Romancing the Stone :-)

As she says, it was "an adventure of a lifetime".......

Two intrepid blogger friends, IHM and Sangeeta Khanna, recently participated in a Women's (actually, Girls') Himalayan MTB Cycle Expedition from Kullu in Himachal Pradesh, to Khardung La , 37 kms north of Leh, in the Ladakh region. Organized by the Youth Hostels Association of India.

Khardung la is the wolds highest motorable mountain pass (17,582 feet, or 5602 metres), maintained by the Indian Border Roads Organization, and is of strategic importance.

They have returned with a veritable treasure of photographs, experiences, oodles of confidence, and amazing tans. I look forward to a series of fantastic blogposts from them.

You can see some of Sangeeta's photos here.

Some very unusual rock formations as below. And some of my (some say, weird) thoughts below:-)

(photo by Sangeeta Khanna)


Paththari Bai,***
in repose,
amidst
younger ones,
with a hint of green;

Age belies her charm,
as the smart sky,
the tingling winds,
and
some single minded clouds
still crowd around ,
vying for her ...

And then she spies
a battalion in pink
cycling by,
and some stop,
mouths agape,
wanting to capture
the romance.

And Paththari Bai
all overcome,
pulls her ghunghat
around,
and turns her head,
looking down.

Thats how she remains.....

***Paththar = hindi for "stone";
Paththari bai = Mrs Stone or Lady Stone