'Cha' by the Ganges

Pic by Conor Tierney

It's been a long time coming. The last time I planned a trip like this was two years ago. Trishikh and me to Ladakh. Ironically, we had initially planned to ride down to Kolkata. Mom screamed and I blew. We turned North then.

This time Trishikh isn't there. After cajoling and coaxing my boss I got a couple of days leave. Life was getting stressful here. And the idea of a long drive into the mountains was hanging like a spider in my brain. At the same time, the thoughts about Crazu, mom and dad kept cropping up like daffodils on a lazy wintry morning. I had to choose.

And I chose. 1500km one way. Through the supposedly badlands of UP into nostalgia.

I am restless

by Rabindranath Tagore

I AM restless. I am athirst for far-away things.
My soul goes out in a longing to touch the skirt of the dim distance.
O Great Beyond, O the keen call of thy flute!
I forget, I ever forget, that I have no wings to fly, that I am bound in this spot evermore.

I am eager and wakeful, I am a stranger in a strange land.
Thy breath comes to me whispering an impossible hope.
Thy tongue is known to my heart as its very own.
O Far-to-seek, O the keen call of thy flute!
I forget, I ever forget, that I know not the way, that I have not the winged horse.

I am listless, I am a wanderer in my heart.
In the sunny haze of the languid hours, what vast vision of thine takes shape in the blue of the sky!
O Farthest end, O the keen call of thy flute!
I forget, I ever forget, that the gates are shut everywhere in the house where I dwell alone!