Turning 24 On A Journey.

When in doubt, do something that takes your mind off that doubt, like get away. Get away from that surrounding, those people, get out of that comfort which sometimes lets you take everything for granted. Easiest way to learn a few things by yourself is travel. Travel to places where you’ve not been before, where you don’t know if the climate will favour you, or locals will entertain you, or even where there will be a comfortable shed over to protect you. There is so much to learn! I didn't have any doubts but I needed to get some lessons. 

Forthcoming occasion of my birthday was a perfect time to ask my parents for something that I had never done before. A typical birthday till now from years has been somewhat like- friends calling at 12 pm, singing me the birthday song, a few coming over at the door with a cake, hugging me with a wish and some celebrations with family the following day. How about being away from all of them? Out of network? Inaccessible in a different topography? While last year I was crying in a hospital on my miserable health, this year I had to make it totally exciting. 

On my birthday I planned to take a trip away from home with my best-friends. Out of the initial 8 that were part of the plan, only 2 remained. While anyone would have thought of canning the plan, I was adamant on going away, come what may. While I would've liked to take a shorter, comfortable for everyone trip accommodating my best-friends, I did not want to compromise on the challenge it would be to not have anyone around. I am thankful that my best-friend showed some faith that we would have most fun out of it. The destination was thought in a way that people on Facebook timelines won’t be having a recap of watching the same pictures and captions. While everyone was chasing Northern India’s most sought places of wanderlust- Kashmir, Manali, Himachal and typically getting Leh’d, we chose on a humble South- The Nilgiris. Plan of action included Ooty, Coonoor, Madhumalai safari, Masinaguddi forests…

It all started off as adventurous, I missed my flight, I had to wait 6 hours and my phone battery was dying and I was alone. Maybe I’ll elaborate that in my next post. I wished myself Happy Birthday in advance and knew I was on a ride to more adventures further. Let’s get that rolling! The most unplanned trip had begun…

A rough itinerary was made only to be insulted on its content day after day. I had reached Ooty, with 9 hours delay. We checked into our rooms when people were busy in their midnight dreams. Things were fine the next day onward. Roughly fine.

The main highlight of the trip was the over-hyped occasion of a person’s life- Birthday. Here I am getting closer to the 'now eligible for marriage age' and everyone wants me to drink to that. The fuck not! Whatever, I chose Coonoor, since I had heard so much of its scenic stories, to roam on my birthday. Coonoor was supposed to entertain me throughout the day, unfortunately we were done with it in 3 hours! Anticipating the toy-train ride through the dense forests, we missed the train as well! Not our mistake really, no one informed us that it requires reservations and next train is 3 hours later. Happy Birthday Riddhi, once again. But well, we reached Coonoor and no doubt the place has exhilarating beauty to offer- huge expanses of tea gardens, misty air, cool climate, flowing waterfalls, exotic bungalows and of course the mountain views. But all that was done in just a few hours. What next?

The pretty pretty station

Teasing teascapes

The last thing I had expected was sitting in middle of the road and waiting for time to just pass by so we could just catch the train back. Like I said it got boring. But at the same time I was enjoying this to the fullest. Back home, I’d probably be fussing over what clothes to wear for the evening party. Here, no one knew it was my birthday, there was no pressure to feel good about it. I was out of network for quite a while, smartly missing out on all the ‘important calls.’ It did not feel like my birthday, there was no birthday cake, no icing on my face, no ear-to-ear smiles, just whiling away my time on the tar road, leading where we don’t know. Getting occasional stares from the locals who’d be wondering if we were lost, some old lady following us for money, some trying to make a conversation in language we couldn’t fathom. It was all so new, so beautiful, so what I needed.

The toy-train arrived, we sat in like excited kids and fought for window seats. The journey back was so pleasant. In a typical hill station, things shut down really fast, here too by 9.30 pm, darkness took over. We were unsure if we will get our dinner in time. But we walked along, found the best restaurant in Ooty and filled our stomachs with authentic South Indian cuisines. Happy Birthday to Me, once again! Back to our room by 9.30, my eyes were shutting by 9.45 pm. On the eve of my 24^th birthday, I slept off by 10 pm! With maximum just 6-7 calls throughout the day, seen one of the most beautiful places of India, and to then adjusting on a broken bed in a mediocre hotel, I closed my eyes to sleep. This day did not feel like a birthday celebration, but it added more value in itself. Meanwhile, on Facebook my friends had been putting up the best of captions with my photos wishing me with all their heart. Here I was, satiating my desire to be away from all that. It was about the moment you cannot explain, missing home but loving being away, wanting to meet friends but hoping to make new on the way.

Also, this would be incomplete without mentioning the group of 6 young guys we met in our train compartment, didn’t understand their language, but screamed in same tempo in every tunnel en-route. And we had a weird interaction once we got down and headed separate ways- one of them whistled, we turned, they waved, we ignored. Hahaha! Happy Happies Riddhi.

Feeling the good blues