CHAPTER -10 (THOWADRAK)

Dawa proceeded to Thowdrak with single-minded determination. Nothing was going to stop him from getting closer to his goal, he told himself. As he reached the steps leading to the temple, panting, he looked around for some signs of life. Everything was so calm and silent.

Soon he found a group of monks (‘mountain goats’) jumping down the trails, shrieking, pushing and pulling one another. He thought for a while what the mothers of these monks would think of their sons, if they saw them pretending to fly like aeroplanes.

While Dawa was thinking of following the group of monks, outside the temple, he heard the chanting of mantras. Turning his head, he could see the lama, accompanied by a young monk, heading towards the temple. Dawa hastily gave way and stood reverentially on the side. The lama looked quite disappointed at finding the sickly and mangy dog there and blamed the rare pilgrims for leaving their dogs there.

He asked the young monk called Phuntsho to drive the dog away. The monk palpably bored with the disciplined life of the monastic body, picked a large stick and some menacing stones. His strategy for war was simple. He would hit Dawa with the stick first and then throw stones after him in order to chase him away.

This was the real test for Dawa. Calling to mind his late mother’s advice for dangerous situations, Dawa wasted little time in putting his tail in between his hind legs and stared at the lama with all his mental prowess. It worked like magic as the lama stopped the upraised hand of the monk from lashing at Dawa, telling him that probably the dog needed protection and he was there due to some karmic connections. He also asked the monk to tell others not to harm Dawa.

Relieved beyond his wildest expectation, Dawa started combing the place for the cave till he chanced upon the cave with the closed wooden door, where a hermit meditated. He was much intrigued by the solitary hermit staying in this very cave and concluded that this must be the cave he had been looking for. He decided to stay at the cave’s door and only left it once in a while for  the monastery for scraps of food. There was plenty of food whenever there were prayers or some rituals being performed. He was not the only one to be seen at such occasions as there were other healthy- looking, dignified dogs with shiny fur and beautiful tails for the same purpose, come from the yak-herders camps spread across the mountains. Though initially suspicious of Dawa, they were not antagonistic. Dawa asked them about the cave but none of them could help him at all.

In the wee hours of one morning, Dawa was surprised to hear the noise of movement inside the cave. Next moment the wooden door of the cave was removed to a side and out came the tall figure for ablutions. The figure must have noticed Dawa as it came out again and placed before him the mixture of barley flour and tea on a dry rhododendron leaf. Dawa was so overcome with emotion by this kind gesture that he could not eat in his presence and cried silently. The hermit had shared with him, a dog and a complete stranger, food from whatever little stock was there for his survival!

Later on, having regained his composure, Dawa licked every morsel of this blessed food off the leaf. But for the distinct saltiness, he was not sure how the food tasted. This incident made him decide to move away from the place. He had no intention of earning demerits by partaking of the food meant for the upkeep of a hermit in meditation.

( I had barely finished explaining all but the last page of the chapter, when Jamyang stood up with his question:

“Sir, how would you try to find the cave, if you were Dawa?”

I complimented him for the question and replied: “If I was Dawa. I guess, I’d do the same. I’d talk to my dog-friends and find out, or I’d just stay near the cave where the hermit meditated and hope for a lucky break.

Though it is not easy, I’d try to look for a veteran dog like the damche dog in Thimphu and try to acquire some information about the exact location of the cave.

I have requested the students to try to summarise the chapter during the weekend and be ready with their questions. Hopefully it is going to be another interesting question-answer session, come

Monday.)