#2: The Chorten and the playing children
Seated under a leafy shade, a few miles out of Dhotrey, I could hear the slow, ambling steps of Bhim, our guide, gather pace. But, a few yards away from the trail, what caught the attention, was a garden of wild rhododendrons that had grown around a Chorten. I instead motioned Bhim to accompany us to it and as we crossed through the dense undergrowth, we saw a few village children, barely 7 or 8 years old, playing around the chorten.
When they first saw us, some of them stood at attention whereas some giggled, showing a broken tooth. I handed them a few chocolate bars that I was carrying and a conversation had just started between us. But just then the darkening skies had turned into rain. I was a fool not to carry a raincoat. But on seeing me getting drenched in the rain, one of the boys handed me a plastic sheet to hold over my head. Sensing that the rain won’t subside soon, they bid goodbye to us and slipped into the jungle track one by one as the rain seeped through the overhead canopy onto us.
Believe me when I say how much that plastic sheet helped me over the coming days - It is still there in my packed rucksack, now as a memento.
Seated under a leafy shade, a few miles out of Dhotrey, I could hear the slow, ambling steps of Bhim, our guide, gather pace. But, a few yards away from the trail, what caught the attention, was a garden of wild rhododendrons that had grown around a Chorten. I instead motioned Bhim to accompany us to it and as we crossed through the dense undergrowth, we saw a few village children, barely 7 or 8 years old, playing around the chorten.
When they first saw us, some of them stood at attention whereas some giggled, showing a broken tooth. I handed them a few chocolate bars that I was carrying and a conversation had just started between us. But just then the darkening skies had turned into rain. I was a fool not to carry a raincoat. But on seeing me getting drenched in the rain, one of the boys handed me a plastic sheet to hold over my head. Sensing that the rain won’t subside soon, they bid goodbye to us and slipped into the jungle track one by one as the rain seeped through the overhead canopy onto us.
Believe me when I say how much that plastic sheet helped me over the coming days - It is still there in my packed rucksack, now as a memento.
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| Dhotrey to Phalut |
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| One of the several rhododendrons, bent on a hill top |
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| The ubiquitous noodles |
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| Dinner being prepared |
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| Roosters nibbling in the meadow grass |
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| Thread like trails |
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| Indo-Nepal Border |
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| Playing children |
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