March
3rd 2002, Sunday
Agreed.
Life is largely a cold journey for most of us. Yet, there are a few moments in
life which spring up occasionally with some very special warmth bringing out
the widest of smile ever possible on our facial plane!
It
was a cloudy Sunday at Bangalore. We (two friends and I) are doing our Project
work at DRDO for our Master’s Degree. Sunday being the only free day of the
week we usually prefer to spend our time with bed. But for a change I thought
to explore the outskirts of Bangalore. The plan is to visit a grape garden. Though
not sure about the exact locations, I know some places out of the city have few
of them.
Along
with my roommate Rajesh Bhai, I started out at 9:30 am. We first went to R.T.Nagar
to meet Sunil Annu (our friend) and his new born daughter. After a nice lunch,
I asked Rajesh Bhai
“Shall we visit
Grape Garden?”
“Where is
it? Do you know any place here?” – Rajesh Bhai asked me
“I don’t
know, but I have heard a place called Jagoor have gardens.”
I
am not having faintest of idea where that place is. But luckily Rajesh Bhai was
willing to accompany me. It is already 2:30 pm. We hired an auto and went to
bus stop. We waited for 30 minutes. At last our bus, an almost empty one, came.
We stepped in slowly and took the seats. The bus soon moved out from the city
to its outskirts. In 30 minutes we reached its last stop - Jagoor. We were the
only ones left to get down there.
We
got down and looked around. There was nothing in our vicinity. Not even a
little greenery. We went to a road side vendor and meekly asked if he know
about any grape garden.
“Grape
garden…?” – the person looked puzzled.
Disappointment
hit us. Leave the grapes there is hardly anything around. Not even a tea shop. We
looked at each other wondering what we could do. To return back we have to wait
for another hour or so for the next bus. No one knows about any grape garden here.
What a reckless haste which has wasted the day.
“Let’s
just walk around and see this place at least” – I told Rajesh Bhai. He was more
than willing and we took the road close to us. It was a long road with several
ups and downs. We just walked watching the surroundings. There is nothing
around but few grass hatched houses, lonely trees and a lot of vast dry plain
areas around.
After
about 3kms of walk we found a green plot at a distance. It looked like some
garden though the people we met on the way had no idea what it is. We decided
to walk up to there. Another ten minutes of walk and we reached that spot. To
our “shock” and utter disbelief it turned out to be a grape garden – a real
grape garden! What a feeling that was! A dream comes true! We went inside
without bothering who owns it. The grapes were tender and small, just sprouting
out from the vines. For the first time in my life I am seeing the “live”
grapes.
While
we are watching the garden in awe, an old lady came in. Radhukka - She is the
owner of the garden and had come in to check out the intruders. With his Kannada
skills, Rajesh Bhai managed to tell her the story of our long journey. She
seemed to have sensed our passion and curiosity as she said.
“Go down
and there is another garden – go and see that. Tell the guard Radhukka sent you.”
As
told by her, we walked further. This time we saw a bigger grape garden from a
distance. But even before that, we were feeling a sweet aroma. Aroma of ripe
grapes. As we approached the new garden, the guard came to us - Hosappa. At the
mention of Radhukka, he gladly welcomed us inside.
“This
would have harvested two days back. But the trucks to carry them have not
arrived yet.” – says Hosappa
Now.
Hold your breath. What we saw inside, to be frank was simply unbelievable. To
the distance our eyes could manage to see, there is nothing but thick bunches
of deep purple grapes crowded together dangling down the vines. For a moment we
were not sure where we are. A fairyland? A paradise? – The heavy aroma of ripe
grapes is inebriating us. We are going through inexplicable waves of hysterical
happiness. I can see nothing but my dream dangling around me, surrounding me, flocking
me, overwhelming my senses!
Hosappa
plucked a bag full of very fresh grapes for us. And they were nothing but heavenly.
We spent almost 30 minutes relishing our dream. As we returned, we were
enriched – enriched with sweet “purple” memories to savor for our life time!
