FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Even if the guilty was known to the entire butcher fraternity in Mussoorie, these people were loyal to one another and would not readily disclose their knowledge to the police.

Keemat reflected that this attitude was a relic of colonial times when the police had been looked upon as a willing instrument of foreign oppression.

                                                                                Who Killed the Rani-

                                                                From Ruskin Bond’s collection- A Season of Ghosts

Recently a loved one passed away physically.

I went to the Credit river -Riverwood conservancy Mississauga, and prayed quietly for the soul of the loved one and also for the legacy and peace of her family.

Then I went through some pages from the Season of Ghosts collection of Ruskin Bond.

In many intimate ways, she and her brothers showed me a different flavour of the Himalayas- and the nuances of the roads of Rishikesh, Haridwar, Dehradun, Mussoorie, Landour, Srinagar, the hill temples and the spiritual traditions around them.

 In our many walks and discussions together, since when I was an adolescent, then young adult and now in middle age, we have woven together the tapestry of many rich memories- and discussed the stories of Ruskin Bond.

These taught me to listen to the music of the breeze in hill forests.

A LETTER TO A LOVED ONE WHO HAS PASSED AWAY

The story- who killed the Rani- has many layers of law, justice and society.

“Then you would have put your personal feelings above your duty to uphold the law?”

“Yes, I think so. I believe justice is greater than the law. And I believe personal loyalties come first- if they don’t, we are doomed as human beings.”

He seemed relieved at this sincere expression of my own philosophy and outlook.

                                                                Inspector Keemat Lal- who solved the murder

but let the perpetrator go

                                                                (I will not spoil the fun by telling the whole story)

As I remember our many interactions together, the words of Ruskin Bond -from his collection

Rain in the Mountains come alive.

Will meet again, and discuss these and other nuances.

Au Revoir -dear Fellow Traveler

EARLIER PERSPECTIVES

WALKS IN THE HIMALAYAS-

On passing away of my mother- 2011

While returning from Srinagar Garhwal

While returning, visited some relatives, had long talks, went for walks in the fields near Rajaji National Park. A tusker is known to be roaming around in the nights over there, creating panic and loss of life and property.

https://prashantbhatt.com/2011/10/18/walks-by-alaknanda/

REMEMBERING GRANDFATHERS-

Remembering Fellow Walkers

My grandfather was one of the first persons who taught me how to write notes, editing letters I used to send to him in the 1970s when he was in Moscow

https://prashantbhatt.com/2012/03/10/remembering-grandfathers/