Sparkles in the Sky

This is a story about two fictitious characters, Patience and Contentment. Once upon a time, they lived happily somewhere on this Earth. 

But then, one fine day, Patience was overrun by a speeding, 'always restless', new Mercedes-Benz GLA and the poor fellow died. Poor Contentment was murdered in broad daylight. The series of unfortunate events was captured live on video, in Ultra High-Definition, on the latest Sony Xperia Z3.

I chanced to meet the ghosts of them both, once. Even though I occasionally take time off from my routine life to travel, this trip was special. For two weeks, I survived on my humble backpack without any electronic gadgets. With no screen-sucking to do, I had no choice but to look at the world in Real Definition. My world was only my humble bicycle and the company of my few dear friends.

The vast emptiness of Ladakh can be a testing terrain. For bikers, the winding mountainous roads offer no respite from the merciless sun and the bone-chilling winds. Unpredictable rains lead to unpredictable landslides. The deficiency of Oxygen plays games with your mind and body. Water and candies are like God in the middle of a desert. Yes, water and candies. 

Suffering from cold and high fever and weary of exhaustion, my body asked me to quit pedaling and go back to the warmth and comfort of my home. But the barren mountains had me mesmerized. They wouldn't let me quit. Looking at them, I got better everyday, with every pedal I made and with every breath I took of the clean air. 

Some SUV taxis would zoom by occasionally bellowing smoke into my nose. When I think about it now, I pity those tourists traveling in air-conditioned boxes on wheels. They miss the whole point of visiting Ladakh. It is not just watching the Pangong lake and clicking photographs or climbing the Khardung-La and coming back unscratched. Its about breathing the pure air deep till your lungs explode, about feeling the heat of the Sun and absorbing the views with your skin and not just through your eyes. Its about talking to the lovely and beautiful people you find on the way. I confess, I stole a lot of that place, to last me a few days, when I'm back at home.

I can't recollect that whether it was the hunger, or the exhaustion, or the fever, or the severe pain that hurt more. It was all secondary. I met the ghost of Patience while counting my breath and synchronizing my pedaling speed to it. I met it while minding my posture while sitting on the bike and negotiating every sharp curve on the road on my speeding bike and while crossing every stream of water or rubble on the road. I met Contentment while having the simple meal that was served to me, foreign in taste but nonetheless delicious. I met it when I fell fast asleep in my sleeping bag in sub-zero temperature.

No amount of tears could express the heartbreak which I felt on coming back home and being trapped behind the four walls of my room. I was truly beaten then and not by the scorching sun or the chilly winds or the fever back there in heaven. I realized that I had, like every other ordinary city-dweller, surrounded myself with things that I might not ever need. I had tied myself down to the Earth by issues that did not concern me or added any value to my life. I had till now, enjoyed the company of my laptop and smartphone more than that of the people that actually mattered. But I had, unlike many others, started to realize the potential of the truly amazing tool that God gave me, my body, which is the only thing I needed to survive, along with the five elements of nature.

I was more fit than ever before. My typhoid was gone for good!

I had realized who my true friends were and whose company I would like to keep in future.

I had realized that I needed to tire my body to enjoy a good sleep and remain healthy.

The best of all was, I had realized that God is.

It is true that Patience and Contentment are dead. But their ghosts are still lingering in the quiet barrens, waiting for anyone who wants to listen.

I had once heard that 'wandering one gathers honey'. I had the chance to collect a little in the small bowl I had.

In earlier times, Indians used to wash the feet of those who would come traveling from far-off lands. They respected the wisdom that the person might have collected during his travels.

Patience and contentment still visit me at night. They show me the night sky of Ladakh when I close my eyes. Brimming with sparkling stars trying to say something. Away from the dust and city lights. I come face-to-face with 'Akash Ganga' at nights and see the many worlds that exist beyond ours.