Influence

The only thing that matters today or rather now is what I remember of that day, memories in one word. I have travelled a lot many places (including hills of course!) I am always ready to make love with deep, lusty, sun reflecting Himalayas or the Shivalik range ranging from Dehradun to the sacred Kedarnath. Deep seated in my heart is my desire to travel, explore- which obviously needs money! (So, let me get a job first, let me complete my graduation till then I am dependent on daddy!).

In the summer of 2008 we went to the holy city of rudraprayag (confluence of tributaries Alaknanda and Mandakini of pure Ganges). Oh God! It’s such a misconception!! Alaknanda and Mandakini combine to form Alaknanda which further merges with Bhagirathi in Devprayag at sangam, from here the river gets the name Ganga. Don’t argue I know I am correct!

Rudraprayag only being a halting destination took me further into how I came to be what I am today (well that's another story!).

Going through the landslide infested, chalk-stone stricken road, I was mesmerized by the scenic beauty of the path. All through my way I was desperately thanking God as He made me live up-to this date so I could witness miracles every second. And I am still alive! It is so true that the real pleasure lies in the journey and not reaching the destination!

Having reached the city of Rampur/Ramgarh/Ramnagar (whatever it was! Apologizes my memory is not helping me here!!), we realized we had to wait in a queue which was more than 2 kilometers in length. Wherever we looked we found a series of MUVs- bulky, rickety, trodden, broken, punctured etcetera! Well we couldn't help but wait! 'Snail's pace' is what a phrase I am using now is but that time, that day it was divine!

The village on the right of the road, beyond the enchanting creek (lost in the gorge) was a sight to behold.

Everything I remember is an image of what my memory reflects. I want them to be the way they are... still, time-bound, picturesque so that whenever I visit them time and again I want the same voice to emerge from me. Still I would love to visit a place all over again till it is engraved in my blood and I remember every jiffy of it.
I wonder that is why people take photographs!

Let the road take me where I have always wanted to be,
Let it take me all vary,
Let it show me the way I should travel,
Road not so frequently travelled,
Let it unravel.

Visit me again

Hey! Ooty! Why do you always take my breath?

Oh! Your beauty is always envied even by death!

Recollecting my thoughts about events that occurred years back was difficult and I couldn’t stop myself from sitting now and again and wonder about the things that had happen in Udgamadalam. Guys! It’s Ooty to behold! I couldn’t help but drift towards a bollywood flick, guess which?

Whenever I think about any hill station that infects me with a sense of inseparable beauty, it is Ooty no doubt! A different world in itself, it is not an obnoxious mixture of human kind with the blessed nature.

Those compact step by step houses, clustered breath to breath coniferous tree (I guess) makes one swoon to the mystical note. And the famous falls that come after a track full of soulful walk are as magnificent as they could be and even fatal but that’s another story (you see I’m alive!).

(This picturesque hill station can also be viewed from a distance from a peak you’ll arrive at in the next paragraphs.)

Such valleys are not found in the Himalayas either. Nilgiris have influence and magic of their own; can only be experienced by visiting!

Peaks like the Dodabetta (from where you can see hill stations including Ooty) might be an image of a place from the Himalayas (by many a travelers) but the essence of its self is distinguished by the soul attired in purity and dignified sanctity. Though Dodabetta isn’t holy in any sense (if I remember correctly) one feels wanted by the mystifying natural mystique of this place. I might be over praising, even though it doesn’t deserve such an honor, Dodabetta is a must visit if anyone ever makes a mind to see the Nilgiris. And yes Ooty has to be the top priority on the ‘must visit’ list!

O’ thee take me,

Take me to place,

To a place I’ve never been.

Take me to a place,

That I might not like.

But take me to a place,

I don’t want to ever come back from.

Take me there,

For my generations to come!

Ripples in the path

With the blue fleecy sky,

I stood at the cove of the lake,

The reflection of the roof so high,

I gazed to satisfy the namesake.

A fickle in the eye and I darted the miraculous,

The miraculous tree,

Serene, sizzling in fuss,

I could adore it free.

The aged puckered leaves,

The death bereft rumoured bark,

The far sighted roots I believe,

It was autumn of yellow-a new life’s spark.

And again as I admired,

A leaf indeed another soulless soul,

Oh! Just plucked from the twig the wind hired,

It landed into breath’s bowl.

Indeed lifeless but had had,

Ergo I imagined it be full of ripples,

The illusory of coffin was sad,

It danced and swayed like those nearby beetles.

It dreamingly holding the hand of the wind,

Fell on the water contour,

Again forming ripples and started to unwind,

It had a déjà vu of life and his tree mentor.

It laid there and ricocheted through the ups and down,

It glanced those cumuli,

It smiled and why would it frown?

It said causing an aura within its radii-

“You love to cry,

Because you can't afford to smile,

But would you smile,

When you would love to cry?”

I stopped those tears,

On the losing of a soul,

I controlled my fears,

On the losing of a precious soul!

It said and couldn’t believe,

“Life is just another path we leave a space behind us,

For others to grow and throughout the life heave.”

And I never realized it triggered in my life the coming of a new dusk!