Coonoor.

So, i got here yesterday. I'm visiting my nani. Not only because i am extremely close to her. And not only because i genuinely like spending time with her. But also because my exams are over, i've had a lot going on lately and i needed to unwind AND also because i won't get to visit her in the summer vacations because i have tuition.
I have SO been looking forward to this. I shall, catch up on my reading. although i've already finished a book since i got here. (don't worry i've got 12 more). I will be taking french lessons from an old lady living down the road, called Mrs.Wood. And no i am not making her up, she actually is am old lady and she does live down the road, i'm not just saying that because it sounds like the stuff books are made of. She used to tutor my mother when my mother was in school. Yes, she is THAT old. And i shall try my hand at oil painting. :) And i shall lose all the "exam" weight i've put on. 5 kilos to be exact.
For most of you who're wondering what coonoor is like, or maybe even, where it is; I shall brief you up. Coonoor is this place in the Nilgiri hills. It is near Ooty, or Udhagamandalam as it is now known. This whole place is just filled with tea plantations and wild jungles that have been mostly untouched for the last 50 years. It's beautiful to say the least. The temperature never goes above 20 degrees or so. Sounds like a typical hill-station? Well, it isn't.
We come here every summer, and our routine's pretty much set. We call our friends up every morning and ask them "where to, today?" and we're off, trekking through some unknown forest, falling and getting wet when it rains, trying our best not to get the attention of a Wild Bison, and avoiding the paths where the local people claim to have seen a tiger or a leopard a few days back; also keeping our eye out for snakes. I swear i'm not exaggerating. Mum tells me of how one time, she was driving in our jeep through mudumalai and she had driven all night so she'd asked my aunt (her sister) to drive. My mum then woke up feeling feeling warm and to her amazement, they were driving through the forest on a narrow road, in an open jeep and on both the sides, the forest was on fire, with flames lapping at them. guess what mum did? she closed her eyes and went back to sleep! haha!
And then there was that time when my aunt (the same one) was pregnant with her first child and my maid said she saw a rat or maybe a lizard's tail under the cupboard in my aunt's room, turned out to be a massive python! They somehow managed to call a few people and kill the snake, and when they left, with the snake wrapped around a huge log, the entire room was drenched in blood.
And then there was the frantic call from nani about 3 4 years ago when she reported that she and her friend, who is a heart patient, were chased by two massive wild bison's and almost got killed. And the call a few months ago, when there was a tiger she'd spotted in her friend's back garden, a few doors down.
So stuff like this, happens a lot in Coonoor, and while we had our ta plantation, it happened almost everyday. So, that's Coonoor for you. It's pretty amazing though, not as heavily populated as Shimla (thank god). Nani lives on a cliff. With an amazing view from the back garden, and at night, when you step out onto the back patio, and look at the valley and the ranges, it's almost as though all the fireflies have gathered and are having a feast, and you're not really invited. :P
It's really quiet and peaceful and when i blog next i shall tell you more about well, Coonoor. Rather the things that have happened here. And by the way, i've seen more elephants and wild tigers here than i've seen in any wild life sanctuary. :)