Between roofs - A poem

The Himalayan ranges almost always leave trekkers spellbound. Aditya Kandala is one such trekker who was wonderstruck by the Kedarkantha trek in April 2014. He carves his experiences into a lovely poem, something he surely has a knack for! 

Between Roofs

I always wanted to know

What you get when you reach the end,

The proverbial end of the proverbial rainbow,

Is it the proverbial pot or just more snow.

Curiosity killed the cat they say,

I’m curious, who’s the cat and who are they?

Now my curiosity is visible as plain as day,

Let’s let the proverbs and idioms and clichés stay.

Curiosity led me to run my first 21.097,

Or half marathon as some might prefer,

Though I don’t know what led me

To run the next 5 thereafter.

I ran to know how it felt, running

more than you ever thought you could.

I found the end easy but the journey cunning,

And I got hooked, like a wannabe to dude.

I wanted to know what it feels like,

To go higher than you thought you would climb,

Climb using your legs, not a mountain bike,

So I took a journey through snow and grime,

To try and reach a summit in the Himalayas,

Which was just one of my numerous gurus,

None better than the people around me,

Without whom I would’ve made a lot of booboos.

I was once told, even a flower can be

Your guru, every thing or person,

Teaches you something for free,

All it costs you is just your vision.

It means every journey one takes

Teaches one more than one paid for it.

So travel and some sense try to make,

And you’ll be richer when you’re done with it.

Saranbir taught me that a leader does not have an age,

Umesh, that you need to keep up to keep an eye,

Satvik that you need a leap of faith to turn the page,

Jayanthi, that positive attitude can bid a doctor g’bye,

Aviraj’s determination lay expectations flat,

Prithvi taught me to be a mom to your mommy,

Sharanya, to smile no matter what,

And others taught me more for me to carry.

The mountains taught me there

Always will be someone taller than you,

You don’t need to fret and care,

Just stand tall and be true.

The stars taught me to look up above.

Look up and believe,

Even if you don’t see them, love,

They never actually leave.

I always thought a beach person I am,

The sound of the waves, the sun on my face,

Having now seen the Himalayas in all its glam,

Doubts I have in my mind more than a trace.

Never will I forget the moment I stood

On the roof of our planet, our home,

Above me I saw another roof just as good,

Standing between roofs felt like reading a never-ending tome.

To read more from Aditya, check out his blog.