In search for Utchikudumi

The call of the brain fever bird wakes me up in the wee hours of the morning 

I recollect the day before and what a "travel back to childhood" trip it has been

Do believe our purest selves are of those in Childhood where neither the ways of the world have had any "kalpaddam" or influence on one's identity

So these sojourns to past are a reminder to the self of who I am and where I come from

We stayed at Dr Indru's house, a Farm house rather with all the trees that one could imagine Nava, goyya, ma maram with the backdrop of the Sirumalai

The House is right next to the railway tracks and soon the sound of the passing trains became a natural bgm to its ambience 

What a wonderful bunch of people live in the house. Avg age being 80 still so much of Josh and vigor for life... So many memories all captured in innumerable ways by the artifacts in the house 

The tiny porcelain figures that I recall from the 90s which were Dr Indrus hobby, the tire swing right next of the agricultural plot and the mountain in the back, the dogs, the Poppins parrot that screeches out people names, E akka or Easwari akka who was so welcoming and caring to the boys

We ofcourse did the mandatory stop at Children's Home but before that drove to Oda Pillaiyar Kovil 

I sold it to the boys as "a temple at the foothills of the mountain range"

"Neither is it anywhere near the foothills nor is there any water in the Odai", Raja mocked 

Imagine visiting a place after nearly 2 decades, from the actual directions to the place to which gods were there, it was a mix of gut instinct and recollecting landmarks that are no more....

So to appease the boys that indeed there is place near the foothills of the mountain range

we drove to these new "Dream Plots" beyond the Kendriya Vidyalaya school which Raja spotted in Google maps

And man was it a sight, have never before seen the entire Mountain range spread all along the horizon 

Caught my breath at the sheer beauty of the mountain (between all the coughing, fell quite sick in the trip with a bad cold)

And then we visited the kids at the Childrens Home to distribute some gifts for the new year

Choked on my tears a dozen times, seeing the kids always does make me emotional 

The hope in their eyes, how they gravitate towards  you in curiosity and warmth , the balvadi kids pure joy and happiness at receiving the toys

Leela akka kept us company afterwards and told me stories of thattha and Pemmi patti

We concluded that they simply don't make people like them anymore 

I hope these trips help the boys learn something, how much of a privileged life they lead, or how they could live their lives, like Dr Indru who is going strong at 90 surrounded by so much love and family

We stood by the railway crossing when the gates were lowered for the onward train

The sheer act of waiting patiently for the train; the overwhelming sounds,force of the wind and the reverberatiions through your body from the hurtling train makes one realize that even though we don't stand a chance against such power, we can still stand our ground and enjoy the moment of beauty at such proximity to it.

P.S: the title for the post is an inside joke amongst our cousins, there was a lone tree "utchikudumi" atop Sirumalai that I am unable to clearly spot anymore. We grew up looking at this mountain range from brushing our teeth in the balcony looking right at it, to the days end till the darkness descended. Borrowing from the Sound of Music " I call to hills when my heart is lonely, I know I will hear what I've heard before"...may we all find our utchikudumis to anchor us and guide us through all the ups and downs.