Contemplation At Dharmsalah (Himachal State-India) Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

Our bus was zig-zaging its way through the hills
between the shingles on the bank of the river, Ravi
which was whooshing past a gulch down.
Going up and down the stream in canoes,
we with poor mettle can’t think of.
A chiselled mud wall on a side
was lying in wait to slide in the next chance.
Loose rocks may roll down and block the road
Or batter the bus to fall headlong into the stream.
We passed mountain after mountain from Dalhousie
valley after valley before reaching Kangra Vale,
which has that heavenly Dharmsalah.
Prostrating and rising many a time before the idol of Buddha
will make people strong and healthy.
The air is fine, bracing and delicious,
making it the abode of angels!

From the clefts of walls flames shoot up
at the temple of Jwalamukhi to awe the unlearnt
and the learnt to scratch their heads
to find the reasons for the ever-burning flames
in the solemn stillness of the woods around.
The monkeys with their little ones,
slide to the edge of the boughs,
hold on with their hind feet or curl of their tails,
spring to the branch of the next tree
and run into the depths of the jungle.