The Emerald Castle

26th August 2010... Back from my long vacation in USA... School re-opens in another 3 days.... All the enthusiasm gone and suffering from a worst jetlag ever... Day and night reversed.. Oh my gosh!! My eye-lids feel soo heavy and I am keeping them open.. Listening to 'Love the way you lie' by Eminem... Love the rhythm..
Few assignments left and trigonometry to be completed.. That's a lot of things to do!! Becomes worse if numbers are involved :D

I am recalling my last day in America... My cousin took me to a beautiful green walking track... I loved it soo much and I also regret going there on the last day because it is still vivid on the insides of my eye-lids...

One more reason why I love it sooo much is that it was just like the forest from the twilight series.. soo green and lush and wet that a vampire might pop out from behind a big tree... On both the sides of the track were trees that stood tall, covering the azure and the sweet smell of the earth, wet from the previous day's rain filled my lungs... I usually prefer solitude and that was just the place for a person like me... The dense tree covers hid the houses and other man-made structures. It would have been like humans never existed on earth if the tar road beneath me was not there.I could feel the forest, hear the forest and smell the forest.. The crooked branches of trees from both the sides met above me like an archway.. This reminded me of this particular line from the book, 'Gone With The Wind'.... 'The dark cedars on either side of the graveled avenue met in an arch overhead, turning the long avenue into a dim tunnel'. Alongside the track ran a brown stream, following me as I walked further. It felt great! Some of the bent branches of trees, which looked like they were beseeching heaven resembled candle brackets.And there were great brown branch-chandeliers, with brown leaves instead of crystals clinging to it. They were all lying on the ground, differing from the man-made chandeliers.. It was an emerald castle built by the nature.. There were fallen trees and withered leaves as well as green leaves and healthy brown trunks.It was a perfect blend of life and death.. The dead get buried and are re-born.. The infallible rule on earth..The sun light entered from the holes in the roof of leaves and made different patterns on the ground.. It was a montage of sun light and shade.. A designer carpet, you can say :D
And finally, I reached the bridge, which went across the brown stream.. It was... (I ran out of words).... the best place on earth! Over the stream hung a broken brach, clinging to the tree by just a splinter. There, the tree-tops did not bridge the gap and the sky was visible..The sun shone brightly and the water shimmered as if diamonds were floating on it.. The stream flourished with brown ripples, which reflected the branches of the trees above.. The broken brach, shining strean, the small bridge and the sky...IT WAS AWESOME!! Such a wonderful place it was.. I was soo sad that I had to leave it.. I wish I am re-born as a tree in a forest so that I can listen to the chirping of the birds and voice of the forest forever...

Niagara Falls

On July 31st, we visited the Niagara Falls. It was awesome.. You should see for yourself the force with which it was hitting the huge rocks underneath.. The water splashed in all directions and the mist rose high. It was beautiful. The one to the left of the below picture is the American falls. The one at the center is the horse-shoe falls.

This is the Maid of the Mist ride!! We went so close to the falls.. If it was not for the rain coat they provided, I would have been soaking wet!! Anyway, I was ;) I removed my hood!! It was sort of cloudy and when we neared the falls, the sprinkling water felt like rain.. The water was green like soda.The boat created ripples in the soda-green water... which reminds me of my virtual pet, tamagotchi (it was soda-green in color)...I miss it :( Coming back to niagara, the air felt very heavy with the mist that breathing was very hard.. Every one was enjoying the 'rain'. So was I. The falling water was milk-white. So was the water which hit the rocks and the noise it created blocked out all the other noises. It was like heaven compared to the otherwise sweltering weather.

It was around 10 pm when we went to the Cave of Winds (it was not a cave, actually). I didn't take any picture as doing so would have destroyed the camera, which I didn't want ;) There were three falls. The lighting on them made the falls look heavenly! I still can't imagine how these people could build a deck soooo near the falls!! must have built it in winter when most of the water must have frozen.. My mum  was hesitant to let me go near the falls. My cousin managed to convince her and I got to stand at the corner of the deck. Though the water which fell on us was the water which splashed after hitting the rocks, the force was enormous!! It was like 1000 fire crackers bursting on our backs! I stood there for a long time! It was fun!! & I was freeeeeeeezing! And believe it or not, there were rainbows!! yeah... at 10 pm!! It was because of the splashing water and  the artificial lights passing through it. It looked great against the dark night sky. When the lighting changed to red, the falls looked deadly... oohhh... it was like a huge bloody water fall....

