Faces in the Hill

 I

 

‘We will miss the train,’

I had cried,

But you had to see the caves,

‘It will hardly take us time,’ you lied

And we climbed

All the way to a nearby hill

An old gatekeeper quiet

And cicadas, summer’s shrill

 

‘What is there at all?’ I mocked

‘Why bother dragging me?’

The old man, unimpressed, rasped

‘Whatever you want to see’

Wasted tickets, camera out

We walked to empty caves

The same old nothingness

Desolate walls, rock hewn empty staves

 

But one cave of them all

The only one with carvings left,

For this, a hundred rupees?

The tickets, a silent theft

Yet this one was full of art –

A detailed scene of horrific war

Death, army, a king with no heart

 

This king though felt deep and close

Despite that evil in his eyes

A familiar face, I had known forever –

Was this a dream of lies?

And who was that taming him?

A monk, a Boddhisattva on a hill

The king entranced, he drops his sword

He has lost his inner will…

 

II

 

‘We will miss the train,’

You had cried,

But I had to see the caves,

‘It will hardly take us time,’ I lied

And we traipsed

All the way to that forlorn hill,

Were we not there, just moments back?

Time - mocking with its drill

 

But not a guard, no one there

Just broken dusty ruins –

I went back to that single cave

I had to see this tyrant prince

But nothing there, a wasted wall

Though it seems full long ago

Eroded figures, limbs and face

Dying in a timeless show

 

Except for that single face

Boddhisattva on the hill –

The cosmos rocking all around

But he is eternal still

That face, closed eyes in peace

Enough to set you free,

That same familiar forever’s face

All that I had to see…

 

17^th Feb, 2026

Inspired by caves near Matheran I couldn't visit, to avoid missing the train