I have left Pune for a journey with a secret desire in my mind. A desire to meet His Highness the Dalai Lama. My home work was done and i knew he would be there when i reach Dharamshala. Hurriedly i ask for his abode and understand that he stays in a temple very near from where i am at the moment.
Tsuglag Khang is the official residence of His Highness. As i walk further one sees many foreigners near the temple. All having some sort of batches in their neck. I try to read them – some wear Korea, some Japan, some Germany, some UK, some Spain etc. Each one talking their own language but all in unison with each other. Their facial features, their color, their stature, the texture of their hair all so different, yet their body language was the same and they all jelled so well. What kept all these diversities together, i wonder?? They all had come for HH Dalai Lama's discourse here in Dharamshala.
Me not a follower of any Buddhist sect, but HH holds a special place in my heart for no reason at all. You can ask anybody on the streets about the where abouts of HH and they are more than happy to lead us the right way. I have become more impatient to see HH so ask a Tibetan passer by 'where is HH Dalai Lama??' He answers in a heavy Tibetan accent ......'Abhi abhi chale gaye' (he has just now left) – his words left me dumb and i was lost for sometime...... the sprint vanished from my feet. I sat there in front of HH chair, thinking he was here some time back and i missed it.... i just felt lost for some time. The place had an intense aura of peace, i felt a soothing effect on me. We went around the temple and seeing the grandeur of the place i surely forgot that i was sad for sometime. The temple looks very very ordinary from the exteriors but it has a grand interior. The statues that stand there are immensely beautiful. They are painted with gold and the expressions are so real.
The monks sit with their pray wheels and chant something. Big pray wheels are a major attraction for travellers like me and it requires so much effort to spin them. I sat there for some more time and left the place surely with a promise of coming again soon.
The day is half past and i was not feeling tired. Had one more thing in mind, of going to the baby home in the Children Village. After address hunting and going down the valley near the lake reached the baby home. We were simply welcomed by them, nothing was planned. They were the ones who were right there when we entered. They were these tiny kids for whom we had come all the way.Right from the age group of one- and- a- half to four years. They all flashed a million smiles when i asked them for a picture. They all were so neatly dressed, bright colors adorned them. Their boots were so neat and colorful!!! They were very cute. They looked like fresh lilies of all colors deep inside the valley, wondered how could their parents abandon them??? We didn't follow a word of what they said nor did they follow of what we said but as its rightly said "SMILE and LOVE knows 'no' language. "
After spending hours with them and just gesturing we clicked. It was difficult parting from them but ..... We left the place as we had to walk the valley back before dark.
The walk was beautiful. Eating green juicy apples on the way we went down the valley with ease. The innocent baby faces and their grip when they held us refused to leave us though we were quiet far from them now. The valley was full of greens. All the flora lived so happily together. It was a sight of perfect symbiosis. It was 'live and let live.'
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Some trees helped the weaker ones with support with their branches without dominating the weaker one, the trunk of bigger trees helped the creepers to climb as if a child playing with an elder fondly. Everything around is so unconditional here...The tree tops reaching the clouds, their branches open so wide, the dense shade the trees bestow, ferns growing on the bark of the pine, the brook bubbling its own way all so carefree yet caring for all around, none trying to belittle the other, winners ALL in true sense........far far from the rat race that we see in the city.
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The place moves so slowly in its own pace, nobody is in a mad rush to reach the finishing line...after loving the west coast and the sea for so long i have started loving these mountains ..... nestled far and far away where the mountain tops romance the clouds and the mist engulfs them in a moment ...... 'Dhoond bahut hai madam' ( the mist is dense, madam) my guide says. I trot my way through it with my hands in my pocket.
I am loving this word 'Dhoond' and me in my own ' Dhoond of thoughts' reach my so called abode that i have made here. As i open the door of the gallery of my room the dhoond enters inside......'is it a dream???' i ask myself. If 'Yes' i just want to bask in it......and so i do.......
