Holding the Sun: Kabita pictured in Sarangkot hill as sun rises in late April 2012

In late April I and my wife Kabita traveled to Pokhara to spend the weekend. It was much anticipated trip to the city by the lake. We enjoyed the scenery, boating at the Phewa
Lake and the sunrise at Sarangkot hill.

Over the years, Pokhara has developed itself as a tourist mecca. We stayed at Third Pole hotel in Lakeside. Like a typical tourist, we hopped from one tourist site to another. All around we saw backpackers–good for the local economy. I think the tourism entrepreneurs have diversified it and learned the lessons along the way. From paragliding to trekking, there are so many packages and offers that you will be overwhelmed. The short hike to Sarangkot hill turned out to be one of the most memorable mornings in my life. Here I am reproducing a poem by Hrishikesh Upadhyay, my former professor at Ratna Rajya Laxmi Campus, Kathmandu.

Sunrise-Sarangkot

I read a poem
To my incurious friend
On the view of Sarangkot.

The colours of nature
Appear in full riot.
The bursts of lights
Shower laser beams.
For once rioting
Looks stunningly captivating
The laser spurs
Stir the slumbering spirit.
The songs of the ages
Reverberate on the air.

Humbled,
The towering Himalayas descend,
For me to scale their peaks.
Elated, the sun-gazer at Sarangkot
I strain myself
From breaking into thin air.
All the world
Transforms itself
To an indulgent elsewhere.

Ever since I live on
With the blessed sunrise
Within me.
the sight, the touch,
The sound awakened
In me
That was asleep.

My incurious friend though
Keeps on asking:
Is that all there is
In the sunrise in Sarangkot?
Yes, I tell him
It’s not as such the view;
It is reflection of
What lies in you.

From In Love of America and Other Observations: A Compilation of Poems by Rhishikesh Upadhyay

Check out my blog on his poems