To experience the hiking journey, you have to hike back with me to 14 December 2024. Light was gone, and Wifi( internet) was also off. Without mobiles, this generation is lost. We have nothing to do without the internet.
Saturday was going boring. That's why my roommate "Meesam" decided to take me to hiking trip to Chillah Gah. I never heard about this place. Now, I know about it. Chillah is actually a spiritual situation in which saints/ people sit in meditation. Gah, it is a word for place. So, it means that we are going to a place where a sufi saint did meditation. That site/ place is preserved, and thousands of people come on a daily basis to visit this site. They lit up diya(candles), pray, and take langar(food that is meant for goodwill).
Meesam bhai rode bike to that point from where we were supposed to start our hike. Children were going back to their homes after attending a boring day or may be enjoyable day at school. They were delivering words in the local language. I listened to them with my thin ears. They reminded me of my school days. Those days when happiness was real and authentic. We didn't force ourselves to smile. It was raw, and we were unaware of societal expectations and pressure.
I was just following the footsteps of meesam bhai as he visited this place many times. He told me that-Gillah Gah is the best place to take a deep breath and take a break from chaotic days. I just followed him because he has a good taste in hiking, exploration, and trips. He is a wandering soul with escape ideology.
In just the beginning of our journey, I found ways of water. Water used to flow, but at that moment, it was engulfed by the rocks. Rocks proved to be monsters for flowing water. In fact, humans are monsters as we are harming our earth the more. We are making it worse and worse with each coming day. Earth is taking its last breath, and we, humans, should mend our ways.
At first, the path was looking normal. It was easy to walk and hiking. It was seemingly walking in a park, but i wasn't aware of twists that were waiting for me .
Unaware of the destination, I was living the journey. It was enjoyable and fun. Lush greenery around me, bumpy path full of rocks, some were slippery and dispered clouds over my head– these all things were like full plate of desired items.
Not everything was young, lush green, and youthful. There were some trees who were living some last moments of their lives. They have lived and standing naked without holding any leave over them. They were narrating stories of youthful days to passer by.
Do not ask me about my hiking journey. Though hiking was easy but the path which was taken by us was really harsh. It was a trackless path. Only animals from the forest can walk or hike through such a narrowed path. This track was holding so many barriers for both of us. I was trying to save myself from wild thorny weeds. It was eating me. My hands and feet were scratched because of these weeds. My mate told me technique to be safe by keeping my hands in my pocket. I kept on hiking by keeping my hands in my pocket.
Strangely, no one was hiking on that path on which we were going. It was a surprising thing for me. To confirm, i asked my mate again again ; Is it a legit way to hike up? He was nodding positive.
I had no other way rather than following him. I slipped many times because of my normal shoes.
Breath was swollen and felt out of breath. That's why we stopped for a while to catch our running breath and revive our energy. In the meantime, I was capturing view among the Hills.
Only few steps, and we are close to our destination. My mate showed me light of hope. A hope that we will get water over there. Water was motivation in this gruesome journey
Stopped on height where life was visible. Even we found a goat among many humans. It's fascinating to see that a whole goat house was there. The more fascinating thing was that i found a donkey over there but forgot to capture it in the eyes of the camera.
A rural form over height, where even animals can enjoy stunning natural views of nature. They can look down upon humans living in the valley. They are superior here 😆.
My mate sat over a huge rock on the height. He started seeing the beauty around and feeling the silence in his own character.
I also sat down with broke legs, i mean fully tired legs and dry throat protesting for water. My eyes were less concerned about viewing and searching any bottle of water in someone's hand.
My eyes were seeing those people who were standing on a rock and capturing pictures. Yessss, I saw a bottle of water. I rushed and asked, "Can i drink water?"
I almost finished the bottle and thanked him for his courtesy. It was my second time that i didn't take water with me while hiking up.
Later, I sat down on a rock and started taking air in. It was fresh. After a tiring journey, this destination vanished tiredness and thirst. This is a good place to sit down and write a book.
Me and Meesam bhai started walking towards "meditation site(Gillah Gah). From distance, there were people, noise,horses tied with rope and walking goats. That's what i saw. I also saw shops selling pilgrimage items to people.
I thought to stop at the stall, but my fellow was walking like a wave of air. Seemingly some rings,bands and much more. People buy them and consider it worthy.
[//]:# (!worldmappin 33.76869 lat 73.12119 long d3scr)
Gillah Gah used to be a simple place, but with time, it evolved. It evolved as people started coming here. It is embellished with stones, mirrors for reflection, and intricate work. Gillah Gah is nestled among high hills, and its setting is calming. Monkeys were jumping from one tree to another tree, from one space to another space. Some of them are very busy.
These are diyas 🪔. People lit them up while making wishes. I might have lit up but the match box was missing. These diyas took me back to my first day in university when my father lit up diya for my degree in university. I consider it superstitious but upto some extent. At the same time, i am no one to judge. I have to respect and it's a matter of spiritually.
I took off my shoes and walked in Chilla Gah. Meesam bhai didn't come with me because he don't have belive on such things. I respect his belief system and ideas. I just wanted to experience everything and want to live and learn things by first hand. That's why i stepped in. I prayed and also looked around the walls, exotically colored and beautiful. I saw the area where Sufi Saint Imam Bari used to meditate and spent many years in meditation. These spiritual and mystical people were the one who served as bridges between many religions. They didn't talk about religion. Rather, they talk about humanity and kindness towards humans. They dispersed the boundaries.
I came out, and meesam bhai was already standing on height. He was posing for pictures. I just ran towards him to resume our journey in the hills.
People were going up. Some families, some alone and some in pairs like us. People from different walks of life were there. We were going above and above. Scenes of natural settings were taking our hearts away. Only one word was coming to my lips "Wow".
Pattens of rocks are fascinating. I stopped by a specific rock that was looking like a mouth of gigantic animal, may be dinosaurs. I found a small cave there in which monkeys could stay.
Monkeys were friendly over there, but some of them were afraid of humans. We have occupied their territory, but they can not claim. It's a game of power. Humans got power of thinking and speaking. It's the one thing that makes him different from others.
We both sat there for a while and discussed many things of our life. We discussed our life, parents, professional life, traumas, and response of traumas. It was a deep discussion springing out from hearts, and meesam bhai was smoking in the meantime.
Discussion ended, and we took pictures of each other. The clouds were looking mesmerizing. Clouds made our pictures more beautiful with their unique show. How can i forget to take pictures with monkeys? That's why i took one with them. Initially, i was afraid that they might attack me, but they didn't do anything.
It was time of sun to go back home. Due to the sun's timetable, We also decided to hike down to the point where we started our journey. Otherwise, it would become difficult for us to go back..
Monkeys were still busy. After seeings baby's monkey love and affection towards his mother, We delve in conversation about "Mother" that even animals are affectionate towards their mother. This personality " Mother" is heaven on earth.
A goat greeted on the way back and it also told us to walk safely and reach home before moon arrives. We took her advice seriously and walked steadily.
We walked back to the valley. It was clean and we were surprised to see the cleanliness and maintained environment of the valley. They did so much effort to make it green and clean.
Even for passengers, there was a watercooler from where people could drink water. It's indeed a sweet gesture of villagers. We always blame governments for many things, but people should understand that their contributions matter a lot to the welfare of community and society.
On our way back, We saw another site that was considered to be spiritual and related to saint, possibly. Not aware, but i assumed.
On one side, Moon was arising, and on the flipping side, Sun was dropping down in the sea of sky. It was time to go home.
▶️ 3Speak