The Paradise

Tosh - A paradise!

That was my second visit to the paradise - A paradise for me. "TOSH"

Oh! what do I say about this place, I get goosebumps and a smile brightens up my face with wet eyes every time - every single time I think about this tiny little village on the hill tops of Himachal Pradesh. I love this place, it seriously is a paradise.

The ice-clad mountain at one end, densely forested mountain at the other, a river flowing adjacent with the amazing sound of the flow- the real music to the ears, the cool calm breeze, the chilly weather, genuine - honest - friendly - helping - supportive - ever smiling people. I may lose my memory, forget every tiny detail but I can never forget this place - Tosh!

I've been to places but never like this one.

The journey to Tosh itself is an immensely pleasurable one - the hilly road with potholes, a fair part of the roads are just graveled, hills on one side - valley on the other.

We reached Tosh around late noon, got off the vehicle and a broad smile on our face. We looked at each other, smiling gladly and I turned to face the mountains, the pretty little wooden houses and the sound of the breeze.

Taking our first step towards the village, I carefully lodged my bag on my back and started walking towards the rusted, chirped, worn out bridge with a tiny river stream flowing below it. Standing there for a moment - I captured the view in my eyes, looked at both the ends of the river and started walking again. The river had huge huge stones around the bridge and a little of garbage. Well, the commercialization had begun, the human existence was revealing, the ignorant people have reached this far! I wondered and shrugged smiling at the kids playing around. The bridge is immediately followed by a flight of stairs downwards, where a man had lodged cartons of food supplies on his back and was on his way to the village. I took a few quick steps towards him and saved a carton from falling off his back. I did feel like a savior, maybe that was something I would eat later in the village. Call me selfish for thinking that, but atleast I helped and the thought of eating came later on my mind. A few smiles and tiny talks with the man and we started towards the cafe we had been previously. The man was walking along, so we chose to stay behind him in case the carton seems to fall again, we'd help. (Yes! It didn't occur to me then, that maybe I could lift the carton myself but maybe I had my hands full, I don't remember). A few attempts at helping and he detoured from our path. A small goodbye with gestures and movements, we walked towards the cafe like we walk that path everyday.

I knew the paths so well, I myself was amused - and yes, I was leading my herd. Looking around the wooden houses, greeting the people we walked the tiny paths and steps, taking turns, we could see our destination house. A quick run on the flight of stairs and I was there, turning behind I saw my friends busy with the puppies playing around. I didn't bother them and stood watching a while when I couldn't hold myself and I quickly pranced to the spot around the cafe.

Yeah, THE SPOT! That spot, that spot gives me goosebumps. The beauty of that spot is hard to put into words. That spot is mine. Well, technically it can accommodate quite a number of people and people love it but again, that's my spot. You're welcome to share, only if you can keep shut or have a whispering conversation. The spot is a huge stone on the edge of the hill, a careless moment and you'll be gone for good. But the beauty of it, the beauty is mesmerizing, the view is breath-taking. A view of the tiny wooden houses beaming with bright different colors. The houses are so wonderfully aligned it seems like a lot of effort has been put into to make it look so amazing from a distance. Turn your head to the right and you'll see the huge mountain ranges, a larger part covered with thick trees and fine pathways visible from the distance, a further right and the ice-top mountains, the sun shining brightly behind those giant mountains - heating up the chilly place with cold and calm breeze, which reaches to your spine giving you chills and shivers. The moment you feel this and close your eyes, you'll be positively filled with the perfect music of the river flowing down the valley. That's my spot, where you can feel everything. The calmness, the beauty, the heat of the sun, the chilly breeze, the musical notes of the calm river striking up the large rocks, the flowing music - I,  I go speechless, I honestly have no words to describe that feeling, I don't want to look for the perfect word when I know how it feels like, when I have experienced such an amazing out of the world place.The spot is my favorite, the spot is my paradise. That's the spot when I actually came up with the feeling of paradise. Maybe, this is what paradise feels like, maybe this is the paradise.

Well, my friends came after their fun with those puppies and pulled me out of my thoughts, inviting me inside the cafe as they went in. Taking a final deep breath, I took a good view of the village, the mountains and I stood up to walk into the cafe. That was definitely not the last time I'd be sitting and taking the feel of paradise. I smiled and walked in, I'm here for fucking twenty four hours! It'll be fun.