Over 2000 Km by road, in around 10 days. Stunning landscapes, wonderful people. That sums up our Ladakh trip. But how did it actually work? How did we make it happen? Read on to find out! Leh, the capital of Ladakh , is accessible by air and road. Flying into Leh is the easiest, and time-saving option, while the road is the time consuming one, but with the added advantage of driving past some of the most beautiful landscapes in our country. Each option has much to recommend it, and we chose the road for just one reason – altitude sickness. Altitude sickness was one of my biggest concerns, since I suffer from motion-sickness. Yes, I do travel a lot, but that is despite my condition, and, over the years, have learnt how to handle it. I struggled with it when we visited Nathu-La in Sikkim, and wondered if I would be able to manage a week at the even higher altitudes that we would encounter in Ladakh. This was the reason we stuck to a basic plan, of only 9 days in Ladakh, though we
Tender feet..
Wearing pretty anklets...
They should be busy running around, playing...
Yet,
They walk a tightrope..
Literally as well as figuratively..
Balancing themselves on the rope of jute,
as well as that of life..
I am no poet, and calling those few lines a poem would be doing an injustice to poems, but I couldn't help but pen them down, while I wondered what to post today for Navaratri. I couldn't post anything yesterday, since I was out all day with friends, and we were at Kala Ghoda when we saw them.. the tightrope walkers.
They are folk artists of a kind too, and their art is fast dying, in this fast paced life where we have no time to stop and see them perform. I have seen them recently only in rural areas, so it was good to see them in Mumbai, for a change.
And yet, even as I watched them, I wondered about the girl... and her parents. They lived in Panvel, hailing originally from Chhatisgarh (as they told me), and evidently managed to eke out a living from their skill. The young girl seemed to walk the rope effortlessly... even as her mother hovered, and held out an arm protectively...
She was a spirited girl, insisting that she had never, ever, fallen off, and to emphasize her point, knelt on a plate, and showed us that she could walk across the tightrope even in that position!
My Navaratri posts are usually about some form of the Goddess, her temples, or the festival, but looking over my photographs, thought this was the right thing to post - after all, she embodies the very spirit of the Goddess we pray to, doesn't she?
The only question is - Do we look at her the same way as we do the goddess? Do we treat her with the same respect, love and admiration? She certainly deserves it!
Yes, I was about to write that you are a poetess!!
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to see her walk on that rope & what all they have to do to earn the livelihood. A little Goddess!
Beautifully captured and well narrated... Feels proud of the girl, yet sad too coz she has to earn bread for her and her family at that age...
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