A walk through a Himalayan valley revealed more than just stones, it revealed a truth about life.

My Big Brother, Dr Ritesh Arya, is a renowned hydrogeologist specialising in groundwater exploration in the Himalayas, particularly in the high-altitude desert regions of Leh and Ladakh.

During my posting in Nyoma, a remote town around 180 kilometres south-east of Leh, we were out walking in one of the vast valleys typical of the region. Thousands of years ago, these valleys were carved by massive glaciers that once moved slowly across the landscape.

As we wandered, my brother suddenly paused and pointed to the ground. Scattered across the surface were half-conical, triangular stones of varying sizes, with flat bases and pointed ends all aligned in the same direction. He asked me if I knew what it meant.

I scratched my head and gave up. He explained that the direction of these stones told a story. Their alignment offered a silent but precise clue, the glacier that once occupied this valley had moved in the direction the stones were now pointing. From something as simple as the orientation of a stone, one could read the history of a landscape.

The Wisdom in Stone

That idea stayed with me. It struck me that in Nature, nothing is accidental. There is a reason not only for everything that exists, but also for the way it exists. A stone lies a certain way not out of chance, but because something shaped it and placed it there.

The words of James Hutton, regarded as the father of Modern Geology, “The present is the key to the past.” made more sense with this awareness.

The Parallel with Our Lives

This realisation sparked a deeper reflection. Just like stones shaped by ancient glaciers, we too are shaped by forces, seen and unseen, that guide us to where we are. Our present carries clues of what brought us here and in recognising this, we begin to understand that our lives, too, are not without reason or pattern.

Every situation we encounter, every twist and turn in our path, stems from a chain of causes. Life, like Nature, follows patterns, some obvious, some subtle, but none without significance. Our joys and struggles, moments of clarity and confusion, successes and setbacks, all emerge from a network of interconnected events that shape who we are and how we grow.

At times, the reasons behind these experiences reveal themselves clearly, offering insight or closure. More often, the logic remains concealed, beyond immediate understanding. And yet, the absence of explanation does not mean the absence of reason.

Acknowledging this quiet order in the chaos lends meaning to our experiences. It allows us to trust the process, knowing that even if we cannot always understand the “why” (that is, the past), the present is never without a reason. What matters is “how” we respond to our circumstances now, because that is what shapes our future.

Conclusion: Nature Has No Accidents

The word accident does not list in Nature’s dictionary. Nothing occurs without a cause and nothing exists without reason. That stone in the valley, that cloud in the sky, that moment in our lives, everything has/had a place, a purpose and a history.

We may not always see the pattern in the moment. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.

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🧭 More about Dr Ritesh Arya:

• Learn more about Dr Ritesh Arya’s groundbreaking work in hydrogeology: AryaDriller.com
• Let the fossils tell you his stories of ancient past: Tethys Fossil Museum

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