An April morning. Kurseong. West Bengal.
Trisha loved the mountains. Perhaps it was more than Love. She identified with the beauty of creation in its entirety. The rolling hills, cascading waterfalls and deep forests attracted her like how honey would attract a bee. So, when she took a break from work, a journey into the mountains of Bengal was but an easy choice. Â
She walked out of her hotel after a sumptuous breakfast of hot momos with the red and green chutney and black Darjeeling tea. Kurseong is a sleepy little town dotted with dainty cottages along the hillside, and steep narrow alleys. She noticed agility among the people when they swiftly moved through the height with ease without a sign of fatigue.
She soon caught notice of the high walls that had been built to hold the hills together. Interestingly, from the walls grew a line of white flowers. It was strange how in such adverse conditions, the flowers grew out of nowhere and thrived! Trisha clicked a couple of pictures.
âSo much to learn from Nature... Resilience being one of themâ she thought.
Trisha smiled to herself, as she passed a young couple that was struggling to walk thanks to the height.
"God, this hike is terrible!" The woman said. "I can barely walk!"
"Arre, but this is nothing, we have another steeper hike coming up tomorrow!" said the man.
"I told you let's go to the beaches, but no, you just had to choose only the hills!"
"But our last vacation was in Goa, darling!"
The woman gave a stern look. "Yeah, okay fine."
Trisha sensed the tension in the air. She approached them.
"Hi, could you please take a pic for me" she requested, extending her mobile.
"Sure," said the man.
"Please keep the wallflowers in the background." Trisha pointed to the flowers.
The man took a couple of pictures, and handed the phone back to Trisha.
"Thank You so much". Trisha smiled at them. She continued. "There's a museum up there on top, do you want to accompany me till there?"
"Yeah, we are going there only," said the woman. "But it's too steep. I don't think I'll be able to make it".
Trisha took a moment, walked up to the wallflowers, as she called them, plucked one and handed over to the lady.
"This is for you. Nice flower, no? Growing out of the wall? Like out of no where? Still so beautiful?"
The woman took the flower and looked at it.
"Okay, let's do it this way." Trisha began. "Let's keep watching the line of wallflowers as we move up. We'll take picture breaks too!!! Let's enjoy the walk itself. Sounds interesting?"
The couple exchanged glances with each other and then back at Trisha, who looked at them one by one, waiting in anticipation.
The woman was the first to speak. "Yeah, I think that sounds great. Let's do it."Â Â
Fifteen minutes later, the three high fived. In front of them, was the museum. They had done it.
The lady turned at Trisha and said "Thank You, please stay this way. Just like the wallflowers."
Trisha smiled and gave her a hug. "I will," she said. "We all will."
They took a selfie of the three of them together and walked towards the museum.
Later that year...
A December morning, Dawki river. Meghalaya.
Trisha had heard a lot about a place called Dawki, located along the Indo-Bangaldesh border. There was a river that had gained popularity for its crystal clear waters that made even the deep river bed visible.
Trisha and some of her friends... in the midst of the river...taking a boat ride.Â
The boatman did his job in perfect harmony with the river. The surrounding hills stood gaurd as if even a whisper couldnât be heard by the world outside. They reached a spot where they got off the boat to chill for sometime.
Trisha touched the water that reflected the rocky bottom. How often do we get intimidated by the rock bottom scenarios of life? What we see is the bottom, but we ignore the water flowing over it. Why canât we be like the water? Touching rock bottom, yet unruffled, calm, poised... just being?
She picked up a couple of rocks from the banks as memory, something to remind her to not be afraid of the rock bottoms, but take strength from them and adopt a rock solid attitude towards life.
Soon it was time to go back to the boat for the return ride.
As they sailed through the tranquil waters, the boatman started to hum a tune...
âAllah mujhe dard ke kaabil bana diya,
Toofaan ko ki kashti ka saahil bana diya,Â
Bechainiyaa samet ke saare jahaan ki,Â
Jab kuchh na ban saka toh mera dil banaa diya...
O sathi, tere bina, Raahi ka raah dikhe na,
O sathi, tere bina, Saahil dhuaan dhuaan..."
The hills along the sides echoed, sending goosebumps across Trishaâs being...Â
The lines meant "Lord, you've made me strong enough to endure the pain, the storms and the shores have now merged as one, my heart seems to be filled with doubts you've collected out of the entire existence. My Friend, without you, the traveler has no direction. Without you, the shores can't be seen in the haze..."Â
She closed her eyes and took in the song. The only sounds were the echo from the hills and the water lapping against the boat as the boatman steered with the oars.  In her mind, she listened, as she felt the Universe speak to her.
âYou are a traveller through eternal Time and Space.
The Heart is your navigator.
It is the source and centre of your attitude, your thoughts, your emotions.
Itâs on you, what you wish to hold in your heart.
What makes you feel like a winner?
Let that feeling be your guide.â
Trisha sensed tears of joy well up in her eyes. Isnât it just amazing? The experience called Life?
(This is a work of fiction and is not intended to resemble anyone in particular. All stories and pictures are copyrights of the author.)Â
Intrigued about how I met Trisha? Read the first of the series here.