They say you need a calling if you want to go to the mountains.
And what if they are the world’s tallest mountains – The Himalayas.
Years together I have pacified myself with pictures in the magazine and my virtual traveling just to get the feel of it. Until a Yeti (??) from the mountains granted my wish, so say I. ‘Yeti’ because I really cant imagine a delicate fairy nestled in the rustic mountains.
With immense thought storming with myself my inner compass directs me to Himachal Pradesh. I sow this thought in my friends mind and she readily agrees. A quick flight to Delhi where I catch upon her and we start for our further journey. A delicious lunch with a big glass of butter -milk as lunch was only needed to proceed further via Chandigarh and Nahan for a night halt. Though Nahan is at the footsteps of Himachal Pradesh, we still got a long way to go.
Next day the gears are shifted for the climb higher. Saddling a local Himachali as a guide we proceed. The place where we trying to reach beckons for years for known and unknown reason.
The road is serpentine endlessly and the river flows in the opposite direction to where we are heading. Huge massive mountains are carved as roads on one side and the other side a deep valley with this river flowing endlessly. The river is so restless and is continuously bubbling and times blushing in a mad rush. She has a trait in her and changes names as she passes different places. At times she calls herself the Yamuna, at times the Satlej, at times the Ravi, at times the Chenab or at times the Chandrabhaga. It’s her mood I suppose…but at the same time she does not change her identity. She faces the treacherous mountains, the rugged terrain, the plains, the rocks that try to stop her path – she hardly dithers – she just flows in her stride urges herself up every steep slope she encounters, gracefully!!!. (Wo) man I say you got guts!!!
The road is endless and picturesque. As our car climbs the altitude we see fog in the valley. It’s so carefree…. it’s got the whole valley to go wherever it wants to. For a moment its there and the next moment its not to be seen. Mountains are lined one after another the near ones look darkest, then the next darker, then dark, then fadest, then fader and then fade till blur, then only the outline, but they all there standing so majestically.
My guide whispers these ranges are the Dhauladhars. 'Ah the Dhauladhars' I murmur. Never thought i could see them, i feel elated. As I open the window a freshness in the atmosphere prevails and an aroma / a sweet scent grips you. I take deeper breathes with closed eyes to understand it better. “It’s the sweet smell of the pine trees,” says my guide again. Pines stretched far and wide on the Dhauladhars, the deodars lined up in an un- uniformed manner, the foliage on the mountains thickens as one tries to looks deeper in the valley. The moss on the branches lazily drape themselves in kith and kin of the forest. A spring seems to find its way and rushes down the valley, it surely has 'that spring' in it.
In this wilderness you see colourful prayer flags tied from one end to another between the valley. They look so amazing....flags of all colors amidst the wilderness......and i am liking the every bit of it!!!
I can't get my sight out of this wilderness and don't want to miss even the slightest frame that i capture. The road is lonely and seems to travels alone. Amidst the backdrop of the greens you suddenly see serenely walking monk in his royal maroons. 'How can one walk alone in this wilderness?' i wonder??? But he looks so calm and unaffected of anything happening around him. His head low, with an umbrella that supports him while walking. I see more of them some alone, some together in a group of three....The maroons look so vibrant that i could not stop looking at them..but they are in there own world chanting their prayers with beads in there hands.
With so many thoughts in my mind and a childlike leap in my heart (that i am liking this place) i leave the car at crossroads to walk the narrow streets of Upper Dharamshala.
to be continued.......
