Adventures Galore!

The jungle home was truly a delightful place to spend a couple of days in. Although the cottage we stayed in is nothing to write home about, we couldn't have asked for a better place, so close to nature! Ducks, hens, pigeons, turkeys, and the like, had a free run of the place, some even stopping to put their inquisitive beaks into our plates of food! There was a continuous cackle resonating around the whole place, with the bad tempered turkey letting out a horrible shriek quite occasionally!

Our first activity was a nice walk through some lovely fields, slipping and skidding on the slippery mud that made the narrow pathway. The intermittently falling rain, sometimes just a pitter patter, sometimes a torrent, made it all the more fun! After a long, winding path, we soon reached a wooden ladder leading to a wooden structure atop a tree, akin to a tree house. We all climbed up and settled down into the sheltered confines of that little resting place. With a steady rain falling, the place was idyllic in its setting. That's also where, I guess, a small, friendly gang of leeches decided to befriend a few lucky ones from our group of eight! As we'd made our way down the rickety ladder and set off on our way back, I noticed this little black fella, clinging on to the skin of my ankle with all the might it could muster, leaving me with no choice but to unceremoniously pluck it right off my poor, bleeding skin!

Next, we turned up all bright and chirpy to embark upon a safari. The drive through the jungle (in a van), was quite exciting, what with us spotting animals at regular intervals! Unfortunately, no big cats for me this time! Soon after the safari, we made our way to an elephant farm, where we saw a number of these big ones being given a nice scrub. To me it looked like their skin was being rubbed raw and ripped right off, but they sure did seem to enjoy it tremendously!

The highlight of the trip was most definitely the night safari. Done over the course of two hours or so, it was an experience in itself! Unfortunately, cameras are a big no no because the flash is an irritant to the animals, and we didn't want any angry animals on our trail now, did we!?! Not that it made any difference to appease one angry elephant, but more on that in the subsequent lines! As we moved through the dark forest with as minimal light and sound as possible, we spotted some beautiful deer, a majestic sambar, huge elephants, and a herd of humungous bison. We had one camera with us and we did manage to click a few snaps, but only of the mild mannered deer. However, it was truly a wonder to see the eyes of the animals shining in the dark! I've never seen anything like it ever before! We were travelling in a jeep and the driver (doubling up as the guide too) of the vehicle was quite careful not to tick off any of the animals we encountered. Nevertheless, we hadn't taken into account that the headlights of the jeep would choose just that opportune time of being inside a dark jungle, to stop working completely! With no choice left, we started to drive in the dark, our only sources of light being the moon when its light managed to get through the trees and the few torches that we'd carried! Before we knew it, we were almost face to face with a tusker! With it standing almost on the narrow road, the guide spotted its silhouette and brought the vehicle to a halt. The elephant was so close to us that he could have just tipped us right over with his giant of a trunk! We had all just finished admiring its beauty and the driver had just stealthily started the vehicle again, when the huge animal lumbered forward with a deafening trumpeting roar! Our hearts in our mouths, our jeep raced forward, with the tusker following us for a few feet. He soon gave up his chase as our jeep made way in the almost pitch darkness! It was truly an experience we'll never forget, the image definitely etched in our memories forever!

That's quite a long rant for a day! More on the trip later!

P.S. The night shots and the shot of the bird pecking the leftover food were taken by 2 of my friends.

First Look

On our way to the jungle home, we stopped at this place that I can only describe as heavenly! Nestled atop a hill, the place is absolutely ethereal in its beauty! A small temple adorns the top of the hill, its gate looking almost like a passage to eternity! When we reached the place, there was a slight drizzle, coupled with a powerful and noisy wind. The wind almost drowned out our voices, while the air, thick and heavy with mist, made it almost impossible to see beyond a few yards! However, whenever the mist did clear for a few seconds at a time, the view that unfolded before our eyes was breathtaking, each time it happened! The slight drizzle soon turned into a lashing, cold rain! The even further drop in temperature just made the whole experience even more treasured! We were there for almost two hours, with no one wanting to leave such a place of pristine beauty!

P.S. Coming up next: Leech bites, a night safari, dysfunctional headlights, a tree house, lush, green fields, and the icing on the cake, an enraged elephant!

In the Wild...

I'm off to a jungle lodge tonight, with a group of friends from work.
I should be back in a couple of days; of course, laden with stories and pictures!

Have a good weekend, all of you!

Play Along!

I've been tagged by a friend to use the first letter of my name to answer each question given below.

