Colour Me Happy

With the coming of a long weekend, my posh Spanish themed luxurious society transforms into a total ghost town. The rows of neatly parked cars are vacant for the next four days. All the world’s a stage for the little community of stray dogs who run carefree without having to fear being honked or screamed at.

When it dawns upon us that even the strays are yelping in merriment, we pack our minimal stuff and head to my husband’s in- law’s house! Yes, technically my house, although “your in-laws are not going to be happy with this overgrown nest of hair” threats continue to amuse me. Thank heavens it is only a four- hour drive with straight six lane roads cut to cut, we reached home in no time. That is also because I slept throughout on the most comfortable shoulder-rest bae offered.

The very next day we planned a road trip. Because Karnataka border is just 15 minutes away from Kolhapur, we set south but with no particular destination in mind. After crossing the huge toll what greeted us next was a beautiful canvas of lush green patches and horizontal curves of mountains caped with descending white fog of clouds. Tiny milestones with crucial information passed us by whispering the names of towns in Kannada. We quickly responded to Amboli exit and found ourselves on narrow twining roads and dense forests. 

Although the routes were familiar, they narrated new stories with endless twists and turns blended with a soft drizzle of rain on the screen. This rain is so much better than the cold wrath of water gushed at me on weekdays and rush hours.

 I love roads. Especially roads that take me away to new places, away from the maddening crowd. They team up with the clouds, trees and even the breeze and the whole world seems new. A careful pinch of green, red, grey and some more grey painted mother- nature. So I let the window down and breathed in the aura of the red soil and felt the cold droplets on my skin. Complete bliss.

We did nothing all day than endlessly drive and laugh. I guess roads do that to us. They welcome us to newer lands and help us bond better. It barely mattered that we didn’t get down much. It barely mattered that we didn’t click pictures of us nor did any morbid selfies come to our mind. Those roads brought us closer again releasing all the bickering, the disagreements, the responsibilities, the pending workload, the approaching deadlines and everything that bothered us every other day.

I am glad these long weekends are few and forests trails are far. They give us reason enough to be together, to converse what we otherwise only communicate, to explore newer possibilities and rediscover something old together.