Omlette and the vegetarians were treated with jam and butter bread slices which could also be enjoyed with a handfull of cheese.
Then there was the hot tea to be taken in the steel mugs and most of us ensured that sufficient hydrants reached our body through the nourishing tea.
Next was the cleaning of the Mess-Tin which was an ordeal in itself since the aluminium messtin refused to be cleaned of the butter and the oil inspite of our best attempts of rubbing it with the soil .
Next was collection of water from a tap which had a unique system of transportation of water. The water was carried in earthern channels and subsequently fed in cast iron pipes and finally we could fill our drinking water bottle with it. It was a real miracle . We had infact no time to wonder as to the source of the water.

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