I visited Trichy during my Summer holidays. I’ve been wanting to visit Rockfort for a long time, therefore I was overjoyed when my father accepted my proposal, but I wasn’t too happy at the fact that  I had to wake up at 4.00 a.m.

Once on the streets, I was actually happy that we left early. While travelling from Salem to Trichy by car, we had to first leave the breathtaking Yearcaud scenery behind us. In that early hour, the silhouette of Yearcaud was beyond words.

At length, I saw nothing but trees and highways, but while travelling towards our village I was thrilled by a couple of rare sights. Firstly, I have seen goats, grazing the piles of garbage(!) on the streets of Salem but in complete contrast, I saw goats being themselves and grazing grass.That was the first time(and probably the last) I saw goats being – goats.

A few years ago, in a book about a fishing village, I read about a village dog, chasing the town dwellers’ car. This was something I only read. It would be absurd if it happened where I live, but I witnessed this while going on towards the village. A tiny dog, just about a foot in height, kept barking and chased the car. I must say, it was an amazing sight.

Moving deeper towards the village, I was disturbed at the fact that there were plenty of bare lands with boards, of housing plans. The lush greenery was soon to be adulterated by smoky buildings. Those lands had a look of all hope lost. The villages were the only lovable places of India and those would also soon be destroyed of their nature.

This year’s trip to Trichy made me realize the truth in Gandhi’s words,

                   -“India lives in her seven hundred thousand villages”-          

The trip also taught me that India’s life is gradually being sucked out of her, by her own inhabitants.

Alas!