The River Knew Our Names

For the ones following my story, the train never came. We had to change our trip plan completely. The skies never cleared up in darma valley, forecasts still show heavy to very heavy rain tomorrow so we have abandoned our plan. We are now moving towards Lahaul valley. Karun and i have long spoken about moving to the mountains. It has been such a loved dream of ours. Key word being here - Dream. Can it ever be turned into a reality ? We do not know. There are so many challenges of building a life there. The life is hard and unpredictable. The weather is now changing constantly due to global warming. Things seem very rosy when you are travelling for a few days. But when it comes down to living there, it’s a different ballgame. Lack of proper infrastructure, connectivity, basic necessities are also a luxury sometimes. There was a line i read in a story called Tshor which really stayed with me- ‘But you can’t eat beauty !’ This was spoken by Faiz Naana to the narrator when he becomes lost seeing the beautiful landscape of the mountains. This line in itself highlights the stark difference between aesthetic appreciation and the harsh realities of physical survival there. Our ‘moving to the mountains’ plan has become even more difficult to execute now that we have a daughter and her education needs to be taken into consideration. We have jokingly considered putting her in a boarding school there just so that we have a reason to keep going to the hills. But that is not going to happen because i cannot bear to part with her. All I know is that Karun and i will find a way somehow. Till that happens, we shall be found sitting by the riverside, looking at the grand mountains with a non existent doggy pet ( I don’t have a dog, yet i keep making one) and ofcourse, Arya. The river will remember our names because we keep coming back it. We cannot eat beauty but we can certainly devour it with our eyes. And that’s enough for now. Ps - Arya has asked me multiple times where she is in this painting. I told her she’s in the jungle, running around with the animals while her parents taking a much needed break.