We got back from our trip of South India on the 23rd. We had a great Diwali, met a lot of relatives and did plenty of travelling, and I caught a severe fever.
We left Hyderabad on the 12th and reached Chennai on the 13th. My cousin Vicky received us. He has grown up since I saw him last. We chatted the rest of the day. The next day (14th), we went to meet my uncle and dad’s close friend Balu atthimber who I last saw as a small child. He had recently undergone bypass surgery and is recovering. We talked about old times which was a lot of fun.. apparently dad as a photographer launched the career of Nafiza Ali. After meeting with them, we went to visit my aunt Uma atthai on the same day. Mum wanted to shop at T Nagar, but I didn’t have the energy for it. We headed home.
On 15th, we took a bus to Yelagiri to visit my uncle Rammoorthy athimber and aunt Malathi atthai at their farm. It took 6 hours and we got off the bus near Jolarpet station which was at the bottom of the hills. Uncle had gone to Chennai on some work and couldn’t pick us up. It was election day and we couldn’t find any transport to take us to the top of the hills. We waited for about 1.5 hours there. A few naughty monkeys put on a great show for us, stealing stuff from everywhere with some great acrobatics. We then found out that uncle had returned meanwhile and he and aunt picked us up. We spent about 25 minutes driving through the hairpin bends to the top of the hills and the temperature dropped by about 10 degrees as we got high. It was beautiful on top.. looking down below, everything was tiny. At the top the clouds were colliding with the peaks. Once we reached their place, it was as if there was no more world underneath. It was a completely secluded place. We spent the evening chatting and then went to bed. In the morning, Uncle showed me around the farm.. there were rose gardens, mango trees, lime, jackfruit, water lillies in a pond, bananas, chickoos, even my memory fails me. It looked like stuff grew very easily due to to the pleasant weather and great soil. I saw many insects too, including some very large beetles which I can only describe as obese. We spent time sorting all the roses into groups based on colour and size, and the flowers were later taken on a bus down the hill. It’s a great place for trekking, climbing the various peaks which surround the valley on top, so I’ll be going back almost certainly with friends.. and there’ll be photographs next time. 
We took the train from Jolarpet station to Chennai on the 16th. It was at this time that I started feeling a bit ill. On 17th, we went to visit my cousin Shanti akka and Vicky and his mum accompanied us. Actually we first went to Vicky’s uncle’s home to visit him as he had a bypass operation done too. I started developing a fever then. We had a great time at Shanti akka’s home, but had to leave early as we had a train to catch to Coimbatore later that day. We couldn’t meet her daughter as she was away at school. Anyway, on the evening of 16th we took a train to go to Coimbatore. Vicky travelled with us. It was a nightmare journey.. my fever got very bad and I got a cramped upper berth to spend the night. I suffered a lot that night. The next day we reached Coimbatore and met my cousin Mani anna and his parents.. it was the house that Kannapa anna built a few months ago. I didn’t do much else that day but stay in bed. We cancelled the trip to Thanjavur too and decided to have Diwali at Coimbatore itself. That day in the evening, I went to a local doctor and got an injection, which the nurse insisted she poke in my hip. The prescribed medicines made me feel bitter (literally). My fever got lower the next day. We went to Sai’s home and met his father and grandma. They had created the most splendid garden in just a period of 8 months. We celebrated Diwali on the 20th in Coimbatore with plenty of fireworks, sweets and new attire. On the 22nd, we took a train back to Hyderabad and arrived on the 23rd.
I still have a terrible cough—a remnant of the fever—and am getting back to stuff. Replying to emails has suffered and this blog post took so long to make. But what the heck.. it was a smashing trip nevertheless and I especially enjoyed seeing all the relatives after such a long time and celebrating Diwali with my family.
I’ll have to make another trip to Chennai around the 6th of November as my shipment arrives then at the port there.