Once again, we got to view these falls from the top.. It was completely dark and the city (actually it is the country,Canada) enveloping it looked beautiful with the iridescent lighting... It was striking...A blend of nature and man-made concrete jungles (sorry if it sounds cliche). Imagine how it would be if the whole ocean was to fall from a great height... the force... you will be lost under it... Niagara matches this explanation..

The Breaking Dawn

hey people! I wrote this in the sky? LOL Above the pacific ocean to be precise. Well, yes. I was on my way to Detroit, by the window, on the flight....

It was around 10.30pm in Japan and 9.30am in Detroit. As a result of the excruciating long journey, my whole body was sore from sitting in the seat. I had managed it for 9 hours. 3 more hours to go.

We were allotted the 4 seats between the aisles, which meant no window :( We had traveled through the afternoon sky of Japan and enetered the pacific night. We flew through the night sky for around 2 hours and then came the enthralling panorama.

The night was opening into dawn, or rather, we were entering the morning sky. I rushed to the window. (yes, the one near the emergency exit)

People... It was just ineffable. I saw! yes, the heaven!

We were sailing above the ocean of clouds. It was snow white in color and it stretched beyond the point any pair of eyes could follow. Above the beautiful ocean, dreamy clouds were floating, glowing due to the illumination by the sun rays.

It was a parade of misty red clouds! Then, I saw...the glorious red sun with an orange halo, throwing its beams from the throne of heaven. The horizon was light green and bloomed into an endless blue sky. For the first time in my life I witnessed dawn from the sky. In the sky and inside the heaven. The breaking dawn (I am a twilight fanatic).

It was a beginning of a new day, new hope and new life.

The Concrete Jungle

Hi, guys...!!! How are you?? I am super fine :D.... I was just pondering what would happen to our earth if we use the resources indiscriminately.... Our reckless acts have already caused a lot of problems..... I wrote a story from the view of a child in 2210..... Hope you like it..!! Please feel free to comment!! I want to improve! Critics are welcomed!!!

The Concrete Jungle

I woke up to another concrete morning. Through my bedroom window, I could see the sun saying good morning to the ruined city of ********, flooded with boring gray buildings. Not a single bird in the sky despite the fact that it is 8AM… Of course, every morning, I wake up to this bird less sky.
Time for school.. I still don’t understand the need of attending classes when the doomsday is so near. I brushed my teeth mechanically, had my breakfast and dressed up.

I entered my classroom, right next to my bedroom to find my teaching robot waiting for me. I sat in my seat and switched on the giant monitor in front of me. The screen flashed - “19.December.2210 – History of our Earth”. I squinted at the green pictures for a moment. My eyes were not accustomed to green things. There, shining like a precious stone was our earth…. The machine was explaining something… I did not bother to listen to it. I stared at the trees that punctuated every corner of the place, birds flying about in the blue sky and the sun that was shining gently … I envied the children who were happily playing in the park… How so nice…. In this world, you cannot even step out of the house without an oxygen mask and a full body suit. Or else you will die of some serious disease…. Suddenly, the picture changed to buildings, the world of buildings I will call. “Can you believe that this is how our earth was 200 years back?” I couldn’t. The screen then flashed the pictures of petroleum and started explaining all the crap, which I have heard a thousand times….

I closed my eyes and pondered the concrete jungle I am now living in. I thought of the beautiful birds and animals of history. All extinct… Humans’ reckless acts have ruined everything…. My dream is to become a famous writer. But I doubt whether there will be any world for me to survive in and write. The end is nearing. I have read many books. Most are very old books, which were written when the earth still had a lot of greens. I imagined the world described in each book. So selfish of the humans’ to have stolen my dreams like this… Not only mine but the dreams of all the children living in this concrete jungle. It is supposed to be snowing now. Christmas… Still, the sun is burning the whole city alive. I laughed at myself… The winter has also become extinct…

(******* is the name of that future city)

9th Grade Graduate :))

Oh, wow! It has been nearly half a year since I posted my last post!! Not a great thing to talk about, right?? Okay.... There is an update now.... I graduated from Grade 9!! :))

