Appeasing the spirit of Mountain Gods

It was mid summer, which means exam time. Every one was excited and was looking forward to a wonderful summer vacation. During the evenings, the excited boys would sit in groups to discuss what they would do during the vacations. For us, who had homes far from school would mean endless adventures, fishing by the day and stealing fruits or vegetables from the villager’s fields at night. Some times, during the morning assembly, we would see locals come and complain to the teachers about the previous night’s raid in their garden. Those were the most dangerous moments, we would be shaking like leaves fearing reprimand if identified or caught. But these fears or apprehensions did not last beyond the assembly session and we were again scheming for another raid.

The day before the summer vacation, I was engaged in a heated discussion with some friends from Radhi. We could not come to an agreement whether we should go for a picnic the next day or play “degor at the school itself. In the midst of our argument, another student came up to me and said that the Chief was looking for me.

Knowing his temper, I excused myself and ran to his house. I found the chief curled up like a cat on his bed and was shaking and coughing. He was sick. Concocting his face, he asked me to run to his village and inform his brother to come down immediately. Without wasting time, I headed to his village and conveyed the message. The brother of the chief was also an old man. They shared similar features, except that the brother was much thinner and very mild. It was love at first sight and I genuinely felt at home in his company. He offered me tea and enquired about his brother’s health.

I explained to him about the constant cough and high fever.We hurried back to the school. We found chief groaning in his bed and a nurse taking his temperature. Immediately, I went to the kitchen and prepared tea for the nurse and chief’s brother. I must have had been mighty thin and tiny for when the chief’s brother saw me making tea in the kitchen, he giggled. He came over and said, “Son, move aside, I will make the tea”. We were instant hits and stayed friends till I left that school in 1975. That night, the two brothers discussed about the sickness. The chief asked his brother whether he had performed the puja on that mountain and this waterfall. I listened intently to their talks, and at times; forgetting my place and size, I, absentmindedly butted in their talks only to suffer the wrathful look of the chief.

The same night, they decided that both the mountain god and the spirit of the waterfall must be appeased the very next day. The brother decided to send his nephew to the waterfall the next day. He then looked at me and said “ Chimi and some student can go with me to the mountain top to appease the gods up there”. That was music to my ears. I nodded and said “yes grandpa, I will carry the load and you can walk safely behind me”. He again giggled. The chief was in no mood to talk to me. I was cooking dinner, when chief’s brother came over and said “can you find two more strong boys to go with us tomorrow into the mountains.” He also said that the journey will take two days and we would take all the essential items for the journey through very dense forest. I told him that, I already thought of two friends who are very strong and can carry a horse load. While talking, he made rice porridge for his brother and beef curry for us. The sick man drank two huge bowls of porridge and we joked saying that he was starving and was not sick. After dinner, the brother asked me to come to the village early morning along with the two friends. He then left saying that he was going to send his wife to cook for his brother.

I told my friends about the adventure the next day. Every one was eager and wanted to go with me. Some even offered to give me “zaw and kapchi” (rice snack and wheat flour) if I agreed to take them. But I already had decided to take my two buddies one from Radhi and another from Wangduephrodarng. That night, three of us talked late into the night. We even sharpened our knives preparing ourselves for any encounters or eventualities on the way. It sounded fun and even a minute’s escape from the school means something wonderful.

None of us slept that night, for we were too excited about the journey through the forest and to the mountains.At the crack of dawn, we hurriedly washed our faces and trotted to the village. We made to the village in record time. Mr. K (I hereafter refer to the chief’s brother as K) was near the hearth cooking. Something smelt so wonderful….the smell of “Nosha paa” (beef sliced and fried) He offered us tea and asked us to pack the things in our bags. He had already divided the things into four equal parts. He said “Chimi that ribs are for you to carry” and to my horror I saw four huge yak ribs bundled into one and looked bigger than a bamboo bow. I wondered how the hell I was going to carry this through the forest. I could not pack it in my bag but had to carry it by a sling like a rifle. We all tested our loads and I felt so uncomfortable with those stinky ribs poking everywhere. Mr. K fed us rice and chilly curry and told us that the beef was for our pack lunch.

The sun was already up when we started the journey. All through the morning we headed east through oak and pines forest. We talked very little and everyone was panting and blowing smoke from their noses. The journey was hard and mostly climbing. We rested at every waterhole to quench our thirst. Mr. K was a unique man. He was calm, mild and very sweet. Even though he talked very little, we could see that he was enjoying the company of thee chimps.

By mid day, we reached a trees-less hilltop. Near by, we saw a yak hair tent and a great Tibetan dog chained to a small post. The dog barked at us so frantically and we made faces at him knowing that we are safe. A huge man in dirty clothes came out of the tent and when he saw us, he smiled. He called us to his tent and offered yoghurt. For the first time, I truly felt at home in that smoky tent. We unpacked the lunch and enjoyed one tasty lunch.

