The Eternal Wait

A dark skinned tall man was walking adjacent to me. My both feet stuck in snow, sunrays blinding my view. I was in such a misery, constantly rethinking my choices that I almost ignored his massive build. In such heavy snow and steep hike, he was climbing it as if it was nothing.

Prabhu Shree Ram blessed this hill top by meditating here after defeating the demon king Raavan. It was always my dream to visit this ancient Shiv temple. There are some better times to visit, but I had to visit when the valley was covered with a white blanket of snow. Although the views were mesmerizing, I just couldn’t go forward.

I could see just a glimpse of the temple as there was a very steep incline ahead. “Almost there, I have come this far. I have to complete this.”, I thought. But my physical strength had given up. I decided to return. As I started to pull my foot from the snow to start the return journey, the massive man said “hey, you need some help?”

Without hesitation, I said “yes” in a trembling voice. He pointed towards his hand and gestured me to hold it. I did as instructed. He pulled me out of the snow and within minutes I was standing in front of the beautiful temple. I took some time to catch my breath.

After some rest I decided to go in for darshan. I saw him sitting right in front of the gate staring right at the shivling. Almost in a meditative state. “You wanna go inside?” I asked excitedly. “I’ll wait, I have been waiting since very long. It’s my only job” he said.

I could not comprehend what he was saying as my skin was turning blue from the cold. I decided to go in. After having darshan of the shiv ling, I came back. But that man was nowhere to be seen. But there was a statue of nandi outside the temple which I couldn’t remember seeing while I was entering.