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When fiction leads to reality - II

By  Abhijit Dutta May 16 2020, 12:21 PM
Abhijit-NCF

So the story goes like this: (Continued from the previous blogpost)

Once upon a time

Long ago, this beautiful pasture you see, was a barren and lifeless piece of land

This land was home to a colossus Golden Eagle

It was so huge that there was a massive storm every time it flapped its enormous wings

It never rained here

But unfortunately, all of a sudden, it started raining heavily and the eagle had to flee to a safer place

While it flapped it wings to fly away, the force of its wings created a storm, which blew the clouds away, to make the sun visible from the ground amid the rains

This resulted in a… (Pause)? A few smart kids would say “Rainbow!”

Correct- a rainbow that curved straight over the La Chhenmo, which the numen couldn’t handle

How can the rainbow overshadow me? Pondered the numen and held the rainbow and threw it straight in to the barren land below

This gave the barren land colours- The barren land was now colourful!

Years passed, a Bearded Vulture- a very ugly one, kept flying over this barren land repeatedly

It belonged to the royal family from Mustang and it had magical powers

Any mountain it went to make a nest for laying eggs, shooed it off as it was ugly- we don’t offer a place for ugly creatures, said the mountains

Seeing the vulture’s disappointment, La Chhenmo offered a place, but with a condition that when the eggs hatch and the when the chicks grow-up and fly away, the vulture would leave the place and it would give something back to the place using its magical powers

The vulture agreed, laid eggs, hatched them, raised the chicks, and on the day the chicks flew away, the vulture decided to leave

But before it left, it circled over the barren land for the entire day

Fragrant flowers cropped up wherever the shadow of the vulture fell on the ground

This gave the barren land smell- The barren land was now colourful and had scents and odours!

Years passed again, a Tibetan Wolf came and conquered the land and made it her home

She had a cute little mischievous baby with her- whose name was Wolfie

The wolf wanted to conquer La Chhenmo and thus started off on an expedition along its dangerous ridgeline

She warned Wolfie, who was walking behind her, to be cautious and not be playful while climbing up

But wolfie being a young lad, started running, jumping and being playful

Sadly, it lost its grip and slipped, and fatally fell from the cliff and was swallowed by the rough currents of Indus below

The wolf cried for the next hundred days, and it cried so loudly that others pled La chhenmo to calm her down as it was making everyone else anxious

La chhenmo, seeing the wolf in pain, called her and advised her to meditate for the next hundred days to bring peace to the departed soul

La chhenmo even engraved a ‘W’ tattoo on its chest in remembrance (pointing to the huge W shape on the mountain, near its peak to which all kids jaw-drop after turning back to see it)

The wolf, convinced, sat on the empty barren land and began mediating

Her meditation was so intense that she could hear the breeze, the streams flowing and the grass swaying

This gave the barren land sound- The barren land was now colourful and had scents and odours and music!

Ages went by; a Red Fox arrived at the barren land one day

By this time, humans had settled in the nearby pastures but avoided this land as it was barren

The fox was shrewd and clever and would steal food from humans and animals around the area

The clueless humans and animals were fed up, and went to the La Chhenmo for help

La chhenmo assured that the culprit would be found and punished

The godly mountain set up a trap in the barren land by baiting a lamb and creating an invisible membrane around the barren land which allows one inside but deflects one inward again if one tries to escape out

The Fox sensing the lamb, went inside the barren land and grabbed hold of it but was trapped inside the barren land due to the invisible membrane

Every time it tried to escape, it got deflected and thrown inwards and got hurt

After many such attempts, it gave up and started crying as it was starving

Out of desperation and acute hunger, it started licking stones, rocks and mud and everything else in the barren land

The fox starved but due to it resilience, it took the situation as fasting as decided to fast till death

This resilient and devout fasting helped create a taste in every entity inside the barren land the fox had licked earlier

Seeing this resilience, the fox was released by La Chhenmo, but with a warning

The fox promised never to return again

But wait- this incident gave the barren land, taste- The barren land was now colourful and had scents and odours, and music and flavours!

And again, years passed, people made every effort to make this barren piece of land useful for them but they failed every single time

Few people requested La chhenmo to transform the barren land into a pasture so that it can be used by them and their livestock

La chhenmo knew this task required a special effort

This land already has colours, smell, sound and taste- what is it that is lacking? Thought the numen;

“Feeling…. feeling of magic, it lacks feeling of magic,” said the snow leopard that lived in La chhenmo

Hearing this, the numen asked what can be done to add that feeling

The wise wild cat replied, I have magical powers- If I go to the barren land and walk every single inch of it with my tail touching the ground, it will transform into a beautiful, bountiful pasture; but in the process, I will lose my tail- a sacrifice- Can you do something? Asked the Snow Leopard

No worries, I will make you immortal and you can hide here forever safely, and you don’t have to venture out, I’ll provide you with food- replied La chhenmo

Both parties agreed and the ghost of the mountains carried out the ritual

The barren land was now colourful and had scents and odours, and music and flavours- and was transformed into a pristine pasture- at last!

Expressions of astonishment, joy, bewilderment and incredulity would follow a few questions to the kids-

Did you see how difficult was it for a single pasture to be formed?

And how much time did it take for its formation?

And numerous elements of nature, that were involved in its making?

What if some people come and mine this pasture for borax or uranium?

It will not take even an hour to dig up the whole pasture- can you save it if such a thing happens?

Do you want to save it at first place?

The kids were eager to speak their overflowing minds; but they would be told- I leave it to your imagination…

Still a few brave ones would ask innocently- Was it a real story? (a few giggles here and there)

Why was the vulture ugly?

Why Wolfie was called Wolfie?

Can we see the tail-less Shan?

How old is this snow leopard?

Can we play in the pasture? We want to feel it- “Oh Yes”- and then they continue with their schedule of other activities, some in deep thought, some charged-up and some confused

The idea is to let their imaginations run wild; and why not?

Let’s not forget that imaginations have led to innumerable inventions and crazy discoveries throughout the history of mankind and let that be the driving force in the days we live in, and for the days to come.

I reply to the kids in my mind at the end, in the words of Stephen King, “Kids, fiction is the truth inside the lie, and the truth of this fiction is simple enough: the magic exists.”

The shining armour of Khatpu