For anyone wanting to play, here are the rules of the meme: All places, names, and the like must be real ones. One's own name cannot be used as the answer to any question.

1. Famous Singer: Pink
2. Four letter word: Pile
3. Street: Priory Lane
4. Color: Pink
5. Gifts/Presents: Pen
6. Vehicle: Peugeot
7. Things in Souvenir Shop: Penknives
8. Boy Name: Paul
9. Girl Name: Priti
10. Movie Title: Pearl Harbor
11. Drink: Pina Colada
12. Occupation: Poltergeist
13. Celebrity: Penélope Cruz
14. Magazine: People
15. U.S. City: Pittsburgh
16. Pro Sports: Pinball (:-D)
17. Fruit: Peach
18. Reason For Being Late To Work: Poltergeising *grin*
19. Something You Throw Away: Packets
20. Something You Shout: Please keep out of my room!
21. Cartoon Character: Popeye

My Time Is Not Your Time!

What is it with time and other people not respecting it, unless it's their own?!? I mean, why give a time if you have absolutely no intention of keeping it? Of course, I understand that sometimes really urgent things may come up at the last minute, prompting a person to run late for an appointment. However, doesn't making an appointment also signify that nothing else will be allowed to take priority at the said time? Emergencies are a different ball game altogether and I'm not taking them into count here. What I'm harried about is people giving priorities to things that can be done after the appointment made previously has been kept! Also, not everything is an emergency! In fact, the only ones I can think of are situations threatening one's own or some else's life, or even job/relationship threatening situations. Most other things will not warrant a holocaust if not dealt with for a bit!

I guess meetings not starting on time and people not showing up on time when a rendezvous has been planned, are things that many people have started taking for granted. Not me, though. When I land up for an appointment bang on time, I expect the others to be on the dot too! I mean, what can ever explain my last house owner making me and my dad, a senior citizen, wait for his Highness to arrive, for almost an hour, and that too bearing a cheque that is rightfully mine?!? All this after having made an error on the previous cheque that he gave me, and the bank declaring in no uncertain terms that it will reject the cheque! The cheque was for the deposit that we had made when we'd moved in (it's a norm here), and the error he'd made was of not writing the amount clearly. When I'd pointed this out to A and he'd shown it to the house owner, the guy just promptly signed his initials above the error, claiming that that was sufficient! The bank, of course, refused to accept just the initials! After all this, he makes me wait for an hour before he lands up at the decided place with a new cheque! I don't swear, but if I did, here's what it'd look like: !@#$%^&*()

*grin*

I may be laughing (grinning?) it off now, but every time I'm made to wait because the other person is late for an appointment, I'm hopping mad! Is it too much to except people to be on time, especially considering it's often mutually decided upon, or even set by the other person?!?

Yay!

So, we've moved! Yay, I'm happy! Somehow, the new place seems to exude more cheer, joy and warmth! Maybe it's just me, but I like the new place a whole lot better than the old one. Almost all the things have been unpacked, except a couple bags (but naturally, holding my clothes), for the contents of which, I need to conjure up some space first! *grin*

Of course, the normal travails of moving to a new place have already set in. The telephone and Internet are still awaiting connection, a talk with my parents (who came down to help with the shifting, et al) today has left me with a suspicion that the washing machine has decided to unceremoniously conk off at this very opportune time, as also some other scattered knick knacks need to be set straight. Oh well! All in good time! For now, it's just "yay, the moving part has been successfully accomplished!"

A New Beginning...

Setting out again,
So beckons a new abode,
I have just a single prayer,
Of happiness, again,
Let there be an overload,
As I painstakingly build my lair!
Every corner, each nook,
Of full comfort, a haven,
Is what I fervently hope,
As prized as a precious book,
As treasured as a lovely raven,
With not a moment to mope!

Here's to a new start!

Back

I'm back from weddings and wedding halls and a roomful of relatives, and of course, meeting some very dear friends. It's amazing how much has happened over the last few years. Weddings and moves to different cities/places galore, and now babies too! Anyway, of the two weddings that I attended, one, of course, was our very own Miss Iyer's sister's wedding. I'm sure she'll get down to posting about that, so I won't dwell too much on it right now. It'll suffice to say that all us friends had a rollicking time that day! The bride, of course, looked ravishing and completely blissful! Miss Iyer, do post some pictures!

It's moving day this Saturday. A will be here over the weekend (like I mentioned in a previous post, he's away for some 2 months, and I'd rather not talk about that).

I have quite a bit of mails and other stuff to catch up with, but I hope to get to regular blogging from tomorrow.

Have a nice day, folks!