# 47 005

Where the Earth Meets Heaven…

There was an article about Kashmir in last week’s paper. My husband asked me if I had ever been there. Well, that was not Kashmir exactly. It was a Himalayan range called Karakoram in Pakistan. I saw Kashmir from afar, and it impressed me…

The road there was steep and narrow. The turns were so sharp that a driver had to sound a horn every time before turning because two cars would had never been able to make it together. There were people everywhere: so many of them! They were traveling on foot for tens of miles, riding their bikes and sitting in and on the busses. They were even standing on the back steps of those, grabbing each other every time one bus would pass another, almost falling down the precipice. There were no protective pillars on that road.

The resort I was going to was located 8,000 ft. high in the mountains. The first thing I remembered, when I had opened the door of my car, was the air. It was so hot, thick and moist that I felt I was not breathing it. I felt was drinking some kind of an exotic spicy drink. It was filled with cinnamon and curry.
I heard the music playing in the distance. It was a traditional song about two young lovers who could not be together because their families would had never let them. I was not able to understand the meaning of the words; therefore, the music sensed even stronger. The voice of a singer blending with the mystical voice of sitar was rising high in the sky. They were so powerful together. My heart sunk, as I wanted to join them in their enchanting hovering over the mountains.

I saw the mountains on my way but only now I had a chance to see them in all their beauty and mightiness. The view that had opened to my eyes was almost impossible to describe in words. It was magnificent and striking at the same time. It was everything! There were heights and vast valleys; there were blue skies and green forests; there were people that looked like ants against the powerful nature. It was Kashmir. It was the place where the earth met heaven.

At that moment, I had felt so united with myself, with all my senses, my feelings and my wishes. I was united with this sky, this music and this nature. I had felt such an entire wholeness that could only happen at a place like that, at the divine cradle of the world.