तु हि येह मुझ्को बतादे
चाहू मैं या ना
अपने तु दिल का पता दे
इतना बतादु तुझको
चाहत पे अपनी मुझ्को
युन तो नही इक्तियार
फिर भी येह सोच दिल ने अब जो लगा हून मिल्ने
पुचू तुझे एक बार .....
~Irshad Kamil, Aashiqui 2
Treya was settled in Leh. She had her routine. She loved leh, it was beautiful throughout the year. The winters were unbearable though. June to November were the busy months with loads of tourists. They were also the best times to visit Ladakh. Ladakh literally means "the land of high passes". It lies embedded between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and the great Himalayas in the south. And in between the lands that lay between these mountains flowed the ancient Indus, starting from Tibet and twisting it's way towards Pakistan and eventually India. Amidst this majestic landscape, lies Leh, the biggest town in Ladakh. The next big town is Kargil. Ladakh is absolutely beautiful. It's tough to imagine how a stark and barren landscape can be so beautiful. But the interspersed lush green fields surrounded by mountains with lovely monasteries perched on the top were breathtaking. It truly was beautiful.
As you drove through little villages, with small fruit trees bending over the road on both the sides, as if shading the travelers from the sun, you often saw schoolkids on their way to school and ladies plucking fruits in the roadside orchards. Sometimes you came across small streams of crystal clear water flowing right next to the road. As welcoming as they looked, the waters were always icy cold! Treya was in love with all of this. The people and the culture was a different kind of magic. Ladakh was a Buddhist abode and you could find such complete peace in the monasteries or gompas. Treya's favourite was Thikse Gompa. In fact the statue of the Maitreya Buddha in Thikse was two storeys tall! Sometimes she would go catch the sunset or sunrise from Shanti Stupa. It's not possible to describe in words the view and serenity of those moments. You could stand there in complete silence and peace as the sun rose over the beautiful valley and spread its rays over the vast expanse of greenery that was Leh.
One such morning, Treya was at Shanti Stupa. It was October, seasons were changing from the slightly hot - humid summers to the the chilly winters. There was a slight chill in the air. Treya sat in her white salwar and light blue kameez, with a peacock blue shawl wrapped around her shoulders, as she watched the sun rise from it's slumber. She didn't notice that there was someone behind her. Equally enthralled by that breathtaking view, he let out a small sigh when the first rays of sunlight spread across the vast sky in front of him.
Treya was in her own world. She was breathing the cold air in to her body, letting it seep through her chest and settle in her stomach before breathing out slowly. That pranayama breathing caught his attention, and he bent to the left to find Treya sitting with his back to him watching the sun. It was a sight he couldn't let go, he had to capture it. By the time he took out his camera and set it up to capture that lady sitting before him, the sun was almost at it's morning peak. With the golden hue all around him now, he could see the colours of her clothes. The white, sky blue and peacock blue of her attire was bathed in gold now. Her long hair was open and had curls and waves at the end. It had a "just woken up" look to it, nothing set and made up. And he clicked. The click broke her trance, and Treya startled, she didn't expect anyone to be here at this time of the day. She turned to find a man with his camera. Ah tourist. She smiled and turned back.
But something made her look back again, the way this man had one knee on the ground and the way he held the camera reminded her of something, or someone. Her heart suddenly felt heavy. Her breath was caught in her throat. She squinted to try and see if she could try and assemble his face from the features that were jutting out against the sunlight falling on it directly. When she finally found her voice, she quietly said, 'Aman'. And he looked up. Aman recognized that voice immediately. It was Treya. He said her name very slowly as he kept his camera on his backpack and walked towards her. As he came closer, Treya saw that he was in an Indian army uniform. She got up slowly and they hugged. For what seemed like eternity. And then she broke away. "Wow, you're the last person I expected to see here and that too in an uniform". He just kept looking at her and how beautiful she looked, soaked in this early morning freshness and fragrance. She said "Aman, are you ok?" And he came back to his senses, and smiled. He said, "I can ask you the same question, what are YOU doing here?" They decided they had to talk more, both had time before they had to get back to their respective duties. It was 6:30 AM and they decided to get some chai/coffee and breakfast at a bakery.
They walked down the stairs and Treya walked towards her cycle. Aman laughed and asked her "You've come this far on that?" Treya answering back said "What's so funny about that, just because you have a sexy Army jacket & a motorbike now!" Aman smiled as he put on his jacket and climbed on his bike. And rode away leaving behind a trail of dust. Treya followed, cursing him under his breath. They were on their way to the Original Pumpernickel German Bakery, known for it's fresh coffee..
मेरे छोटें छोटें ख्वाब हैं
ख्वबॊन में गीत हैं
गीतों में जिन्दगी हैं
चाहत हैं, प्रीत हैं
अभि मैं ना देखु
ख्वाब वोह जिन्मे ना तू मिले
ले खोले होंठ मैने
अब तक थे जों सिले
मुझ्को ना जित्न मुझपे
उतना इस दिल को तुझ्पे होने अएत्बार
तनहा लम्हों में अपने
बुनती हून तेरे सपने
तुझ्से हा मुझ्को प्यार
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