The Sound of Silence - An Experiment

I’m here sitting by an unknown stream in Tapri – a dusty little town on the NH 22 between Rampur and Recong Peo in Himachal Pradesh. I’m resting here for the day. Tapri doesn’t boast of anything great. I had stopped on an instinct – if you know it – its one of those instincts that wants you to get out at a small unknown station and explore – curious to find what lies beyond the station. Being on the bicycle just made it easy – I can stop wherever I wanted. Tapri’s economy thrived on one single thing – the JP associates Hydel Power Project Upstream – often referred to as ‘Company’. The ‘Company’ seemed to provide all kinds of employment opportunities to all. Good for the villagers Bad for the Environment.

I had observed the stream from a distant and wandered around finding a way to reach her. She lay quite off the centre of activity, snuggled in one corner, away from the highway as if she were in hiding from the evil eyes of the traffic the plied. Now, sitting here close to her, I realize how beautiful she is. She rushed down in a hurry. Amidst the hurry, she maintained a peaceful quietness. She rolled down in joy caressing the obstacles in its way with love never minding their stubbornness. As I sit here besides her, the sun goes down at the distant horizon. No, I cannot see the sun going down, but I can feel it. I can feel the chill in the air beginning to rise. I begin my weird experiment. I close my eyes and breathe the Himalayan air. I start wandering into nothingness. Nothing seemed to be of any concern as I lay here. Then I start to listen to the nothingness. At first, I hear nothing. Then, I hear it all. First, the gentle rumble of the stream, then her laughter as she defies her lovers and rushes her own way… oops she’s falling. No she can’t be hurt its one of those acrobatic falls she performs time and time again out of joy. I hear a visitor and wonder if it’s someone like me to watch this beauty. I listen carefully. He seems close by. I can hear him as he walks. I’m curious to find out who he is and what he looks like. Then he lets out a long ‘cuckooooo …’ and now I know who it is. It’s the Himalayan Cuckoo. He seems to be as much interested in her as I’ am. Perhaps, he’s here, to show his vengeance for my past actions towards his lover? Well I leave the thought alone and return back to my listening.

All seems silent except for her laughter when suddenly I hear some new sounds. I can hear 2 distinct sounds. The bell clinking on a cow’s neck and a pair of anklets tinkling. Both the sounds interlaced at regular intervals. I can make it that the sound is coming towards me. I have a visitor. I listen in silence. I don’t hear the anklets anymore only the constant clinking of the cow bell and it seems to come from right in front of me. As if someone is standing and watching me. The thought sends my mind rolling and starts weird imaginations. I start wondering more about my visitor. Who is she? What does she look like? What is she wondering about there standing and staring at me? I’m tempted to open my eyes but I hold on just experiencing my sense of hearing. Then I hear a giggle. Perhaps it’s a small girl, Perhaps no. I hold myself and the sound of the anklets start again. The sound now starts moving away. Perhaps she has to go and cook or perhaps her mother is looking for her. As the sound moves away, I can hear her humming a song. I’m alone with my love again. Then I hear a pahari man “Kaun ho bhai? Kya kar rahe ho?” I first presume that the question was not addressed at me and lay silently but Himmar Singh persisted. Then I realized, It was me he was talking to. I take a break from my listening experience and open my eyes. I smile at him. He’s a small man perhaps in his forties. I tell him I was enjoying the nature and the peace. He smiles and we continue our conversation. He invites me to his house – a climb of 2 hrs. I politely refuse and he offers to take me for a quick walk into the jungle nearby. We start our little walk, He talks of how the weather and climate were changing and becoming more and more unpredictable. He’s worried of the weather in the winter ahead. Soon we come to a shed with a couple of mules tied outside. He explains that the mules are the only way to transport heavy things to his village and that he was taking home a few bags of cement for building another room. Soon we set off back on our path. Its getting darker and I’m worried for him. At the junction where the path to his village separates we part. He insists again that I join him, I tell him perhaps some other time. Soon I’m on my own and its getting darker. The light can be gone any moment after sunset in the hills. I rush down my to find my way back before it becomes too dark.

Memories from the Road

 
As I sit here and reflect on my journeys so far, a sense of peace takes over. For to the wandering soul like mine it’s the journey that matters and it’s the next trip that keeps it going everyday. It all started with a trip to kodaikanal to take part in a trekking programme organized by the youth hostels association about 8 years ago. From then I’ve never looked back nor regretted. My quest to explore became unquenchable and took me from Kodai to Andaman to Himachal to Sikkim to Ladakh to Rajasthan to Kashmir to Kerals and where not. I took every means of transport from bus roofs to boats to ships to camels to bicycles. Today when I reflect on these I see how much they have shaped my life and how much peace they’ve given me. My blog here is an attempt to share moments from those trips with my readers and try and recreate these trips visually for those couch travelers. I will not attempt to follow any chronological order for those moments live for themselves without any respect to time…