Misty Calm

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In his Territory

I had the whole day to myself, my friend had errands to run and I had work, which I managed to finish in one sitting thanks to this place. Its amazing what a place can do to you, I imagine living and working in a place like this, where your creative juices just flow, Not that im creative but whatever I do involves a lil bit of it :-P but then again, reality strikes.. its just not that easy as you think. What my friend is doing needs a lot of will n raw guts. I admire her for what she is and what she wants to do.

Antony was around to have a conversation and he made some awesome potato maggi which I relished, after which he left. I was all alone now and time does stop still out here. I enjoy my space but it does get lonely sometimes. I loitered around the house, read for a while, and finally decided to take a walk and explore. The cottage is quite aloof from the main gate of the estate and no one enters the estate other than a couple of people who work for the owner. Curious to find the source of the waterfall I could hear at a distance, I walked towards the sound and found " Kalhatty falls", though just a trickle now, coz of the lack of rains this year, It must be quite a spectacle to watch when the waters full.

I strolled a little further when it started drizzling and all of a sudden It was misty all over, I was surrounded by a foggy blanket and the whole place looked surreal. Vasu had told me bout these crazy changes in weather here and to me this place seemed enchanted. I could see the mist rise from the valley below up to to me and go all the way up to the Hunting Lodge. The mountain range was quickly engulfed in white and I started to head up. I could hear a swishing sound as I neared the cottage and as I looked up to see, I stood still. It was the tusker, Sadhu at the top of the hillock just behind the house. He stood tall, feasting on the tall grass, the swishing sound was his trunk ripping grass off the ground as it it were strands of hair. My joy knew no bounds but I was nervous too. I knew I had to be quite, so I walked towards the cottage and towards Sadhu, at one curve I was face to face to the handsome fellow and I could not but stand still and look at him in awe. I was cautious not to intrude as he went bout doing what he was.. feasting. I had met the alpha male in the flesh and I was ecstatic. He looked at me once, disinterestedly... and I felt small, like a negligible part of his land. An outsider in his territory.

The sounds of nature

The thing that strikes you most when you are in the midst of nature are the sounds. The birds in the morning, the wind throughout the day flirting with the trees, the bumble of a bumblee bee dancing on glass, shouts of men trying to scare off monkeys or boars in the valley below or the many sounds that insects make.. and Oh yes, the exited tourists whistling and howling by the road which leads to ooty. You can hear the sounds so loud and clear. As if they are right there in your head.

I jumped at the sound of a shot in the air the first time I heard it, they usually shoot an air shot to ward off any wild animals who get too close to the farms or estates I was told. The sound of a gun shot is like a crack in the sky, its almost man made thunder. I am getting used to the three to four air shots in a day and cant help but wonder how it might sound to the animals.

As we took a walk in the estate and the wet path lead us to a small reservoir and a natural stream flowing downhill. The sound of a flowing stream has something that soothes me immensely, im sure it does to a lot of people too. Standing at the bridge listening to the gentle gurgling of water was indeed very peaceful. On the walk back through the trail , we came across elephant dung at a few places, signs that Sadhu is around... somewhere in the hills.

The sound of rain is pure bliss and is even special when you walk under the foliage of trees overhead, it creates a music very rare, I am loving it here and was more than happy to get drenched in the rain on the way back to the cottage. The sounds continue to haunt me as the night sets in, the crickets and the frogs creating a harmony of sorts as I drift to sleep tuned into Indian ocean rendering Ma Rewa.. at the faintest volume, just perfect so it blended with " Sounds of Nature".

Hunting Lodge

I finally met my friend who was waiting at Thatneri, It had stopped raining as we walked downhill to the cottage, we spotted a few spidey's and bull frogs on the way to finally reach the place. It was dark but the silhouette of the Nilgiris opposite the cottage is just spell binding, we are at the center of a hill overlooking the landscape. Ooty is to the other side of the hills facing the Hunting Lodge, the flickering lights of vehicles on the Ooty road look magical as they ascend the hills. The traffic comes to a standstill at 9, though the vegetable trucks can be seen tackling the curves. Its suddenly night and there is a lull about the place.. that's when the silence sets in, only to be broken by the music from wind chimes, creating a sense mystery about this place.

