2025 Vacation Diaries - 1
The most meaningful journeys rarely follow the maps we carefully drew at the beginning. Life's greatest adventures start the moment we surrender our certainty about the destination and fall in love with the winding path.
The above words more or less sum up the trip of 2025
aka the trip that wasn’t ‘tripping’.
Sitting on the side-lower berth of an uber-crowded
train, with two girls sharing one RAC seat attached to my side berth, I thought
I would write about how all three of us sat as if traveling in an unreserved
berth. May be I would write about how my legs got cramps, since I couldn’t
stretch them much. I would definitely write about the side-upper berth where
hell literally froze over for me. I have felt this cold only once, that too in
a small town named Kufri in Shimla.
Two normal blankets, one woolen blanket and a
sweater – none of these worked. Then there was the massive headache. Best left
unsaid.
But even as I write about these disasters, my mind
remembers the excitement of seeing my parents after a long time. Oh, that
reminds me – my parents had a slight disturbance in their plans too. The train
that they usually board for Coimbatore from Palakkad suddenly decided to not to
halt at Coimbatore that particular day. So they had to de-board at another
station and then take an auto-rickshaw to Coimbatore station where we all had a
grand reunion. Coimbatore coffee, Mysore-Pa from Sri Krishna Sweets and some
sandwiches made the morning really memorable!
And now I am reminded about the rude driver who took
us to our hotel in Coimbatore. He and my dad had a small tiff right at the
beginning of the ride. Then there was the lady in the scooter who cut across
our car from the opposite end without giving any indication that she is going
to cross the road. Our driver, the angry-but-not-so-young man, checked where
she is going, turned the car around and followed her to a petrol pump where he
gave her a piece of his mind. Someone probably didn’t have their first cup of
coffee in the morning.
And to balance this tiny disaster, there are several
good things to write about. The hotel gave some really beautiful views of
Velliangiri hills which are a landmark of Coimbatore. The rooms were comfy. The
best part was definitely meeting the rest of my family who came to the hotel in
the afternoon. That cozy 'Hi-Tea' in the restaurant of the hotel deserves a
special mention. We all enjoyed delicious coffee and spicy, crispy and hot
onion pakoras.
The Grand Finale of the evening was definitely
Adiyogi’s Divya Darshan. This was my second visit to Adiyogi and I know that
every time I come here, it will feel like returning home. I cannot express in
enough words, what Adiyogi represents for me. Divinity, Ecstacy and Bliss all
rolled into One Being!
I almost missed mentioning our traveler bus. It was
funky blue from outside, that kind of bus which is difficult to ignore no
matter how badly you want to. While going to Isha Yoga Centre, we left in the
bus as cultured human beings about to see one of the grandest personifications
of God on earth. It was while returning that all hell broke loose.
The bus had interior lights. Not just lights, they
were beams – yellow, green, blue all in radiant hues. The way we shouted and
laughed out when the lights came on! I am sure the driver must have quivered in
his seat. To top it, my cousin Harish started playing some regional numbers on
his mobile, songs that suited the radiant, flashy and dizzy ambiance of the
bus. It was only when my youngest niece started crying after seeing beams on
her father’s face, and some of us started feeling dizzy, we finally switched
off the lights.
Tiny mishaps followed thereafter. There was a long
traffic jam to exit the premises of Isha Yoga Centre. The plus side? A close-up
view of Adiyogi! Then there was the utter confusion at the restaurant where we
all kept messing up our orders while my cousin Vivek did his best to see that
everyone got what they ordered. People came late. Some left before their order
came. Some exchanged their thalis across tables. All in all it was messy but
hilariously messy, the type of mess that is difficult to forget!
The next day was going to be special. We were going
to leave for Kodaikanal from Coimbatore by a road trip. We had grand plans to
leave as early as possible.
The thing about plans is, they rarely work.
Awesome experience and you presented everything very nicely without missing a single instance. Awaiting the rest of the trip update. Thanks once again as your article will keep our memories alive.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
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