Of coarse, I didn't expect to fail!! Last year's graduation was such a disaster...:( I missed the best academic student award by a very miniscule difference.... Well, I made it up this year!! :D I bagged 2 awards including the best academic student award!! It was an anticipated one.. As soon as the results were out, I mentally calculated the total! But, the other one, the best I.T. student award was something I didn't give a second thought to! I knew Akshay(now in grade 7) would get the Best in mathematics award. Okay, this is how it goes...... I was sitting in the audtorium with two of my friends. The Best sportsman award was just given. Next, they were welcoming the special guest who had come to hand over the I.T. award to the student. My friends and I were looking at the rest of the shiny trophies on the table on the stage. We all wanted to get our hands on it. Little attention did we pay to what was being announced. All of a sudden, a silence fell in the auditorium. "Now...Best student in I.T. ...... Any guesses??" No guesses. I was sitting there, bored as ever. "Dharini!!" What the...???!!!!! Me???? Then what, I ran up to the stage and received the trophy. I still couldn't figure out what was going on! I feel stupid now, recalling those moments. I was grinning like an idiot. Never mind. Then, Akshay was called onto the stage. After all the trophies were given, the best students for academics from all the classes were called. I received it too! I mean.... as expected, it was me. Good for a 100 more years!! :D

Country Side Snaps

Wondering whose house this is?? well, it's my grandpa's home in the village. Went there for my uncle's marriage. That brown painted house is my grandpa's. The place from where I had clicked the picture is the house where we stayed. I was soooooooo bored.... My cousins didn't have vacations that time.... & I was roaming around, doing no good.... So thought of clicking a snap..... This shot is taken from the same place only.... Can you notice those mountain-like structures?? Guess what?!?! It's the Western Ghats....!!!! The mighty ghats towering the whole village. Cool, right?? Western Ghats follow you wherever you go in that village....

No, no, no! These are not post cards!! I took the them with the digicam!! These are the western ghats... We had been to our family temple located inside the forest...... It was the most pleasant trip, I can say.... Surrounded by the mystical ghats, wide spreading farms, banyan trees every where and... you name it..!! This place would have been a dream for any artist...!!! Peace mixed with Beauty and Majesty.... If you approach the forest more deeper you can even find wild animals like elephants, lions etc. (don't worry, the temple was located in a safe place only)....This is the temple which I had earlier mentioned. A small and cute temple!! Not even a temple, just looks like a sanctum, huh?? It was just renovated. You should have seen it a year back!! You would have had a great trouble to near the temple!! Your legs would have been prickled by that time! Now that they have cut the trees and levelled the ground, the process has become easy.

A pure village snap, huh?? cutting a coconut!! hahaha!! Actually, it was sooo yummy. The only reason why I didn't eat a lot was that there was no drinking water around..... how sad..... what a pity....:(

Evening in the village........ Cool, right?? I really mean it! It was cool..... Kind of becoming cold..... Just a few minutes before clicking this picture, the sky was blue in colour... Bright & lively.... All of a sudden dark clouds replaced the pleasant sky and the temperature was dropping down. The sky was looking beautiful though... With mysterious violet clouds.... Either side of the road was vast spreading farms.... then, the forest and beyond everything was the western ghats..... The evening panorama was highly enjoyable and I wished I had my friends around.... It would have been soooooooo fun if my friends were there....... The herders were on their way back home with their herds. Soooo many goats, buffaloes and many other animals too. On our way back we happened to enter the sugar factory. Strong odour of the sugar wafted in the air. O my goodness.... I couldn't stand that smell........ So I made my way out of the factory...... It was a nice walk. Wide spreading farms, animals, mountains, trees, lakes..... What else would a man need??

Madurai, the Temple Town

The train pulled-off at Madurai station at 6AM. Being on the train, we could already hear the devotinal songs played in the temples. Getting down, we headed for the auto-stand and reached the Hotel, Madurai Residency in a few minutes.

The Hotel was very welcoming. In the reception, there was a large painting, depicting Jallikkattu (game of taming a wild bull), temples, Madura malligai and many things. We had our room on 4th floor. We took rest for sometime. The hotel room was so convinient and compact and after sometime, we got ready for the Tour.

We hired a car and headed for Azhagar Kovil (kovil means temple). The drive took nearly an hour and I was dozing in the car.

Looks cool right?? Got this great snap on the way to the temple. Must be some statue of a temple.

After an hour or so, we reached Azhagar Kovil. The sun was beaming strongly and it scorched my bare feet. The temple was very beautiful and it was located in a mountain area. It was completely madurai, full of rich tradition. There were innumerous road stalls selling many fancy items lik bangles, earrings etc. on the way to the temple. Monkeys were seen wherever we went. The idols of Gods were looking very beautiful and it was a sight to my sore eyes. In Japan, you never get to see all these.....

Shading my eyes because of the scorching sun.....

Not only the Azhagar Kovil, we visited many temples, rich in architecture. I do not actually remember how many temples we visited as I am writing about it after a month.

