iTraverse | #Julley: Bringing it back (Part 4 of 4)

(Contd...)

So this conversation with this nameless lady struck a chord within me. 

It was almost like a beautiful way to add continuance to my Ladakh trip that began with a bunch of strangers sharing experiences that somehow found resonance with each one. 

So my nameless acquaintance while speaking of her time in Ladakh spoke of the warmth the locals exuded no matter what the time or the task at hand and greeted everybody smilingly with a ‘Julley’. 

She recalled to mind of the time her mother had taught her as a kid to wish and greet people in the street with a ‘Hello’ and a ‘Good Day’ and which in present day context has somehow has gotten eroded in the urban hubs with its growing lack of trust and sense of insecurity. 

That statement made me reflect for a moment because it is quite true everywhere I look – and let alone greet another person, people seldom seem to smile anymore!

We talked about a few other things and as the flight landed at Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi), she made way for me to take a few quick paces to make it to the exit but not before I could hear someone in the not too distant say a gentle heart-warming ‘Julley’! :)

Two quotes to sum my experience in Ladakh:

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” ― Terry Pratchett

“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll