Epiphany of an Orophile

Being a travel enthusiast, I travel whenever I get a chance. My grandparents used to live in a hilly town so I’ve spent most of my childhood there, in the heart of mountains, and it was as amazing as it could be.

During childhood, I was fascinated by the mountains and their magnanimous nature as well as the horrifying yet astonishing sound of the wind that used to hit the cliffs. The mountains used to invite me to it and then it would scare me with its unexpectedly steep climb. It is the beautiful memory of my childhood that has been imprinted in my mind.

The perspective of the mountains in my mind changed over the course of time. It became my fantasyland in my teenage. I used to imagine that my knight in shining armor would meet me at some hilltop and we’d go on walking, holding each other’s hand, talking about ourselves and our future together. The mountains seemed all romantic to me in those sweet sixteen days!

As beautiful and romantic I used to look at it, one night when I was returning from a nearby village to my aunt’s home in our car with the family, from the hilltop, I saw never like before the beauty of the valley, for it was the most beautiful yet the scariest sight of the valley. That caliginous night, the hilltop was shining with the reflections of the bright moon and all the stars so radiantly that for a moment, it seemed like the beautiful night sky has arrived onto the land to mesmerize me with its beauty! That day, my views about the mountains changed and I started to adore nature more.

The days passed by, I got busy with my studies and didn’t get time to go to my grandparents' place. But the view of the valley that night never left my mind. I wanted to go to that town badly to get a new perspective to look at one of the greatest creations of nature.

When I finally visited my grandparents' place after years, I straightaway went to the hilltop and it felt like coming home. I sat on the rock, staring at the valley beneath, looking at the birds and the clouds. It was an enchanting moment, the sun was near the end of its journey to the horizon, and I was enjoying it all with a whirlpool of thoughts in my head, and at that exact moment, I had an enlightenment that would change my life later.”Who am I? I am a self-obsessed, self-loving human who has achieved some milestones in life, who has read some books and gained knowledge, loved my family and friends a lot and got loved back, got praised and adored by people, living a luxurious life, and enjoying it to the fullest! But right now when I’m standing in front of this humongous piece of elevated rock, which has been here since the last millions of years and on the other hand, I’ve been on this earth for a very little time and yet I’m full with the sense of superiority and ego. I am nothing!!!

From : 

Mehboob Amit Kalawant
Joint Board Member, ELESA