Coimbatore, Coonoor, Ooty Diaries 2

A two and half hour drive from Coimbatore gets you to the beautiful little town in the tea gardens called Coonoor. Why do we say Tea Gardens but Coffee estates?  When I came to Mumbai to college, most hostelites were from different school hostels in Ooty, Mussorie, Shimla, Kodaikanal etc. These places were hill stations for me and I only knew Darjeeling and Dehradoon had good schools where people sent their sons to study at St. Paul's and Doon school. I never knew what alumni meets were and why certain schools alumni nexus was considered powerful. Small learnings which when I am writing, I realise where I learnt it from. In my little cocoon of Jharia, I read my syllabus, Femina magazine, Hindi novels, Readers Digest subscription, Gujarati weekly Chitralekha and newspapers like The Telegraph and our local one Awaaz.  This did not cover places like Wellington, Lovedale, Sanawar. For me all these English sounding names were ' phoren' places. I had never realised that Coonoor is close to Wellington and Wellington has a military academy. Kodaikanal and Ooty were said in the same breath in Jharia. My Mumbai hostel friends said "Kodaaai" with a lilt. 

180 Mciver is an old bungalow at the tip of the valley. The location gives it a 180 degree view of Connor and Wellington. It is a small hotel with a restaurant. In Coonoor most bungalows are hundred years old or more. The restaurant is run by a different management and the six or eight room hotel by another. Ideal for a family get together with vast lawns all around, high ceilings, old furniture. All houses in the valley are very colourful. The man of the house, deals in colours and says why do they put such bright colours on the exterior walls of their homes. On all his visits to Jodhpur, he claims it has no blue houses like we see in the photographs and brochures of the city. The manager at the restaurant was one cool gentleman who loved Mumbai. He had worked for the Tatas for seven years, lived in Colaba and liked the buzz in Bombay. He walks two kilometres to come to work everyday. He finds Coonoor people stuffy. He can't understand the need to wear suits all the time when he would love to wear shorts. He told my children, the hills are so boring. How much can you stare at the greens? He had the children's unadulterated attention. They were so happy that someone thinks like them. They could not understand the reason for us getting excited about the mist covering the valley, the quiet sudden breeze or the long walks through the winding bylanes. For the children, cycling in the lawns of the hotel and playing with the 'rubber ring' was joy. The hotel we were staying in was a hospital near a church before it was converted to a hotel. The 'ring' was there in our lives in Jharia and was an integral part of the picnic to Topchanchi and Maithan dam. It was invented before the Frisbee happened to our lives. And the ring never hurts anyone like its modern version Frisbee. The hotel gave hot water bags in the turn down service and a fire was lit in the room in the fireplace. After eating hot chocolate pudding in the restaurant, the walk to our cottage and the warm fire burning there and the mattress being covered with hot water bags was pure bliss. 

The golf course amidst the tea gardens and the hills was scenic. Wellington was this typical armed forces town. Ketti is another town near Ooty and it is the second widest valley in the world. The Culinarium is a terrace restaurant with European cuisine overlooking Ketti valley. The Culinarium was recommended by an American friend who loves India. The restaurant is run by friends of hers. Never eaten a better Creme Brulee in my life. I am hardly a dessert person but I could travel back just to sit at The Culinarium and watch the play of sunlight on Ketti valley as I eat my Creme Brulee. 

 Sim's Park has a large variety of flora and fauna. It is in steps and exploring the place is fun with the sun and the mountain breeze. It is a bird lovers paradise. The chirping of the birds was so musical. We saw so many fascinating old houses with names from Scotland. Ephesus Home, Belmond, Baltimore, Landsdowne etc. All houses were on the edge of the valley with tall trees and flowers. Some houses were shut but still had lovely plants and trees growing. I kept peeping into the driveways hoping to see the owners of these beautiful properties. Nilgiri Mountain Railways is the train service to Ooty. We sat with a huge Bengali gang of families from Bengaluru who were talking at a certain pitch. Travellers from neighbouring compartments told them to be quiet. I played Antakshari with them. Children whispered and giggled as they had never heard any of the songs before. And then we reached Ooty. This was the train on which the famous song Chhaiyya Chhaiyya was picturised.

Missing the silence of Coonoor and children singing their own song ... Ketti valley, Ketti valley, Ketti valley low, when you are in the Ketti valley, sing it soft and slow.....
In the winter dusk, the smoke coming out of the faraway houses nestled in the tea gardens is like " the flash upon the inward eye, which is the bliss of solitude".