High, High, what a feeling to fly
Over mountains & forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please.

The Eagles, sung so beautifully by the famous Swedish pop group Abba, has been a perennial favourite of mine since my college days as it epitomizes the freedom one would love to enjoy – just like the eagles and other majestic birds.

During our trip to Amritsar & Dharamshala, the song kept echoing to me– when we visited Wagah, at the border with Pakistan, and again during our stay in Dharamshala.

As we travelled from Amritsar towards Dharamshala, the fog that had surrounded us was indeed a symbol of the life in the plains. All encompassing fog of a very cold and dreary late morning, making us fearful of our next move, showing us the silhouttes even where none existed, neither allowing us to experience the journey nor letting the feeble effort of sunrays to succeed in warming us. Travelling through such a fog for a distance of almost 100 Kms towards Pathankot was truly an “enlightening” experience that we could not have forgotten in a hurry.

The word “Dharamshala” can have two meanings – one, a place where pilgrims can stay free of cost, and the other, the abode of religion. Dharamshala makes one experience both the meanings of this word.

For the Tibetans, on their long & ever-lasting quest for freedom from Chinese imperialism, Mcleodganj, a few miles away from Dharamshala has been their seat of Government-in-exile, and one can be forgiven if the place is mistaken for Tibet.

On the other hand, a plethora of temples of Hindu deities, an ancient church, a couple of Buddhist monastries and a beautiful institute of Tibetan Art & Culture amidst the snow capped peaks of Dhauladhar range of Himalayas gives it an aura befitting a place that can be equated to an abode of religion.
Adding to the mystique were the sprawling tea gardens, poinsettias in full blooms, dry & rocky river beds, early morning winter sun, towering presence of Kangra fort, occasional clouds, in the words of Tagore, bringing colours to the sunset sky, all pervading silence most part of the day, broken only by the songs of birds – I am sure something like this must have been the inspiration when Gulzar wrote:

Barfili sardiyon men, kisi bhi pahad par, waadi men goonjti hui khamoshiyan sunen

With weather so refreshing the soul was ready to soar – just like those eagles & other raptors who were gracing the skies at Dharamshala – bringing me back to the song Eagles – where I began writing this travelogue.

At Wagah, amid the jingoistic shouting of people from both the sides of the borders and the entire chaos of hundreds of people wanting to get somehow a glimpse of the entire ceremony, the image that remained in my mind was that of the Mynahs & Sparrows, flitting with ease from one side of the border to another – just like the sun which had rose in the morning on the Indian side and was now setting across the border.

The song remained with me in Dharmshala as I frequently observed a large number of raptors soaring in the clear blue sky of crisp winters. These birds seamlessly fly across the mountains and waters and man-made borders as they migrate with the changing seasons and no barrier seems to be insurmountable to them.

Both the images were in so much contrast to the one of the border – with customary check posts and barricades – and of the people at both the sides – so similar in appearance and habits – and yet separated by an inanimate fence, with no soul, which could create such a difference that each one, in an one-upmanship, was screaming out slogans louder than the people from the other country.

And, we the human beings are supposed to be more gifted in our intelligence than the birds and animals.

Closer home, Jaaved Akhtar had penned it down so beautifully for the movie Refugee:

Panchhi, Nadiya, Pawan Ke Jhonke,
Koi Sarhad na Inhe Roke,
Sarhad Insanon ke liye hai
Socho, tumne aur maine, kya paya Insaan hoke!

And isn’t it true even within the border as we, in our personal life too, find more reasons that differentiate us than the reasons that can unite us. May be it is time for all us human beings to be intelligent enough to imbibe some of the attitude of supposedly lesser intelligent birds.

More pictures of the trip are available here.