The Conveyance To Amarnath From Baltal (Kashmir) Poem by Rajendran Muthiah

We couldn’t see any conniption
on the faces of the Kashmiri youths.
The boys are connoisseurs
in the art of plying the horses
up and down the mountains
with lovely sounds and commands.
They guide the animals, walk like them,
jump and trot like them and treat them like pets.
The animals follow the foot-steps
of their kin going in front.
They drink the crystal waters
trickling down the rills.
The tubby people with heavy bellies
should opt for helicopters or dollies
in stead of leaping into the saddles
and breaking the spines of the horses.
The wage they demand is not a bit more.

A fleeting thought in my mind twinkled.
The Lord Siva in Amarnath is their God.
A muslim shepherd found the Ice-Linga first.
The Lord helps them to earn by pitching tents,
riding horses, bearing dollies, opening shops
and driving vehicles with ease in hilly terrains.
The free food we got all along the way
reached the hands of our koda-wallahs(horse-men) .
As the northern tastes suited not us.