Thenmala Tales (Part 4)

The Call of the Forest

At one point, Maneesh made us all stand very still so that we could hear a faint, whooshing sound which he said was the flap of the ears of an elephant some distance away.

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Soon after Babu left the scene with the jeep, promising to be back the next morning, we eagerly dumped our bags in the small room upstairs and started exploring the cottage. There were two bedrooms, one on the ground floor and the other on the floor above, both with attached bathrooms. The ground floor also housed an open hall that doubled as the dining room. There was a small kitchen, and a room outside for the staff. We three ladies opted to stay on the first floor room which also had a small balcony. Lakshmi, Sharmila’s daughter, seemed concerned about spiders, while I was more worried of snakes slithering in the vicinity.

A while later, Maneesh took us on a trek into the forest. We were instructed to remain silent and I must say, it was an awesome experience. We walked through a hilly pathway strewn with a thick carpet of multihued dry leaves. In the calm of the forest, our footsteps sounded noisy and out of place. There was a feel of amazing contentment out there in the wild, and it certainly was very humbling. One felt so puny and helpless in the midst of the towering trees, but at the same time, there was also a secure feeling as though protected by Mother Nature herself.

Huge trees had fallen across the pathway in a couple of places and we had to climb across their trunks to get to the other side. Manish pointed out footprints of elephants and wild buffaloes on the ground. We also came across fresh Elephant dung which was a bit alarming considering that it might be one somewhere nearby. At one point, Maneesh made us all stand very still so that we could hear a faint, whooshing sound which he said was the flap of the ears of an elephant some distance away.

A poisonous snake slithered past and we watched with awe. Huge butterflies with beautiful colored wings fluttered happily. Ants of a peculiar large variety, scurried past in the ground, busy as ever, like its city counterparts. Dry mushrooms could be seen growing on dead twigs. We also saw a green snail. Altogether, there was an intoxicating fragrance of the wild woods and all its flora and fauna, in that unusual calmness which none of us had ever come across anywhere else. The forest was certainly mesmerizing.

It was an uphill climb, and after a point, we were tempted to retrace our steps. Not accustomed to trudging long distances, we were exhausted. But Manish, true to his nature, kept motivating us to go further up because he wanted to show us a beautiful stream some distance away. I am glad we did because we would otherwise have missed seeing this crystal clear stream gurgling away merrily through boulders and small pebbles. Manish coaxed us into drinking the water, assuring us that it was the cleanest and purest that nature could offer. By God! He was absolutely right! I have never ever tasted such sweet water before in my life! The pure spring water instantly rejuvenated us, and gave us a feeling of freshness, melting away our tiredness. Mother Nature sure does have its own miraculous ways of healing the body and mind!

We sat there for some time, enjoying the heavenly peace and calm, being one with the green world out there, and after a while, trekked back to our small cottage down below with a serene and contented mind filled with pure bliss.

A black scorpion