I can feel the cold now, I have to wear slippers to keep myself warm, as we sipped on some hot coffee, Vasu spoke bout the tusker who visits the cottage, and the last sighting was the morning of the day I arrived. How I wish would be lucky enough to see him too, Im gonna be around, so hopefully I would get to meet " Sadhu".

I had only eaten in the morning and was quite hungry, and talking bout food, the freshest of fruits and vegetables are grown right here on the hills, so im in for a treat :-P. After an awesome dinner of spicy rajma and paratas. I found myself a nice corner to look at the mist covered mountains beyond and listen to a waterfall somewhere in the distance with a smoke. Ah.. can it get more peaceful than this. Yes it can, said my friend, just wait for the day to break.

My space here is a lovely room with a window which opens out to the valley, a cosy little room which would be home for a week. I was reading More Twisted by Jeffrey Deaver, a collection of short stories which is quite riveting. I just wanted to catch up on a few pages before i crashed. I heard something, a flutter of wings, and there it was. a bat flying right across my face, I ducked under the blanket, only to lift my head out in a bit and whooosh again.. the bat just missed my face, I stayed longer inside the blanket this time around and slowly crept to shut the lights and close one door, keeping one open so it could fly out. I could hear it flutter around for a while before it flew out but not before giving me a.... " Welcome to the Hunting Lodge" look :-D

From the mist.. to the clouds

I was finally gonna be visiting The Hunting Lodge, Vasu's Abode De Awesum :-) this journey to the mystic hills of Nilgiris was long pending.. my last visit to the hills was bout 6 months ago to the other side, Masinagudi.. I remember driving up to ooty and Vasu showin us this place from a distance and saying " Im gonna be livin ther!!" Live.. She is.. to the fullest.. n yaaaay m glad im here.. I had such an interestin journey.. I took the wrong bus, which took me like five n a half hours thru Gudlur and then to Naduvattam and then to Sholur. I had to get down at a sign saying " Sholur panchayath , Welcomes You" as per Vasu's instructions :) i spoke to a few co passengers n they were all so friendly, its something with the people living in the hills, Innocence.. they are always warm, welcoming and when your new to their land, they make sure you are properly guided to your destination.. I truly feel the hill people r the last of the " Good People" that are left today. They are inquisitive, want to know what brings you to their land.. and guess what everyone knows n speaks Kannada, I never felt so good, I mean I cant speak or understand tamil..everyone speaks Badaga in these parts of the hills,but were happy to converse with me in Kannada which made my hike in the hills a good one.. Badaga which is the local dialect and a the one of the largest tribes have a history of 400 years. I finally reached Sholur and I had to hike for another km before I could meet Vasu n the hike downhill for another 3 kms to reach the house.. The weather had changed immensely throughtout the journey, from being pleasant to cold to misty and finally to rainy n wet. I met Ponnanna on the way and he worked at Sophia Estate which is where Vasu resides. So i was at all times with company, safe n being taken to a world away from the buzz of humanity, to a place where the mist kisses the clouds.

Never too late

Be faithful.. where ever you are
God has wonderful plans for you..
Far beyond you can ever dream of
be patient while you wait..
His timing is never too late

Live it

Its madness to hate all roses

coz you got a scratched by one thorn..

To give up all your dreams

coz one din't come true..

To lose faith in prayers

coz one wasnt answered..

To give up on your efforts

coz one of them failed..

To condemn all your friends

coz one betrayed you..

Not to believe in love

coz someone was unfaithful..

Remember that another chance will come up

a new rose, a new friend, a new love, a new life..

never ever give up

coz LIFE is indeed beautiful!!

LIVE IT