If

10 Manju Kanchuli translated by Wayne Amtzis If Had I not stumbled, I would have fallen If that small mistake had not been made, how mistaken my life would have been To fathom my heart's depths, how often I would have been misled by the heartbeat of faraway Had I not been swept away by a rivulet, the rising tide would have drawn me under If I hadn't been grazed by the paws of a cat, I would have fallen into the mouth of a tiger If I hadn't stumbled in the base camp itself, I would have plummeted from twenty-nine thousand feet If I hadn't stumbled, a mishap would have marked me forever. If a small mistake had not been made, how wrong my life would have been ...