Carnet de voyage !

It was an unpremeditated road trip to Himachal ..no prior reservations ,no itinerary-everything was done off the cuff .

As I was driving past the trees and those ever welcoming hills from solan to Narkanda ,nostalgia started tumbling out ..

Those road side chhalli wallahs (roasted corn ),maggie and momo stalls ,tea vendors selling pahadi chai ..with a lavish flavour of ginger and cardamom..beautiful women carrying pile of wood on their back ,young boys taking sheep for grazing ,old men sitting in sun enjoying their bidi or hukkah..the smell of burning wood to keep yourself warm ,fragrance of flowers being carried by the wind ..a sudden appearance of a gush of fog..I just couldn’t wrap my head around anything other than my memories of growing up in Himachal .

 

We parked ourselves in a home stay for two days away from everything that you call -Duniadari..just to unwind and relax .

Cottages made out of wood ,with huge windows opening in the valley ..as you push open the window -you are welcomed by the sight of apple trees covered with a fine veil of net ..

As my biological clock is set for 5:30am -I had my eyes opened before the alarm but then felt a bit lazy so tried sleeping again ..

Then I was jolted by my own thought -“you haven’t come here to sleep you lazy bone ..get yourself out of bed and sit outside “

I quickly grabbed my jacket and prepared a huge mug of tea for self ,grabbed two cookies and walked up the hill a little till I found a suitable place that looked into the valley ..

I sat on the stones and looked around …

Now this was THE este momento I had been yearning to have ..

Butterflies were dancing around ,birds were chirping ..a soft wind was carrying the fragrance of million memories ..

I took a big sip ….purposely making a sound slurrrp..there was nobody to judge me or raise an eye brow in disgust ..

I had the beautiful company of Nature ..

I started talking my heart out -all the worries ,dukh takleef,gratitude ,joys ,fears ,future plans ,my failures ,sabotage I have gone through ,incomprehensible behaviour of some people ,unconditional love of dear ones ,care of some ,support of unexpected-all in all everything about my life ..that I hold back ,I blabbered and emptied my heart out to mother Nature .

While in this process ,I didn’t realise when the collar of my jacket got wet with the stream of tears rolling down ..tears of joy n pain ..a bitter sweet symphony ..

I got up ..headed for a tree and embraced it ..

Hugging a tree is the most beautiful experience one can ever have in peace ..

I felt a sudden surge of energy ,my entire being filled with positive energy ..felt a new lease of life ..

I looked up -the tree was almost touching the sky ..tall and strong ..

Then I looked at it’s base ..

There was a melange of small flowers ,leaves and creepers..

All looked so different from each other yet they coexisted so beautifully making a omnium gatherum of life .

 

Well ..leaves n flowers with varied Colors ,characters,shapes n sizes coexisted so well..wonder why we fail to coexist in the similar fashion -we all have difference of opinion ,mind set ,thinking ,likes and dislikes ,views ,social and economic stature ,different intellectual levels ,professions..,different levels of success and failures …but we still need to co-exist beautifully like nature and let not ourselves get affected by all what others have or don’t have .