When the Hills Turned Blue🪻

There is a mystical flower that shows up once in decades and when they do, they steal the entire show with their elegant purple colour and make you stunned with their beauty capturing not just the entire mountain slope but winning our hearts.


It’s called the Neelakurinji (Strobilanthes kunthiana). A flower that blooms once every 12 years. They were the reason why Nilgiris got its name (Nil means blue and giri means hills).

I recently had the opportunity of seeing them, though I had grown up entirely in Nilgiris, I had never witnessed them.
The entire journey from home to the slope of the Santhanamalai, where they had bloomed this year, was too peaceful and soul satisfying.

The excitement of seeing them made me so happy that it brought back the little girl inside of me who was hoping to enjoy this little happiness. The way to the hills is spectacular, taking us into little worlds of tea estates, coffee estates, cardamom estates and small settlements here and there which seem so undisturbed from the chaotic life that I would witness in major metropolitan cities.

The ride through these estates is in itself a great healer with cicadas making the typical noise when one enters a forest and other insects and wild birds bringing those thrilled experiences.

The road is narrow and goes with steep turns and very minimal vehicles here and there. Groups of people stood around the settlements, chit-chatting.

And then came our ultimate destination, the hill slopes where the kurinji flowers had bloomed. I was so thrilled to see them. When we got down from the car and walked down the slopes, my heart was rushing in excitement to see them. We had to walk through the slippery slopes amid some tall wild grasses to witness them.
It was about to rain with strong winds gushing and the people admiring the beauty, and the flowers were dancing to the winds with pride amidst the tall mountains, which was slowly getting covered by the fog, made the entire scene look like a picture painted with utmost creativity.

Standing still for some moments just cleansed the soul from the hectic schedules of work and responsibilities of life.

It looked like time was still and I was immersed in nature and came back to reality when a sudden downpour happened. After a while the rain stopped and we just walked around the park nearby for a while and left the place with a weird feeling of happiness and a heavy heart of leaving this beautiful place.


One thing that made me worry was people plucking those flowers and taking them home, which was so disheartening to see. Why can’t people cherish nature as it is and not want to pluck it away.

Overall it was a healing and refreshing journey that would always stay in my heart.

A Small Home, A Big Lesson

A cute little home was built working day and night. Interestingly it was built by just two of them. They weren’t bothered by the bad weather nor were they tired sourcing the raw materials. They built it with lots of love and hope. Only a little would be completed each day, but still it was constructed consistently.

One fine morning, I woke up with a cute surprise of seeing that beautiful house getting finished on the window of my room and both of them were flying with happiness. Could you make a guess on who these little architects were? yes, it was a pair of pigeons building their nest for their young one to be born. After a few days I could see an egg on the nest, a little life waiting to make its arrival on this earth. Both the parents were actively protecting the eggs.

On one morning, I was half asleep and I suddenly could hear some little chirping sound. I ran out of my bed with curiosity and hope and to my surprise there was a baby pigeon that hatched some moments earlier, yellowish in colour and searching for her mom and dad. It felt so amazing to experience this wonderful moment which I haven’t experienced in my life. In no time, one of her parents came flying and I gently moved away.

From that day I could see active parents protecting their young one from other pigeons and crows, bringing food from different directions. They had special way of communicating things, a special noise was made to make the young one feel secured and protective. With each day I could see the little one growing into a pigeon though initially it did look like a chick!

After few days, I could see the little one flipping her wings so actively wanting to fly but couldn’t do so but she never tried stopping and her parents would watch her sitting aside. Within four to five days, she made her first flight! Her proud parents were watching this with pride and happiness and I was happy and most importantly inspired on seeing this wonderful journey of two loving pigeons making their own family and successfully raising their young one after so many hurdles.

This beautiful journey of them gave me a different perception on life and even more deeper understanding of life. Every life on this planet is precious and every life has its own struggles and challenges to be faced from the time it is formed and yet they don’t give up. Parents in every species are so protective and caring irrespective of their ability and most importantly the little one that taught me, keep trying and one day you would achieve what you were working for.

