Shangrila

Shangrila

i grew up as part of a select few. My entire community numbers 0.028 percent of the world populace..
In the early years, several militaries and the environments they were stationed in moulded my nature.Although i am perfectly adapted to any terrain,thanks to that training, i love the wilds.
And i say this with the full knowledge urban, uncivilized humans will find it incomprehensible.. love the Silence?learn to identify the sounds of your environment.? all that is as alien to most of humanity today as corruption was to me in my youth.
To hear the sibilant hiss of the king Cobra and freeze, until it started moving again.. then move one boot, slowly.. sloowly.. until the boot was just behind the head..Then in one smooth motion grab the tail and lift as the boot holds down that fearsome hood.Don't damage the king, just make sure He knows you happen to be the boss, For a few moments.

But i Digress: I know where Shangrila lives. most of my friends were there when we first stepped in.That one Experience, above all others, has probably shaped my destiny. We were kids, On a routine mountain trek in the himalayas.. whatthe guide hadn't figured was how tough and unstoppable we were, all of us military brats, Used to dads waking up at 4;00 am and go through a gruelling day that wilts most men, then come home and share stories.
The stories were the fascinating part.. absolute magic, for a kid. A patrol goes out, gets ambushed, fights off three armies and on the way their 4x4 slides into the raging river a 1000 feet below.
i digress again.. So the mountain hiking guide, a British/Nepali Gurkha commando,
tries to march us into the ground and finds himself breathing hard, for probably the first time in his life. i will forever wonder whether it was spite, or he was sure we were upto it, he begins a nonstop 48 hour march. Right near the chinese border. We don't stop for two days..
He never checked a compass, or pulled any other nav gear. just kept moving.
we enter the last valley empty. No food , No water( that we could have picked up from any mountain stream), and precious little willpower left. Finally he stops and turns around,We make camp here, and without one word everyone just drops,Only To hear the crushing Biting tones, Noone sleeps in the open, You freeze to death up here, MAKE CAMP. we somehow manage, and finally, We drop half dead to sleep.
Next morning, First light , i wake up and look out the tent slit. A friend of mine is standing out there , Looks like he is comatose ,absorbed in his attention to wahtever he's looking at , i can't see more, and before i can move, that relentless machine of a gurkha is smiling beatifically and handing over a cup of steaming hot chocolate, My friend never notices, takes the standard army issue mug and keeps staring, and sips.
The smell drifts over and my stomach rumbles, so i finally wriggle out of my tent ,Curious.
And do a repeat performance. steaming thick hot chocolate and eyes on the horizon, Dawn is breaking ,we are on the shores of a lake.. and the hills surroundings us are ablaze, like King solomon's Court. Literally ablaze with light, all colors, all hues... as is the lake.
two swans lit up like the rainbow, 20 meters away. regarding this intrusion with disdain.Looking at all of US, yet there is no fear, just overwhelming curiosity... and something more.
the performance repeats for every kid on the march.
ANd then the words come, spoken softly, ever so softly, with infinite tenderness.. "welcome to Shangrila, Children"
i snap my head back to our guide, but he stands there mute. To this day, Noone knows who spoke. To say the swans did would be ridiculous, Maybe the mountains were playing tricks.
The words go on..almost like a soft caress, and i stop looking for the source, maybe it's better that way.You will always be welcome,but beware of this, You cannot bring evil here, either inside you or with you.
From that day, My coldest fear has always been that i will not be able to find that valley plain again. So me and my brothers of the dawn fight, and die. And every night , Every waking.. the words walk with us.. Let not evil into you.
Almost religious, but every faith was represented that day, so faith has become irrelevant.

Honor Duty Faith.