Falling leaves, rising thoughts

Having grown up in the tropical regions of the world which has abundant sunshine throughout the year has always made me take the Sun and its benefits for granted. This was not until I reached the temperate climes of the United States - first time during the "summer" of 2008. And if you are wondering why the double quotes for summer, it is just because that is pretty much the kind of weather I have seen all around the year back in my home town in the Indian subcontinent.

The first season that endured after the "summer" was the most enchanting one and is probably the one time of the year I would look forward to if I were ever traveling to / staying in the temperate climes - yes, it would be the "fall". 

The first "introduction" that I have ever had to the fall was through a short story called "The Last Leaf".   That was school time. All I ever saw anywhere around in the otherwise hot town of Vellore, which even earned a sobriquet வெயிலூர் (veyyiloor) amongst the large populace (meaning, the town where the sun always keeps shining bright and the temperature keeps a steady 30s or 40s on the centigrade scale), were green bushes enjoying the photons or parched and dried grasses and palms which had given up on their fight with the Sun. This ensured that relating to this story very hard at that point in time. I mean, how or why would leaves start falling off from most of the trees (by the way, my knowledge in botany or geography was nothing to speak home about then!) ? Why is this lonely girl so deeply entrenched with the thought that the fall of the last leaf is also going to signal her demise? 

Well, these thoughts were running abound then in my mind. And it did keep running around in some corner of my mind even as late as 2008 - some solid 10 to 12 years since I had read that story for the first time. But experiencing the fall season changed all of that. I went to re-read the story one more time, the difference being, this time, I got some newer insights and truly appreciated the experience, the pain and the hope being depicted in it. 

Did the Green Days choose to sing that they should be woken up when September ends so that they can relish the beautiful fall? I wonder!! Alright - now, that was some incoherent rambling, I agree. So, what is the deal about the "rising thoughts" and "falling leaves" anyway? Here is what it is - as I look around the umpteen trees that are throwing up their cover and doing it so with a colourful glee, it looks to me as if they are the only ones who are ready to savour the flavours of the upcoming winter, when  every other fauna goes about trying to add more and more layers of additional protection to keep themselves warm. Is this a lesson in equanimity - to treat and enjoy the flavours of all seasons that is something of a larger message being passed by the flora to mankind? Ah, there goes another red one... falling near my window. Catch you folks later!

Visit to Dwarka - I

My mom was still in a state of disbelief when I informed her that I have made ALL arrangements for a trip to Dwarka for four days! And it was only as the journey unfolded that she came to know, that by 'ALL' arrangements, I had only meant the travel arrangements to and from Dwarka and noting else - more on that later.

This is was the itinerary i had to start with:

flight until Ahemedabad from Chennai on Saturday

Night bus from Ahemedabad to Dwarka on Saturday

Sunday and Monday - At Dwarka

Night bus from Dwarka to Ahemedabad on Monday

Monday flight back to Chennai

There were a lot of obvious gaps. To begin with, the flight was supposed to land on Ahemedabad at 6:30 PM. The night bus is supposed to be leaving at 10:30 PM. I didn't have any answers for what we might be doing at Ahemedabad for 4 hours! I mean, we cannot be having dinner for all of that time! I deeply trusted our notion of Indian Stretchable Time. But as Murphy would have it, the take off as well as the landing were SHARP..! I dodged my mom into spending some time around the airport and explaining how nice the new airport was and giving her comparisons of it with other airports I had visited. Post some time, which didn't cross even half an hour, she told she had enough of it and we should start heading out! Head out, yes! But where to? I mean, I didn't have any idea other than a name called Paavan Travels at Ellis Bridge Road Paldi from where we were supposed to board the bus! And that would be at 10:30 PM - still way way off..! I had no idea about the traffic or other situations in Ahemedabad to know how long it might take to reach there! But in all likelihood, it might not fill the entire time..! My mom is a bigger sportie than I. She suggested that we just get to that place and chart out remaining things later than roam around the airport and attract undue attention of the CISF security personnel..!

We head towards what we could see as a Gujarat tourism enquiry counter. There was only one person manning the counter. I pulled out my reservation slip for the bus and requested for directions. He was helpful enough and suggested I call up a chartered cab and provided me the number. The one thing that misfired was the information he gave regarding the rates for the cab. I called up the chartered cab only to find that it is MORE expensive than the prepaid cab at the airport terminal - running contrary to his claims of it being cheaper!

So, we moved towards the prepaid taxi counter. Had to part with Rs.350. The driver ushered us into his cab - a rather old but decent Indica. I don't recall how long he drove. I just intervened to ask about the name of the river whose bridge we were crossing and he responded 'Sabarmati Sir!'. As we closed into our destination, we realized 8 PM mark is still far off. I queried for some eateries around. The driver was kind enough and showed us the Paavan travels office and took us a little less than a half kilometer distance to stop by at a Gujarati restaurant. He left immediately without demanding or looking forward to any tips - rather strange! Talk of some conscious impression to leave behind with a tourist? I wonder!

Pakvan - that was the name of the restaurant. It had a small set of stairs in a circular fashion that led to its entrance. And we were welcomed by a bronze idol of Shri Ganesha. The restaurant in itself looked pretty simple and neat. There was just one board announcing the rate of the food - Rs.140 per head and nothing more! Seeing a restaurant with SO MUCH space and SO LITTLE people did raise some initial doubts on my mind, although I could see my mom already being guided to a seat by one of the cheerful waiters there. We did settle down at a convenient seat. And it is when the food got doled out that all of my doubts began to start melting away, much like how the Shrikhand served there melted in my mouth for the fifth time in a row, in less than a second of landing up on my plate..! Unlimited quantities of mouth watering  phulkas, pooris, dhoklas, samosas, aloo sabji, gobi sabji, dhal, rice, Shrikhand were being served..! The waiters were only too eager to cater to confirmed foodies like yours truly with a smile on their faces! The bill was also to be paid at the counter and there was a separate tip box too for dropping in your tips! And believe me, you wouldn't be able to ignore the tips portion and walk out, considering the kind of food and service that you get there! 

So,what do we do NEXT? It was just 8:30 PM and Paavan Travels was hardly a few minutes walk from there! My mom suggested that we just walk and wait at the office of Paavan travels. I agreed and we moved on. I handed the ticket slip to the person at the counter. He scribbled the bus number on the ticket and gave it back to me, his expression clearly suggesting we are way too early for the trip! We settled down at the narrow bench and it was still sweltering hot though sun had set an hour back. Yes, the sun was shining brightly as late as seven pm..!

The bus did arrive a little earlier than scheduled, though it landed up leaving later than the scheduled departure time. I have never traveled in a complete sleeper bus coach before. I assumed a Volvo A/C sleeper coach would automatically imply convenience. That was not to be! The coach had marked out spaces - what I would prefer to call 'sleeping boxes'. These were in no way meant for a six footer like me! My mom was thankfully, convenient though she said the aircon made it a very cold journey. Lesson learnt - added facilities don't imply an added convenience!! Anyway, the journey had begun. I had somehow managed to coil myself and slept through the whole night before waking up to seeing a few windmills on the coastal side at 7:00 am on Sunday.