The story so far:
Rigzin, a young Tibetan boy, finds a magical gemstone called Tethys Blue in Lake Manasarovar, which he is to deposit at the Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh. The forces of evil want to take the stone away from the boy.
Honey-gatherers in a remote village near Mount Everest do not find Tethys Blue in the giant cliff beehive. The gemstone disappears once again. Back in the monastery, Rigzin finds a friend in Choden...
“No yeti, Rigzin wasn’t in the beehive. Remember, the eagle had left him at the edge of Pangong Lake in Ladakh,” answered the Sherpa after a long pause.
“Yeah, I remember... momo was hard.”
Rigzin was puzzled. Why couldn’t he cut the momo with a spoon? He put down his spoon and put his fingers inside the steamed vegetable ball. He fished out a deep blue stone, all covered in a sticky goo. He wiped it on his napkin. His eyes shone as bright as Tethys Blue he had just got back.
“What is that?” asked Choden, a little boy monk sitting by his side. Rigzin turned to look at the boy with tonsured head and in bright yellow robes. “I will tell you the story later tonight,” answered Rigzin with a happy gurgle of laughter. Long after everyone at the monastery was asleep, the two boys lay under their yak-hair blankets, whispering tales of adventure they had had.
“Do you really mean you are the chosen one?” asked Choden in awe. “I am so lucky to have met you.”
A helping hand
“Oh, I don’t know about that but I have to take this stone back to Tawang Monastery in faraway Arunachal Pradesh.” Rigzin paused and then asked Choden in an earnest voice, “Choden, can you help me to continue my journey?”
“Yes, I will,” replied Choden. For a while he was silent. Then he cried excitedly, “Rigzin, when the prayer bells ring at 4 o’clock, we will creep out to the yak shed. After I have filled the yaks’ water troughs, we will untie one, and ride him to Leh from where you can catch a bus... or I don’t know... something.”
“Yak is big and hairy,” interrupted the yeti.
Yes, he is a large animal, over six-foot tall, with long horns, and thick black hair covering his body and legs to keep him warm. People living on the high mountains and plateaus of the Himalayas depend on this animal for milk, butter, cheese, meat, fur, and transportation.
“Unlike you, yeti, he is a useful chap,” said the Sherpa with a smile.
“Ok, ok, tell story!”
In the pale light of the morning, the two boys sat astride a yak, as it moved with ease on a rocky terrain. Rigzin clutched a small pouch with the gemstone in it. This time he was not going to lose it.
“We have to be vigilant and look out for snow leopards! They are crepuscular, meaning they hunt at dawn and dusk. They come looking for changthangi goats that are tended to by nomadic people of Changthang, Ladakh,” said Choden.
Rigzin’s eyes became as round as saucers. “Will snow leopards attack yaks? Will they kill us?” he asked in fright.
Before Choden could reply, the boy heard a soft cry of a small animal in distress. Choden stopped the yak close to stone barriers that nomadic people had made to protect the pashmina goats from being attacked by predators. Rigzin slid off the yak’s back and dropped to the ground. With a cry of delight, he ran towards a goat kid separated from its mother. He picked it up gently and stroked its lily-white, soft fur coat. Choden looked down from atop the yak.
“It’s a pashmina goat kid. Twice in a year, these goats shed their fur that is spun into yarn to make the most expensive and luxurious cashmere sweaters.”
Rigzin didn’t hear Choden. He was busy petting the kid, hugging it as he was wondering how he could restore it to its herd. Suddenly, there was a roar and a flash of something white leaping towards him. Rigzin stood terrified. He dropped the little pouch in his hand and hugged the kid with both arms.
“Watch out, Rigzin!” cried Choden in warning.
Sherpa Snorgay closed his eyes. “I am tired, yeti. More tomorrow!”
Yeti stamped his feet in a fit of temper.
To be continued
