Friday, June 18, 2010

On Gurudongmar Lake

An unmetalled strip snakes up
And beyond, curling around
This mountain, and then the next,
Reaching the heart of the sky,
No, dont look down to the valley,
Approach these lofty heights
With the head held high.

I ride the clouds,
Cotton-wool white, wispy,
A mirage always,
Weeping when I try
To hold them in my palm,
A hopeless effort to imprison
In mortal hands, eternity.

Till only the jagged peaks,
Wearing shrouds of snow,
Stand guard to the sky,
Their blinding whiteness relieved
By a sunbeam splintering
Into a thousand pieces,
Lighting up the lunar landscape.

And then, like a vision,
Hidden by a fine veil of mist,
Coy like a bride,
Gurudongmar offers a glimpse,
The bluest expanse of water
Caressing the feet
Of a mighty mountain.

I am unable to fathom
If the lake mirrors the sky above,
Or the sky reflects the water below,
The only time in my life
When I saw this precise shade of blue,
Was when I first looked
Deep into the depth of your eyes.

I fall to my knees and pray,
To the silence reigning all around,
To the wind which cuts like a lash,
To the majesty of the mountains,
To the stillness of the waters,
For the first time in my life,
Doubts vanish and I believe.

Too soon its time to descend,
To the earth, its egos, rivalries,
Squabbles, strife, dust and grime,
The rat race, all the petty realities
Of a mundane existence
Made easier to bear by the memory
Of having once locked eyes with God.

A year has passed by since then,
And I've found my voice again,
Amidst the everyday sounds and sights,
My dreams still roam those lofty heights,
Just one jarring note is struck-
Such beauty we may only reach,
Through mud tracks built for an army truck!

No comments:

Post a Comment