It is day two of my ascent to Kilimanjaro, and I am remembering what Ertyaas said to me earlier .We were sitting in Dar Cafe two days before the climb when she said "To climb a mountain is like being in love with a strong woman....you want to be on the top (on the top she smiled) but you face allot of tears and rain, thunders and anger, rock slides and constant struggle to continue moving and reach the top... and at times one thinks why the hell I am doing this all, is it really worth all the effort? just for that bloody mountain, that woman ... but she knows,slowly and gradually she is making you capable and worthy of her love...slowly and gradually the desire becomes as white as snow and liberated and finally when you are on the top and give one last glance to her and start descending, you realize that she is still the same and will remain the same but your life is changed altogether...... "
It was my desperate attempt to normalize my work-life balance; the year was hectic professionally but very good, with alot of traveling within and outside Africa and working long hours to meet sales targets and I was looking forward to few days of detachment from the worldly affairs and just walk and think. Tomas Transtromer and Rumi were accompanying me this time. Rumi was unusually silent, perhaps that was the sufi way, silently absorbing the ambiance around and then saying few words that can encompass eternity and which he did on the last summit day . Tomas eyes however were shining with his snowy sadness. On the first day he said.
"In the middle of life it happens that death comes to take man's measurements.
The visit is forgotten and life goes on . But the suit is sewn on the quiet"(Tomas)
and I joked with him, "may be some people try to outgrow that suit , constantly expanding the measurements, so they can die in nudity".
The route I was taking was amazingly scenic, starting with dense mossy african trees, to alpine deserts above the clouds and being stopped by great walls before the world in black and white begins. The baranco camp was adjacent to the seemingly unclimbable great Baranco wall but we manage to pass that and Tomas was also looking optimistic..
It hurts to go through walls, it makes you ill
but is necessary.
The world is one. but walls...
And the wall is part of yourself-
we know or we don't know but its true for all of us
except for small children. No walls for them.
The clear sky has leaned against the wall.
It's like a prayer to emptiness.
And the emptiness turns its face to us
and whispers,
"I am not empty, I am open."
(Tomas)
We are trekking for few days now, I am consuming alot of food, soups, chicken, potatoes, alot of honey filled tea and it seems i am traveling for centuries, the count of days and hours are long gone, and i am enjoying the freedom. My mind is full of emptiness now, and long gone faces and good old memories are beginning to come and fill that emptiness and dance with me. Even the dreams i am seeing are having happy endings...
Summit day:Its 3am now...We are walking up to the summit for last 3hours starting midnight and still 3 more hours to go. Its pitch black and all you can see is the stars shining and long queue of headlamps shining ahead and behind you, as if a road of these lamps is sewn in the mountain moving with you. The world is reduced to mere black and white, with few variables to think on, breathing, feeling the cold, and few faces apearing and disapearing in the great wilderness of my mind. Still three hours to reach the top. Constant struggle with hope and fears, the hail-storm is making things worse, but the desire is becoming whiter and whiter with each step on the snow filled mountain......
We reached the stella point now, 5700meters, another 100meters to go but the way is not steep anymore. My guide miraculously takes out his flask full of hot tea and honey and we tried to recharge ourselves for the last 45 minutes. The sky is getting brighter with every step and out of nowhere a strange energy has filled us with hope making us move faster and reach the top....... Summit at 6:35am.
The sun is waking up slowly from its bed of clouds....Its MORNING everywhere (ﺻﺒﺢﹺ ﻭﻗﺖ' ﺟﻮ 'ﻭﻗﺖﹻﺼﺒﺢ' ﺳﮯ ﮬﻮ ﻛﮩﻴﮟ ﺯﻳﺎﺩﻩ ﺣﺴﻴﮟ) ...the whiteness is absolute now....the desire purified and freed from the prison of mind, flying like a bird... We reached the top along with a bunch of people all excited, some Russians taking pictures without cloths with body-builder like poses :) .crazy(Chezi Kabisa in Swahili language)......women getting emotional.... alot of hugs and shouts... Rumi finally smiled and said.
The body is a device to calculate
the astronomy of spirit.
Look through that astrolabe
and become oceanic.
the astronomy of spirit.
Look through that astrolabe
and become oceanic.
(Rumi)
One last glance before leaving the great strong mountain, thinking of all the footprints already forgotton and forgiven by her, the great mountain remaining the same, forgiving and forgetting everyone, yet changing one's life altogether......
Thank You Kilimanjaro!
PS:
Every camping site I was checking the register to see any body from my land is there.Pages after pages, no one from my country.... depressing.. though after turning alot of pages, i manage to find one name "Najia Mukhtar, based in london but originally from my land" I hope she climbed the summit like all the other women. My guide was telling me that out of 16 people he guided this year, all the women reached the summit and not all men could make it up. My solute to Women power.
Music:
I was hearing this Shenai fusion music for a recent film i saw, all over my trip. Hope you enjoy.Its called The dichotomy of fame
More Pictures:
Following link for more pictures. Enjoy...!
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150559710966477.435340.628801476&type=1&l=0b1c12d6b0
