A wholesome experience

A very famous study says Dogs are the third most loved animal in the world. Chicken and fishes are the ones in the top two positions. Shocking may it sound, but it's only logical. The two table toppers make a regular part of the human food bowl, whereas the third one is always on the lookout to make the food bowl in our hands, his own.

The prompt for today's meetup encourages me to write a story that reflects my goodness. But being a very ordinary and humble person I fail to answer the question, "Which one?". With so many great deeds on my plate, choosing one gets really challenging, but I will still give it a try.

I love to hike and covid gave me the perfect time to experience the ranges of the Himalayas without the awkwardness of being tagged in somebody's Facebook post captioned "feeling awesome at 17000 feet with 67 other". When covid restrictions window started opening a little, I managed to climb up and jump to the other side of the breathtaking city of Dehradun. 180km away from the city was our base camp where I was supposed to be the only group of hikers permitted for the year. Google Maps very accurately predicted 12 hours of travel time, but the catch was, I didn't check the cycling time, it was on a motor vehicle. Mocking at maps prediction, and throwing up multiple times on that 14 hours journey, here I was at the start of the base camp, with half my spirits, and a quarter of my life sucked out of my body.

The next morning, even before the sun was awake we embarked on our expedition. I along with 18 other hikers, and a trek lead set out in what would be one of the most challenging five days of my life. Our herd started in tandem, with a promise to walk side by side the entire path, but the only promise that survived was a universal one "Survival of the fittest". Some of us took the lead, and were almost out of sight, whereas others were trailing, and panting a long way.

Leading the pack feels amazing, nobody could be a better testimony to your body's ability than difficult terrain. All the efforts that you put into making your body strong start finally paying it off. All the late-night parties, and unhealthy habits that you have been avoiding despite all the social pressure finally seem to right things to do. Leading gives you a chance to spot the best of the sights first, it allows you the space to sit and take a break without having to worry about being left behind, and the list of advantages goes on and on. And I wish I could tell you more about it. I was leading for sure but only when you see the list upside down.

I was left behind, and left behind a long way, mighty mountains, tall trees, violent river stream, bone piercing icy breezes, and eerie silence, all the things that you had earlier been dreaming of, comes back to haunt you. Being left alone in the mountains even during bright daylight is a more horrifying spectacle than a Bollywood movie could ever create. On one side there is an enormous climb ahead, while on the other, daunting valley, with every wrong footing, death staring you directly into the eyes. Silence is such that you can even hear the thoughts going inside your head, loud and clear. Nature can lure you with its beauty, and then frighten you to a higher degree with its might.

I was just beginning to lose my hopes and waiting for a device

help to take me back, to where the lands were plain and so were my hopes.

Waiting for a device to hold my spirit for the longest hour of my life finally yielded its result. But the divine appeared in four legs instead of two. He appeared magically from nowhere and sat sitting beside me staring at my face. His stare looked like more of a question and a challenge, and I so much needed to answer that. the answer came, five minutes later I picked up my walking sticks, and put on my rug sack. I took a step, and another, ahead. I discovered an unknown burst of energy left inside me, and I was back on the trail, leading me was a four-legged angel, who kept me company for the entire next four days. On the day when we were to reach the summit, I was one of the first ones to hit the peak, and beside me was my hero. I wanted to capture the moment, so I switched on my phone for the first time in the last five days. As I turned on the camera, somebody was missing from the frame. 

I stood silent for long, his disappearance was causing me much more pain than it should have, after all, how long did I know him?

Today, when I look back, the explanation that appeases my mind is that he would have gone to help somebody else fulfill his destiny as he did mine.

A popular saying goes:

"If you are a good human, you will love dogs,

If you are a great human, a dog would love you"

Dogs, I believe, though could be the third most loved animal in the world, but in all the lists that get created for me, It would rank the first, and that's not only because I am a vegetarian