That evening we planned to visit the famous 'Meenakshi Amman' temple. On the way, we bought jasmine (you would know why, if you were a South Indian). The scent was sooooo sweet and kind of breath-taking. Madhura Malligai rocks!!

We went to the temple by a cycle-rickshaw and wow! It was sooooooooooooo exciting!!! We reached the temple - at last! The temple was so vast, large, extravagant, beautiful, rich with tradition and and you name it.... Fortunately it wasn't that crowded on that day. And we could see many foreign tourists. I was eavesdropping the tour guides who were explaining about the temple's history and architecture to the tourists.

The main tower

The temple tower was very very very beautiful.... It was covered with dark clouds hovering on its top (later on, it rained). I don't know how to put it into words. The place was like heaven (I haven't been to heaven yet... lol), with no trace of foreign tang (I mean, the ambience). It was purely a classical traditional INDIAN place.

This is the Golden Lotus Tank. Actually, it's supposed to be filled with water. Anyway, water can't survive in an Indian summer season. The air was filled with the strong scent of holy powders.

Coming to the main point, we had a good Dharshan of both Meenakshi Amman and Shivan. Foreigners and non-Hindus were not allowed inside the sanctum.

One of the major reasons why I like Indian temples is that it is full of gorgeous rich paintings. But the thing is that, you got to know the whole history, geography, civics & grammar of the temple, then only you can know what the picture conveys. Well, am not an expert in all these. Anyway I could figure a vague meaning out of it.How is that?? Can you notice the Jasmine on my hair?? I just fell in love with it....

Snap of the Vacation!! I just love this shot!!

It was such a nice trip. I love Madurai!! Madurai rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Coutralam Falls

On 10Th August, we planned for a short trip to Coutralam with the whole family. I had been there before too, but never had a shower. Every time I head the falls with a thought to stand below the falls and get myself drenched. But....... As soon as I near the falls, when I feel the cold water on my hand, I back off immediately.

But this time I went with great confidence and promised that I would get myself under the falls at least for a minute. I had challenged myself. Soon, we were nearing the falls. The air had a wet and cold tang. I could the hear of sound of water hitting the ground forcefully. The great shower was divided into two sections, one for men and one for women. The falls allotted for women was very narrow and the water flow was not as forceful as the men's.

I queued up to get my chance. There were many women pushing each other in the narrow path. Its all common in India... pushing and pulling..... hahaha.......

No longer, it was my chance to enjoy the water. From far, the falls looked like it didn't have much force. But when standing under it, I could feel the pressure of water. Trust me..... It was terribly cold. I could feel my bones freeze..... I knew... I couldn't stand there any longer. I pushed myself out of the crowded falls. The wind was playing on my skin, giving me goosebumps.... I was completely drenched and started shivering terribly.

Soon after, I changed to dry clothes. We all met near our car. We were all drying our hair and taking pictures. One of my uncles had bought delicious mangoes and I was devouring it greedily.

With my uncles

It was such a nice trip. More people, more merrier. Nowadays, our lives have become so hectic that we don't have enough time to interact with our family. It is rare to find occasions to enjoy happily with everyone.

The Deadly Lightning

I have a collection of wallpapers of lightning bolts. I have even seen lightnings before. But only once, have I seen the lightning strike so near.

I was in the car, heading towards the Shankarangovil station to catch the train for Chennai. It was around 6 in the evening. Dark clouds chased away the bright orange evening clouds. I knew...... It was going to rain. It started with a drop, then two, three and within a few minutes it was pouring. The car was running on a crooked road, the surrounding was eerie yet pleasant. Either side of the road were fields, spreading far till my eyes could reach. I opened the window to feel the sandy tang in the air. The breeze was cool and the sky was dark blue in colour. The car was filled with people's chatters. But not so loud.

All of a sudden, a fierce bolt struck the vast field. It nearly touched the earth. The sky was divided into two and it was no longer blue, but was violet. The lightning almost blinded my eyes and for a second I couldn't see anything. Everyone was startled and the air was dead silent. No longer, a roaring sound broke the silence. The sky was still violet and the sound of the thunder was echoing in my ears. For a few minutes, no one did nothing in the car, except for the driver who slowed down the speed and we were moving in a rather low speed.

"What was that?" My sister ended the silence. Very soon, everything was back to normal, everybody was back to their chat. Except for me. I had never seen the lightning strike so near.

There were many lightnings even after the very first terrifying one but none was as scaring as the first strike.