As I flipped my travel entries of Ladakh, I stopped by an
entry of an incident which had left me very touched. I realized I had a story
to share with you all.
Apart from the mesmerizing Changla mountain range and vast Pangong Lake, my most memorable thing in Ladakh will be a small monastery and a little kid.
That day on our itinerary was a wonderful Monastery on top
of a beautiful hill, which is known for its rich colorful culture and heritage.
We were totally exhausted as me and hubs had trekked up to to reach our
destination. Wonderful aroma of tea from the small Tea stall which was in the
entrance of this monastery was the first thing we wanted to visit. We sat there
sipping warm tea and wading away the exhaustion, There came a cute little boy clad
in the robes of Buddhist monk.
I was lost observing the innocence of that
little boy who must be of age around 4 or 5. He came up to the stall asking for
a pack of chips and the vendor bowed to him giving what the kid wanted. I was so much in love with this kid and his
innocence that I wanted to hold him and also take a picture with him. As I
moved closer to the kid to talk to him, suddenly all the Monks who were around came
running and stopped me from getting any closer to him. They instantly bowed to
this little monk, discussed something among themselves in Ladakhi and took him away
with them. I had no idea of what wrong I had done, we did speak to many monks on
our trip till then and they were quite friendly but this behavior that to with
a little kid left me perplexed.
As I settled in the chair and things calmed down, tea vendor
hissed to us that the kid whom I wanted to talk was the next Rinpoche, meaning
the one who will be the next leader of their community, and he was strictly
observed 24hrs. This little kid’s day was only about learning and strictly no interaction
with world outside what so ever. May be someday this little kid will be a very
great spiritual leader but the loss of his childhood and all the beautiful
moments of his innocence, made me realize how precious our life has been.
My eyes were filled with tears when I remembered
how the little kid was crying when he was taken back and how everybody else
kept bowing to him on his way back. My heart ached at the sight of the chips
packet on ground and I could just not hold back my tears.
P.S: Photo credit goes to the Blog The World Through My Eyes
22 comments:
These experiences are a great teacher of what we must value when we take so many things for granted, Ramya:)
:( feeling sad for that kid.
while reading I observed one more thing. When we are not allowing a person to understand the normal life, How can he manage the things when he becomes next leader!!?
where are the people who fights for the human rights!!?
Superstition or belief have ruined the child life. People don't care about it. Heart touching story.
there is somuch life teaches us right
in its own different ways
there is somuch life teaches us right
in its own different ways
Incident is written very well here. Although feeling low as well after thinking on his childhood era.
Good one Ramya..
feel bad for that kid ya... putting up human beings on that high pedestal and worshipping them... I often wonder did that person even ask for it ????
My reader showed a post on Italy on your blog but when i click it .. it says page does not exist :(
In the name tradition/religion/what not, we humans do things which sometimes doesn't make sense, at least to me. Feel sad for that kid.
@Rahul sir: Really true thats how we got to learn to value what we have seeing others who dont have all the luxury we have.
@Santhoshkumar: Santhu, houdu when there is criminal who has to be punished we see these human rights ppl fighting and in such cases where are they???? and yes one who dont know what worldly pressures and pleasures are how can he lead the others!!!!
@Gopinath: Yes the reality is very hard out there!
@Dheeraj: Yes Yes life is a very great teacher only catch is how good a student we are!
@Valay: yeah Loss of childhood is one of the greatest loss of ones life, nothing can do justice to it!
@SuKu: Yes seeing one as Leader, TEacher, Preacher is all ok but this one is complete injustice to any human being.
And about the post on Italy :D that was a trailer dear ;) wait for it :D
Actually I took out that post and posted this as I want to keep that post for end of this month :D please come back to read that too :D
Unquestioned beliefs are dangerous. Respect and being religious is one thing.. logical and sensible is another.
Wonder when will people realise.
Lil kid might have felt like a sealed pressure cooker.
I may be an odd man out here Ramya.. But here are my thoughts..
Maybe he's destined for greatness. And greatness comes at a cost - in this case, personal sacrifices of the child.. I agree with your concern Ramya. I too feel for the child and he has lost his biggest asset - childhood. I also feel there's a bigger reason why we all, inspite of our religion, respect the great Dalai Lama..
@Binu - that's a very good point and valid too.. agree.
But I also feel imposing on anyone, especially a child.. is a bit harsh.. unless the person is open and willing to tread that path.
May be we should give him time until he comes to an age when he can understand what the journey is all about.
P.S: sorry for the intruding comment : ) but just putting forward my thoughts.
Interesting story.. the actual fact behind, however, needs to be carefully analyzed.
Thanks for sharing, Ramya :o)
@All: I completely accept that we all need leaders, we need someone to preach us But then at what cost?
Someone who has not seen world someone who don't know worldly pressures, difficulties and someone who was rather not given a choice of choosing or doing what he wanted instead insisted to do this! is what hurts me? Arent we being cruel for our needs we are sacrificing somebody's precious life?
I would have completely accepted if a person chooses this path, then yes he is interested and it is this way he likes to live. But some innocent kid picked up and named to be god!!! confuses me a lot.
I struggle to see divinity here all I see is loss of somebody's precious innocence.
:) Thanks all for wonderful comment and healthy debate :D
Excellent story! written well.
Lovely experience Ramya!
Nice travel post. Ladakh is a dream destination. Would have to plan it soon :)
@Ercotravels: thanks
@Kusum: Thanks a lot for your appreciation :) Welcome to Chittrana
@Jahid: :) thanks, oh pls put Ladakh on must visit place its very very awesome :D
Got goose bumps!! touched me to the core!!
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