During one of my recent visit to the hills, I chose to have a delayed breakfast on of the days and decided spend the morning enjoying the serene beauty of the place.
I glanced at the sky and saw the clouds floating and melting with each other, seemed so close, as if I could caress it with my bare fingers. There was a calmness in the environs, it was so silent that I could hear the grass grow and the pretty flowering creepers creating a whistling music when the breeze ruffled them. And here I was, sitting on the lush green lawn with a cuppa and the omnipotent kindle...reading a story about a Russian sleeper cell in US. An amazingly gripping novel, written by a first timer novelist, who happens to be an Ex-CIA agent. Hence it was extremely realistic with the right dosage of thrill. Ok, let me not digress here.
What is about the hills, that the moment you go there, you feel transported to another world and feel so much closer to heavens. When I was a kid, I used to always pick sea, when given a choice for trips. I never picked hills. With advancing years, I started becoming biased towards hills and picked serene places instead of the adventurous sea beaches. I somehow feel, the hills have the capacity to purify one's soul from the toxicity and monotony of the urbane world. The air is so pure up there, no wonder the britishers used to send their convalescing soldiers to hills. And that was the genesis of "Hill stations" in India. Actually, long before that, the Mughals also used to leverage the cool climate of Kashmir and other such places during the heartless Summers of India. And the britishers just followed that tradition. Whatever it is, we really owe big time to the hill stations of India, had it not been for them, there would be nothing to look forward to in our lives. Anyhow, I don't think, I have the right to complain much, as my city of abode, Bengaluru itself is blessed with a temperature of 23 degree centigrade most of the months. But you start to appreciate the value of such weather in places like Bhubaneswar and Kolkata where the heart is blistering and merciless. I have spend most of my life in Bhubaneswar, hence I have started to really value the weather of Bengaluru and at the hills nearby now after relocating here. You hardly ever sweat here, thats the beauty of this city.
Anyways, enough of my Saturday morning pearls of wisdom...
As I look outside the windows...the drizzle continues and I see a beautiful pattern emerging on the small fish pond outside...as a lone duck swims by in the quest of breakfast, I feel the urge for another cup of ginger tea...