After thanking the herder, we headed down the hill and into the misty mountains. The vegetation was different on the other side of the hill. It was maples, conifers and spruce everywhere. After an hour of walking downhill, it was a steep climb to our destination. The air was thin and trees slowly gave way to scrubs and bushes of rhododendrons. The path was very stony and water ran though the path. Rivers of sweat flowed through our bodies, but we walked on nonchalantly still excited about what was to come that night. As we climbed higher, our bare feet began to feel the chill. Every once in a while we blew large amounts of water from our noses. By evening, we almost made it to the camp. K told us that there was a small cave and we would camp in it. We did not know how much we walked, but we realized that we were almost floating in the mist.

It was almost dusk, when we finally reached the mountain top, our destination. K led us to a small cave and fortunately for us, someone had left behind a huge pile of dry firewood. We laid our load down and rested for a while. K rolled a smoke and started smoking. We sat down facing the valley down below. The valley was covered in clouds and we were above the clouds. A sense of elation and relief overcame me. I was at home.

That night we made a huge bon fire. During the dinner, K told us about our errands tomorrow. I was to assist K in making dough for the ravens and my friends were to bring juniper leaves for making smoke during the puja. That night, I asked K whether my chief was going to die. He just giggled once again and said “even the devil could not come near him, so the question of him dying is very remote”. We curled up in our Ghos and slept like logs.Early next day, K prepared breakfast while we went around gathering leaves and wood. K took out a string of coloured clothes from his bag and asked me to tie it on a small pole. In the meantime, k cooked rice for the God of the mountains; he packed it in a basket and handed it to me. He said that the spot for the puja is a little away from the cave. About hundred meters away from the cave, there was the spot. I noticed that many people had visited this place from the many similar coloured strings tied on different shaped poles Once there, we made fire and fed enormous amounts of leaves. We did not know why we had to make smoke. I erected the pole with the coloured strings and K wore his “kabney” (scarf) and sat down on a flat stone. From his bag he took out numerous articles and laid them out on another flat stone. He asked us to make a butter lamp from the dough. The huge ribs were laid out on either side of a dough man riding on a yak.. He made many “tormas” and lined them up. We watched with great interest. The last item was the ‘ara” (rice wine) poured in a dough cup. Once all set, he looked around him and then at us. He said “ boys, put a lot of juniper leaves in the fire and make a lot of smoke.

The ravens that dwell in the far away craggy mountains must see the smoke and come to feed here. He also told us that ravens are the messengers of god. He further directed us to shout at the top of our voice and call the raven “ Ola Chaa tshaloooo !! (Honestly I don’t know what that means) We started the smoke and then shouted at the top of our voice “ ola chaa tshelooo!!. It was so funny and we laughed. K was already muttering something every now and then; he would occasionally close his eyes to remember what to say next. He never went to a school or monastery, he was a cowherd himself and spent most of his time in the forest. I can not explain why, but the raven did appear after a while. K scooped spoons of rice mixed with meat and bones from the ribs and threw it the raven that hungrily fought amongst each other. The number of raven increased minute by minute and by the time it was over, there were almost thirty ravens or so. K was beaming and looked very happy and satisfied. He gave us “arra” to taste and he himself gulped down three cups or so. The puja took almost an hour. K then rolled up a smoke while we chased ravens allover the place.

The sun was already up and the mountain top was warming up. The mists from the valley rose once again blanketing us. We headed back to the cave and it was time to relax for a while. K happily enjoyed the arra and we went around the cave investigating and looking for slate pencils. Everywhere, there was profusion of colors. The whole mountain top was covered by tiny flowers. Unfortunately, we did not have the eyes to admire the beauty or appreciate Mountain god’ creation. We were wild and free. We rolled down the slopes and mimicked mountain goats and jumped around. But the fun was short-lived; it was time to head back once again. Back at the cave, K fed us with the last remaining ribs and rice.

We walked down fast and passed the nomad tent with the huge dog barking at us. The man did not come out and we did not stop for another bout of yogurt. It was almost nightfall when we reached to K’s village. Once in the house, K informed his folks about the ravens and the good omen. He said, his brother will be fit again in another few days. K’s niece had dinner ready and after dinner K handed each of us a yak cheese and said “thank you boys” you are such good children”. Our eyes lit up and wondered whether we were really good kids after all. We lit pine torches and went back to our hostel. We were on summer break and still had many days of holidays. That was something to look forward to. Back in the flea infested hostel, we sat down on our bed and again schemed about what to do the next day, only if we knew that “tomorrow was god’s secret and we were not supposed to peep in there”. !!!!