Dedicated to my two wheels who made me discover myself.. Who took me to the unknown hamlets cut off from the main town, tucked into the wilderness of the mountains..
Who made me learn to develop faith in strangers and forge new bonds.. Who made me fall in love with solitude and made me learn that you don’t always need humans to listen and talk to and that even nature has its own language only if you’d listen.. Who inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and love every bit of the treacherous rides… Who made me fall.hurt me and bruised me but pushed me every moment when I thought I was done.. Who I personify for in them I’ve found my perennial mates.. Here’s a page from my cycling diaries.. To one of the quaint little villages called Paeso.
While the sky roared, I rode:)
One of the many old natives I befriended
While I rode under the thundering grey sky
The drizzle in the air gave me a wondrous high
Its amazing how these two wheels can open your eyes
And make you feel that this earth is real and heaven’s a lie
And as my wheels tread an unknown rickety path
“Why didn’t I ride them earlier” I cannot fath!
They showed me how easy it is to find solace and joy
While sitting in the middle of nowhere.. sketching an old face ..so warm and coy
They did get me lost at times in the wilderness trying to find a way
But then also found me the warmest tribes with their beautiful homes by the end of the day
They found me a lady who was differently abled but special in her own way
Who couldn’t speak or comprehend whatever I tried to say
Yet she smiled endlessly and guided me to.a haven so comforting
That made me revisit the quaint lil village since the thoughts of it in my mind kept lingering
So I couldn’t wait for the next day to ride to that village again
For her smiling face kept telling me I have nothing to loose but only memories to gain
I reached the gurgling stream with wild strawberries abound
A burst of drizzle making the valley greenest around
The chirping sparrows that I once heard as a little kid
I was making my own jar of happy memories and I didn’t want to stop and close the lid .
So I cycled ahead.. wandering in the same village trying to find something more
Voila! Just then came along a family displaying their warmth and smiles galore
And while I spoke with them and exchanged the usual greetings
I vaguely saw a familiar face by the Tibetan Window.. adorning a smile so befitting
She came running downstairs and greeted me with her warmest smile
The same old lady Sherpa who couldn’t speak yet guided me for a mile
She looked mighty happy for a foreigner knocked by her door to see her again
I did a little sign talking with her and played merrily with her girls in the rain
But sigh! The sun began to set making the sky all dusky
I’d better head back home for it started to pour and the winds got gusty
And as I said goodbye to them…i thought to myself “this is the place I’d imagined while reading a fairy tale in d book
I felt euphoric listening to Louis Armstrong’s “what a wonderful world” while riding back home along the boisterous Brook
So isn’t it incredible how my wheels taught me that it’s not just the flags and the pristine valley that capture the essence
It’s also the people you meet on the way who share having nothing which complete the journey in its true sense
For every time I venture out there’s something similar yet distinct and new
A million more places..a few more stories.. before to this land, I bid adieu ????
With the lady Sherpa (extreme left)talked about and her family
Streams of Paeso, where I’d sit for hours
