The Drama of the Mountains.
7 days between the mountains, taking offbeat roads, getting stuck in a storm and meeting some really kind people. These 7 days were like the most silent storm, a storm you are afraid of and the drama of which you are addicted to.
People say that mountains and flowing rivers make you feel peaceful, but in reality, they made me feel alive and active. I did not want to stop, I wanted to stare at the blue colours of Pangong change to green and wanted those stars to change and get brighter with the passing time. Every second was like a moment I wanted to live again, so tell me, how can peace come to you when you have so much going around? Every moment makes you alive and makes you close to yourself, how can you just rest and be peaceful?
Those mountains seemed still even when Gurmeet, my driver, was driving at the speed of 120 km/hr, they were just so magnificent. You can never get tired of staring at some mountains and a good cup of coffee because a mountain can never be the same, it will have snow on it someday and will be all naked the other. It will be a stage for those clouds to dance on someday or will be an audience for all the drama happening around it on the other. The sun will someday use it for a push to reach the sky and the same sun will use it to hide itself when it is tired of all the expectations people have for him on the other.
Like a person, that mountain had different roles and a mask and I, was the sole observer of that drama.
I, for the first time saw colours on a mountain, as if god had used his brush and sprinkled the colours any and everywhere. Nature is the best artist; humans are merely students observing and learning from it.
The mountains of Leh were very different from any other place I had ever traveled to. They were so proud about their uniqueness, and, afraid of their distinctiveness. There is a very famous quote which precisely explains Ladakh.
‘Where the road ends, Ladakh begins’
All this while, in these 7 days, I was upset about how greedy we humans are. These unique and beautiful mountains are made to be the slave of us humans. They are cut and shaped for the ease of travelling. They are not surviving in their purest form to perform their drama for us. We always have a need to find beauty or peace around us; such places are what we look for to do that.
When will we understand that these mountains have a life of their own within them, and they are here to enact their very own drama and showcase their beauty and not for us to exploit them or to “find ourselves”.
When will we learn to understand ourselves without anybody’s help?
Keep thinking
~Manasvi Shah