The Song of the Mountain

The Sun beats mercilessly down on me. I stumble on, with every bone in my body aching. I have hardly eaten, have to ration the food I carry. Fortunately, water is available, as there are streams flowing down the Mountain.

I have little luggage now. Have shed most of it. The world is receding to my sight. When I began climbing, people laughed at me, mocked me, called me mad. Perhaps I am mad. Only a lunatic would venture to climb the Mountain.

Why did I start climbing? I don’t really know. The Mountain was there. I had to climb it. The Mountain beckoned me with words beyond sound, with a song that no ear could hear. I have no reason to climb. I just wanted to hear the song again and again. That’s why I have left the world below to climb the Mountain.

I have never seen the peak. It is lost in immensity of the sky. I know it is there. I know the peak has treasures beyond imagination. From the peak, I will be able to touch the Universe, to converse with the Cosmos.

I stumble on. Thorns scratch me. I fall often. The rock faces are steeper and steeper as I climb. I almost fell to my death twice, barely managed to hold on. My mind tells me I will never make it. That it’s a hopeless venture.

I feel freedom, an exhilarating lightness. There is beauty and nobility in a hopeless venture. Victory is not reaching the peak. Victory is trying to reach the peak.

My mind tells me that I will never make it. That there will be a cliff from which I will fall.

My heart tells me that when that happens, the Divine Mother will lift me with Her soft arms, and bestow on me Her smile that is the Energy of the Cosmos.

Copyright Bhavesh Parekh