Manali – a place of pine forests, monasteries, and mountains.

Manali, probably the most popular hill station in the state of Himachal Pradesh, which is located 544 km northeast of Delhi, the capital city of India. It is situated at an altitude of 6400 ft. which is not very high.

This hill station is surrounded by pine forests and huge mountains from which one can take a jump it will take a few years to come down (just joking!). It has many famous cafes and lodges.

Many people, when they hear about Manali, think of only Rohtang Pass and the Hidimba Devi Temple, but they forget about the monasteries and how friendly the local people are. I realized this when I met one.

My brother and I just came from Spiti valley after completing the famous Hampta Pass trek which starts from Kullu valley and ends in Spiti valley. We were both exhausted from the 5-day trek. But I had a burning desire to explore the city. So I asked my brother, “Let’s go outside.” But he was so tired that he rejected my proposal without thinking for a second. So I was alone and ready, ready to leave behind the lavish coffee shops and fancy restaurants, I walked towards the direction where no tourists were going. Manali has to face, one that everyone sees make others see (from their social media posts), and the one they don’t see or don’t want to see. I was just walking without knowing where the road will lead me, whether it will even lead me somewhere or not. The streets were very clean. Every local vendor was selling the same things, the Buddhist prayer flags, paintings, and some other art materials.

People were having their morning tea on the tea stalls. I saw a colorful house on every turn I took. The houses were so well decorated that I already was thinking about buying a property there, although I don’t have enough money or permission to do so, but a dream is a dream, right?

It was so calm there. The monastery, that I found while wandering aimlessly on the streets, was white with roof and doors painted red. It was the first time when I was visiting a monastery. I didn’t even know that wether we have to remove our shoes before going in. I was looking for a board where something like “Please remove your shoes” was written but I couldn’t find any. So I removed my shoes when I saw a pair of perfectly placed slippers in a corner just outside the monastery gates.

When I entered through the gate, everything transformed from fine-fine to very calm and beautiful. Like the anywhere door from Doraemon cartoon, which can take you anywhere in the world. When I was a kid I always thought about where I should go if I ever get a chance to use the door only once. At that time I was not sure about where I wanted to go but I am sure that it was not this place.

There was a huge Buddha idol in the center of the monastery surrounded by 4 more idols, two on each side. The small benches were aligned with the wall, where the monks chanted the mantras while doing their rituals to their gods. The “Please keep silence” board was everywhere, hanging on every poll. Beautifully embroided curtains, smell of insence stick in every corner. It was like everthing transformed into calmness.

While coming outside, I saw a stairway leading to the first floor. It was the meditation room. The main Idol of Buddha was placed in such a way that when someone does meditation, on the first floor, they can sit face-to-face with the Idol. I tried to meditate there, the vibe engulfed me into the stillness of that place. I felt like I was in a garden surrounded by tall trees and the bright autumn leaves fell on gently over me, that ringed my head, and the fruit and grain at my feet and in my hands, and beneath all the gaiety of everything around me.

Ha! It was nothing like that. I tried to meditate, after a few minutes I opened my eyes thinking that I did meditation for 30 minutes but it was only 3 minutes. Phew! It is very hard to get rid of every thought from your head while doing it.

Later I found myself turning the prayer-wheels while an old lady sweeped the prayer room. She looked very old, wrinkles all over her face like it would melt anytime but still she was actively working. I stood by the prayer wheel for about 10 minutes, analyzing every minute detail on it, and the old lady was still smiling. I always wonder how these people manage to wear a smile on their faces all day long. They greet every stranger with their smile and nothing else.

Outside of the monastery was an iron bench on which sat the monk. He looked old maybe in his late fifties or early sixties. He was wearing clothes that resembled the traditional Japanese Kimono. He saw me coming out. His eyes were closed but he smiled when I came near him.

xxxxxxxx— I am, in a way, an introvert. I become very nervous when I speak to a stranger. —xxxxxxxxx

He waved his hand and asked me to sit down. He asked me “Where are you from?”.

“Delhi”, I replied. Delhi, it is a city of machinery and tall factories, out of which serpent of smoke trailed for ever and ever, and never get uncoiled. There is a river in Delhi too and it is called the Yamuna but it has now turned into a black and purple with ill-smelling dye and the roads above it always bustling with cars. It seems like that the clock runs 5 times faster there then here.

His eyes squeezed when he heard that I was from Delhi. I don’t know why everyone behaves strangely when they talk to someone from Delhi.

“What are you doing here?”, he asked. I thought that it was not allowed to visit a monastery by an outsider.

I was hunting for stories and one was just sitting beside me. I was thinking about asking him to tell me something interesting, something that I will remember for the time to come.