Quite a way, the first morning in Manebhanjan , the border town of India and Nepal, where interestingly if someone's house is in Nepal but his owned land must be in India , was a worth roaming. Though I had rushed to start my first walk in the Singalila National Park, I got some time to scribble among that harmonious shrine where the Hindu temple is embedded with Buddha imagery, I mean literally it does not happen in big cities generally because the city size does not matter but what does matter is the heart and soul. I must not deviate certainly . People of this town largely depend up on the trekkers business and around it. Gazen , my guide, gave me some crucial information which supported my inference of the economic structure. Actually the shops are not general shops but bouquets for travelers, I saw so many faces even with bursting expectations that their life is not much of an independent but dependable to the roamers.
When I started off by that steep road up to Chitrey , I saw some school kids coming downwards to attend the school and they were collecting Magnolia , a magnificent flower looked like an unearth object. These small happiness are I guess foe to another parallel upgraded life style. I was amazed that they walk with rhododendrons every season, they listen to the silence of the hills every second, though I took the full opportunity, but it was never fulfilling. Talking about that strangely beautiful flower , my guide told me that it starts blooming from the lower altitudes to the higher, and perfectly I witnessed that. I am not saying that I was the only one but I can say I was the lonely observer.
Riding on that hairpin road, it reminded me of a very dearly poem by Christina G Rossetti , UPHILL
"Does the road wind up-hill all the way?
Yes, to the very end.
Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?
From morn to night, my friend.
............. Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?
Of labour you shall find the sum.
Will there be beds for me and all who seek?
Yea, beds for all who come. "
After crossing the shades of terrain, we headed to the Chitrey Gompa, among those Wishing wheels and prayer flags, there was peace which I tried to bring to the "real" life but couldn't. And there was a phrase written rather I would call it a message to all living beings.
" May travelers upon the road
Find happiness no matter where they go
And may they gain, without the need of toll,
The goals on which they set their hearts"
