With songs laughter catcalls and mixture
We snaked up Ponmudi; the drizzle
Teased us from outside and the cold wind
Slanted into
Celluloid city-bred eyes. We got down
Twice or thrice to strike
Ungainly poses at unusual places
And cursed the mist
For taunting us —
Grave
Small children and disinterested
Tall women picking tea-leaves
Followed us up as we braked
At the top. Tailor-made for the tourist trade:
Cottages, restaurant, and a shop selling
Rubber slippers, chocolate and Carefree
Woke up to receive
A camera – clicking
Giggling honeymoon couple
Five unassuming strangers
And us. We wandered and observed
As the drizzle dried up
Tiptoeing away with our cigarette packs
The kleptomaniac wind at work, We met
A dissident mongrel deer
With an honorary degree in human psychology
Pressing against barbed wire
To be fed by fellow prisoners. Our sudden
Explorers
Returned with smooth round stones
To suit their different sizes. Our itching
Horticulturists and trekkers
Slippers in hand scratched themselves
Back to reality. Ears blocked
Two hours filled
With stray coughs and one vomiting later
When we retraced our steps to the coach
And hurried down
Hairpin bends with the sun
And the silent ageless hills
Sticking to the mind
Like the passionate leeches of Ponmudi
A young girl asked:
“What was there to see?”
The spirit of ennui that oft follows an ‘adventure’/life so beautifully expressed!
Thank u,Vineetha,
Simply awesome . it carries the readers on to the adventure at ponmudi and one can also feel the lassitude of that young girl.
Thank you so much,Shamsher.
Author sketched the imagery vividly with poetic skill and helped reader to have a virtual trip to Ponmudi, one of the high range tourist spot at South India Kerala. Lovely.
Thank you so much,Maaya.