But we did! And what an exciting chase it turned out to be. Starting with a one hour climb up the mountains, emerging into the green valley kissed by fleeting clouds and then a walk along the ridges of the mountains to reach our destination – the Bandaje Abbe falls. After which, we come to our little camping spot right next to a gushing stream.
I’m sure most of you would have stopped at Kamat’s Lokaruchi on the Bangalore Mysore highway near Ramanagaram at some point or the other. It’s a popular stop for travelers and especially at lunch time, when they serve traditional South Indian meals in plantain leafs. I was of course super excited since I don’t get to eat food served like this too often.
Loreto’s banner gaily floats In lands both East and West Loreto’s name each girl reveres. And holds it ever blest. – LC Anthem A view of the front of the school On March 19 we go around the lovely hill station of Shillong, where I spent most of my growing up years. I had attended Pine Mount and then later Loreto Convent from where I passed out. On a few earlier visit, I’d just had enough time to give the school a cursory glance while passing by. This time, I made it a point to re-visit Loreto again. Chit chat, basketball, school plays, yoga, throwball, volleyball, chapel, cathedral church, mrs beena ahmed, mother superior, sister john francis aka sister margaret, shared lunches, the four lovely girls I found to form the famous five (arpita, rhea, preeti, neelam), sports days, playing joseph’s sheep, gray sweaters with red borders, red ties, tagore house, pinafores, potato chaat outside the school gates, gumboots during the rain : a whole lot of memories come back on my walk down memory …
Well they say that love is in the air, never is it clear How to pull it close and make it stay If butterflies are free to fly, why do they fly away Leavin’ me to carry on and wonder why – “Always on your sideâ€, Sheryl Crowe and Sting We start our 15 day North East trip with a journey from Guwahati to Shillong on March 17. The Guwahati Shillong road holds many memories for me. As we make our way up from Jorabat, I remember the many occasions that my dad would drive us up and down this road in his much-loved Fiat. We used to look forward to our holidays with anticipation. It was an excuse to come down from the hills to the plains. It was a time for meetings, for fun, for games and for catching up with our brood of 15 or more cousins who would all converge from different locations at our ancestral home in Guwahati.
Coming back and settling down after a longish vacation is always the hardest part… Besides the usual hangover that accompanies the break, one has to get back to: : Dusting, sweeping and swabbing un-lived and extremely untidy just moved-in apartment : Clearing and answering backlog of emails : Get a grip on pending work (still pending, damn!) : Answer questions like – so how was it? (is there ever a suitable enough response to that question, I wonder?!) : Getting acclimatised to sitting in front of the machine after days without it (and hardly missing it!) : And lastly, getting used to the weather change! From the sub-zero temperatures at over 14,000 feet at Tawang and beyond, we come back to be greeted by the 35 degree plus heat in Bangalore! Sigh – do I really need to say anything at all? (*Note: Overloaded with photos and travel notes that will slowly unfold over the weeks to come!)