Manifested, Planned, Destined ~Part 2~

  MY  WORLD..........

Manifested, Planned, Destined

Part 2

We were asked to take our luggage from Belt 2. Very easily our luggage was loaded into the the trolley. We freshened up a bit and went near the exit, where a crowd of taxi drivers, family members and drivers awaited the arrival of someone or the else. The Coimbatore airport was smaller in size, lower in standard and less crowded than Mumbai's airport.

          We passed through the crowd, reading the boards like which read names of who had come for whom. We searched for Prabhakaran, our driver.

          Then, suddenly an old but smiling face walked up to us and asked my father-"Mr.Nozzer?" My dad promptly replied yes and we were off to De Rock Jungle Living, Coonoor, owned by Mr.Charles. Prabhakaran uncle asked us different questions about how is Mumbai and how was our flight. I was seated besides Prabhakaran uncle. I usually sit behind and let my dad sit ahead, however, I felt more comfortable ahead. In about thirty minutes, we had covered quite a distance. We were very hungry because, since morning, we had eaten nothing except the sandwiches. We wanted to try something local and not the usual pavbhajis and Chinese. Prabhakaran told us he knew exactly the restaurant we wanted. He parked his car near a South Indian nook called "Lalithas". And mind you, it was really a South Indian nook.

          The food was served on Banana leaves. My brother's first instance was Idli. In Mumbai, Idli is eaten anytime, breakfast, lunch and dinner. But there, it is importantly a breakfast item. We ordered for Rawa dosa, Masala dosa, Sada dosa, and Menduwada and filter coffee. All these came in sumptuous quantities. The filter coffee was the best of all. It was perfectly made and was the best coffee I have ever had. The sambar was piping hot. The coconut chatni blended perfectly with the masala dosa. If by any chance Lalithas comes in your way while going to Metupalayam or anywhere, do not miss it.

          From Lalithas, we took 45 minutes to reach Metupalayam. The road had tall beetlenut trees on both sides. Metupalayam onwards, the road was mountainous. However, we had a very comfortable journey. Prabhakaran drove very safely and slowly. The other vehicles too, drove with discipline. Rules weren't written anywhere, but were followed. In Mumbai, rules are written everywhere, but hardly followed. There were small settlements at each 5 kilometres, so, we did not feel deserted at any point of time. The other drivers drove slowly, with caution and absolute care. The cold began to seep into our bodies, as we went higher. We encountered several monkeys on our way, uphill. They were cute and absorbed in their own life. Some of them just stared at the advancing traffic (actually, there was no traffic. Lets call them vehicles).     

          After one and a half hour, we reached Coonoor city. We were then, twenty minutes from De Rock. De Rock seemed to truly be a jungle living, because the road from Coonoor to De Rock was a jungle. The shady branches of the huge trees cast shadows on the road ahead of us. The forest became denser and it became darker. A number of tea gardens passed us (we discovered them the next morning) but were not visible to us. We saw faint milestones or boards leading us to De Rock.

                      We reached a hairpin curve, and reached in front of a small bungalow-like structure, which was DE ROCK, JUNGLE LIVING, COONOOR(finally!!!).

                Manifested, Planned, Destined continues in ~Part 3~(<click)
to read part 1 of Manifested, Planned, Destined ~part 1~

                                                                             by Shahen Pardiwala

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