The haunting horror of
Hovering hawks
On cliffs.
Scavengers patiently perched
To let ‘me’ pass
Rohtang,
– The ‘Dead Pass’
– The Wasteland :
Lahaul, Kaza, Kyelang;
Where the half decayed lama
In his dhayana
In his trance
In a waste cave
Might bless ‘me’
With half bleached bones
And
Hollows –
Of eyes with no lids.

The shrouds –
Fluttering –
Tied in strings
White, red and green
Dyed,
Dried.
Or the washed pajamas
Of half woken
Gods?
Or the Buddha
In a wasteland
Half drowsed in chaang
Facing the dusty doors
Of temples
Susceptible to storms
Casting an evil
Drowsed eye
Hypnotic eye
On
Wooden
Haunting
Devil masks –
The trophies of the temples?

The prayer wheel
Spinning endlessly
With cymbals,
In deep bass
The rosaries humming
Of the maroon – yellow
Sturdy bald lamas
Fed on gur-gur-chaa –
Om Mani Padme Hoom –
‘O Jewel of the Lotus’;
Which echo through the
Yellow, red tassels
Dancing
To the muse of bells
Of mules
Gray and bay mules
Wishing Ju-Le, Ju-Le
To apricot
Smelling
Women
With dark
Wide
Wrinkled
Fore-heads
Balanced
On flat noses
Tethered
To ornaments
On wrinkled faces
Dancing
In tune with
Men
In mock fights.

Hasten me
To taste
This wasteland
To half drowse in chaang.

Ki-ki, so-so, lha gyalo
Oris I built to thy name.

Hasten me
To haunt
This wasteland
To half die at Rohtang.

Let the Gods conquer
Oris I built to thy name.

Feed me –
Gur-gur-chaa.
Knead me
In beads of rosaries
To half hum the prayers.

Om Mani Padme Hoom
Oris I built to thy name.

Teach me
To be taught
To bleach
My bones
Half in trance.
Kali shu
Oris I built to thy name.

Flutter
My robes
Yellow and maroon.
Flutter
The flags
The shrouds
White, red and green.
Make me
Half alive
Half dead
And awake
Two feet deep
Beneath
The ground.

Sit slowly
Oris I built to thy name.

Hum,
-Me-
In prayer wheels.
Om Mani Padme Hoom
‘O Jewel of the Lotus.’

Kali phe
Oris I built to thy name.

Wave,
-Me-
In echoes –
Of cymbals –
Ju-le, ju-le.
Until ‘I’ come
Again.

Go slowly
Oris I built to thy name.

– Arise
In mock fights
Dancing
In tune –
Hand in hand
Of sensuously
Wrinkled hands
Of wrinkled women.

Kali shu, kali phe
Sit slowly, go slowly
Oris I built to thy name.

Notes

Om Mani Padme Hoom: A mantra or devotional formula of Buddhism. (The ‘d’ is silent, the first ‘a’ is short, the second long.) Meaning – ‘O Jewel of the Lotus’ – reference to Buddha.

Ki-ki, so-so lha gyalo: ‘Let the Gods conquer all the evil spirits.’ And ‘Praise be to God.’ (A common shout while passing through a pass as it is believed that evil spirits haunts these passes and without these praises to God, no one conquer the passes safely.)

Oris: A pile of stones at mountain passes built by travelers after safely crossing the passes. A custom necessary as a thanks giving to God. Each traveler adding a stone to it, which usually makes the pile a huge collection. The Oris usually has streamers of colored cloth tied to the rocks or fastened to sticks, planted in the rock pile. Prayers are written on these pieces of cloth, and each wind that blows makes the cloth flutter, and each flutter sends the prayers winging to the God or Goddess of the pass.

Gur-gur chaa: Tea prepared in a peculiar manner. The tea is to be brewed the day before, adding a pinch of soda and letting it simmer until it has a pinkish tinge. The next day, the brew is churned in salt and refined butter (ghee) of yak. The mixture is then served piping hot. Occasionally in a hurry the first step of the prior day is omitted.

Ju-le, ju-le: The Lahauli’s or the Tibetans way of greeting while they touch their foreheads and say Ju-le, ju-le, when you meet a person or depart from the other.

Kali shu: Sit slowly.

Kali phe: Go slowly.
A traditional Tibetan salutation on farewell. Kali phe means ‘Go slowly.’ The person who leaves is supposed to answer Kali shu which means ‘Sit slowly.’

Chaang: An intoxicating drink made of barley.