The Beauty In The Beast

The recent COVID 19 pandemic has us home quarantined. The respite from the daily hectic schedule is a happy welcome and has given an opportunity to explore new hobbies or work on old passions. I took up to getting a little creative and experiment on paper aka art! Mind you, I am no artist but I always like to try.

So my first experiment on paper was the newspaper art, wherein the old newspapers would form the canvas and colors (predominantly black) would be used to form shadows and silhouettes. I decided to dabble with my favorite Disney story - The Beauty & The Beast, as I had previously drawn them and had turned out just fine.

I struggled. I struggled real hard not with drawing Belle but with drawing the silhouette of the beast! No matter how I tried to make it more huge or have more sharper horns, the outline of the beast failed to look menacing. I went back to my old drawing and he still looked menacing there, then why such discrimination here!

Details! That's what I was missing here. I soon realized it was the details within the old drawing that made it look the way it did and since I was only drawing a silhouette here it was difficult to achieve the same. without those inner details, it was nothing but just a plain old creature. It were the details that made the difference and in the end made me realize it's the details which matter.

In everyday life, we humans are somewhat similar when it comes to the physical aspects. Everyone has two eyes, one nose, a face with two ears, two hands, two legs and all of them attached to one trunk. What differentiates us is our thoughts, likes, dislikes and our choices. But sadly somehow yet we end up making our opinion about someone is solely based on how they look.! Maybe sometimes what is required is a second chance, a chance for us to look into the details that matter. And just maybe we might have a whole different view.

Some beast we are afraid of & some we fall in love with.

Princess Of Hill Stations

Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India.

Mesmerized. That's the only word that I can describe my state right now as I stand, 2000 meters above sea level, on the Coaker's walk facing the never ending expanse of soft clouds and barely there rising peaks of faraway mountains.
How can I be so sure that it's the view that stole my breath away and not the lack of oxygen?

Well the explanation is very simple - Usually I wouldn't miss any opportunity to click pictures of whatever intrigues me, be it a selfie or plain old photography with the back camera. It irritates some while the others love the beautiful pictures. But the moment I came into view of this beautiful landscape, all I could do was look. Not even once my hand reached for my phone. My eyes drank into the beauty that my mind could only describe as heaven.

Remember those childhood fairy tale shows and movies depicting fantasy lands?

Well alas! This is what it looked like, a sea of clouds extending from the place you stand up to the infinities of the sky. The few mountain tops, high enough to peak out seem like enchanted faraway worlds.

When after a few minutes my mind walked out of this daze, I reached out for my phone to encapsulate this wonder forever, but whatever pictures I clicked was deleted immediately. Nothing could match up to the actual effect it had. & that's how I knew the place had me spell bound.

The next destination was the Kodai Lake. I was visiting the place for the very first time & yet it felt like deja-vu experience. Mind you it was no case of reincarnation or amnesia. Few minutes later I realized the reason as well. The place looked pretty oddly familiar to the backdrop of images of various TV shows shot at Central Park, New York. Yes the glistening lake in the sunshine with the trees in colors of green, orange and some brown could easily be mistaken for a landmark in The USA.

Let’s dig a little deeper down the memory lane to the teenage years and the Vampire love story Twilight. Wanted to feel like Bella Swan arriving for the first time at Forks?

The ride through the Palani Ghats with the winding roads, mist and the Eucalyptus trees leave no effort to truly transport you to her first time in Forks.

I had come here to have a relaxing time but didn’t expect to fine such beauty, tranquility and nostalgia. The place is truly a ‘Princess of hill stations’.

Hillside or Beachside

Imagine Goa or any other beach destination.
Imagine Ooty or Kodaikanal or any other mountainous or hilly destination.
Now imagine both of them together in the same scene... Difficult right?

Well that's what Phuket was for me!

A perfect blend of beautiful beaches and serene mountain peaks. While on one side the storm had the huge waves at the beaches, on the other side it covered the peaks in a thick blanket of fog.The winding roads across the island it even more picturesque without the dizziness. There was little of everything & missed nothing.

So next time some asks me - If I am a hillside or beachside person, my answer will be an island.