A Whispered Embrace
Chapters from a love story for SNOW
I am transporting myself to those fragile whispers…to the landscape that feels like my thoughts, that come and go…to this white cover upon the earth.
Sometimes I wonder about the soft, delicate and gentle… relation between the trees, pebbles, leaves, soil and the snow. The delicate caress, gentle kisses, encased snuggles, turning it all into a milky way. Each flake telling a silent tale to its transient companion. The glow is like a million little suns sparkling, the ones that you can hold only for them to vanish.
And then I begin dreaming about that first time, my mother, cousin and myself travelled to meet my father and see SNOWFALL.
First is always special
That first ever meeting as a 11 year child with snow, truly special! Me and my family, we waited for a whole week, in a remote village at Harshil, Uttrakhand, for it to snow. But nature has its ways of teaching us early on.
Finally, patience paid and existence took mercy upon eyes that only looked up in hope. The day before we were to start our journey back, down came the sparkles. We played with fresh snow till we were soaked, made disfigured snowmen, had the fights with the pillowy snowballs. What was to follow, no one ever imagined.
It snowed heavily for the next 48 hours, making it impossible to travel back in vehicles over those narrow winding roads. My mother, a teacher, had to join back after the winter break, so turning around and waiting it out was not an option. Extreme measures were resorted to. My father being in the army, with his group of men decided to walk it down; towards the other end of the open road. No one told us how many kilometres or how challenging this walk would be.
Two little kids, who could not even fit in the snow boots of adults somehow struggled to keep walking and walking. Slowly the excitement of creating footprints, fading away. Stopping at every army check post to dry up a bit and wear a new pair of oversized boots, socks, jackets along with some warm soup. The morning turned to dusk and we were still wading through, with promises that the end is only a few turns away.
Finally! There were headlights that could be seen but no energy in us to smile. We were picked and dumped into the gypsy and taken to a warm room, with fresh clothes, hot meals and a place to just breathe easy.
It was a 15 kilometre walk in the hills through snow. Everyone thought, this was the end to my love story with snow. But low and behold, I was already sharing this great adventure of a little city girl and dreaming of creating more.
The love continues
Many years later, I waited again, against my window, somewhere in the mountains. This time with a little more love, peace and silence for the white flakes to wrap the earth.
A voice in me shouted without words,
IT’S SNOWING!!!
The child within, suddenly awake to the crystal magic.
Dumbstruck, speechless, breathless,
I stood still watching the spectacle unfold
Under the blue sky I wandered, lost and found
Frozen from within.
Another voice in me said,
Let’s dance with the pristine landscape
Etching lines without movement
To the reticent songs of the snowflakes
In this joyous moment, I became the snow.
I asked each flake to fill me in it’s colour
They acknowledged, accepted my celebration
Everything transformed, never the same
The beloved in me witnessed the creation and disappearance
The tears of love wrote the song on the transient white canvas
If it be now, it’s not to come
If it be not to come, it will be now
If it be not now, yet it will come
The readiness is all
Love me with the tenderness of the snowflakes
Fill me like the engulfing embrace
Fall on me, silently softly with the noiseless tempo of life
Cover me, each cell and every pore, in your beauty
Shower me, with the devotion which connects the sky with the earth
Soften me, with your passion that burns the freezing flake
Melt into my soul
Nourish my being
Take over and leave nothing
Let me shine your colour
And the love story continues, awaiting another chapter…
Till we meet again my beloved snow!
Thank you Dr. Preeti Singh for this magical prompt. It makes me miss snow a little more with love. Thank you Yana Bostongirl and Sahil Patel for this wonderful space of sharing.
A wonderful and must read article by Mindy Stern on raising a world of good humans and making choices from lived experiences.
Do read this layered poem by Harry Stefanakis and grow beyond the structures.
