The KAILAS.
chapter 1
The wishful thinking of writing down the .thoughts and
experiences of the recently took 3 Kailas Journey prompted me against my
diffidence to pen a few words. I am very much new in writing down my thoughts,
and I have tried very hard to bring out the impressions of the three journeys I
took in 2005,2006 and this year 2007. The only thing I can assure you is that
all the facts are true and there is not an iota of exaggeration. In the first para of this article I have portrayed me as another person, but it
is me all right. This time, it is the third time, me going on a Kailas pilgrimage trip. And the mind automatically
compare all the findings with the last two ones. I don’t know
how this will seem in print yet here I am going on writing down all.
The first journey was in 2005. may. We were 24 people in
that group. though I had read about Kailas and
Manasarovar, I had never thought I would be able to go, and that too three
times. For kailas trip is risky, unpredictable and for us south Indians, the
climate, food, language etc are also very hard and intolerable. All the
accessories for the long journey consists from toilet paper to eatables
;medicines to bottled water, every item
has to be procured from here or Nepal, for we cannot get any article once we
are on the road to Tibet. And also, there is the question of finance. For a
journey of this magnitude a good amount of money is also needed. The rush of
planning everything, getting the traveling gear, and above all scraping
together the amount needed for such a pilgrimage, and at last the D-Day draws
near. As the government allows only about 300 yatries a year vide government
channels, and that too under very strict medical fitness tests, the private travel
agencies conducting this for the first time in kerala brought a good response. And
in these past three years of my experience these agencies does a very good job
of taking care of the yathries too. The
journey was through Nepal to
Tibet.
The ultimate destination of a life time in pilgrimage one can hope for. It is
not exactly a holiday feeling, but rather creating a space around oneself from
myself, from my family, from my surroundings, and may be the culmination of
some past lives yearnings for a darshan of the holy site.! And so we started on
May of 2005. There were 24 persons then. from youngster of 24 years to old
persons above 70 also participated The journey always starts with an open mind.
A side seat and one is happiness it self. As the plane took off the mind was a
new clean slate, waiting for the impressions to be recorded anew. It was a
glorious experience, the flight, the atmosphere, the clouds, and some times the
feeling of being stationary in the air. Only when the landscape under changes,
you are aware the plane is moving. The flight passengers too are a motley
group. Some business men, one or two politicians (you have seen them in news
papers) some burqua clad women, and some like me gawking at the landscape
stretched out below. Slowly, time passes. It was a novelty; the kind of food
served on the airlines too slowly the plane banks and then underneath it is all
clouds. White clouds sailing beneath the plane make you think you are in some
dream land. From here, it is in a silenced white world with no bumps, just
sailing through. Now there comes an announcement in both English and Hindi. The
destination is arriving. Within 10 minutes you will be back on the ground, and
while the small matchbox like buildings and thin white roads loom bigger and
larger, there is a thud, and then you are grounded. The plane rolls to a stop,
then the passengers are alighting. The Air hostesses are full of charm thanking
you for having took the journey, but I felt it is me who had to thank them for
getting such a wonderful experience. It takes very few minutes to get the two
bags from the luggage belt, then off all go A hotel in Nepal. We were given good
accommodation in the new destination. And to a very good room on twin sharing
basis. … And to make matters comforting, though I was all alone there were many
of the other travelers who had participated in other tours with us too were
there.
അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളൊന്നുമില്ല:
ഒരു അഭിപ്രായം പോസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യൂ