Of monsoon, love and freedom (Chapter 3)

28^th May : Compelling Coimbatore

Our weekends away from the city were mostly planned on Thursday evenings when we would book bus tickets for Friday nights. So, the last weekend of May was programmed for Coimbatore 190 kms east crossing the ghats bundled up with Ooty in Tamilnadu further 80 kms from there. Although, we left Calicut at around 12:30 AM from Palayam bus stand, late by an hour and a half, the driver was fast and furious enough to ride us to our destination half an hour before time at 5 AM. Having no option left but to book the corner seats of the last row with the bus racing at such an extreme speed left me sleepless throughout the way praying for my life!

In the early Saturday morning stuffed up standing all the way in a bus chock-a-blocked with people, we proceeded to the Isha Yoga center situated 25 kms on the outskirts of Coimbatore. We were there at a very suitable time for the weather turned unforgiving later in the day. This headquarters of Isha foundation is set in the foothills of Velliangiri mountains, a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere reserve.

The enormous 112 ft statue of Adiyogi, the source of yoga represents “the 112 ways to attain wellbeing and moksha as mentioned in the yogic culture.” Encircled by mountains all around, this embodiment of Adiyogi leaves an unforgettable imprint in your consciousness.

The center provides accommodation to those who wish to join the Isha Yoga program and/or serve as volunteers in managing the activities all over the place. Combining sacred power with aesthetics, there are some other sanctified spaces around the base. The Theerthakundas – the Suryakunda for men and Chandrakunda for women are energized waterbodies. Though we didn’t ourselves go for a dip then, I’ve read that thousands of visitors are testimony to the tremendous healing power of the waters.

(Source : Sannidhi.net)

The Dhyanalinga is a special meditative space with the linga at the center of a domed hall of pure energy. You’re allowed to meditate for at least 15 minutes and let yourself be absorbed in the divine power. Those few minutes are indeed sufficient to experience a state of deep meditativeness. It does generate a vibrational effect in your body and mind.

पीस दो अस्तित्व मेरा

और कर दो चूरा चूरा

पूर्ण होने दो मुझे और

होने दो अब पूरा पूरा

I bought a replica of the Adiyogi statue and Sadguru’s book titled Inner Engineering (being utterly aware of the fact that I’ll never read it) from the store, both currently placed on my bookshelf. And, those were the only souvenirs I brought back from the whole trip. It’s worth appreciating how none of this is in anyway linked to religion and is aimed solemnly at the spiritual awakening and liberation of the self.

Accumulating all the sublime blessings from this place, we reached Coimbatore city around 3 PM in the harsh afternoon. We went from one travel agency to another intending to depart for Ooty that very day. After having finally booked a cab service and waiting for another 2 hours for the driver who was believed to be stuck somewhere in traffic, we felt cheated and dismayed. What followed was a heated argument with the owner and the compulsion to spend the night in Coimbatore out of no choice. Things went further south when we were caught up in the OYO scam of booking hotels, reaching there and finding them not accepting bookings from the platform any more. Sundays marks special celebrations in Isha Yoga center and the city floods with visitors and hotels with guests. After contacting a dozen hotels, we finally stumbled upon a decent one.

 Owing to all the weariness of the whole day, I just wanted to have a humble typical dal-chawal-roti-sabzi dinner while my comrade contradicted that all this suffering shouldn’t let us want to forget the day and insisted on grabbing drinks instead. I was reluctant for a while but ultimately had to give up on his stubbornness. After all, a stubborn ass needs a stubborn-er driver. Post three brimful jars of beer, I got so high that I forgot my phone in the bar. Barely able to walk straight, Thakur has to go fetch my phone while being forced by the barman to offer him a tip! All thanks to my friend, that Saturday will never slip away from my memory.

If there was anything that made the whole show worth rewinding time and again, it’s because of episodes like these full of fun and life.

We were to be picked up by the cab at 7 AM sharp and fortunately, I woke up without any alarm at 4:30 the next morning.

29^th May : Ostentatious Ooty

Aerials of Mussoorie came back to my reminiscence while we ascended our way up the hill station. The eyes and mouth drew three Os in the face when we took a halt to capture the breathtaking gradients outspread with tea plantations. Somewhere, our driver pointed out to us a location where certain scene of Maine Pyaar kiya was shot. It was cheerfully sunny all along the way setting the perfect weather for exploration. 

But how could the rain not cease chasing us? So, even before we could reach our first site – the Government Botanical Garden, it started raining cats and dogs. We got our shoes mercilessly drenched and had to wander all over Ooty in them. 

Although the hefty downpour dwindled the impressive topography of the garden by a considerable amount, we were nevertheless soaked in the mesmerizing charm of the place. All over its well maintained and lush vivid realm, the garden has over a thousand species, including exotic and indigenous, of plants, shrubs, ferns, trees et cetera.  

The Benchmark tea factory was the only spot where we tasted good tea all during our stay in south India then! One can see a clear display of the process of tea making by machines as well as learn the history of tea in India. Moving on, the chocolate factory offers a live display of chocolate preparation and serves you with the delight of home-made chocolates thereafter. We even grabbed ourselves a few authentic varieties.

9 kms from Ooty lying at the junction of the western and eastern ghats is the Doddabetta, the highest peak in the Nilgiri mountains. The summit presents a full wide-angle view of Ooty town and other peaks at different angles.

Following the way back to Coimbatore, I joined a group VC with my cousins who were envious of the exciting life I was living far from home. I would have traded this for nothing, even one of my dear mama’s wedding. During his reception, my cousins would carry a scaled-down version of me marking my single appearance via video call for the photoshoot.

Anyways, we chased down our almost missed bus to Kozhikode at 11 PM. And though our stomachs were empty, our hearts were plentiful of emotions.

It’s not everyday that you get to role play impromptu in acts of such unpredictable moments when you feel thrilled. That’s why the experiences we went through then seemed almost like once in a lifetime. All these instances kept adding like a jigsaw puzzle that forms a great picture in the end.