Upon the Watchtower
I was walking all alone,
When I chanced upon a watchtower
Standing on its own
Three flights of wooden stairs
later,
I found a cell upon the tower,
A vantage for the olive hills
Sprayed with cosmos flower
And right in front, in porcelain
Cast a mountain dream,
Somewhere far, the trickling sound
Of a distant lively stream
What more to ask, the mountains
had
Blessed me a temple room
To sit and think for endless
hours,
And melt away my gloom
And so I’d walk at every dawn
To see the sunrise from my
shrine,
And sunsets too, intoxicated
Without a drop of wine
There was something in that
magical place
As if consecrated by the earth,
A chrysalis – that changed in me
My frowns with peaceful mirth
The grandness of the cosmos
stared
The stars shone in the day,
I realised – some see the dais,
the curtains too
Others: lost inside the play
(And you can see the drama best
When in the balcony you stand)
It was exactly where the watchtower
stood
Wrapped by mountains grand
On my final day, when I went to
say
The hills my last goodbyes
I had to ask, one question to
The old Kanchenjunga wise
Why did he make me walk the
route?
Why help me make this find?
Alabaster peace now ousting all
The darkness of the mind
The old sage shone and seemed to
smile,
The sky sparkled in blue,
This is where the seasons spill
The old merges with new
And this is where you will come
back oft
Both in space and time,
When swimming in a writer’s
block,
You’ll find here rhythm and
rhyme
On brooding nights, the pole star
here
Will help you find your day
This altar is the prize you
found
For you walked the pilgrim’s way
In the silence of the hills, I
smiled
Sunshine in my peace,
There’s change with every effort
made,
In this little life of lease
So, if ever you think, you’ve
lost your way,
Why not come back to the hills,
A pilgrimage beyond the humdrum
of
Daily work and bills
Who knows what you may find
At least you’ll walk the way,
Perhaps you too will find a
watchtower
On a brooding, pensive day…
___________________________________________
The inspiration to these lines
came when I was staying at the Mim Tea Estate – far behind its cottages on a
lonely hill stood a staggering watchtower. Three flights of steep stairs and it
led to a snug little cabin at the top: Its views were breath-taking, but most
importantly it felt like a warm, safe cocoon far away from the busyness of the
outside world.
Despite so many other fellow travellers,
no one ever visited the watchtower and I would find it left all to myself – to enjoy
in the solitude the warming sunrise and the mellowing sunsets every single day
of my stay. As if a small corner of peace in this vast limitless universe was
carved out and handed to me as a prize for making my way to that tiny little
window to the Kanchenjunga range. The humbling hills and the majestic mountains
would instil in me every day a sense of inner peace that is recovered within
yourself with a little nudge from nature. I tried to map those moments in my
memory reminding myself to come back to that very spot many a time in the days
ahead, many a miles far away…
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