Meditating Over Kindness!

I leave that time untouched, unexplored for I fear my words would be insufficient in translating the ethereal beauty of nature that sits virginally in the valleys up north, in little towns of Skardu, Hunza, Hopar, Hisper hissing at the debilitating arms of modern civilization that had earlier preyed upon the green lush hills of Murree. This so called development that branched over to Muree and Naraan has over the course of years degenerated the hospitality of nature to that of restless man who gloats of being a better architect than the "Big Bang."

But this pride man has in his own creation is just an intentional divergence from the truth of his incompetence, of how his establishments though magnificent in their symmetry are not but the harbingers of doom wrought from the denial of the mastery of nature and the break from the laws set by it for itself. Now let’s part from this somber mood to glorify a place yet untampered by man’s genius.

Skardu remains the unaged architecture, unaged and unimprovised masterpiece of nature, its people too unencumbered by the morgification human race went through when everything from affection to humanity became commoditized. But it's not so at Skardu. Smiles are distributed without hope of return, at every passerby whether they be down at the Soak Lake or up at the Deosai Plain, or maybe it was our tour guide who had the "smiling and waving affliction" but in this case this disease must be viral, for every time his smile was returned, his hand wave was imitated and there transpired a silent recognition of shared locality or at least humanity.

But smile is not the only measure of man's kindness, at least not for those who are truly kind, for true kindness pervades not only towards fellow beings but to all creations. The people there were kind without being aware of this inherent kindness they possessed. Today when we gawk unfeelingly when fellow men walk around in tattered rags on cold windy days, these people had the foresight to robe even the barks of trees to protect them from the oncoming cold. To those who would say their sustenance depends on this greenery, can our survival be independent of these lush trees which form the bases of the trophic cycle?



People over there were equally concerned about the fate of their livestock and this I accept is because these animals have a large bearing on their life. However such care does breed in them the spirit of benevolence, a hospitality which is even extended to the animals during harsh winters when both humans and animals share the same small enclosure for months on end.

I think this change in our attitudes towards life and fellow man is because of our survival in a world which has been so mechanized and automated that we stop feeling the need for anybody's assistance to lead our daily lives that we ultimately forget that other people do not exist in our lives simply to help us in our chores but love and kindness is what makes this life meaningful. Alas, love and kindness cannot be taught in the kinds of lives we lead for this lifestyle only teaches us to attain material success ad it is not concerned with our emotional sustenance.