maa malakalkappuraththu ......marthaka...

The walk further up the hill was going to be a real tough ask. By the time the tail of the group clambered up to the mid way point the lead guys had had a good rest and before the rest could take a deep breath, the guys were off again...and giving them competition were a set of Kannadigas singing some song, i think from an upendra movie...
The dense growth had given way to more sparse but larger tress, basically huge eucalyptus and fir trees. The mist had thickened and the climb now brought back memories of that great walk up dodabetta..3rd Sem tour to ooty..when the class really came alive...
The indian idea of a great tourist spot is one that has a children's park..really wonder what use children were going to have for a park...Swings, Slides and for god's sake....SEE-SAWs....but the locals who had raced ahead were putting them to good use and their shrieks were kind of invigorating in the cold..Really wanted to have a go....but fear of the collective chori of 23 ppl, made me decide against


Everyone had almost given up hope of reaching the top, when out of the blue, a stretch of road in front of us and powerful headlamps from a scorpio peering thru,
Turn right ...viola...a tea shop, masala Kappalandis and then hold ur breath an icecream shop/...yes an icecream shop and we knew we had arrived. But strangely now that the climb was over no one seemed that tired after all.
It really was a sight to behold...a vast expanse of barren rock..a beautiful temple made of granite and the sky as though kneeling down and trying to kiss the earth.

A small path led along the temple wall was promising even more spectacular sights. A few steps later nothin but us and the open sky. and in steps Paul...
that picture of him is still frozen in my memory..standing in front of a few of us..pointing into the mist and the rocks and going "ithanu Nandi hilla...ividinnu nokkiyal thazhe vann kokkayanu..nalla kaattannu"
and we were like ...."mmmmm....seri"..but it was not that bad after all..in fact it was way beyond my expectations, going by Paul's initial description..later he did say though.." the mist saved the day..allengil ithu thani oooooooojvalamaayene".
a little grass totally open to the sky and i saw what i believe is the definition of ethereal, here was another chance for my camera to redeem itself..so canon big finder..here u go again.. and thankfully the elements combined perfectly if i can say so and the best picture of the lot happened


This picture summed up what this trip kind of meant for me. Leave all ur troubles behind and enjoy the moment-get togethor, friends, chori.