While on Travel....

I guess you have changed your plans said mom over the phone. I looked out, I could barely see the roads from home. It was pouring really hard. I told her I will try and talk Pari out of our plans to spend the weekend at Vikramgadh, our friend Hemant's farmstay called Hideout . Seriously, I would have chickened out, had I been the key decision maker on this occasion; but T's excitement and Pari's determination did not allow me to. After a quick breakfast, we attempted to travel light. The plans were to spend Saturday there, and drive back by Sunday afternoon. We packed in a few fruits and some biscuits just in case.... Once the drive began, we realised that the rains were not in any way deceptive. They were there to stay. I was grossly uncomfortable, as my mind kept moving back and forth the pages of the daily newsprint - roads caved in, tree falls, potholes galore....yada yada yada. And each time, I attempted to think aloud, Pari reminded me that I need

Close your eyes and IMAGINE.....you are breathing cool crisp air of the hills and vales, so crisp that it goes *crunch* when you attempt to dig your teeth into it, listen to the tiny swallows flying past, the magpies and bulbuls outdoing each other, the ladybird scratching its back, the grasshopper hopping on the lush green soft blades of grass covered with dew, cows mooing while they graze lazily on the hills, the cackle of the geese and the quack of the ducks, bees buzzing while at work on the zillion blossoms, a distant rooster echoing a cock a doodle doo. Now that you are with me, slowly open your eyes. See what I see ? Out at a distant farm are a few quaint cottages belonging to a warm hearted farmer (erstwhile Bollywood fraternity, director, producer) Mansoor Khan who runs AcresWild ( www.acres-wild.com ) As luck would have it we got in touch with him early on when we were still planning our holiday. The farm has 6 cottages - the first where his family resides, the second