Once in a while...

     


                    Once in a while..

I met myself after a while
yesterday,
And unlike the while that often pauses to greet you
This was the one that made you pause..and say
"Oh well.. it's been a while."

Where and when..I do not know
A time and place I cannot name..
But there I wanted to remain..
Because within that obscure space and time
Had I paused to greet myself..
And exchange a few warm smiles.

And now I wait..
In hopes that I will retain
The surprise,the worry,the tensed brow and that smile..
Until I make my visit again..

I remain hopeful,
For you see...
I might just pass across that time
When I open an old diary
Flip through it's yellow pages
And read this poem to myself.

That place would I forever seek..
And I wish someone could tell
of  that space where you're tensed but smile
And meet yourself once in a while!

       
                         

 

                       

Glimpses

I have been to the hills..I have been here and been bewitched by the beauty and the calm the first time I came here. I was young..but I distinctly remember the strangeness I felt..I was young..too young to appreciate what the hills offered me. The strangeness was such that even at that young age..I wanted to be back to experience it.
The hills are mysterious we hear that often. I attempt to read and understand this mystery eversince that first visit..but every time I return a little more curious than before. Yesterday I got to peep into that old strangeness a little...I  realized that every time I came here..curious to know more..I was missing out on an important element..the people.
I got to meet them yesterday. They spoke about their ways of life..the life they lead in the hills. I realized that I have been so distant in my attempts in understanding that strangeness in the hills.I had certainly failed to realize that I would feed my  curiosity and know more if I was able to read the stories these hills had to tell. I was partially introduced to these stories through the village women..who were kind enough to welcome me and allowed me certain glimpses into their life. I won't write about how hospitable and nice they were to me..no amount of adjectives would able me to express how they impressed me.I was a stranger to them..and while they looked at me with a curiosity that told me that I was the strange element to them..nonetheless they made me feel at home. They lead simple lives..and there was an honesty that reflected in every tale they narrated to me. The place held and resonated that same honesty that permeated through these people. For instance..the name..it was called cherer dhar..with respect to the water stream that flows from there. As honest and simple as this name was..so were the people.
They spoke endlessly while we were there..while writing this I am conscious of how English as a language is unable to capture them and narrate all that I experienced with them. But I am helpless..I have only been educated to use this foreign language. And though I realize that it limits me and restricts me in describing these people who are too distant to be captured by this..I can only attempt to do so.
They never spoke of their education..but the insights that they had about life could surpass that of any Foucault or Rousseau. "If you don't have thoughts..you'll be happy. It's only when..you think you need ghee or butter that you feel unhappy at not having it. The more you separate yourselves from these thoughts..you simply stay happy". I knew she hadn't read this piece of wisdom...it was more..she was speaking from her experience and understanding. I wish I could note down..everything they said.because these women knew a lot..a lot more than this system of education would ever offer to me.
They learnt about life..when they traveled miles for water..they learnt to value nature and respect it when they said that their treasure was that water they collected in their tanks...and the tanks..the tanks became their banks.I realized..they aren't merely a part of the hills..they are one with it. They help it stay alive..and preserve the pristine essence that is then offered to travelers like me. They were the hills and though the hills remain mysterious..I
was able to snatch a glimpse in it's mystery through them..