My jaws dropped till my knees, as
I saw a sheep flying over my car windshield like it had just swallowed a UFO.
The time slowed down to tick of a millisecond, as my eyes met the sheep’s ; the
terror in both of our eyes very real...
I was not imagining - My car had just tossed up a wandering sheep into mid-air! They say Red bull can give you
wings – but for me it was the Scotch! Guys, do not misunderstand me; I was
not driving over a drink of Scotch , but literally over the land of
the Scotch – Scotland!
It all started on a sunny Saturday
morning as me and a group of friends drove down from London to Scotland on a
three day trip and with a plan to cover all the Glens and Lochs of the land
which gave us bagpipes and Bagpiper... :) We sped past through the weekend
traffic on the M1 motorway connecting London and Edinburgh; within 2-3 hours
we had crossed the wailing vehicles and pestering pedestrians and found ourselves
on the calm countryside highway.
When an author said it’s about the
journey not the destination, he must be referring to the journey on a British
countryside. It’s hardly a wonder why it has been an inspiration for many poets
and literary figures. As I gazed out of the window, I saw valleys covered with lush
grasses in rich shades of green, yellow and brown. Fences painted in grey and
white, separated vast, stretching meadows. We spotted occasional herds of brown
cows spotted in white shades munching grass along with few other white cows
spotted in brown shades, all appearing as if pieces of a large jigsaw puzzle
spread over a green board.
As we moved towards higher
terrain, the sights amused, aroused and amazed my senses. The grasslands gave
way to hills and mountains drenched with clouds, standing majestically in all
shades of blue, black and brown.
Just when I thought nature cannot
show more beauty – it flaunted even more! The sky turned into a glowing shade of grey and
my pupils dilated as I watched in sheer amazement at the natural wonder that
unfolded in front of me. A little ahead of us lay 2 glowing arcs in the purest seven
colours. Yes! Stretching across the horizon there was not one but
two rainbows arcing in front of me. A sight so rare, that only a lucky handful
can claim to witness in a lifetime.
|
|
Not much later we reached
Edinburgh – our first stop in Scotland. I can say it with confidence that
Edinburgh has the most preserved architecture in the world. The whole city is a
confluence of medieval and slightly newer Gregorian architecture. Brown, black
and grey coloured buildings and towers, separated by brick-laden paths compose
the entire city. And in the centre stands the majestic Edinburgh castle.
I had only a day to spend in Edinburgh so without waiting for any rest we straightaway hit the streets. I heard faint melodious music coming around from the corner, and I knew instantly what is was. I found two young Scottish men playing Bagpipers to the amusement of the tourists. Bagpiper is a difficult instrument but the men played the Scottish tunes on it with finesse. It was truly an enchanting experience. By the time we head back to our dorm, the cleverly concealed lights around the castle were switched on revealing the true grandeur of its magnificent structure.
After Edinburgh, the next stop was
the place I had been waiting to see since my childhood. This place has captured
imagination of many conspiracy theorists for one particular creature. It has a body of a dinosaur, limbs of a fish and the Scots locally call it – The
Nessie – or as it is known in rest of the world – The Lochness Monster.
The word Lochness deirives from
the word Loch – which means Lake in Scottish, and the word Nessie – which
stands for the famous Nessie creature. It is said that the Nessie cannot be
photographed and though several people claim to see it, there is no valid photographic
evidence of its existence. Eager to bust this myth and see for myself, I head
to the Lochness holding my camera with one finger always on the click button –
just in case!
 |
| Nessie posing at Lake Lochness |
Now, maybe it’s the laziness of
coming out on to surface on a clear, sunny Sunday or the fear of my clever
photography skills– the Lochness monster didn’t reveal itself. I still haven’t
yet decided whether the whole thing exits or is a big, blinding bluff pulled
upon mankind – but I was a bit dismayed that day.
My last stop in Scotland further
north to an offshoot peninsula called Isle of Mann. The geography of this place
is unlike I have ever seen. It is one large landmass encircling a huge lake in
the middle. As I drove through the beautiful sights and sounds of this place
there was one other thought running in my head. I was suddenly missing Indian
food!
I turned around and told my friend
“If only I could get Indian food to eat right now”. Call it luck or blame it
on the reach of Indian population, but not a minute passed as I uttered those words and there stood a hoarding in front of me in big,
bold, blue letters stating -- Taste of
Bengal – only a kilometre! My friend and I looked at each other and shouted
out – “Bengali in the middle of Isle of Mann!! We are truly unbelievable”. Boy! What a
meal it was as we hogged it like pigs!
My weekend getaway was now nearing
end and we had to drive back to London that evening. I remember it was a cool,
calm and clear night. The stars gleamed down brightly upon me like mesh of
gleaming jewels hanging in a sea of black mist. As I was in nostalgia looking through
the car window at the valleys soaked with last rays of the sun, that’s when I
heard a sudden and loud bump!!
This brings me back to the moment
where I and the flying sheep were eye to eye gazing in both wonderment and
terror. In a flash the sheep hit the road side like a heap of bricks!
What happened next will only remain
among my friends and the bottle of Scotch!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License