A perfect plan, that starts all wrong!

June 24, 2010, and we set off on a road trip.And it had all the thrill of adventure because it was not supposed to have been a road trip at all. Having misread the 15:25 on the ticket as 5:25 in the evening, we ended up arriving at the station a good 2 hours after the train's departure, much to our stunned shock and Winkie's soulful tears! A hurried conference followed, with alternative plans being considered and researched. The steep, last minute prices made flights for 8 people out of the question. Other trains were of no use because of the REGRET/WL sign against each one. The only choice, not being a choice at all, was by road and even that began with anxiety, since the first agency we called, had absolutely no vehicles available thanks to the Tamizh Semmozhi Manadu being held at the same time! But of course, all windows cannot possibly be closed at the same time, for how then can we breathe? That little window was another agency which did have a car available, a luxurious 8 seater, which made the 12 hour journey to Shencottah seem like a breeze! We went for it, but not before breaking our heads on how to route this trip under the alternative circumstances, what segment to drop and what to tweak! Finally, the gameplan was set and we needed to turn in early to be ready to set off at the crack of dawn!

The adventure was underway and I had prepped Winkie a bit the night before, as he was already quite broken up about the missed train. As we talked, he understood that he may be eating in strange places, and not have the cleanest toilets to use, and be on the road for hours on end, but it would all be one big adventure that we would remember and laugh about later!

Its funny how adventure works. When you claim something as one, adding that special tag to it, it does indeed take on that ephemeral form, where every turn is exciting, bringing something unexpected. And its amazing when you start praying for even the little things...a decent place to have breakfast, a reasonably clean toilet somewhere...and you end up with exactly that. A place that served some of the yummiest vadais I have ever tasted, as part of a scrumptious buffet style breakfast, and attached to the same place, were a set of clean, clean public bathrooms, the kind of which is a rarity in roadside India. What is even better is when the kids decide that they are not beneath using it, and do so to their heart's content, rather, their stomach's content. :D

What's even more amazing is what happens when you don't pray. Little things pop up on the roadside to enchant your desh starved heart! Endless groves of coconut trees that seem to touch the horizon, the ghat formations dotting the rural landscape, their sides lush with vegetation, brightly painted yellow bus stops every few km; the 3D Ganesha picture hanging from the windshield, which lets you spot 3 different profiles of the elephant God, as it turns tantalizingly this way and that; a softly sleeping child, his head cradled in the lap of his grandmother, his body supported atop the firm legs of his father, his feet touching my hands, as I scribble these exact details of his posture!

All the while, the mind paints its signs in the inner chatter with the head...some needless thoughts wandering through some of the dark, unlit corners, trapped with no means of escape. But it is not said lightly that the pen is mightier than the sword, for when I finally resort to the reprieve of opening my notebook to write, I have taken up the torch to shine a light in those dark corners and scare away the blackness of it all. My cheeks have softened and a smile is easy once more...and despite the constant motion of the car reducing my words to an undecipherable scrawl, I enjoy the beauty of release and write in a haze, to release the beauty that surrounds me outside the window and finally flowers within my heart!