Creases and the smile

I was in two minds about whether I really needed a vacation. My thoughts were far from any kind of "crystallization." But travel does good things to the mind, oiling its machinery.

As we drove to the airport, the mist that had descended surprised us. There was so little visibility, it made Hyderabad look mysterious. I hadn't been doing much photography for a long time and I looked almost lustfully at the photographs that passed us by, eluding me yet again. Perhaps some day I will shoot mist the way I see it in my head.

The flight was convenient but the ride up to the hills a bit longer than we had imagined. Our sombre driver was nonchalant about not heeding to our requests. He drove far too quickly along the road that steadily spiralled upwards. But the moment tea-plantations arrived, the air cooled down and things changed. The tea-gardens were like thousands of green mushrooms covering the hilltops. There were cattle grazing along pastures and on specks of green valley grass. A plant that grows red leafy flowers doubled as a fence for the tea gardens which became a painting within a red frame. In the late afternoon light, the sun playing games with gentle rain-clouds painted the meadows in colours that changed by the second.

We had no plans for the evening after checking into our resort which was about 10km from Munnar. The silence beckoned us to take a random walk through the hills, and besides the quickly fading light ruled out any possibility for plans involving more time.

Perhaps the most interesting incident was when we met Amalie, an elderly Czech lady living in Australia. A solo globetrotter, she had been travelling across India for two months and was into the last leg of her journey to the country's southern tip. She was quite knowledgeable about all the flora and fauna around and had a certain childlike inquisitiveness - a quality I always admire. All the travel had surely kept her mind youthful. I don't know many Indians her age who can make such conversation. S & I had a good time listening to tales from her travels as we walked around random roads winding around the hills. She joined us for dinner as well. Unexpected encounters like this can add another dimension to travelling. What started with tomato-like wild fruits ended with religion... And then it was time to sleep.

By the time we hit the bed, we had left Hyderabad far away.