Most of the people here in Himachal Pradesh, have small eyes and
milky white skin, Ganendra, my driver-cum-guide was also one of them. In his
Pahari accent, he kept talking about festivals like Kullu Dusshera and many
others. Mostly people here worship Shiva, Durga and Buddha. My parents were
listening to him with sheer interest.
Although I was much engrossed in looking outside the window, the raw magnificence of Manali’s beauty had to be seen. Nothing in this world can be more attractive than these emerald valleys, dense forest and cheerful flowers with diverse shades.
Beas River, which was crystal clear, was flowing by our side. An old man with a lot of woods on his one shoulder was walking near the edge of the road. Just for a moment, I thought if his leg slips and he falls down, he might be carried away with the rough flow of the river, and the giant rocks there would hurt him very hard.
My brother interrupted my thoughts and with his one eye-brow rose whispered: “Look ahead! Is that mountain covered with snow?”
To my surprise,
it was. Some mountains and peaks were crowned with snow, and on some mountains,
it seemed like the snow was sprinkled.
Since I had seen snow only in my imagination, dreams, and fairy tales, I was amazed by the sheer beauty of those snow-capped mountains. And I was able to feel the cool breeze in summer as we were reaching near those snowy mountains.
Ganendra suddenly took a turn and halted at Rajesh’s Meggi Shop, which was serving ‘Maggi’. “Why did you stop? We were chasing those snowy mountains. We will eat something later.” I was annoyed because he didn't ask us before halting the taxi.
With a smile, he said, “Madam ji, I didn’t halt for food, I halted for clothes.”
I looked around and noticed that next to the meggi shop there was a black-board, on which it was scribbled with a colourful chalk ‘Veer’s winter cloths, for sale & rent’
Ganendra pointed out at mountains and explained “That snowy mountain is Rohtang pass, located at the height of 3980 m. We can’t survive there in these usual clothes. From this shop, you all can buy snow boots, gloves and snow jacket with a hat.”
He had a point. We looked like cartoon in those costumes, but as we reached Rohtang, we realized that without them we all would have frozen there. Everything was white around me, the sky, the mountains, and the land. When I opened the door of my car I felt nature has spread a white carpet for me. It wasn't easy to walk in the snow, but it was breathtaking. We started to climb the mountain. My brother and I started making snowballs and threw on each other with giggles. My parents were enjoying their leisurely walk on the snow.
I always wondered that in India only Kashmir is embellished celestially with a blanket of snow, but Manali proved me wrong.
