Only when you are scared out of your wits, you get to experience the primal features of human nature. We have this penchant for spur of the moment trips, ready to experiment with the unknown that sputters and feeds our adrenaline rush.
While in Coimbatore, a dear friend of mine told me about the magical mushrooms that grew in the equally, mysterious mountains of Kodaikanal; tucked away beyond the Palani hills in Tamil Nadu. Eager to see what the deal was all about, we wasted no time in grabbing our rucksacks for our journey through Palani and the winding Ghats to the mountain top.
After the score—we did have roughly drawn maps from our buddies on where to score the fungus-among-us from-- the three of us walked down winding roads, slicing through the cover of pear trees, eucalyptuses, cascading waterfalls and pine forests. And finally, the breathtaking Pillar Rocks view point.
The shrooms must have hit us as we nonchalantly stepped out of reality and into wonderland as trees sashayed impromptu, with colours so bright and flowers like animated alien wallpapers on testosterone.
As we reached Pillar Rocks, we saw this green velvety pathway into the woods which clearly held our focus. So we did the next best thing to do, veer ourselves into the pathway leading to the tranquil forests, spellbound by monstrous trees straight out of the Sleepy Hollow movie.
As the path went winding through the woods, we bumped (not literally) into a bison and a little further, a whole bunch of them lazing and grazing. We’ve heard that bisons in a pack are harmless and it’s the lone ranger one need to watch out for.
Well, we didn’t have much time to envisage a scene of charging bisons on our trampled bodies, because the next thing you feel was ice cold waters seeping through our delicates. An impressive downpour as gallons of water fell down from the heavens. Our jackets surrendered to the hydro-onslaught as the semi-crystal drops forced into our very bones while our blurry visions caught the bisons scooting for cover. The downpour stopped like somebody shut down a dam or something. An ethereal feeling settled in, as water trickled down the trees and the forest slipped into a eerie and dark coma. The subterfuge lasted only to be broken by sounds of crickets and other strange unseen creatures doing their highly audible trance serenade.
We started scouting around trying to light a joint with a lighter which had more water than gas. Some hundred clicks and a successful burst of joint later, we ran into a dead animal that looked like something from a wolf or fox family with golden yellow furry skin and protruding jaws displaying razor sharp teeth in a cynical smile.
The scene wasted no time in scaring the bejesus out of us (even though it was dead). That got us thinking; what might have killed this thing?
Later, i squatted at a distance taking in the enchanting woods while my friends engaged in some animated conversation. I could see something golden lying on the ground some 50 meters away. Intrigue instantly plugged in, and I got into thinking that it must be some weirdly beautiful tree that had fallen on the ground. Time and space had stretched and I was reluctant to walk up till there with my balls soaked into an almost spongy condition. Then suddenly, and to my utter shock, I realized it was not a tree but some animal similar to the dead one we had spotted earlier.
And to turn my shocked crazy-eyed look into disbelief, a whole pack of them got up one by one and started coming towards us.
My friends, oblivious to what’s happening, turned around to see me scuttling towards them and my face clearly passed the message that we were not exactly tripping in paradise city.
I turned for a peek behind my head, so did they, and all of us stood rooted and petrified to see the whole pack running towards us in almost a hemispherical formation. Intuition reigned in and instead of running for dear life we chose to quickly retreat back the path, all the while stealing tense glances behind to see if they’re ready to pounce and take a piece of our jugular delicacy.
It must have been our lucky day, who am I kidding, actually it was our lucky day; because after a few turns, the furry bastards stopped chasing us as we must have been out of their territory or something. We walked a little further and stopped to catch our breath, as well as our wits, which had long back boarded the next bus downtown.
Our chattering teeth and shaking knees, added some percussion to the sounds of nocturnal creatures. I’m sure our balls had shrunken and receded like a cornered mouse. Words came choking out of our mouths as our dilated pupils bore into each other, unable to fathom what just happened and of course, thanking our lucky stars. Later on we learned that it might have been a pack of dingoes (wild dogs). But that’s not true, ‘coz there are no dingoes in Kodi. Neither do they have wolfs, so foxes may be? Definitely not stray dogs! Hyenas, perhaps? But they definitely didn’t laugh at us either. So what were they? A trip? But that’s too far fetched a theory to be true.
Anyway, a couple of months later, me and my friend gathered up courage, more like to show off, and went back to the exact spot. Only this time, it was just a lone and bored bison.
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