My Favourite Walk

by Inder Nain

My favorite walk happens a couple of times a week, or as many times I can return from work at least half an hour before sunset, which is a shade before seven pm round the year. When it does happen, my wife is always ready & waiting. I am as eager as the dog & we are soon on our way.

Getting out through the back gate, we climb the gentle hill behind the house and take the grassy road between the tea fields. The dog bounds on ahead chasing after birds. The 'caucal', a biggish brown bird, is the most vulnerable. The caucal makes its nest among the tea bushes. It has a low, clumsy flight. The dog does manage to knock one down once in a while when he takes it by surprise. Fortunately he doesn’t know what to do after that. With me yelling and screaming at him to leave the bird alone, he runs away quite content with the outcome of the game and the frightened bird scurries off into the bush.

Wife and I hurry along. The grass is still wet from the afternoon showers & our sneakers are soon soaked through. We talk continuously. The topics are many and varied. I tell her a little about work, she tells me a lot about her day, the children and their school, about our friends and everything else. 

It is wonderful; I soak in the stories and the scenery. Hills stretch into the distance in varying shades of green and blue. The land falls away towards the east. The view of this vast expanse is overwhelming. The rains have been good and it is green and lush everywhere. The cypress trees are tall and heavy with all the moisture. A gust knocks some water on to us as we pass. We walk on with the water now going 'squish, squish' in our shoes.

Suddenly the sun is in the gap between the clouds & the opposite hills. The whole area is bathed in the evening sunlight. The yellowish green of the tea bushes spread like carpets across the hills glimmers and glows as it catches the sun at that angle. The patches of red cannas scattered around the tea fields are ablaze. We stop and admire the grandeur as we have done so many times before, amazed at the beauty. The dog is still running up and down the road chasing after every sound and smell that tickles his senses. We reach the end of the road and turn around; the sun catches us straight in our faces. We pull our caps down a little to avoid the glare and start the walk back. The return, about one and a half kilometres, must be covered fast, as the sun will sink quickly now. We talk more than we look and walk fast.

A pale gray hue descends upon the valley as the sun vanishes behind the hills. I yell for the dog as we approach the house. The jackals will be out soon. The night sounds are picking up. The crickets start their cacophony, the doves coo as they settle back into their nests. The auger buzzard has taken post for the night on a telephone post opposite the house. A cold light mist is all around as we return through the back gate. The lights are flickering on. "Mbili, chai, please", my wife tells the cook as we peel our drenched shoes and socks off. Another wonderful walk .

 Pix of Kipkebe tea plantation at Kericho, Kenya, courtesy Shashi Menon

Meet the writer: Inder Nain

Inder in his own words: 

Inder's life & times
Little brains & ample mind,
No common sense to hold me behind,
I push on..

Lucky breaks & simple takes,
Keeps me smelling the roses - 
and whisky's fine,
Leaving little room to whine.

And here is the 'practical version' as his wife calls it: 
Inder Nain worked for Goodricke Tea for 15 years in the Dooars and Assam before moving to Kenya in 2000. He worked with Sasini tea and coffee before moving on to start his own rose farm in 2006.  He is now successfully settled in Kenya growing roses.

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My name is Gowri Mohanakrishnan and I'm a tea planter's wife. I started this blog because one of the things that I wouldn't want us to lose in a fast changing world is the tea story - a story always told with great seriousness, no matter how funny - always true (always), maybe a tall tale, maybe long, short, impossible, scary, funny or exciting but never dull. You will find yourself transported to another world! 
 
Happy reading! Cheers to the spirit of Indian Tea!
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https://teastorytellers.blogspot.com/