Posting this from a train.... (how u love technology sometimes!!)
I love my country, and I love nothing more than it's countryside! In my view, there is no better way to experience it than by undertaking a long distance train journey. Flights miss out on the point completely while road trips require too much attention to the road and very little freedom of thought (in addition to the change (for better or worse) that the touch of a road brings to the countryside).
So it was fantastic standing at the door, wind blowing your hair back as scene after scene of beauty passed you by. Palm plantations that stood against a lazy morning sky as if painted on a gray canvas, the leaves coloring from a yellowish brown to a deep shade of green as my eyes moved up, blushing like a new bride under an admiring eye. And a farmer who had burnt the undergrowth in his coconut grove set up a sight so spectacular, it was like watching poetry in slow motion from a fast moving train. The smoke curling up slowly held from it's escape by the foliage, forming snaky wisps brilliantly lit by the morning sun, providing the background on which the dreamy smoke extended it's arms welcoming you to an embrace that would hide you from all the worries that last night you went to bed with.
The sun as the day progressed worked overtime as conductor of an orchestra played by undulating green fields, by banana trees standing in row, by hilltops dressed in brown and green, by little shanties standing proud and by big cities whose sudden discordant notes jarred you back to reality, but without which the composition would be incomplete. Oh! What fun it is when lunch is followed by a shimmering lake caressed by a strong wind, its touch visibly leaving the lake aroused with passion, and yet in her arousal she welcomed like her own children the little birds that landed and took off leaving behind a trail of ripples that the brilliance of the conductor in the sky so subtly highlighted.
All this on the backdrop of a sky that changed all day long, so subtly that you never noticed it until the encore when suddenly the rage of red and the fire of orange blossomed and the sun decided to be more than just the conductor and took over the playing of the final piece. Filling out the stage with his fiery presence, dominating the colors of the new bride, of the passionate lake and it's homecoming children, taking the pride as well as the embarrassment of the city and filling it with a color that dominated your senses such that you could for a while taste the fire within, hear the heartbeat of passion, smell a forbidden yearning and reach out and touch a bit of paradise.
And as you reached out your hand in love you saw the sky blush to a rosy pink and as you pulled your hand back there was the violet of jealousy and eventually the darkness indicating the end of the best opera you could have asked for. Then just as you began to smile at the thought of how your heart was left a churning pot of emotions you realized that it was not over yet. Because the sky had handed over it's brilliant blazing gold coin to the night in exchange for a purse full of silver ornaments so she may win your heart all over again! (to continue...I hope!)
I love my country, and I love nothing more than it's countryside! In my view, there is no better way to experience it than by undertaking a long distance train journey. Flights miss out on the point completely while road trips require too much attention to the road and very little freedom of thought (in addition to the change (for better or worse) that the touch of a road brings to the countryside).
So it was fantastic standing at the door, wind blowing your hair back as scene after scene of beauty passed you by. Palm plantations that stood against a lazy morning sky as if painted on a gray canvas, the leaves coloring from a yellowish brown to a deep shade of green as my eyes moved up, blushing like a new bride under an admiring eye. And a farmer who had burnt the undergrowth in his coconut grove set up a sight so spectacular, it was like watching poetry in slow motion from a fast moving train. The smoke curling up slowly held from it's escape by the foliage, forming snaky wisps brilliantly lit by the morning sun, providing the background on which the dreamy smoke extended it's arms welcoming you to an embrace that would hide you from all the worries that last night you went to bed with.
The sun as the day progressed worked overtime as conductor of an orchestra played by undulating green fields, by banana trees standing in row, by hilltops dressed in brown and green, by little shanties standing proud and by big cities whose sudden discordant notes jarred you back to reality, but without which the composition would be incomplete. Oh! What fun it is when lunch is followed by a shimmering lake caressed by a strong wind, its touch visibly leaving the lake aroused with passion, and yet in her arousal she welcomed like her own children the little birds that landed and took off leaving behind a trail of ripples that the brilliance of the conductor in the sky so subtly highlighted.
All this on the backdrop of a sky that changed all day long, so subtly that you never noticed it until the encore when suddenly the rage of red and the fire of orange blossomed and the sun decided to be more than just the conductor and took over the playing of the final piece. Filling out the stage with his fiery presence, dominating the colors of the new bride, of the passionate lake and it's homecoming children, taking the pride as well as the embarrassment of the city and filling it with a color that dominated your senses such that you could for a while taste the fire within, hear the heartbeat of passion, smell a forbidden yearning and reach out and touch a bit of paradise.
And as you reached out your hand in love you saw the sky blush to a rosy pink and as you pulled your hand back there was the violet of jealousy and eventually the darkness indicating the end of the best opera you could have asked for. Then just as you began to smile at the thought of how your heart was left a churning pot of emotions you realized that it was not over yet. Because the sky had handed over it's brilliant blazing gold coin to the night in exchange for a purse full of silver ornaments so she may win your heart all over again! (to continue...I hope!)
Lovely writing! Travel does tend to bring out the most poetic writing. Our country does have such great and to use an eighth standard geography word, diverse beauty. And ah, trains! It's one thing I have completely in common with Sheldon Cooper - I love trains! :)
ReplyDeleteDo you ever get this feeling, when you're in a train of just never getting off it, just going on and on and on and looking out the window for days together? I always get it. It's like this mild sadness when I have to disembark at a station.
And in Mumbai, with the local trains I travel in every day, whenever I see a long-distance train I absolutely HAVE to see where it's headed and I always imagine what it would be like to be on it.
Just off on a journey with no end. Thank you for this post - sent me into a major happy high! :)
I know what u mean about wanting to continue on a forever train journey. I especially love it in sleeper class. The sounds, sights and smells are so much more vibrant than from the confines of a/c.
ReplyDeleteI also will have to agree about travel bringing out writing (poetic or otherwise). Seldom have I had a journey where I haven't had the urge to write!