OOTY TOY TRAIN AWAITS…

22 Jan. 12
Up early to catch 09.15 train from Ooty to Conoor. This is such a popular thing to do. Gorgeous views from this ancient blue train. One and a quarter hours later arrived in Coonoor where my driver was waiting. We headed for Coimbatore and with hair pin bend roads, huge forest covered mountains and waterfalls, it could almost have been Scotland! Well except for dodging the monkeys in the middle of the road. Oh and the fact that drivers try and make 3 lanes out of what is really one and a half! It’s nice to sit in the back like a memsab and let Shwamy cope with the challenges.
We passed through some towns with shacks, dirt, bare footed inhabitants lolling around, goats munching on roadside rubbish and the usual cows of course. The poverty is evident but what has impressed me is the fantastic colour coordination of even the poorest looking woman. Even whole families riding on a single motor cycle appear to be colour coordinated and clean. Now anyone who knows me will know how I love this. So hats off (!) to these women for looking so elegant in quite disgusting (to me at any rate) surroundings.
The Rathna Residency Hotel in industrial Coimbatore is OK but like everything else needs a good scrub and repainting. Oh and the ‘pretty’ views are over a railway line.
Am soon off out, this time to visit Isha Dyanalingam Yogic Centre with its famous domed temple where meditation is reputed to be heightened. Hundreds are there and as the only white face, I’m a bit confused about the rituals. I keep forgetting about the taking off of shoes (someone always stops me) and the leaving bags, cameras, mobiles in a cloakroom. Ok there are longwinded explanations on display but I’d prefer someone to guide me. I follow the others but they seem to be climbing up high, steep ladders with offerings in hand then down the other side. I decide to pass on this part and focus on the beautiful silence of this huge dome. A bell rings and everyone gets up and exits while the next lot file in for their shot at sitting on the floor to meditate. I wait for an extra 15 minutes to absorb the ambience. At the end I copy the others and put a spot of white paste on my forehead. Off to find my shoes and reclaim my bag. The slogan of this ashram is, “A world full of Love, Light and Laughter...its time has come. Let us make it happen!” And I say….AMEN to that! However I haven´t yet got my head around the need for buying weird stuff to offer these idols. They are also selling things depending on what you want to change in your life….yellow wrist threads, pieces of cloth..etc. I do however feel very calm after this and am pleased to see my driver had also entered and we were both wearing our yellow forehead markings
On the way back to hotel our car struck a hole in the middle of the road. Driver says it´s OK. The roads are full of potholes to add to the general bedlam of driving here.
Too zonked to seek a restaurant in this bizarre place, I put on my salwar kameez (Indian style) and go to dine on roof terrace restaurant. Full of men and no one bats an eyelid. I thought it would be akin to seeing an Indian lady dressed in a kilt!