Polo Forest, Gujarat
Polo forest offers a great getaway especially if you are in a place like Gandhinagar and you long to see some lakes and trees and breathe in some fresh air. The air is so crisp that it lets the stars- a million of them- twinkle at you from a far away land.
Polo forest is hardly three hours from Ahmedabad, which means that in three hours, the dusty-dry landscape will be replaced by green mists and pristine river bodies. The aura of this place came as a pleasant surprise to me. Struck by the similarity the place bore with the landscape of Wayanad, a hilly terrain in Northern Kerala, I ventured into an unexpected trekking in my bata slippers. The slippers fell apart half way into the trek and I managed to somehow put it all together. Since it was the end of a long week end, we could see many vehicles around, most of them heading back home.
Our guest house provided us average accommodation facilities, two beds and non attached washrooms. We decided to move our bed outdoors to fulfil my long time dream of watching the stars and going to sleep. We ate our dinner in the darkness. There were 6 to 10 chapatties along with a plate of boiled rice and chicken curry. As we finished eating and settled for sleep, a van full of people arrived and moved into the room next to ours.The loud chit chat of the crowd disrupted the peace of the night for a long time till they all left for want of a better place to spend the night. The two tiny beds couldn't obviously accommodate 15 of them! The peace of the night returned in no time and the stars shone on us.
As Nithin drifted to sleep next to me, I could feel the darkness gathering around me. I lifted my eyes to the skies and noticed how the dwindling stars have made the place darker and scarier. I was ruminating about the possible threats that we could be exposed to at the dead end of the night when I heard a commotion just a few meters across. A ghostly white massive figure came pouncing towards us. As it crossed the narrow bridge that connects our guest house to the road leading to the forest, all my senses came alive and I quickly woke Nithin up. The hushed "Shit"from his mouth sent shrivels down my spine. That was probably the first time he ever responded to my fear with the same propensity.
We lay still watching the figure approach and move past us into the wilderness on our right. A man came running, calling out some names. He was the owner of the cow.
I drifted into a short sleep soon after. In between my slumber, I woke up hearing a loud munching sound. It was the cow eating away the chapatis that I had left for a friendly doggie. I sat on the bed to take a closer view at the hungry cow. It apparently ran from my sight with the same deftness it did a while ago. Instilling fear which it probably carried.
I didn't wait another moment to persuade Nithin to move into the room to sleep un-haunted. In the false security of our guest room we peacefully slept as I guilt-fully realised that the thought of sleeping on the lap of nature under the stars will never again appeal to me.
In the morning, we payed a visit to some beautiful locales, a very old Jain temple and some breath taking picturesque lakes. Pebbles of different hues repeatedly bathed in cool clear water appeared like the freshest gifts from nature. My slippers of course played spoilt sport throughout but I didn't let them interfere with the journey. The peaceful green that held the hills and the lakes and all its inhabitants within its magic charm has taught me to care a little less about such things.
Polo forest is hardly three hours from Ahmedabad, which means that in three hours, the dusty-dry landscape will be replaced by green mists and pristine river bodies. The aura of this place came as a pleasant surprise to me. Struck by the similarity the place bore with the landscape of Wayanad, a hilly terrain in Northern Kerala, I ventured into an unexpected trekking in my bata slippers. The slippers fell apart half way into the trek and I managed to somehow put it all together. Since it was the end of a long week end, we could see many vehicles around, most of them heading back home.
Our guest house provided us average accommodation facilities, two beds and non attached washrooms. We decided to move our bed outdoors to fulfil my long time dream of watching the stars and going to sleep. We ate our dinner in the darkness. There were 6 to 10 chapatties along with a plate of boiled rice and chicken curry. As we finished eating and settled for sleep, a van full of people arrived and moved into the room next to ours.The loud chit chat of the crowd disrupted the peace of the night for a long time till they all left for want of a better place to spend the night. The two tiny beds couldn't obviously accommodate 15 of them! The peace of the night returned in no time and the stars shone on us.
As Nithin drifted to sleep next to me, I could feel the darkness gathering around me. I lifted my eyes to the skies and noticed how the dwindling stars have made the place darker and scarier. I was ruminating about the possible threats that we could be exposed to at the dead end of the night when I heard a commotion just a few meters across. A ghostly white massive figure came pouncing towards us. As it crossed the narrow bridge that connects our guest house to the road leading to the forest, all my senses came alive and I quickly woke Nithin up. The hushed "Shit"from his mouth sent shrivels down my spine. That was probably the first time he ever responded to my fear with the same propensity.
We lay still watching the figure approach and move past us into the wilderness on our right. A man came running, calling out some names. He was the owner of the cow.
I drifted into a short sleep soon after. In between my slumber, I woke up hearing a loud munching sound. It was the cow eating away the chapatis that I had left for a friendly doggie. I sat on the bed to take a closer view at the hungry cow. It apparently ran from my sight with the same deftness it did a while ago. Instilling fear which it probably carried.
I didn't wait another moment to persuade Nithin to move into the room to sleep un-haunted. In the false security of our guest room we peacefully slept as I guilt-fully realised that the thought of sleeping on the lap of nature under the stars will never again appeal to me.
In the morning, we payed a visit to some beautiful locales, a very old Jain temple and some breath taking picturesque lakes. Pebbles of different hues repeatedly bathed in cool clear water appeared like the freshest gifts from nature. My slippers of course played spoilt sport throughout but I didn't let them interfere with the journey. The peaceful green that held the hills and the lakes and all its inhabitants within its magic charm has taught me to care a little less about such things.
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