Last night while thinking and planning for Vienna some time later, my mind went back to visit another Austrian city. Last Christmas in Salzburg and my Somersault on Mt. Untersburg always bring some chuckles. The snowy mountain peak is a favourite for those who can ski and for the rest of the mortals like me, we can show our acrobatic ‘ski’lls in slipping and falling off from various places.
Surprisingly, when I slipped (again!), Kumar and our tiny Austrian guide rushed to grab hold of me, and once I got up, trying to stand still, I realized, I could have fallen off great heights. There were no characteristic protective railings around. But after I got over the jolt of what could have been, I saw on the other side, there was a snow studded metal cross, gleaming in the sun with visible white wind coming my way. For a closet atheist like me, it was a moment of confusion, if I should complain about my gift of losing balance anytime or be thankful about getting stopped at the right moment before falling off a snowy mountain? Turns out I was sulking and was thankful at the same time.
Untersburg is as beautiful as a snow capped mountain could be. And If I do fall of such heights someday, I’ll be simply happy I could reach all the way on the top at all…