I hope this post brings a new lens on viewing life, on understanding how beautifully lives are created on this planet and how the cycle of life has been continuing for billions of years. These are some moments that we tend to overlook in our busy lives but eventually these little things add meaning to life and they are the most beautiful ones!

UNTOLD PAINS…

It has been decades after we got independence from colonialism, but when are we going to be liberated from the evil culture of dowry and domestic harassment of women in the name of marriage?

Few days back there happened a cruel incident in Tamil Nadu, which was a pinnacle of barbarism. A newly wed woman just after 78 days after her marriage committed suicide because of dowry and sexual torture of her husband.

It might seem like it is purely because of the psychological disposition of the woman and she could have stayed brave. But we need to dig deeper into the root cause to actually put a full stop to these issues.

Lets start from the very beginning of how a child is brought up. A girl child is always taught to accept pain and sufferings and made to believe that her ideal goal in life is to get married and live up to the expectations of her in laws and the society. A little deviation could put her under the banner of an arrogant and self-centered woman who doesn’t respect the feelings of others and portray that her life has altogether gone unsuccessful.

On the contrary, a male child is always taught to be brave, assuring his self respect at any cost, even at the cost of the suffering of a woman. They are naturally trained in such a way that when getting married, a woman becomes his possession and meant to take care of him mentally and physically (not realising that she has a personna of her own or has feelings just like any other species in this world).

The little instances at home which might seem very normal in Indian households, like making a girl wash utensils or cook and the boy being restricted to do even the mundane chores gets deeply imbibed into their minds and with repeated reinforcement both from the family and society, hardens the root yet more stronger.

This gets manifested at many instances in schools, colleges, workplace, public places and more predominantly in the marriage.

In a marriage where both the man and the woman have equal responsibility and rights, it is still made to believe that women has to give in much more of her energy, time and willpower to make it sustaining. The society’s appraisal of women who tolerate her husband despite he being the most sadist person, makes a woman believe that she must live up to that standards.

This makes women silent in speaking up for her rights and interests and bury her dreams for the sake of her family’s welfare.

It is in these complex circumstances, parenting plays a huge role. Should not the parents train and support their girl children face any challenges in life? Shouldn’t they teach their male children that woman has to be respected both mentally and physically? Shouldn’t they understand that asking for dowry is no less than begging?

They must inculcate in a child that when something goes wrong, they are always there to protect and embrace their child. Life doesn’t always go well, there would come times where the situations are totally out of control and we in no way are responsible to it. Teach their children that every life in this world has its own value and dignity that is not meant to be disturbed. Respecting others boundaries, despite the intensity of relationship becomes prima facie at all times.

The glorification of conservative rituals in marriages and the showcase of wealth is no way going to sustain the relationship. It is only the mutual efforts and respect that matters. Asking for dowry in marriages should be treated a stigma and be eradicated just like how sati was abolished from the Indian society. Parents of girl children should be firm enough to resist these practices and give their child, a moral support during the critical times and provide her with education that would keep her financially independent even if nothing goes right.

Every women has her own bodily rights that must be respected and in no way can it be touched without her consent (wholeheartedly).

When something doesn’t work in a marriage, despite all the efforts put in. There should be a mental courage for a woman to opt out of that relationship. Afterall, we just live once and it is not to dwell in sorrows and untold pains rather it is for living a meaningful one that would benefit others and us as well. There is nothing shame in accepting that the marriage didn’t go well because somethings in life are just to teach us rather than to stay with us.

I am writing this post with a heavy heart and wish that nobody goes through these mental traumas and no more dowry deaths…

Mindful Travel

Imagine waking up on a fine morning and opening the doors of your home just to see some random strangers dump your front yard and home with waste papers, plastics and some rubbish things. Would you be silent and just watch and accept the way it is?

Doesn’t this scenario evoke outrage within us and yet we do the same to our fellow species in the name of eco tourism.

On a warm morning, I travelled through the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, a place known for its rich diversity of flora and fauna and forms an important part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve.

