expect the unexpected

Sittlingi is a quaint and quiet hamlet in Dharmapuri in TamilNadu, India. Seven of us packed our bags and went on the road to visit a school aiding in the wholesome education of the kids. Tired hungry and thirsty after an eight hour journey by bus, we stepped into Sittlingi. Like light to a moth, the first thing that we saw was a hand water pump. All of us wanted to try our hand at it and what fun it was! I really started to take in the setting only after my thirst was quenched. A wind rustling through my hair, I was surrounded by lush fields, flowering creepers along the fences, houses with thatched roofs and rammed earth walls and a serenity that was missing in the bustling metro of Chennai.
We walked towards Thulir and two things that always stayed with me during the stay there joined me. One was my leaking nose and another was the dog Mani! While the former was irritating, the latter offered companionship. We stayed at THULIR, the school for two days. Very vernacular in architecture, the school with its paintings and handicrafts made by the kids had a unique soulful character.
We made friends with a kid, Ramu and he wanted to take us around the hamlet. It was after 6, when we started walking and it was quite dark. A deserted mud trail, with no street lights and only a full moon and Ramu came to a sudden stop near an enormous Banyan tree. A blood curdling scream and a silhouette like the midget in ORPHAN had all of us screaming. It was Ragul, one of my friends emerging from behind the Banyan tree. Eating a very sumptuous traditional dinner made out of bajra and organically farmed vegetables; sleeping under the stars and of course my companion mani, the dog who slept near my feet, made my day.
The next day, the kids along with the staff and huge packets of spicy puffed rice and ground nuts, we started off on a trek along the stream in the hamlet. The trail was very eventful as we sang Malayalam songs (an Indian language that has a lot to do with tongue twisting), stole guava fruits from the farms and Mani defended me from a pack of dogs. Despite being a regular trekker, I was astounded seeing the kids jumping from boulder to boulder like Tarzan! After taking in a 12ft high waterfall, a swim in a pool and a shredded snake skin, we returned to Thulir. That night as we drank chai in the bus stop, I realized that the unblemished quaint hamlet had left a lasting imprint in me. And of course Mani sat there waiting for the bus with me and my running nose!