Page 23 - Litterateur March 2021

Meet me in my dreams

him to his core. He closed his eyes to steady himself, and

when he opened them again, he was lying in the opening in

the forest overlooking the great mountains.

* * * * *

Andy did not have any destination in mind, so upon arrival

at Siliguri, he headed north-west, in the general direction of

Singalila National Park. He hitched rides or walked, going

further inside the forest and up the hill range. The April

sun, blue skies, spectacular snow bound mountains that

he glimpsed at some odd turns on the trails, the

cacophony of birds in the mornings, and the utterly still

and silent middays made Andy forget the reason for his

being there. He lived in the now, grateful for the simplicity

and beauty around him.

Andy stayed in villages where ‘Jhankris’ still practiced

their ancient traditions and village elders sat around the

fire telling stories that were hundreds of generations old.

He roamed the forests and ridges, sometimes returning at

twilight. Elders of the village warned him of leopards or

losing his path. In hushed tones, they mentioned about

sacred areas, where people did not venture without

permission from the spirits of nature, places from where

people never returned, of wild plants that could alter