Misty Ooty

It was time for another weekend getaway for us. And this time we chose Ooty. This place is suituated in TamilNadu and is close to Bangalore. It is a famous hillstation. The old timers say that the place is commercialised, but for a first timer like me, I was excited to visit it. The excitement was more because we had decided to drive ourselves all the way till there, and this was my first long drive with Ravi! The plan was neat and covered all the important "places to visit" in and around Ooty.


Day one, we started our journey at 7.00 am from Bangalore, though we intended to start early, this was the latest we could do :-) The drive upto Mysore is not new for us, as we visit our home in Mysore very often. As we were reaching Bandipur reserve forest (the drive is through this strech), we saw an elephant in front of us. It appeared as if it was blocking the road. The road was very narrow and we almost thought it was right in the middle of the road. This experience was breathtaking and as we were wondering what to do next, we observed that the elephant was just beside the road and was chained to a nearby tree. We were both releived and shocked to see it. Shocked because the animal was chained in a reserve forest.

After the hair-raising elephant episode, we reached the winding roads leading to the town of OOty. The first glimpse of the winding roads was awesome and breathtaking. It was the month of October and there were rains. Everywhere there was green and serenity. We checked into a hotel that was booked earlier, in the city. The room was cosy and had a view of the Nilgiris. It was beautiful.

After lunch, and a small nap (we were holidaying afteral!) we went to the botanical gardens in the evening. There were groups of school and college kids. It was pretty crowded. The gardens are the regular ones we are used to back in Bangalore, (our own Lalbagh). Nevertheless, it was romantic to walk the garden hand in hand with Ravi ;-)


On day two, we went to Dodda Betta. This is a small hillock from where the view of Nilgiris and the Ooty town is beautiful. The matchbox sized houses and cars are out-of-the-picture-book scene. It was windy and cool. There were horseback rides to explore, but we gave it a pass and continued downhill. On the way back we visited a tea factory. One of the employee there (or the guide!) showed us the processing of tea leaves to tea powder and also gave us a small cup of tea to taste! We bought some fresh packets of flavoured tea to distribute it to family and friends.

Next on the plan was to drive to Coonor, this is another small pictureque town 20 KMs from Ooty. There is a slow train that runs from Ooty to Coonor, which goes through the hills and tea plantations. But it is generally crowded and the frequency is less. The drive through road is also down the winding roads and the tea plantations, so it was worth missing the slow train ride. There are numerous 'spots' on the way, that you can stop by to see the clouds and mist drift away from the hills. The view is beautiful!Coonor also has a garden, but this was calm and was almost empty. There was a small boat ride that the kids were enjoying. The garden is wide spread acroos a hill....everything here is either uphill or downhill, even the roads to reach the garden within Coonor, was like the one on the ghats! I liked this relatively small garden in Coonor than the one at Ooty.
By now we were feeling hungry and wanted to eat something. At first, we did not find any good place to eat. So we decided to return to our hotel in Ooty to eat. Soon we realised that it would be too late to resist hunger. We went on a hunt to serach a good place to eat. This was very challenging, because we did not find any restuarant to eat....all we saw were the roadside shops that were either shabby or eateries that had a bar attached. We went back to the garden area and luckily found a small place that was serving some rotis and sabzi. This was no great but at least looked convincing!

After a quick nap in our hotel room back in Ooty, we headed to the Ooty lake. I was looking forward for a romantic row/peddle boat ride experience. It was worth it! The lake was calm and serene. I felt the time froze and enjoyed the stillness in it. Recollecting it still gives me a great feeling and a high!!!!Lastly, we shopped for the famous home made chocolates and headed back to the hotel room.


Day three was packing bags. On the way back, we visited the GopalaSwamy Betta devasthana near Mysore. This temple is also on a hillock. It is not a crowded place, but is old and hence popular. After the drashana, we spent some time clicking pictures of the surrounding scenery. This place is always misty and cool. When the wind blows the layer of mist clears and reveals a beautiful sight of hills surrounding the place! This was the best way to end the trip, with memories of mist covered hills and greenery.

Need a pushing......

You need a pushing I heard myself saying. From a couple of days, I was trying very hard to wake up early in the morning, but I failed everyday. This is when my inner self reminded me of those days when my mom was always on me, for not doing something or the other.
I always felt I was nagged around, always asked for why, what etc. I hated it then and felt I was not left alone, independent and free. I was a very independent person, but for this.
Now that i am married and cant live with mom always, I really really miss her nagging and follow-up. I was always on-toes and up to date when I lived with her. Now only I know how I am, and just about manage to finish up chores!

Many people would agree that, things are best done when followed-up or nagged at.
I am re-thinking if I am a really lazy person, but the truth is that, sometimes you need a pushing from someone who knows whats best for you. It becomes important sometimes. And mom's nagging never is a nagging, its more of a careful check on the daughter's whereabouts!

Mom, give me a pushing...................

TZP

I got to watch Aamir Khan's directorial debut Taare Zameen Par. I was waiting to watch the movie, specially after reading the review and also watching the trailers on the television.
One more inspiration to watch this movie was the participation of the star in one of the television talk shows about dyslexic kids. As the movie deals with this hindrance, it was apt for the star to appear in the show and promote awareness about the disease. Unlike the other stars who appear on various reality shows, this star believes to do everything differently!

I almost liked everything in this movie. The boy is so real, that you feel as if he is himself going through all the ordeal. There are no unnecessary emotions and high melodrama about the kid's disorder when the parents learn about it. This makes it easy to watch and relate to the situation shown. The dialogues are also simple and sound real for a subject relating to kids' problems.

This movie has done a wonderful job of creating awareness about this disorder and its cure. When the Art teacher Nibukh talks about great sceintists, authors and famous personalities who were successful in their field without being very good at academics; it boosts the dyslexic kid to start attempting what he is best at.
The movie is not a masala entertainer but an eye opener to many people.