 |
| With Nitesh and his pal ! |
5th May 2018,
8.30 am
I'm about to be landing
in a place I've never been to before. Travelling sans any expectations, going
to run a HM in a new place, decision taken one fine day without much
deliberation. I feel happy this morning.. just to be getting out of Delhi. I
feel happy for the next 40 hours or so of.. well..I don't know:))
I feel happy to be
sitting next to strangers and not having to talk to anyone on this 3 hrs flight.
I guess travelling makes me happy because it's not something I HAVE to do--I'm mostly travelling by choice:)
I smile thinking of my
son telling me last night to let him know when I land. I kissed his forehead
while he was sleeping before I left this morning. He is the reason, I do most
of the things in life. And I know, even if I am not indispensable, he does need
me in his own ways. And I do want to play fair and square with him and not
shirk from my responsibilities towards him since I brought him into this world.
Yet, I just feel very
happy to be getting away from my “regular” life, albeit for just a couple of
hours.I feel an eerie kind of peace really.
3 hrs of doing nothing on
a flight afforded me time to think of so many things which I either keep
pushing to the back of my mind or avoid confronting. Potpourri of thoughts,
potpourri of feelings,marveling at so many things, grateful for the life I
have. I feel free just now!!! I'm in Coimbatore now.I know NOONE here. That
feels like bliss too:)
I AM travelling with a
runner buddy I don't really know very well.We have only so far exchanged
greetings and mere pleasantries when we have met at races. But yes, we will be sharing
room in Kotagiri.. where we are headed. We are not seated together on this
flight:)
 |
| Rama and me with Shanti and the cutest pups:) |
 |
| Yummilicious fish and stuff thanks to Shanti! |
6th May ,2018
9p.m
Now on the flight back
to where duty calls---- already!!Hurricane visit.. by choice and so worth it.
Rama and I shared some
anecdotes of our live's journeys..me- mostly about my son, she- about her mom
with whom she stays. I could just feel the very special bond she shares with
her mom as she spoke of her. Then of course we had our four legged pals to talk
about. It was also good listening about Rama's experiences over the years as
she has travelled over the world for work and pleasure, being the super
accomplished independent woman that she is.
We travelled and stayed
together, yet managed our 'me' times.. no pressure, no expectations from each
other. Fun it was.
Kotagiri is such a
quaint and nice hill station. I was blown over by the small homestay we put up
in, in the middle of lush green tea gardens. There is something so special,
when the people serving you are not really professional (read mechanically
doing their duties, albeit perfectly) but serve you with a smile.
The cook
lady, Shanti, and her family looked after us. We lapped up on local cuisine,
home cooked style. Her husband cleaned and was responsible for the upkeep of the place.Her 11 year old was one of the sweetest kids I've ever met.
Guiding me as I walked through the tea garden,lending his parents a hand as
they went about their chores through the day since it was weekend and he didn't
have school.
The family was very enterprising. I saw Shanti's husband walking a dapper looking German Shepherd
this morning. I figured it was the cottage owner's dog, but on inquiring found
out it was very much theirs. They had bought the dog with the plan to breed
pups and sell them. We got to see four of them cute little pups too. It was
plain to see that the parents were leaving no stones unturned to try and give
their children a better life. The father couldn't communicate with us because
he only spoke Tamil but Shanti was savvier, having worked at someone's place in
Bangalore earlier. She could speak Hindi and some English too.
Anyhow, in the
middle of all the work, they had also plucked 5 huge bags of tea leaves which I
saw them handing over to a van that seemed to be collecting sacks of tea leaves
from around the town to transfer to the factory. Shanti's daughter is studying
to be a nurse and her son Nitesh goes to a good local school and aspires to be
an artist. How sweet is that! I hope Shanti and her husband's dreams for their
children come true and I hope all their hard work pays off. I'm putting this on
paper so I remember them forever:)
 |
| Samrakshita Homestay,Kotagiri! |
 |
| One picture with some local runners and a bunch of Delhi based runners from Ethiopia! |
So, the plan was also to
run a half marathon in Kotagiri, the first edition of a race being organised by
local people with the theme of 'save the hills'. It was a no frill race, none
of the glamour of the more popular races, even the course was 3k short of the
half marathon distance.But I couldn't care less and had such a good time running those 18.5 odd
kilometres there. Running with no goals and times in mind, soaking in the clean
air and the beautiful route, running alone, managing to follow nothing but the
rhythm of my footsteps for those 2 hours or so... doing the one thing I
wholeheartedly enjoy.
Packed two days, with a
chunk of time spent in the travel itself, but so so worth it.
Well,I ought to be
taking more such trips definitely. Time be flying and I got to be doing more
and more and more of what makes me feel like I did on this ultra short trip...
free and happy!!
For now, it's time to
get home, hug the boy, tell him I love him and then get on with the 'business'
of living:)))
Amor fati:))
