Up and up we flew exultantly <br />Towards the Himalayas. <br />Kathmandu, Bhadgaon and Lalitpur <br />With their palaces, pagodas, shrines, <br />Brick houses and hotels, <br />Lush green fields in the outskirts <br />Of the valley, <br />Were becoming smaller and greener. <br /> <br />For a moment in my mind <br />I was the dragon that rides over the clouds. <br />I was Prometheus, <br />The saviour of mankind, <br />Who gave mortals fire. <br />I was Icarus, <br />Flying away from Crete. <br /> <br />As I peered at the majestic silvery Himalayas, <br />I felt my insignificance in the vastness that unfurled below me. <br />How many climbers from the West and East, <br />How many Sherpas and other ethnic porters <br />Still lie in the crevasses and Himalayan glaciers? <br />My thoughts went to Reinhold Messner, <br />Who went to the Snows for years <br />With a guilty conscience and an obsession, <br />Searching for the remains of his dear brother, <br />Buried in a white out. <br />Till one day he held his brother’s femur <br />And proclaimed to the world, <br />‘It’s my brother’s remains. <br />I’ve found him at last.’ <br /> <br />The earth is below us, <br />And receives us. <br />I have a feeling of smallness, <br />Humility, as I alight from the jet. <br />I’ve seen and felt the spell of the mighty Himalayas, <br />And what’s beyond the clouds in the sky. <br />A strong, deep, religious experience, <br />For I had trespassed the Abode of Snow, <br />Himalaya, <br />The Home of the Gods.<br /><br />Satis Shroff<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/like-prometheus-and-icarus-satis-shroff-freiburg/
