My steps to Little Acre...

They say “God can’t be everywhere, so he created mothers” and I say “mothers can’t be everywhere, so he created nature.”

The tranquility gained in the lap of Mother Nature is an experience beyond description. The lush green grass under your feet, the sound of flowing water pampering your heartbeats, the tickling cold breeze caressing your cheeks, hues of vibgyor in sky widening your imagination…Is there a substitute for any of these?

It was 12th of June, and fortunately my birthday. There could have been no better present than the jaunt to Little Acre. Though it was a professional trip for I was the newly assigned architect for the project, I was already being killed by the excitement.
I was accompanied by our project manager and the HR manager.

Since I was the only female, I got the privilege to sit in the front and I really relished the drive, thanks to the excellent driving skills of our Chelpops. We were traveling and just traveling except for a small halt for breakfast. As we were getting closer to Madikeri, the air was getting colder and fresher.

Our drive further from Madikeri till Kopatti was just awesome; I was unable to close the shutters of my camera and went on capturing each and every sight I could. It felt as if it was the way to paradise.

On our way, I got to see Mr. Tusker Singh as well…sheer luck!! It was drizzling and the drive was becoming more and more exciting through the dense groves, intermittently revealing the lofty peaks of Western Ghats.

Finally we entered, our site of little acre and there I was, in the kingdom of beauty... Everything seemed to welcome us…The wet splendor of trees overlooking the drenched green grass looked stunning. I could see possibly all tints of green, as taught in our second semester by the arts professor.

We started with moving around the site, and I was familiarizing myself with the existing built and inbuilt environment. The preeminent part was that the built aura nowhere surpassed or intruded the serenity of the place; it was so subtly placed as if denying to claim any space for itself…the steps mysteriously winded up without revealing the destination they were up to…simply adding to the enigma of the place…

As we reached planter’s bungalow, we were offered lunch with great fervor. One thing I must admit, our people at little acre are excellent hosts. That was further testified by the surprise they had arranged for my birthday, an unforgettable bliss. I could feel that purity in life and lives there. The continuous drizzle indicated the celebration of that life which amplified every now and then.

After having our lunch, we started with the list of observations and corrections, additions and subtractions. That night I hardly caught any sleep. It was so quiet outside that my own movements kept me awake.

Next morning I got up early to fetch some early morning views in my camera. I trotted the pathway like an overjoyed kid.

I stood over the grass, silently watching the beauty spread across. The distant mountain ranges, as if being softly kissed by the clouds above. I could feel as if the wind was drifting away with the clouds somewhere until the rain came again, though the flowing water in the streams was constantly burbling…

I stood their agape to fill myself with the bountiful freshness and eyes wide open in an attempt to capture all the sights my camera could not.

In some time, my companions came searching for me and three of us set out for a walk, indeed a morning walk across the rainforest.

One of the most exciting features of a rainforest are its naturally made mini-waterfalls which are splendid in look, and my Little Acre has preserved them all. Enticed by one such fall, I decided to reach its apex but the only way was through the stream.
Though, as a part of instructions, I was already briefed about the terror of blood sucking leeches, it no way dwindled my zeal.

I took off my shoes and entered the stream…the springy cold ripples doted my feet and transmitted their energy in me. I got till the mid of it where I found a rock aptly sited as if the throne of a queen. I sat on that with my feet under the thudding water…and wished if everything could freeze in that moment and I had to never leave that place.

Such is the aura of my Little Acre, a rainforest resort in making…a tribute to God’s creation.

Gayatri
"There is only one sin: That is weakness...The only saint is that soul that never weakens, faces everything, and determines to die game."