I can never deny this uncanny love I have for mountains - The Himalayas. Their vastness, the omnipresent silence, the wild green nature...all of these are so intriguing. And I am equally fond of the northeast culture that the Himalayas had been cradling fondly within itself. The mountain is their eternal mother, she had nurtured them, maintained the flow of their civilization and provided means of livelihood. Their is this mystery that remains attached to the way the Himalayas seem to be in deep meditation all the time. I had always presumed that it's keeping a secret from us, as if there is the presence of another world within it, that we don't get to notice that with bare eyes and logical conscience. I am myself a person of logic, who doesn't simply take into Easter bunny tales and folklore of that likes. Yet I have this believe that there may be a possible chance regarding the existence of a parallel universe, the gate to which is being protected by these lofty mountains. I do believe that it really is a childhood whim of mine, but I can never bring myself to dismiss it that way. I know it's foolish, but I find this foolishness very much attached to my sentiments. The gurgle of the silver streams and the waterfalls appear to laugh at this madness of mine. They seem to be knowing as much as these lofty wise ancient silent wizards. But they simply love amusing their own-selves, picking on my endless tries. In my lifetime I have stood before the mountains and looked up at it with a quizzical expression.
"What is that you are hiding from us? Why are you so silent? Why this deep meditation?"
It would remain silent still. The only sound I could hear was the fluttering of some winged creature, that is starting off its journey towards its nest. I have been to the mountains a number of times and every visit that I had made, had me wanting to visit more. Many a times I wish to visit the hill station of Darjeeling.
That place is awesome, but anyway I can't be partial to a particular place. I have found all the habitable and inhabitable places that are there in The Himalayas mindblowing. On March, 2009 we were heading towards Gangtok and that was the first time I had experienced a storm in the mountains. It was already past twilight hour and the sky was getting grayish blue. Within a minute or two, the gust of wind hit us! The trees were swinging the way the flags hoisted high up the High-Rise condos flutter when there is wind blowing. These trees are the mountains flag of nature. Their movements had threatened us with their plan of getting uprooted and tumbling over. But the driver of our Qualis was careful and well equipped with the tactics of a professional. The fallen twigs and branches that were tumbling down the slope, landed exactly over the vehicle hood, but that didn't bother the one with the steering wheel. We somehow managed to cross by the major hurdles that consisted of torn electric wire lines, uprooted trees etc. When I looked out of the window, I could see the finger of God, bright and stern in appearance as it flashes through the sky, as if reminding the mountains that they must not break the silence. Then came the rain and blurred out everything that could have been visualized through the glass of the vehicle window. The downpour continued for almost 1 hour waking up the dormant frangnance of wilderness that one gets only when it is raining in the mountains. The whole winding route looked rain-kissed. When the rain had subsided, the car came to a halt beside a small parlor, where we treated ourselves to momos. And the silence prevailed...
"Was that all? What did He tell you? Did he rebuke you for showing tiredness because of all these secret keeping?"
I should get used to not getting any response to my whimsical antics. But you tell me, can this be enough? When the urge to learn the reason behind This silence is so great, can I truly let my curiosity pass on to any other subject? I can't. I will continue visiting The Himalayas and pester it with my questions till I get the notion that there is a possible answer. I have even made up my mind to spend the last strand of my life here in this wild cradle. I shall never give up this quest to commune with the Wise and know it's secrets.
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