How Far You've Come
Everyone we pass calls "Namaste!"
If I'm breathlessly clambering up a hill I'll return a whispered, panted "Namaste."
If we are on a "flat" or by chance going downhill I can afford to be much more gracious- "Namaste," a smile and maybe a wave. This thrills the kids calling from the porch greatly.
This morning we had been walking downhill for a whole hour when we came across a ragtag band of boys. "Namaste!" "Namaste." The boys who Had been heading in the opposite direction did an about-face, and began following us down the hill.
"Where are you going?" "Over to Khutumsang, then on to Gosainkund." "What is your country?" "New Zealand."
After a few minutes they were still following and chatting. I was concerned, where had they been going? Didn't they have school to get to? Apparently not, school didn't start till 10. They strolled down the hill with us throwing stuff at each other, answering my questions, generally acting like 11-12 year old boys.
At the bottom of the hill we were in their village, peculiarly located in the lowest spot on the ridge between north-south mountains, yet still high above east-west valleys, At the crossroads we asked them the way to Khutumsang. They pointed up the facing hill (of course, we could have guessed it would be UP!), and dissipated as we walked along, towards the next hill.
....
The little girl was about 6. As we came up around the side of the mountain she ran off her porch and stood smack dab in the middle of the path in front of Annabel.
"Namastephoto" she deadpanned
Annabel went around one side of her. The little girl moved over to block the path better and looked at me
"NAMASTE PHOTO"
As we had finally found our pace, making our way up the steep ascent of the mountain the little girl got a smile and a "Namaste" but didn't get her picture taken. She tripped back down the hill to her porch to await her next victim.
If I'm breathlessly clambering up a hill I'll return a whispered, panted "Namaste."
If we are on a "flat" or by chance going downhill I can afford to be much more gracious- "Namaste," a smile and maybe a wave. This thrills the kids calling from the porch greatly.
This morning we had been walking downhill for a whole hour when we came across a ragtag band of boys. "Namaste!" "Namaste." The boys who Had been heading in the opposite direction did an about-face, and began following us down the hill.
"Where are you going?" "Over to Khutumsang, then on to Gosainkund." "What is your country?" "New Zealand."
After a few minutes they were still following and chatting. I was concerned, where had they been going? Didn't they have school to get to? Apparently not, school didn't start till 10. They strolled down the hill with us throwing stuff at each other, answering my questions, generally acting like 11-12 year old boys.
At the bottom of the hill we were in their village, peculiarly located in the lowest spot on the ridge between north-south mountains, yet still high above east-west valleys, At the crossroads we asked them the way to Khutumsang. They pointed up the facing hill (of course, we could have guessed it would be UP!), and dissipated as we walked along, towards the next hill.
....
The little girl was about 6. As we came up around the side of the mountain she ran off her porch and stood smack dab in the middle of the path in front of Annabel.
"Namastephoto" she deadpanned
Annabel went around one side of her. The little girl moved over to block the path better and looked at me
"NAMASTE PHOTO"
As we had finally found our pace, making our way up the steep ascent of the mountain the little girl got a smile and a "Namaste" but didn't get her picture taken. She tripped back down the hill to her porch to await her next victim.
2 Comments:
so I assume you will be totally jazzed about hiking once you get back to Washington. We have lots of UP here too. Does namaste mean the equivalent of Hola or Adios
Yes, Namaste is the hello-goodbye greeting of peace
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