Saturday, November 24, 2012

A Silly Post


Why did you do this to me, asked Everest, of the Almighty.
Pumori is made of almond coloured stone and finished with patches of snow. The one next to it has the markings of a giant greedy tongue that licked the dollop of creamy buttery snow on it.
My neighbors have blue green ice sculptures carved over their facades.
Some have slopes like exponential curves and summits so pointed.
Why, one of them has two summits!

And me?
Grey in colour. Almost bare with hardly any snow on me.
My summit too is so blunted, I don’t even qualify to be called a ‘peak’.
Why am I a plain Jane and all others enchantresses, wailed Everest.

Because, you get to be the tallest of them all, came the reply.
People the world over will know you.
People from near and far will trudge their way through land and water, stone and sand, thorn and ice to get a glimpse of you.
You will be the hardest to get and most coveted among all.
People will die on their way to your summit.
You will have a veil of clouds at your service to shroud you most of the time so people will wait indefinitely to sight you just once.
And when the veil parts, all eyes, having seen the enchantresses, their shapes, colour and all, will turn to you, the plain Jane, and finally rest on you.
You will even receive the rising sun before all others, everyday.

And that’s why you will be a plain Jane.
For, you can’t have everything. No one can.
It’s the law of my universe and you are part of it, said He.

And by the way, he added laughingly, your crown was blunted, not by my mighty hand but by tiny feet. Of little men. Who danced the victory dance after they made it to the top of the world.

1 comment:

Nina Gray said...

A good one! though why you would title it "A silly post" is beyond me.