It was divine watching different forms of wildlife in their own habitat. It reminded me of how humans have got captivated into the technological world and here are animals who peacefully live in their habitat until we go and disturb them.

Suddenly I saw something that disturbed me so much that I wanted to write this post.

It is a great place to spot the spotted deers. We could see a lot of them along the road side. Peacocks and peahens on the other side are busy with their search for food.

The giant elephants also could be found sometimes in the herd or sometime alone depending on the day’s fortune.

There are a lot of Monkeys and Langurs who cling to the branches and also sit on the sides of the road.

What made me worry was a Monkey sitting on the branch of a tree trying to find food from a plastic cover and finding nothing in it, it started eating the plastic cover.

Our nature is so incredible that it has food webs designed in a complex way that there is a way for every species to find food that exists in nature.

Monkeys being in the wild are also meant to be the same way. But people who feed animals in these forests  don’t understand how it threatens their life.

As a resident near the forest’s outskirts, I have witnessed many instances of monkeys and other wild animals falling victims to road accidents and most importantly they come to the roads seeking food and the tourists also provide them with packed junks with a happy feeling of feeding animals but the irony is that most of them don’t even feed the stray dogs and cats or birds in their neighborhood.

This dependency of animals have also made them plastic eaters. This scene hurt me to the core.

It’s not surprising that we are curious about other animals and in exploring different places but it shouldn’t be at the cost of life of other lives especially innocent animals.

Lets be mindful when traveling to places like natural spaces and ensure that we don’t disturb the fauna or flora of that particular place and avoid feeding them or throwing plastics, papers, bottles, etc…

At last it is their home just like we have ours and let’s respect their boundaries too.

A Random Evening🌇

Have you ever wondered how a random evening spent with no social media and mobile phones could feel like? Well it’s definitely a beautiful experience. Lets dive into one of my random evenings.

Amidst a huge metropolitan city of Chennai, a place that hosts millions of people of different cultures, regions, languages and ethnicity is quite unique in its own ways. An ocean of tall buildings seems to have no ending. The city always bustling with people on roads would make no difference between day and night. That makes finding a peaceful evening a bit tough.

Starting with a refreshing cup of tea and some time alone in the terrace of a building which is of a moderate height that could still bring the view of the city for about 2 to 3 km.

The dusky sky was scattered with some patches of beautiful cotton clouds and stars being so shy to show up on the stage because of the city’s light pollution. But the brave ones along with the moon, filling the void spaces still makes us wonder how astonishing the universe is! The birds on their way back to home after a tiring day, painted the picture of this beautiful evening.

The month being late winter and the summer trying to seep into the gap that the expatriating winter leaves. The weather was enjoyable with a Sunday evening bringing in much needed tranquility.

The breeze that caresses gently has its own way of healing things that never seemed to go right. 

Some random thoughts of things I wish to do, things which I feel didn’t go the way I thought, things that traumatized me for so long, things that obsessed me over time, and things that I wanted to take decisions on and kept postponing, thoughts that kept me awake for nights went on a break and the empty mind was filling up with drops of positivity that suddenly drenched me into peace. It’s just an unpaid healer that could heal without any communication perhaps.

Made me realise that it’s ok to have a different path in life and things may take its time in finding you . Sometimes it’s ok to take a break from fighting life and life happens in its own beautiful way which is mystical perhaps.

The most beautiful part of the evening was a call from my mom that made it much more special. Random chit chats, with laughter on the past mistakes and the yearning to meet up after long days made the evening  more beautiful.

A break from social media and mobile phones and purely dredging into our environment is not just a random evening but a mindful one!

அவளது கண்ணீர்…

தூரங்கள் துன்பம் தரவில்லை,
அருகாமை இன்பம் தரவில்லை,
நினைவுகள் நிதர்சனமாகவில்லை,
கனவுகள் கைக்கூடவும் இல்லை,
ஆண்டுகள் கடந்த காத்திருப்பு,
அவள் உணர்வுகளை ஊமையாக்கியது,
கற்பனையில் தோன்றி,
கண்ணீரில் கரைந்து போகும்
அவளது காதல் காவியம் இது…