The second and third day was spent relaxing
– in its utter complete sense, much similar to the previous day, except for the
fact that I didn’t sleep quite as much! It consisted of only half a day of
sleep as opposed to the previous day when I slept pretty much throughout the
day to prevent altitude sickness.
I came down to the living room in the
morning and was once again met with the now familiar ‘’Julay’’ from everyone
which is pretty much a multipurpose word in the Bhoti/Ladakhi vocabulary which
means ‘Thank you’, ‘Welcome’, ‘Hello’, ‘Good Bye’, and many more words! I
guess, I can understand why when I look around this beautiful country and see
mountains of all shapes and sizes. Some have vast and jagged peaks, whilst
others have smooth and rolling hills. Some have snow sprinkled on top of their
husky brown silhouettes that reminds you of sugar sprinkled over chocolate cake
whilst others are plain, barren and brown bastions that are crowned with the
passing ring of clouds. Yet, they all exude a certain sense of awe and grandeur
that is almost universal. So, the universality of ‘’Julay’’ only makes sense in
this land. Communication doesn’t need words, it’s the context and human reality
that almost always works at a more primordial level.
For instance, when I communicate with Ibi –
she doesn’t have an extensive Hindi vocabulary and so we find a common ground
that includes a wonderful combination of broken Hindi and Bhoti and a vast
array of body language that always ends up in making a connection. So, using
these she asked me if I wanted some tea. Now, I’m not an avid tea/chai-drinker.
I indulge in coffee from time to time but I resolutely used to avoid drinking
tea. But, in these cool and chilly environs it’s just not possible to refuse a
piping hot cup of tea that does a good job of warming you up – especially in
the mornings and evenings. So, it turns out – I’ve become a pretty heavy
tea-drinker by my standards which includes at least 2 cups a day!
Breakfast is a pretty heavy ordeal and is
either a traditional Ladakhi breakfast like khambir (a puffy and sturdy kind of
bread) with either apricot jam (which is a local product) or eggs. Otherwise,
its just bread, butter and different variations of eggs (scrambed, poached or
fried). There’s also a heavy serving of tea/coffee served along with some
Ladakhi biscuits whose local name I haven’t quite yet mastered.
This was followed by, Otsal, the nephew of
my host taking me along to show me his beautiful village of Spituk. We ambled
along from the back gate of the house into little cobbled
roads that wound their way through the village. We passed by grazing cattle, a
little pond overflowing with algal blooms, and donkeys making their way to the
river for a drink. We crossed a little bridge over a little stream that was
basically a ladder laid on the ground – shaky but gets the job done.
This led us out into the open fields where
I could hear a distant murmur of ‘’Khor! Khor! Khor!’’ which is a rhythmic song that
farmers sing when they’re ploughing their fields – it just means ‘’Move
forward’’ and it’s addressed towards the oxen doing the heavy work. Every abled
person from the village comes to the fields and works one field per day and
then based on a rotational schedule moves onto the next field for the next day.
Its human cooperation at its finest and noblest working in a profession that
makes civilization itself possible. But enough social commentary, because this
was a sight to see! Open fields, not yet seeded and the mighty Himalayas stood
guard over them in the background. In the middle flowed a rather calm tributary
of the Indus which hasn’t yet reached its full flow because the ice atop the
glacial peaks hasn’t completely melted. We walked towards the river and saw plenty
of animals and birds gathered there for a drink. This included some stray dogs
and cats from the village, 2 donkeys that we’d seen earlier, a few wild horses
and some oxen. It also included a little bird that made a weird pig-like sound
and Otsal told me what it’s called but the name escapes me right now.
