The winds of South:)

Considering that my winter break is on and for the first time in some five years I’m actually enjoying them to the core, it feels just so blissful. And with my earphones plugged in as I listen to the song “Hold my hand” Akon and Mj feat for the third time in a row, I feel truly out of the world.

Songs have the power to sway you,

To love you or to make you cry,

The tunes, the lyrics, the melodies,

Work like a magic wand,

They’ll raise you to the seventh heaven,

They’ll make you fall so hard too,

And the beauty of it, hard to explain,

Hear it and you’ll know it too!!

As soon as I finished for my exams of my first semester, I was ready to pack my bags for a lovely trip to south of India, and well after having clicked some 480 pictures and some more in my dad’s and my cell, along with the coolness of the coconuts and the white fresh malai, some dosas, idlis, nice hot rasam, along with Ooty’s homemade dark chocolate and some rum balls, the shiny bright skies of Doda Beta ( South’s highest peak, where western and eastern ghats converge), the greenery of the tall trees, the hardness of the rocks and the freshness of the tea gardens, not to forget the joy ride on the toy train with a dash of meeting friends and cousins and playing like a kid, I sure had good amount of FUNN!!:D

The best thing about the south which I discovered was its lush greenery everywhere. No matter if it is a garden in the metropolitan city of Bangalore or a forest reserve in Tamil Nadu, the people of that place have let the trees ‘be’. The trees open their arms wide enjoying the freedom that has been offered to them to grow, to nurture and to offer coolness and happiness not only to the trees that surround them but also to the people who love them. There was this one such tree I totally fell in love with. I’m clueless about its name, all I know is that I saw it in the Mysore palace with its charm and strength, and was in love with it, after spending few moments looking at it ( lol..It looks as if I was checking out a tall good looking guy..haha;p) The tree was huge, with its branches covered with creepers with leaves simply beautiful and in different shapes. Just looking at it made me go run towards it and hug it with my small arms. I looked at it with awe, the way I had perhaps never ever looked at a ‘tree’. here's the pic:

And on my way I saw many such trees, and some in the Botanical garden of Ooty which took my breath away. (haha. I’m getting a funny smile on my face as I write this, it feels as if I’m telling you to go to the south to check out cute boys, well yeah you do get to see them too;)!!

Their leaves so beautiful, their mammoth like growth, the way the branches would either spread vertically or horizontally, and their trunks oh! so huge. If only I had time I would have spent my entire day just sitting on the nicely trimmed grass admiring and gazing them for their stillness, serenity and green beauty.

(Doda Beta Mountain Peak)

( a plant which I found very cute, like a cabbage)
It was not just the trees, but also the endless clear sky, the calm lake, the wet roads after the rain and the chilly, damp breeze which would try and touch me every time I would step outside as if urging me to play along, but I would simply put a warm shawl over me and then go along with it, as if flowing with the gushing stream of the River Kaveri. With the kind of weather there I craved to eat hot steamed momos like the ones you get in Delhi, but all I could bite my teeth into were nice hot boiled corn, which were fairly good. South needs to add some nice pit- stops on the way to its nearby hill stations with yummylicious cuisines to choose from, this is all that is lacking, the rest work is done by the nature itself, all you got to do is simply get lost in its world and find your true connection, the way I did.

I do wish at times if my life could be as simple as that of the people who are disconnected from the mad world out here, but I do not know if that would be possible, not so now, if I take into account the 21 years of my life ( the way I have spent them). Yet all I can think of is being grateful to my parents who have made their kids travel to places where the connections are made (either with God or with the nature).

( sky at the time of dusk in Ooty)

It is nice to explore,

To know, there is so much more,

To feel the cool air on your face,

As warmth of the sun takes its place,

In your heart and in your mind,

A picture so pure and divine,

Dear God, my thanks to thee,

For the natural wonders I got to see!!

:):) Adios until my next trip:):)

Aakriti

PS: the above pictures are all taken by me, and yeah!! I'm not going anywhere:)