It doesn’t always look like this, but there’s always tea in my mornings. It’s more than a ritual; it’s passion that makes me reach out to that cup letting off slow steam and steady scent.
I took this photo during a holiday in Thekkady a few months ago. I woke up to the little light seeping through my bedside window, illuminating my cup of tea and my soul.
It was one of the best days of my life. I had crossed the border and into Nepal. I took off alone to explore while my team devoured on souvenirs in the shopping zone.
It was a cold evening, and I was all covered up in a sweater and heavy boots. As I went on, I came across a Hannuman temple. It looked rich, golden, and deserted. I wasn’t sure if I could go in, so I lingered walking around the vicinity taking photos.
The temple was guarded by a huge metal gate, walking to it, I saw a narrow opening through which I saw Hanuman standing in all glory.
I had read fiction where the hero would lie on soft green moss after a long tired day of battle. I had even seen a lot of moss, sure. But I never thought them beautiful. How could something that grew in dark and damp clusters look nice?
But then I went to Thekkady, Kerala. I was roaming around in the Periyar Tiger Reserve when I saw the true beauty in moss. It was the first time I had seen a sheen of green I couldn’t look away from. I had to get a closer look. And a photo. Because I do that now.
When I read this week’s photo prompt, I was ecstatic. Because I look up so much that I often forget to look where I’m going. Thekkady was no different.
The Periyar Tiger Reserve was, in fact, a forest. I gazed down, around, up, and all over in wonder, with my mouth wide open. And like all forests, there were more trees than I could capture.
I tried, though.
I always felt uncomfortable to look at similar colors in close proximity. Like pink and red, orange and gold, yellow and gold–you get the idea.
But then, during my visit to Nepal, I saw this in an antique shop. It looked to me like a bunch of wall-hangings, and the colors jumped out at me. Under normal circumstances, the entwined warm colors would have thrown me away. But perhaps it’s the subtlety of the material, it looked beautiful.
The Chaos Within 