Day One at Kodaikanal

Lush hills. Faint sunshine. Blanket of clouds. This is Kodaikanal.

It is early dawn. I slowly wake up, tired and worn out over travel in the bus. The next scene I see is nothing like what I'd seen before.


As I pull the curtains aside, the faint sunshine illuminates the sleepy hills and the fir trees. A cool stream gently flows down the creek. Tiny houses dotted the hill, steam rising from the chimneys. Only when I peeped further did I notice that I was watching this 2000 metres high up!

We later got off the bus and boarded a cab. If Chennai was a smoking concrete jungle, Kodaikanal was a slice of heavenly nectar. If Chennai was a life boat, Kodaikanal was a luxury cruise. Kodaikanal was truly an escape hideout from Chennai's scorching heat.



What's next?

We take a brief ride downhill to reach our cozy hotel room. Fighting the biting cold, we pull up our jackets and shiver in the cold, waiting to warm up in our room, which we were on our way.
The moment we reached the hotel, it seemed like all the bunches of vibrant blossoms, the misty hills and the dainty sunshine were just waiting to embrace and welcome us.
That was when I realized, no combination of words could express this exhilarating experience. Just watching the morning fog hug the hills tight, the warm sunshine slowly thawing the frozen dew and waking up, curled up in last night's frost, was happiness beyond.


And then?

After a warm shower, some in-house exploration and a sumptuous breakfast, we set out on our expedition. It's amazing how Kodaikanal is adorned with all sorts of beautiful exotic flowers, including the famous Kurinji. We board a bus uphill to enjoy the experience the Kodai Lake has to offer. Every time the chill breeze hits our skin, we scamper for our warmers and cling on to it tightly.

No matter how frigid the weather was, we still
got to enjoy while being rowed across the glistening waters. The floating blue lilies and the cute wading ducklings threw me head over heels in love with this quaint town. Life was like a beautiful painting, with the colours being splashed by Nature. The barren branches, too, held beauty within, like a blushing damsel touching the waters.

Kodaikanal, now considered an outdated holiday destination, has still not lost its old charm of the silent life in the hills. Even after so many years, it still feels like a fresh breath of air, like a slice of Europe right in our own Tamil Nadu. I almost forgot, the beautiful architecture clearly speaks of the European influence of this town. The churches and abandoned residences of European authorities serve as a reminder of the past but still impress millions who visit this amazing place.


Oops....

At the start of our trip, we were warned about the widespread strike that could affect the quality of our experience today. Yet, nothing can be done so we were determined to make this trip a memorable one.

After a long stroll, we reach Bryant Park, another floral attraction. A park filled with botanical wonders, this place is perfect for a visual treat over a quick stroll. Just then, the winds become stronger and the misty fog slowly descends below, much to the little ones' delightful cries. 
                       
As I'd mentioned earlier, since almost all stores and diners were closed due to the strike, lunch was the biggest problem. Thanks to the strike, I had my most unusual lunch I had ever had - bread omelette. I had seldom had bread omelette for Sunday breakfast, but never had I ever tried it outside, that too for lunch. Cold and famished, bread omelette never tasted so good. I forgot to add, we even had competitors for our lunch - cats, dogs and red-faced monkeys. For the first time, eating lunch was more of a battle.



A chomp and a gulp later...

We climbed uphill to see the last attraction of the day - a pathway called the Coaker's Walk.

It was the perfect setting. Shivering in the cold, right outside was a lively and chatty woman selling roasted corn. People were flocking the humble pushcart to comfort themselves with their favorite winter. It was heartwarming to see  how people craved for such a simple thing. The
joy and satisfaction simplicity can give you is beyond any luxury. A hungry stomach would crave humble soup, not caviar. Caviar comes with a price tag while humble food comes with a tag full of memories and love. Money cannot buy memories, can it?


After grabbing a snack (yes, roasted corn), we continued our way through the path, only to be disappointed. It was already past two in the afternoon, which is when fog and mist start to settle, not a great time to visit attractions. Just as we arrived, a huge blanket of fluffy clouds embraced the sunny hills, as if it wanted to protect the beauty. After a couple of minutes, however, the cloudy blanket parted with some mercy and revealed the heavenly view of Kodaikanal, its coffee estates, people, fog and a lot more.

Even though the clouds and mist were a little disappointing at the beginning, I began to enjoy myself in the white blanket. It began to resemble what I think was heaven, the highest attainable pinnacle of common man. Watching the world from high up above, I felt like that eternal force watching upon us.



Soaring in the heavens......(harp music, please?)

Getting in the shoes of common man, his towering problems seem nothing more than the least trivial from the heights of the clouds. We are always surrounded by people and chaos, carrying conversations and experiences along. But that very moment, I felt like no one existed, except me and the Universe. The Universe and I were having our conversation, one that felt the most genuine to me. This eternal conversation, my folks, was in pure silence.



What I learnt is......

People are sad. When we were children, we sometimes cried upon loss. As Mahatria says, people are still sad, except that this sadness has got new names - depression, anxiety, frustration and stress. Sometimes, this sadness is deemed 'incurable' - chronic depression. Sad people say they yearn for someone who they can talk to.

Of my experience, nature is the best medicine that can heal every wound. Get outside (somewhere calm and natural) and listen with your eyes closed. Now, you might be thinking how that might help. Listen to the birds chirping, the whooshing breeze. Nature is always trying to tell you something, it's just that we fail to recognize the voice. Feel the rain on your skin and remember, no man is ever alone unless a captive of his vicious thoughts. Over time, I have understood this through several bitter experiences and I am still learning.


Another snippet...

I also learned that Kodaikanal was home to yet another wonder - the world famous Kurinji, the prized sibling of the Blue bells. It is said that the Kurinji flowers bloom only once in 12 years and attracts millions of visitors every time it unfurls itself. Once the bloom period is over, they wither and die, only to grow and come alive 12 years later.

After a short stroll, we reached the Telescope Point, a spot to enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it was too foggy to see anything so we missed our chance.




Yet another snippet...

It was time to get back to our hotel room. We spent an hour looking for cabs but of no avail. That was when I used the time to sneak inside a church. Churches always fascinated me. The quiet hall, the Reverend's dias, the beautiful glass paintings always charmed me. I quietly sat down in a corner, observing every aspect. As Alexander Babu, a popular Tamil stand-up comedian says, "Gods are many, but truth is one", one must love one another regardless of prejudice, for Nature itself loves all her children as one, no matter Hindu or Muslim, Brahmin or Dalit.
Are we born with ID tags, stating one's caste, creed, religion or race? When the answer is obvious, why do we act like it is? I don't know.



Thus, Day 1 at Kodaikanal comes to its end, as I write this, shivering in the cold. Let me pull my thermals over.