5th May 2022
Talayar, KL
Day 1
Another day had dawned bright and sunny, but it was not just another day, for I had a surprise in store for me and at least I thought we (Mom and me) were going to drop my father at the airport (and go and stay with Mom’s friends) because he had come to stay for a day at Karur. I was a little surprised and suspicious that Mom had packed clothes and that we were not going to the Trichy airport. As we got into our Innova I overheard Mom say that it was going to take four hours to get there.
I was a little tired when we reached but instead of seeing a big airport, I saw a small house covered in beautiful green ivy with a lawn about a 200 meters wide with trees on the sides and that was when Mom and Dad revealed the secret to me. I was going to stay here with my friends (they were yet to come) for three days – without classes! I was overjoyed beyond the world and my heart was overfilled with joy and excitement! For some time we sat at an outdoor table after unpacking in our room. I was overjoyed beyond words and to this day I will never forget the happiness I felt that day. After some time we heard a car sound. ‘Yessss!’ cried Mom and we ran to the driveway, her red hair untying itself from her ponytail and flying out behind her in the process. ‘Don’t get your hopes up too high!’ I told her, grinning cheekily. ‘Says who, you cheeky girl?’ Mom asked. I didn’t answer her. I don’t remember seeing her run like this before.
A wave of dizziness swept over me. Before my eyes it was all a muddle, people hugging, clapping and patting each other on the back. Even my friends, hugging and clapping me on my back, I couldn’t help but do the same to them. They were Swastika, Vridhanth, Nalan and Yenthu. They all unpacked and we began inventing games of our own. Our favourite was the Detective game, which I can proudly say, was invented by me. We ran up and down the corridors that made us feel a mix of overwhelming joy and excitement. Soon it was lunchtime. It was a three course lunch, including, soup, salad, starter, main course and dessert. I have to confess that soups are not my favourite so neither was this.
We finished and went out to play again. I told some stories and then we took an empty glass and filled it with dry leaves, some flowers and grass. It ended up making a disgusting brown liquid. We also pretended to drink it and be poisoned. Next we found an empty flowerpot and again pretended to throw up in it and die. This game was called Poisoned. We giggled and giggled when the throwing up part came especially when it was Nalan’s turn to do so. Soon it was night and we certainly did not want to go to bed but we were forced to.
Day 2
I awoke wondering where I was. Then I remembered! I jumped up, used the loo, bathed and flew into the common room, all set for DAY 2! I said hello to all of my friends and we went out to play again. We ran and played until Mom came to tell us that we were going trekking to the tea factory! I gasped and everyone pinched himself or herself to make sure they were not dreaming (actually Nalan pinched Yenthu, who yelped and pinched back). We packed our backpacks with water bottles, maps and things because the tea factory was 3 kilometres away from here. The guide informed us that wild animal spotting was common here. It was my Dad who caught the first sight of the wild boar. I couldn’t believe my eyes! And then the Guide showed us an empty house, which had apparently been attacked by an elephant a few days ago. We were all very scared that we might be attacked by one ourselves. We treaded cautiously and finally reached the Tea Factory. I held Yenthu’s hand while we were looking at everything. Apparently the tea factory was hundred years old and even now they just used sirens for telling the time. After looking at each and every thing, we went out to wait for an auto. Arjun Uncle informed us that there was no auto in the tea estate, a while later. The was a chorus of protests at this:
‘NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!’
We walked back home and played again.
Later for tea we had cheese toasts and French fries. We munched the cheese toasts while we watched Arjun Uncle, Kamal Uncle and Dad play badminton. Next we bathed, changed into our pyjamas and had the first bonfire we had ever seen in our lives. It was gorgeous!
And lastly, we had dinner and again were forced to go to bed.
Day 3
I awoke early that day, bathed by myself and sprinted into the common room, all set for day three! We played Rojamani, a game that I invented. Next we played hide and seek until breakfast. We ate waffles and ice creams for a dessert. Next we played badminton and that was when Mom screamed. I grabbed for Vidhanth’s hand only to find him grabbing for mine. We all ran and found out that a dog had bitten Mom’s thumb. We nursed her all we could and went back to playing. While I played cricket with Nalan, Vridhanth played badminton with Yenthu. After one hour I read out loud a chapter of The Swiss Robinson Family. It was lunchtime when we actually talked. As a treat we had two ice-creams each.
Soon it was evening. We had corn, chicken, sauce, butter and jam with toasts. We played dumb charades and enacted movies. After that we went in for dinner ‘’din-din’’ as Dad called it. Finally, we went to bed with a pebble of sadness in our stomachs.
Day 4
I awoke with sadness not happiness. It was time to leave. We went back and forth carrying our luggage to the car. We said our goodbyes sadly with tears in our eyes. As the car drove away, I craned my neck to get the last glimpse of the beautiful house and thought of all the memories I was carrying with me, a tear rolled down my cheek.
THE END.
Comments