The Beginning
It was the year of the dragon, twenty four
years ago that in the high altitudes of Laya there lived a little boy with rosy
cheeks. He was the youngest child in his family along with an elder sister. When
he was one years old, his father died while trying to save his family against
the brutality of the feudal lords and his mother and sister did domestic labour
around the neighbourhood as it was their only source of revenue. The little boy
was born in the village of Gasa, located high along the snow peaked mountains
which were only accessible by yaks. The population was barely a few hundreds
and they survived mostly by eating yak meat, cheese and rice that were brought
up from Punakha during the summer months by the local traders. And those who
could afford would exchange their local produces with the Tibetans along the
border through barter system for spices and other rations that are not found in
Laya.
Ever since that day, the boy’s mother knew
he was destined for greatness as his birth was surrounded by auspicious and
superstitious beliefs. The entire village witnessed a full prominent rainbow
was around the sun and even the thick misty weather suddenly cleared out
bringing much desired sunshine and warmth. The clear blue skies above the
entire Laya community spoke of a miracle birth of a high lama but however, they
could be mistaken this one time.
The boy’s mother was overjoyed as her son
was born on this very day and thus decided to call him Gesar. Before the boy
was born, the village barely saw any mothers giving birth to boys for a long
duration of five years as most women had miscarriages during pregnancy which
gave rise to high mortality rates in comparison to neighbouring villages. And ever since the birth, the entire village
of slowly started to progress forward. Their crops and vegetables started to
grow and the entire village came together as one community rather than
individualistic. Even though it took a few years for people to change, they
started to live together in harmony where everyone was willing to help and be
there for one another. Neighbours started to grow closer and families were
extended.
But things didn’t stay this way for long
and it wasn’t until Gesar turned eleven when the village was visited by a
mysterious looking man. His clothes were tattered but similar to that of a
gomchen*, the outer skin of his hands was darkish brown almost black in color
while his palms were strikingly pale white prominently displaying the palm
lines. The texture looked almost like leather but had more resemblance to an
old man with dirty, long uncut nails. His face was scrubby looking, hardly
shaved and his shoes had several holes in them from walking miles after miles
and his bag looked almost empty. When the village people had gathered to
welcome this man he declared himself as a paow* who foresaw into the future and
came to warn the people of this tiny village.
He warned the village elders about what is
yet to come and not to let any of their children travel outside their village
until they turned seventeen as there would be huge consequences which the
entire population would face and if the word of warning is not taken seriously
then they would soon all perish to be non-existent. Soon after the entire
village held a meeting and decided to put signs and build walls to protect
their children and their village from the evil that was yet to come.
Gesar’s mother Dema was frightened of the
thought of having Gesar grow up in this tiny village as education was scarce
limiting knowledge and opportunities for personal growth. Her main reason to
send Gesar to Punakha when he was fifteen was particularly the death of her
husband Tobgay who was brutally killed by the feudal lords. It happened when
the lords increased taxation and demanded surplus revenue from their family and
when he spoke back to defend them without any mercy he was brutally
killed.
Four years passed by and Gesar was now
fifteen years old. The warning soon became a tradition as only those who turned
seventeen that year could leave the village. Some returned with tales about
seeing the takin in Thimphu, some even brought back electronics that fascinated
the elders while the rest only spoke of beautiful men and women whom they fell
in love with. Gesar was no ordinary boy as he taught himself to read and write
without attending school as the only nearby school stood at the foothills of
the mountain passes behind the high inaccessible snowy peaks. Dema was worried
for her son’s future as he was truly gifted; some even believed him to be a
reincarnation of a high lama that passed away a few months before Gesar’s
birth.
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