Of all the creatures god bestowed on the planet
earth there is one whose existence I used to rue. May be I was not aware of the
true colours of nature. I used to think the sole existence of this creature was to carry burden &
not get involved in something intellectual. Though I myself didn’t get an
opportunity to study this creature extensively. My first rendezvous with this
creature happened in Ranjit Nagar when I used to go there to catch my bus for
school. It was standard five. Calling
someone “Gadha Kahin Ka” used to be fun, though not the same could be said
about the person about whom it is said. You can see in the picture the gadha is
loaded with burden & he is not complaining. It seems as if it’s his fate.
This twist came when I grew up
& my younger sister started calling me gadha. I used to complain to my
father about this. He will just tell her, “Why do you call him like this”. I
used to feel elated about this that I managed a scolding for her.
The deeper understanding about the
gadha. On my trip to Amarnath , there was a hefty fellow & we all had to
reach Pashpautri. It was 3:30 in
the afternoon & we were not interested in
walking on foot. We all waited for some twenty horses to gather so that we all
could leave together, it was considered safer moving in bunches as it would get
darker when we neared our destination. Everyone got on their ponys, the hefty
fellow was left stranded as no one was interested in ferrying hime. His burden was
too much for the horses to bear. Someone
then brought a khachar & we moved on our journey. I just happened to be
behind that khachar on a small pony. I just admired the strength of that breed.
On that ardous journey when horses & ponys failed it was he who succeeded.