Written somewhere on the road between Shimla and Keylong, September 2013.
Baboons bamboozled by the mountains
Decide deciphering the mystery of their heights
Energetic, ecstatic, and quite chaotic
First felt flying into the limitless sky.
Gibberish, gnarling dreams you boys should leave
Hummed homely home dwellers
Inspired, inquisitive, intrepid explorers were we
Jesting joyfully jumped on our bicycles.
Keeping keen eyes ahead towards Kaza
Lost in lumpy, loopy roads
Mumbling music about the
Meandering mysteries of life
Navigating notoriously noxious roads we went on.
“Ohhoho! Oblivious, outlandish individuals, where go thee?”
Polite people of the mountains asked us
Question quietly was answered — “Maybe Keylong, maybe Leh”
Rustic roads, romantic regions, rosy faces etched in our memories
Stunning sunburnt valleys sculptured in our hearts.
Toiling tortuously through thunderous, trumpeting trucks, we were
Unfettered, undeterred, untethered.
Vest of valour wear the hill folk
Wondrous watchmen with eyes above and feet aground
Xenial spirit adorned in xerophytic surroundings
Yielding to no one, yearning to succeed
Zestfully living their lives, sipping tea in a zarf.