The yak is a symbol of sturdiness, steadiness and nimble footedness. A small scale mammoth or a large hairy bull, a shaded huge black boulder or an oversized leafy bush—your imagination runs riot seeing a yak. It is the animal of Tibet—the friend, guide and philosopher of Tibetans. Its milk, meat, dung, wool and hide keep Tibetans alive, mobile and warm. The Yak bones, its bushy tail, hoofs and hones are used variously for medicine, whiskers and decorations. Without the yak Tibet is dead, its character and identity lost.
I often felt pity for these silent brooding animals seeing them standing still, uncaring the high altitude subzero temperature, lashing rains and howling winds. The great sage of Tibet Jetsun Milarepa (bn. 1052 AD) might have got his primary lessons in fortitude, austerities and renunciation from this unique, wooly, Tibetan animal.
In our three days 63 KM long circumambulation around Mount Kailash nobody used yak as a mount for riding, but our organizers used them for transporting provisions, sleeping bags and other materials. I watched with great mirth and wonderment as these bulky beasts sauntered down great precipices, jumping over slimy stones and negotiating through narrow pathways.
They are like rivers—now fast, now slow, swelling as they shake their thick manes and thinning as they belabor under heavy load. Akhilesh, a law graduate from Harvard, and the youngest in our group, who has all the American fussiness about hygiene and cleanliness, had brought his sleeping bag, carefully packed and meticulously carted around.
On the circumambulation trail we were allowed to carry only a backpack and hence Akhilesh had to entrust the sleeping bag to the Sherpas (Nepali attendants) who packed it along with other things on the back of a yak. The subzero temperature and the wintry rains at Dirapuk, our first night halt on the trekking trail, and the wet damp mud hut with leaky roof did not depress the ever smiling Akhilesh as he was sure to have a cozy night in the warm embrace of his sleeping bag. READ MORE ...
