Hello from another corner of our incredible country!
Yes, we did it again.. I mean shifting to another station. Though, last time, we moved to a place that is famous for its scenic beauty and cool climate. This time, we are braving the scorching heat in a crowded city of North India. However, like all feisty army wives, I have made my peace with this place and already liking the fact that for the first time in so many years, I will be living in the heart of a bustling town, with markets and malls in close vicinity. You win some, you lose some.
In contemplative moments, I compare my life to a snail who carries her home on her back. The news that I just delivered in a sentence has a deep impact on all our lives. While Coco is enjoying an extended summer break, I have taken a break from my incessant crafting and Coco's father has his own gazillion things to chalk out. In the next few months, we will gradually settle in this new place, find a new school, meet new people and make new goals. But today, as I was going through my photo albums, I found images captured towards the end of our previous tenure and thought of sharing them here.
1. Missing the green views of tea gardens sprawled about us, covering the blue hills like plush quilts.
2. Remembering how the clouds tumbled down the adjoining hills to the lush green grass of the golf course, amid a pleasant drizzle.
3. Wish I could again have a window in my home that showed me the above view, of clouds surfing deep down the valley beneath the hill on which my home was, while I sipped my ultra delicious lemon-black pepper tea. Ahhh! Those were the days..
4. Also close to my heart are the many intermittent 3 day breaks during the year gone by when we explored South India. The picture above was taken at Dhanushkodi where Coco enjoyed playing in the sand and splashing in sea-water to his heart's content. Fun fact about this pic: He is standing at the land's end with his face towards Sri-Lanka.
5. There is almost no chance that I can witness the sun setting beyond the hills of Ooty from my home again.
6. Holed up in a guest house during long summer days, while all my craft supplies are packed away in trunks along with the rest of my household things, all I dream of these days is how I will dance with joy when I will access them again. I can also be found watching entire seasons of old comedy series (repeating for 10th time probably), sleeping for hours and lost in crafty dreams.
7. A lot of those crafty daydreams include the plans of how I will make a neat and cozy space for my crafts in my new home. However these plans are highly dependent on what kind of house do we get and when. Above is a shot of the tiny corner where I sat and made some of my jewellery. Cute, isn't it?
8. One of the best things that we as a family experienced and loved here is the Nilgiri Mountain Railway aka the toy train that courses through the hills amid sprawling green tea gardens. The trips were planned to please Coco, though, it must be clear that we enjoyed it with equal joy, our hearts springing with each new wonderful view as we watched left and right.
9. While the entire tenure was about scenic beauty, picnics, outdoor barbecues and hikes, this particular bike ride-cum-hike to Pristine Valley near Ooty was a memorable one. It was fun, beautiful, adventurous, dangerous and tiresome, all at the same time, with Coco's father throwing his phone in the water for the umpteenth time, an incident that will be the told and retold for years henceforth, each time increasing in comical value.
10. Memories of blue hills can never be complete without missing each of my friends that I made here, and I made friends by dozens. A very small number considering the fact that the hills housed almost 400 of us. Here, some of them are seen pondering over deep questions that I threw at them. Don't go by this picture, each one of them is quite a fireball by herself. This morning of potluck breakfast and a mean game of Housie is etched in each of our memories. High five girls!
Obviously I am missing all this and much more, I am also looking forward to the days, months and years we are about to spend in this happening new place. A move is something that I am always okay with because this is one of the many things that I love about being an army wife. It keeps me engaged and interested, with ever changing scenes and scenarios. After all, change is the only constant in life, ain't it?!
