2022 June
WAYANAD
- BY CHALLA SRIRAM
It’s been 6 months since I have been on a vacation. Honestly, the past 6-7 months of my life wasn’t that great. I have been in very dark places emotionally. You know me, I hate this system, the society, the people, they all make me sick. Adding to this sickness, Life presented me few tough choices & some very disturbing incidents. I knew, before it gets too much, I knew I need to find an escape. I have been thinking of making a big decision, just waiting for the right time to do it. And somehow in the middle of it, we planned this Wayanad trip.
It felt like an opportunity. For me, to think again & I thought, okay, let’s go to Wayanad, see how it goes, comeback and then decide how to take things forward. The main purpose of the trip was the Shoot of our song series. But I knew, this isn’t just about the shoot, it meant so much more to me. I needed an escape from this sickness, I needed some peace of mind, I needed some space where I can for one minute, sit & breathe with nothing to think about and let my inner voice give me all the answers. I was in search of calmness, peace & some clarity. I was really looking forward for this trip.
The very first evening, it started to rain. See we all love rains but in a place like this, the very first experience of the rain was so much different, its not just water falling from the sky, but it felt like the rain made my burning go away, felt like the skies above knew exactly what it takes to smother the fire I was carrying for so long. I felt very light. Just spent so much time watching and feeling the rain from the balcony.
The night we wanted to setup a campfire and guess what, my experience was out of the world. That damn night & that damn campfire, I am gonna remember every moment of it. Just imagine, sitting in the middle of absolutely beautiful nature with the mountains in the distance & the warm fire in front of you. Looking above your head, you could see the trees around you drawing lines that are leading to the dark sky with bright starts all over and the full moon shining, while the clouds sending down the droplets of water. Felt like the rain and the fire came together to give us that one hell of an experience. It was magical. 40 minutes of that felt like a lifetime. I could sense the time slowing down, Finally I found Peace in that moment.
A couple days later, we set out to Chembra. Woke up 3 am, reached the location by 5:30. We took an Auto, the sides were covered by the rain sheets and we couldn’t see anything outside. We almost climbed the hill and then I felt like something crazy is going on outside with the skies. I tried to look through the sheets & I could only have glimpses of what it turned out to be the most beautiful sunrises I ever witnessed in my life. The very beginning of light, the dawn, with the given hill tops, mountains and white clouds was so fucking magical that my eyes couldn’t believe what I was just witnessing in that moment.
The pinks, oranges, yellows, reds, blue skies, white clouds, green mountains, those scenes were so full of colours. I remember sitting on an edge watching that sunrise, I felt like jumping off from that edge. It was like, Nature tried to pull me into it & I was ready to give up myself to that beauty. Fortunately, I didn’t jump but thrown away a part of my soul into it.
The last couple of days we lived at this one resort called: “Timbercreek Resort: The Heart of Wayanad”. Whosoever came up with that name must be a real genius. The place was exactly like its name. Those 2 days, I felt I truly lived so close to the Nature. The whole resort was like, so isolated and for some reason, no other guests were staying. It was only us, a bit scary but yeah, nothing but silence. There were all kinds of insects that makes these different noises, kind of very loud noises, yet it felt like the sound of nature. This place made me appreciate the silence, the beauty of isolation and made me feel like am a part of that place. Also here, I fell in love with a rabbit. We spent hours looking at these cute creatures and how they chew grass. It was beautiful in its own sense.
Leaving such place which gave me a lot is always a bit sad but I am pretty sure, the guy I went and the guy I came back from Wayanad was different. This trip gave me all the answers & solutions that I needed. The clouds in my mind were cleared, I felt light. I knew what I needed to do. I took my decision after coming back. Highly looking forward for the coming months.
