That first cup of quarter decade tea started to feel a little bitter and slimy on the tongue. Drinking tea at 4:00 a.m. is a tricky business…dark enough to train your mind to brush at nocturnal hours and compelling enough to sip a cuppa to stay awake and get a glimpse of the grand dawn in Himalayan foothills.
After a lot of H2O flushing, the taste buds began to feel at home with that thin film of caffeine sap…a derivative of salivating in excess over a cutting chai. Simple pleasures derived out of simpler things.
We continued to ascend the hill with the driver painfully maneuvering the screeching monster at each hairpin bend. I could see outlines of glistening monk heads clashing and rolling away from each other. The harder clashes elicited a sleepy grunt and the milder ones went unnoticed.
That tiny speck in the sky seemed bigger for a night star. In a few sleepy blinks it formed a slit that resembled the deliberately introduced cut on my rug jeans. A few more blinks assured I am the first witness (in the bus) to the sunrise of 27th July 2006.
Mesmerizing may possibly leave an impression of a nature and wildlife channel sight reported by a misnomer with no captured frame befitting the mint. I refuse to detail it for I may not justify the event that unfolded in the most obscure manner.
Excitement not contained, I jolted Preethi out of her extended blink. Probably, the maximum she managed to sleep that night was 10 blinks and an additional three-quarter winks to adjust the drying contact lenses. The sporting soul she was…I yanked the white-robed saint and took along on my flight to witness all things sun kissed on a new dawn…mighty giants, barely there seedlings, a sleepy police station, dew covered branches, shady buildings, yawning dogs and a sleeping Chotu and OJ on the adjacent seat.
Helios leapt in my direction and grew away…leaving a moist imprint on my forehead to wish me bigger dreams and better foothold.Labels: Dharamsala, Places |
Shiv - it was an unforgetable sunrise :) I thought it was special. Now I know why you want this day back again.
I Love You.