The Monsoon Drive

It was the second week of July, the month I was born. Out of the blue, I felt like going out of town to the serene western ghats on a monsoon drive. It was my long standing dream to go out on a drive to the region of western ghats during the wet monsoon season. I’d always heard from friends about how beautiful the Malnad region is during the rains. I’d seen photographs on the internet which concurred my friends views. Travelling to malnad during monsoon was definitely on my bucket list. My mind was set and I announced to my parents about my plan to go there. My mom was even more excited, she was longing to go to a temple there and without a moment’s hesitation she announced lets go, my dad who was listening to all this while reading the paper knew that “ Majority always wins”.  So there we were all set to travel.

Time was a constraint, we had to leave on a Sunday afternoon and return to Bangalore on Tuesday night. It would be two and a half days and about a 1000kms. Our plan was to go to sringeri and then head to Sirsi and back to Bangalore.

So D-day it was, Sunday afternoon, it was raining continuously in Bangalore.  My dad was skeptical about the trip. His skepticism became evident when he asked me “ Shall we leave tomorrow morning instead of today ?”. I was undeterred. My mind was set, nothing could turn me back. I announced let’s leave at 2.30. After that, I rested for half an hour. The clock indicated half past two that’s when I took the keys and put all the luggage in the boot and set sail to what would be an amazing two and a half days.

Our plan was to reach Belur by dusk. Crash there for the night, leave early morning to Sringeri, reach sringeri by 8.30. Then finish off the work at sringeri and then head to Sirsi and reach there by dusk again. Then head to Sonda the next morning and after the temple visit and lunch there, head back to Bangalore.

All along it rained mildly and intensely. For a city-dweller like me, cloaked in pollution and soot, embedded in the concrete jungle; nature had dressed itself in an amazing grandeur. It was ready to show me its finesse. The green cover of over the mountains allured me to stay there forever and the tantalizing romance between the clouds and the mountains was mesmerizing to watch. It was hard for me to concentrate on the road. Nature always distracted me. 

The highlight of the drive was the stretch between Belur and Sringeri. The drive was nothing short of breathtaking.  Throughout the drive green pastures just accompanied the road, it was as if the road and green pastures were romantic lovers who could never leave each other. The green pastures were undulating just like humps on a camel. The drive on those roads gave us a feeling of going on a roller-coaster, giving us the occasional adrenalin rush.  After a few miles of the road-pasture companionship, there came the mountains on one side. They were gargantuan. The slight drizzle added to the austerity of the already scenic environment. The clouds this time had decided to create a hazy atmosphere, blinding us of the view of the road. It was scary in a good way.  When this stretch ended, I was both happy and sad. Happy that my long standing dream of monsoon drive actually came true, sad cause this alluring journey had come to an end.  

All things come to an end, so did this journey. the journey was comparable to a mouthwatering chocolate sundae which had the right amount of ice cream in the form of scenic nature marinated with just the right amount of nuts and chocolate sauce in the form rain. 

In the midst of all this happiness, I just saw the trip meter which showed the digits 1000 in white against a blue background.  

This is Vattam signing off!