Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A TRIP LONG OVERDUE- A SUNDAY WELL SPENT


Each one of us have dreams and imagine trying to fulfill them one by one, the sense of satisfaction one gets is beyond any other thing in the world. I have wanted to take this road trip for a very long time and it was the biggest relief when my dream actually fructified. It was a Sunday well spent. Packed my bags and set off in true roadies style, eight of us on four bikes. The only regret was that I did not know the two things that were essential on a road trip. I don’t know how to swim or ride a bike but those are dreams for later on when someone patient would actually teach me those skills. Moving on, as we kept travelling, the sun slowly rose over our heads.

Believe me, the sight of a night sky studded with stars slowly changing its hue to a rosy pink, with the sun as an orange topping over this delicious canvas, is something that would inspire me forever. A rising sun is the sign of hope and good things to come in the future. 120kmph was the normal speed and within a span of one hour we covered 70 km. The going was slow but where is the hurry? The world may move on as it pleases on the highway. We took our breaks, just soaking in the sights and sounds of fresh country green with rocks scattered around as if it were all the design of a very talented artist.

With the progressing day and the rising heat, the landscape changed, giving way to valleys and forests, dried up as a result of the approaching summer. It changed my perspective about the concept of beauty. Beauty need not always be apparent on the face. Beauty lies in the stark naked rocks with no cover from the sun; it lies in the dusty roads wherein the haze obscures a reality and gives us the sense of being transported to a world beyond ours; the dry scrubs of forests making us a behold a new shade of summer; the small rivulets reminding us of the paradise within. Who said that summer is not beautiful? That it is colorless or lifeless? Cringe and cry all you want with the heat but interpreting the words of my favorite author, the tongues of fire that ravages you externally soon becomes a part of you and you become the fire, after all it is about conquering a threshold of pain.

With this grand realization in mind we move on, the speed was increasing, the desperation to near the destination gaining vantage. And here we are within the center of earth. As if a huge bowl of earth was scraped from within the core of this planet. This is me describing the heat. But the wonders of wonders!! Instead of the molten lava flowing in the bowels of the earth, we found sweet cold water. Bursting from an unknown source, drenching us with a fulfillment of all the promises we made to ourselves. It was the most amazing experience ever. A bottle of beer in hand and a happy song on the lips, we jumped into the water and took to it like a fish. Exploring greater reaches of the falls, we conquered our fears step by step. Soon the heat of the rocks just added to the pleasure we got from the cooling bandage called water.

It was indeed with regret that we packed our bags and made our way back home from the Kuntala Falls, 270 km from Secunderabad. I would never forget the newness of this adventure, the hardships suffered and the bonds of friendship made, etched forever in my memory, thank you guys.

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