Of Men and Mountains

Kami and Naranjan reliving the sanctity of Sassui

If the conquest of a great peak brings moments of exaltation and bliss, which in the monotonous, materialistic existence of modern times nothing else can approach, it also presents great dangers. It is not the goal of grand alpinism to face peril, but it is one of the tests one must undergo to deserve the joy of rising for an instant above the state of crawling grubs.

On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility.

Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude.

-Lionel Terray, French Mountaineer

A deliberate urgency has risen in the past for nature, specifically mountains. Everything is untrue and false except nature, the blistering waves of that magnificent setting sun you see the other day, the awe-inspiring views of full moon, the captivating views of valleys, meadows, rivers and plains.

My last trip to Bhanbhore (archeological site dating back to BC 300) was amazing, though the feeling was long being tamed, but it surely injected an obsession to go places and get footlose. Does it all really matters? To live up to expectations, in a way you are no more yourself? I ask that to myself now and then.

Anyways, the feeling of being face-to-face with nature has enticed all of us, no one can escape its chasm which will continue to inspire all of us for eternity.

The plans are pretty good; first the interior Sindh,

Rani Kot
Sachal Sarmast
Lakes in Nawabshah, Deh Akro-II Wetlands (if possible)
Larkana and Moen-Jo-Daro (and Khat Dhoro, Drigh Lake, Lung Lake also)
Runn of Kutch via Badin District

And then the northern areas, that will be covered later once we get lost in the above areas. My friends are lazy asses, I will have to move them.

Indignation and Pure Thoughts

I fear today, the unknown..fear for my surroundings, insecurities, this country, people around me; I guess being nihilist wasn't just enough after all for this life to live.

People are trying hard to find alternatives of religion by rendering bogus the established beliefs that have been held sacred for centuries. Was this all wrong from start? Have we been kept 'in the dark'..huh! Only our hearts can answer that. Or maybe its just another way to escape confusion, chaos, uncertainty, hatred, fear that has been haunting all of us for this past century.

Things aren't like movies and I become too involved and inspired by them easily (unrealistic and pathetic) and try to look at things in life that way and I meet with limitations laid by these walls around me, I can think, I can imaginate, I can act...why a person is always locked up and not free? Freedom lies in one's hearts and minds, freedom to get footloose, freedom to choose, freedom to be! Fate is what you define, play, make and derive from your character.

My thoughts are pure when they want to be, but still I have indignation and personal angst that I cannot speak about, cos after all its your problem, not anyone else's.

Time changes everything, except, of course, memories

I had a real bad day yesterday, if you call thinking over your past, accomplishments, things you lost, bad memories, good ones, relationships, friends, family, career and what not, bad!

Time heals everything or so they say; getting out of your past relationships is definitely hard, and harder if it is worsened when your closed ones play their part, when you sacrifice for their contentment. The burden of everything else is put on your shoulders as if they all were intertwined.

To be happy and enjoy the smallest of times in your lives is a big thing to do, specially when you are going through all this. The reason when i say that people cannot be trusted, they are not true to you may lead to an assumption that I am a cynic; and I might be at times because I'm alienated, estranged and rebelled against everything, be it culture, religion, society and values. Others don't think like you do, even if they do, they have their own priorities.

Past was past and present will be past (the most pessimistic comment I can make)

Amar Jaleel is a good writer, I like him and I can relate almost every story of his to myself. Many stories deal with portrayal of unrequited love, difference of classes, independent renegades and revolutionaries, tyranny, survival of poor people in our society and many others. One such story is A Train To Karachi. I'd recommend you to read it.