Nomadic Hymnal

Continued from " Ladhhak: A Godless Pilgrimage " "First View of the Indus River," said a signboard as we entered Leh, and the river, which gave India its name, moved with skill and poise through an intricate arrangement of brown, green, and white. Meandering through the primordial mountains, the river had once nurtured the fields of the Harappans - the builders of the best planned cities on earth in their times. A witness to the rise and fall of those cities, the Indus glistened in the sun, as if smiling in condescension at the futility of the mankind's attempts to decipher cryptic ancient texts, for of them, she had always known but never revealed.                                            Nurturing Civilizations: The Mighty Indus My hymn to the mighty Indus:                                   Notional beliefs met reason in her course,                                   a reason vagarious as mankind, illusive as its faith,                                

Walking on the air as I was while hurtling past Ambala on my way home, I was already feeling nostalgic about what I had left behind. The ethereal memories of Ladhhak kept me awake, where the not so ethereal skeeters failed during my attempt at a quick nap in Ambala. Before giving up on sleep, I traveled backwards at the speed of thought, trying to backtrack mentally and fool myself into believing that there was more to come.                                                     Leaving the Plains: Chandigarh Ten of us committed attendance, five planned, three prepared and took leave from work, and finally just two of us set out for the road trip I've always wanted to be on. Sourabh rode his Avenger 220, he bought 6 months ago for the sole purpose of accomplishing this wheeled pilgrimage to Leh, and I made my veteran Enfield Bullet 2005 as comfortable as possible with the idea of doing long distances at high altitudes. The hot and humid mid June weather, although sapping, inspired

Smoothened yet crinkled, learned yet daft Unsaddled from scruples, besieged by death Gushing out of the ephemeral self Abysmal, obscure which lies after moments Embankments breached and destiny met A pilgrimage begins, but a godless one.