A Summer Spring (travelogue)

The Third One

The wind blew independently in to the warmth of my body. It weakened my strength to hold on to the cold atmosphere. Ootty is the place for thick skinned people. More like northern and less like Eskimos. We walked from the botanical garden back to where we landed in the first place. I had to feel everything around me, to know about stuff. Walking down the road, we noticed a mosque near the junction of it. We entered and saw the large marbled walls and pillars constructed boldly. Rich calligraphy on every piece of marble, security cameras on every corner, huge tank of water for ablution, and there was many electric sockets freely left on several walls. We looked at each other like two morons for our ruthless manner on spending much money on renting a room. We only had to charge our batteries from here. The tension rose when I looked inside my wallet. We had to leave soon before this goes down. But, a backup plan would be great. The strangers staring like wild cats won't help the situation.

The thought that I had three hundred rupees in my account gave a slight hope of getting back home safely. But, we haven't had much of an experience coming over here after all. I must find something or someone to create an adventure or a good time out of anyway. Ejaz waited for me outside an ATM vestibule. I wished if it could lend me more money than I entered. It didn't.

The next thing I saw was a huge crowd outside the bust stand celebrating something not familiar to my concept. Tamil Nadu's CM has got bail from High Court. The whole state was actually honouring the news with fire crackers and howls. We didn't stand there much due to the cops and the joyous crowd. Then we decided to go to the mountain rail-ride. He insisted while I looked inside my wallet. I doubted if I would come back here again someday and enjoy it to the fullest. So, whatever may happen next, we walked towards the railway station.

There were several other people, mostly foreigners waiting to board the train. I saw the colourful train decorated with red, yellow and white. The engine was also funny and old looking. I looked all over the station while Ejaz waited in the line for tickets. There was a lady standing beside one of the pillars. Why don't I go and talk to her? I thought. So I went slowly walking around and stood near her. She was gorgeous and foreign. I wanted to talk to her. But, something kept freezing me backwards.

'Hi, I'm Anes. What's your name?' She turned to my side and looked at me. She smiled and shook my hand.

'Caroline. How are you?'

'Good. Where are you from?' She didn't look like she was fluent in English. I had to ask that anyway.

'Germany. And you?'

'I'm from around here. Do you know Kerala?'

'Yeah, I know. We were there a week ago'

'Who's with you?'

'My fiancé and his parents, over there' she pointed me to the direction where an old couple were talking to a young handsome man. I didn't want to know his name. There was no point in asking her that.

'I see. You guys don't have kids?' The first dumbest question that arose in my mind was that. I regretted that later.

'No, we're not thinking about it right now' She smiled.

'Then how is your travel going on now? Enjoying India?'

'Yeah, it is really amazing all around these places, different people, their cultures and places are all awesome'

I smiled and looked at Ejaz. He was stunned by my new friend, Caroline. He had the tickets in his hand while he walked towards us.

'This is my friend, Ejaz' 'Hi.' 'We're just so excited to go on that train. You're coming too, right?' Ejaz shyly smiled.

'Yeah, sure'

'Nice meeting you' I let a smile and left her.

'Dude, what was that all about?' Ejaz wasn't over this unexpected chat with Caroline.

'It's just that, I want to talk to a foreigner. I want to know how it feels. And it feels great'

We boarded the train at the last compartment. The fibre glass doors and tiny seats felt like a wonderland adventure trip. There were no seats for us though.

Thank you for reading. Please leave your valuable feed backs .