All carried
A piece of wood
For Dorje Tshering
Some carried dried loppings
Others the trunk
Of a middling cedar;
In her tiny hands,
Dolma held sprigs
Of scented juniper
Moving up the hill
The entire village
Carried wood
For Dorje Tshering
For fingers,
Sacred doob-grass
Was woven into rings
The gong was struck
It shook
The bare mountain
Dorje Tshering
Never left his remote highland home
But regardless, something
Came for him
And the village used up
All its wood
For Dorje Tshering.
Author, historian and journalist. He has published seven books on the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and its capital Shimla and is a recognised authority on both. He has handled assignments for television, including for the BBC, and for the Indian Institute of Advanced Study and various departments of the Indian Government. He writes regularly for magazines and papers in India and elsewhere. He is the state Co-convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