Otsal then told me about a little woodland
across the river that houses some foxes and rabbits and so I asked if it was
alright to cross it. More than okay with it, he immediately jumped into the empty
river bank and walked briskly towards the wetter portion of the river. I
meanwhile took a few more pictures from the camera slung onto my neck that I’d
been using ever since we left for the walk. I then followed Otsal towards the
river and we crossed it by skipping over dry stones that were relatively stable
in the calm river – except I missed one and got one of my shoes wet and my
pants as well, about ankle deep. Otsal found that amusing; probably thinking
what a clumsy oaf the city man was. Anyways since I’d gotten one of my shoes
and pant legs wet I decided to wet them both and walked along the river which
was relatively shallow, again because of the late glacial melts. It felt really
good to walk through that lovely cool water in what was a relatively warm day.
We crossed over and saw a magnificent sight
of the woodland at the foot of some mighty gigantic mountains. I’m pretty sure
I heard that weird pig-bird call again but Otsal said it was just my
imagination. Maybe I was becoming obsessed with the pig-bird. We trudged along
the outskirts of the forest as Otsal claimed there were wolves there too but I
was apprehensive because it was too small a patch of forest to support animals
the size of wolves. Nevertheless, we kept our distance and intently listened
for wolf-howls. Fortunately, we heard none.
We then realized it was lunch time and we’d
been walking for a good 2 hours (it’s a lot of walking) and we were hungry. So
we turned back and were ready to cross the river again. My shoes and pant were
almost dry by now but not completely so I decided to walk in the water again;
the last experience was kinda cool and made me feel like I’m really in the
great outdoors (Yes, because the sight of vast open fields and mountains all
around me wasn’t enough.)
We once again took the same path back home
and Otsal was kind enough to smile for one of the photographs which was a
rarity because all the others include his back to the camera as he pushed
forth; perhaps a bit annoyed at my slow pace. But, I made up for it by giving
him some of the chocolates I’d brought from Canada when we got home, which I
think more than made up for my slow canter. Also, my pants and shoes were
completely dry by the time we got home. That’s the Ladakhi sun for you!
Lunch was served, which is once again a heavy
affair with mostly a generous serving of rice topped with steaming hot veggies
which usually include potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and peas in a
thick masala sauce. Sometimes there’s even a lil piece of chicken or mutton plopped
in as a treat! Yet it is the Buddhist lunar month which means Ibi and her
daughter-in-law (Aunty Tsering as I call her) don’t eat meat for the entirety
of this month but they see to it that me, Angmo (Amo for short) and Uncle
Tsewang (as I call the host) get a piece from time to time.
The afternoons and evenings were pretty
much spent lazing away on my bed getting some reading done. Completed the
‘’Immortals of Meluha’’ and started the second book of the series, titled ‘’The
Secret of The Nagas’’. By the time I had finished it mid-way it was late
evening and I decided to make my way down for some socializing with the family.
Turned out, it was time for dinner.
Dinner is the heaviest meal of the day and
it includes all of us sitting together watching television most of the times
and right now that means the Indian Premier League – go Mumbai (Amo is a Chennai
supporter – how very disappointing)! Dinner’s quite similar to lunch except the
quantities are larger and my hosts insist on making me fat by the end of my
sojourn. Also, another good idea that I’ve adopted since I’ve come here is
drinking boiled water – as in, not the kind where you boil it, then cool it,
then drink it. This is piping hot water that you drink along with your food
that drastically reduces any chances of catching a cold or a sore throat.
That’s pretty much the routine I’ve settled
into for the two days until school begins. And it’s a lovely departure from the
fast and manic pace of city life. Here, you take life in through a lens that offers
so much more in terms of revealing the human journey which basically boils down
to three factors:
1)
Kind People
2)
Good Food
3)
Amazing Sights
And well, Ladakh has it all. And a man
can’t ask for more.
Also, every morning I awake to a wonderful
view that just doesn’t lose its grandeur or it’s ability to make me think of a
wonderful quote from that awe-inspiring HBO series ‘’From The Earth To The Moon’’ by Tom Hanks, where
astronaut Dave Scott says – ‘’There’s something to be said about exploring
beautiful places. It’s good for the spirit.’’
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