I have been slipping into a rut of late—as a victim of routine and the mundane. Moreover, the wedding of my older daughter, a gruelling ordeal that modern weddings are bound to be these days, had my life on the leash! I badly needed a break.

My son-in-law, who was excited to kick-start a family, broached the idea. He suggested we go on a jaunt to unwind. We chose Valparai, a quaintly scenic place on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. My wife and I had visited the place as medical students. As part of an ‘all-boys’ trip after my medical course, I had passed by the place once more on the way to a magical place, the Grass Hills, close to Valparai.