Working on holiday

I was in Ooty last week. I have been really busy with work lately, so most of my friends thought that I was taking a well-deserved vacation. I would have been happy if that was the case. I was actually working in Ooty. Teaching, to be precise.

When I agreed to this assignment months ago, it was based on the fact that December seemed far away, I had never been to Ooty before and teaching college students sounded like an easy task. But as the date got closer, I realized that - I was still swamped with other commitments, Ooty can be really cold in December and I had a huge part of the syllabus to cover in 2 days!

But I needed the change from the stressful routine of working from home and headed off to Coimbatore and then to the lovely hills-station of Ooty. It was a grey day when I arrived and then it rained the rest of the evening. I remember being cold, cold, cold, even after covering up with two thick blankets and a convection heater near my feet.

Eventually my body remembered the basics of staying warm and I had two great days with a bunch of highly enthusiastic students. The highlight was the first evening after class when I accompanied the students to the Botanical Garden area after sunset. We ate tender carrots and corn, spicy peanut chaat and Ooty's famous homemade chocolates. I was wise enough to buy some tea and mountain honey as souvenirs since there wasn't much time for sight-seeing with the tight academic schedule.

On my way back to Coimbatore, I stopped by the scenic point of Dolphin's Nose, about 10 km from Conoor. The car took sharp hair-pin bends as we approached the destination, the sun played hide-n-seek at each curve, sometime showing tantalizing views of St. Catherine's water falls and shielding the majestic slopes lush with tea
plantations the very next moment. The fog was so dense by the time we parked that it was hard enough to see your own nose, leave alone that of the famous "Dolphin". I stood there for a few minutes, hoping the fog would lift, not knowing when I would be here again. It cleared a little but then closed in again. It was disappointing to be denied what is every tourist's right - a beautiful view. I felt cheated.

I heard familiar voices and turned around to see that the students had come to the same spot. We laughed and caught up with each other. Took pictures, drank freshly brewed local cardamom-flavored tea. Instantly the mood was light, even though the fog stubbornly stayed put. We got back into our vehicles and agreed to meet in town for lunch.

It struck me then that the morning's events mirrored life. Just as a clear day can suddenly turn foggy, life sometimes unexpectedly brings dark moments; you are caught off-guard, sometimes overwhelmed by the turn of events. But if you truly introspect, you will find that in each situation there is something that is redeeming. An event, a person, an interaction that is memorable. Something that gets you through the bad patch. You need to remain stable but alert to the opportunities that this turn brings into your life.

Did I have a holiday in Ooty? You bet.