Getting the better of Coorgosity

The alarm rang with an extremely vexatious tone startling us awake to environs that were so completely in contrast with the jarring notes of the confounded slumber-breaker… Environs that are known, among other things, for such exquisite birds and bird calls that any of such instruments of noise must be deemed redundant, or even criminal. As I got out of bed and walked into the balcony of our Mahindra Resorts getaway in Coorg, Karnataka, I was overwhelmed to sadness at the prospect of leaving. For one last time, as the light drizzle hit my face, I closed my eyes and took a final deep breath of the freshness that presented itself every morning.

Three days back, on a bright and early morning, I was at the airport waiting for my flight to Bengaluru, along with three of my closest friends. After a tiresome journey over six hours in a bus from Bengaluru, we finally reached Coorg. We had entered a green haven set into lush green forests all around the hills, where it is said that nature takes a shower for about half the year, and well enough, we would experience the rain for the rest of our stay.Even though Coorg lies at merely a thousand metres or so above the sea level, it felt higher than the chilly climes of Manali or Shimla.

Battling anxieties of leaving some corner of Coorg unexplored, we set off from Mahindra Resorts the next morning looking to rent out bikes. It isn't an easy task when it comes to bike rentals in Coorg. It is illegal to rent out bikes without a permit and there are hardly any bike rentals in Coorg, so the locals have to be convinced/cajoled/paid into lending their personal ones, but they are hard to find. We were tired of looking and had almost given up, when my friend, the man of the hour, disappeared for a while and returned having exacted a deal ending in two motorcycles at our disposal for the next two days.

And so it began; we rode without reprieve in Madikeri and beyond. But all good things come to an end and we learnt it the hard way. On the way to the Bylakuppe Buddhist Golden Temple, we stopped and asked for directions. Mistake. Two cops came straight to us and asked us about our bikes. We had been warned against revealing the bikes were rented. The local auto union in Madikeri obviously has a vested interest against these bike rentals since it hits their daily earnings. The cops were furious and took us to the police station. There they traced the owner of the bikes and over a fine of 100 rupees, let us go our separate ways. We were left a little disheartened about not being able to ride any more, but nonetheless we had little to complain after some breathtaking sightseeing.

As I stood on the balcony of our Mahindra Resorts apartment, I could see that the place had in its air the simplicity that life essentially is about. None of us wanted to leave the place yet.But the painful inevitability of returning to our daily lives dragged me out of the reverie. I got about packing; in addition to the many memories, I was packing in the abundant joys of simplicity and friendship into my heart, where I know they would shine bright forever.