cairns are, in a way, a coarse representation of the tumult between the linear and non-linear perspectives to life… the former measuring existence set paths adhering to predictable, quantified templates, the latter proposing diverse, meandering paths to arrive at the same destinations… mountains as a metaphor are quite apt, for their traverses are an exercise in contemplation of deeper questions, and cairns sit between the known and the unknown…

a mound of stones… an ode to the ingenuity of traditional knowledge systems, it is surprising how they survive the tenacity of the elements despite their frugal construction… nudging the wayfarer towards the path of least resistance, their purpose is to guide one from point A to B – linearity – yet the essence of the journey remains full of randomness and the consequent surprises, infinite thoughts and possibilities – non-linearity…

they imbibe several forms… some overtly embellished with prayers and their bright flags, beckoning the explorer from afar offering safe thoroughfare, some camouflaged timidly in their environs, refusing to come out till one inches really close but once spotted, reassuring the wanderer on the validity of his chosen path… for mountain landscapes reveal only the immediate present and are loath to revealing the future… and in such insecure atmospheres, ‘tis cairns that pacify, giving comfort in antecedence…

cairns are moody… they sparkle in the sun, brood in the mist and cloud, stare stoically at the rain, sigh at twilight and glimmer in the moonlight… they aren’t mere trail markers, but its historians too, explorations, exhilarations and tragedies etched upon them…  the more elaborate ones near civilizations are consecrated across myriad spheres of human activity – war, sacrifice, death, recreation – the ones in the high mountains are rather simpletons from that perspective, in their ragged, wizened rocks, solemnly guiding the way till they’re eroded away…

musings on cairns, trekking in Himalaya…