the beginning or the end ? - leaving Ladakh

The early part of my flight back from Leh, was spent staring out of the window, mesmerized by the snow clad mountain peaks and the valleys beneath them. The best part of it all was that i could take in the mountain landscape as a whole, everything.. all at once. As my sight wandered down from the lofty peaks, I could the beginning of a glacier and at its end the birth of a stream gentle at first and then turning into a raging torrent which cut a valley down the mountain slopes, which inturn gave life and space for a whole village. I could see valleys meet and the rivers merge.. mountains giving way to hills (Manali, i think...) and the hills finally meeting the plains where then i could see the birth of the mighty Ganges. The mother of all Indian rivers...

As i was taking in the sight unfolding below me i couldn't help wonder that it was the end of the mountains and the beginning of the plains and i was saddened by that thought for a moment. And then it struck me that it could also be the end of the plains and the beginning of the mountains... it all depends on the way you see it, i guess. I made a quiet promise to myself... 'i'll be back".