Mountains

As much as the Sea fascinates me, the mountains also do. So invariably I land up with either of these in my holidays. But mountains are different, one to the other. The only similarity seems to be that they all are tall. But for that starting from the shapes, color, vegetation each mountain stands out on its own unlike the sea. The Sea has a banality that way.

The sight of small lights dotting the plains in the night gives me a feeling of being on top figuratively and literally. Yesterday we could catch a road and moving vehicles from where we stood. It was simply awesome to see light after light moving whilst you stand tall and survey what happens below you.

Luckily in India I am yet to bump on to a rocky mountain. They maybe a bore, to think of it! But the ones that I had been are thought provoking as much as the sheer beauty they hold. I keep wondering about the guys who found the place, the guys who laid the roads, and the architecture of ground floors and first floors merging, the guys who explored the whole mountain to discover breathtaking sights, the sloppy plantation, the taste of the fresh vegetables, the super hot dishes while smoking, becoming eatable in a second and the huge name boards of factories written in on a tin roof.

Apparently Arthur C Clarke made Nuwara Eliya his home at Sri Lanka. I can understand why one would do it. I have always dreamt of owning a house at Kodaikanal and have a laidback life. But having said that the mountains fascinate me because of this individuality, I miss the smell of Kodai. The moment we climb up, the fragrance of eucalyptus permeates the air. And it is always there till we are around and I have this sense of melancholy when eucalyptus fades and the something else takes over, when I leave that place. Come to think of it, I should make a trip to Kodai soon. And breathe eucalyptus and maybe relive my younger days!!!