To the Mountains

There are many kinds of pilgrimages. The religious is only one of them. The rarest kind is the supposedly spiritual. But there are pilgrimages which take you to destinations far away, to destinations that bring much hardship and even greater fulfillment. These journeys are as much within as they are outwards. In these journeys you may meet fellow pilgrims, or you may remain alone. But there is a fair chance you will meet yourself. The best thing about them is that they never end. There is definitely a final journey waiting for all of us, but until then, we must continue on these voyages. To some the sea speaks, to some the hills. The following video collage is a collection of several visits to the Himalayas, to places remote and secluded. These destinations carry the myth of being mythical – with the lore that you cannot reach them unless they want you too. Each of these journeys may not have provided epiphanies, but they have been islands of peace and the memories that one can hold on to. In the world of loss that is today, those memories are invaluable.

I invite all my friends to take this brief photographic journey with me.

My entire poem, given at the end, may be difficult to read within the video. It is given here.

To the Mountains

Siddhartha Biswas

To travel beyond time

Instants and eternities flow

Beyond human frames

Through the path of snow

They will give you peace

They will promise you calm

Sometimes you will climb

With serenity on your palm

The mountains will always be

With valleys of joyful length

But time will offer bleakness

The path will test your strength

Have faith in their presence

As pilgrims always be true

Radiance waits at the end of the road

And the blessing of the blue

If you like the post, please let me know.

Thank you for your patience.

Earlier Posts:

1. Old Lucknow   2. Colonial Lucknow   3. Going Downhill - Versey to Dentam
4. Going to Garhwal  5. The Walkers  6. Palamau  7. Rishikesh
8. Kolkata Kolkata  9. The Roar of the Clouds - Santiniketan 
10. Of Pests and Men - Uttarey  11. Where Hikers Fear to Tread - Rudranath
12. Old Times  13. History in Ruins - Pushpagiri
14. Once There was a Heaven  15. Serenity  
16. Pilgrim's Progress - Kedarnath 17. Unfinished - Gaumukh 18. Ghatshila 
19. Nothing Important  20. Manu's Alaya - Manali  21. Santiniketan  
22. Little Lhasa - Dharamshala  23. From Varuna to Assi - Varanasi  
24. Tunganath  25. Transitory Blues  26. Gurudongmar  27. The Beginning  
28. Yumesamdong  29. Bangali in Bangkok  30. Mukutmanipur  
31. Rasvanti  32. The Old Town and the Sea   33. Budapest 
34. The Last Post of 2019 35. Travel Travails 36. Cluj-Napoça 
37. Presenting the Past  38. Far From the Urban Crowd
39. Silent Night Sleepless Night 40. Norwich 41. Photo Essay - The Road
42. Photo Story - The Days of the Goddess 43. Badrinath 44. Monumental Mistakes
45. Odyssey Now