The world is a fine place and worth
fighting for - Ernest Hemingway
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Deodar
ka Tilla and Gwanulal - Harish Kapadia
While
trekking to Nag Tibba I walked to
Ghodiapa pass which was on the ridge towards the north, and leading down to Chapda village.
As I walked up to the pass, one villager, Gwanulal walked with me in the dense
forest. He kept a distance from me and when I asked him, he said, ‘My guru has
advised me that in this kaliyug (dark age) be afraid of men not
animals’. He laughed and we teamed up. From
the pass we had excellent view of the ranges from Bandarpunch to Himachal and
the trees of this forest at the top of the ridge were a treat. Both of us sat
down and exchanged information about our families. As I offered him some of my
food he tasted it and asked, ‘Can I take this with me and not eat here? I
would like to share it with my daughters. They
have never tasted food from Bombay. They would love it.’ He asked me about my
family and I told him about my two sons. The younger one, Lt. Nawang Kapadia had
joined the Indian Army
and was killed by the terrorists in
the bloody conflict in Kashmir. Gwanulal suddenly got up asking me to wait. He
came back with small cones of deodar and rubbed them in his hands. There was
only yellow powder left, looking pure like pure saffron. He put a mark on my
forehead. ‘This
is deodar ka tilla, the mark of deodar, and it is made from deodar ki
pithai. These small cones are considered
holy and are available only during these times, in early winter.’ He
got a handful of pithai and stuffed it in my rucksack, ‘Take these home and put it on
the photograph of your son. He will be blessed.’ In this four-hour walk with
this simple Garhwali villager, I had formed a lifelong friendship. Such are the
ways of trekking in this land of gods. We said goodbye to each other on the pass
as he descended towards his village to the north of the pass and I returned back
towards Devalsari. At home the
tilla of deodar adored the portrait of Lt. Nawang Kapadia for may days! |
