With our winter gear on, we left the city in the wee hours of December to spend the next two days in Wayanad, Kerala. As a car driver, it was my first interstate road trip. The thought of manoeuvring the hair-pin bends fretted me, although it had been decided that my cousin Bubba would be at the wheel all through the bends. Once again, I ensured that all the documents pertaining to the car, and my license, were present in the dashboard. The journey began with my wobbly hands steering the wheel.

When we reached the outskirts, we stopped for a quick tea at Bubba’s request. He, who had just learnt that I had acquired a friend’s DSLR camera, treated every moment as an image that was meant to be captured. Thus, pictures of us shivering, sipping tea, chatting, and even paying the stall-keeper were shot ceaselessly!

The drive was resumed amid his exaggerated remarks that reaching the destination would take a day if I was to continue driving. When I finally gave up, I took the opportunity to criticise his hasty driving.

At the crack of dawn, we stopped opposite Mysore Palace to capture the magical light of the rising sun (which I do not see on most days owing to my nocturnal lifestyle). The pictures taken of the first light did not need any digital alteration, for they looked lovely with natural tones of yellow, pink, and orange. On moving further away, I so desired to frame the lovely sights, which brought my sleep-deprived self to life—spaces inhabited by slender and stout trees with their striking branches, and, telephone and electric power poles with their intricate lines. My earnest requests for pulling over were brushed off because they were rather keen on reaching the destination without needless delay.

Throughout the journey, Bubba and I fought over what music was to be played. Later, it was agreed that trance should be played when I was behind the wheel and pop when he was. Watermelons and corns that Mother bought on the highway occupied the trunk, along with our baggage. I insisted on driving the car through the Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary, where we hoped to catch a glimpse of some wild animal. Speed-breakers erected every fifty metres ensured that drivers did not over speed in the wildlife zone. As I was leisurely driving through the serene forest, my cousins spotted a herd of deer! In our excitement, we quickly left the car to find the deer looking back at us for a few seconds before they coyly quitted the spot.

One of the places we intended to visit that afternoon in Wayanad seemed packed even before we reached it. The outgoing drivers warned the incoming drivers of the lack of parking space. Thankfully, a neighbouring road was within the tea plantations, offering one a chocolate-box view of the place. I remember how fervently (and incessantly) I shot pictures of the pretty backdrops from the moving car until twilight depressed the quality of pictures. That night, all of us had a good night’s sleep in a dormitory. The second day was spent seeing touristy places of Wayanad. We left on the third day.

During the return journey through the same wildlife sanctuary, we spotted a spotted deer! This time, Bubba made sure that he got a picture of the animal, with him in the foreground. Our next stop was on the highway where a variety of vegetables that lay on one side of the road drew Mother’s attention. On the other side of the road was a plant nursery with a display of showy flowers. The trunk was loaded with beetroots and radishes, this time. Catnip would have accompanied them had I found one in the nursery for my two wayward cats.

Bubba, for whom driving a car on the highway is akin to playing a car-race game, grabbed the wheel before I got in. Yet again, I was bitten by the bug that compels me to constantly capture images of trees from a moving vehicle. It took the drive through the hairpin bends of Bandipur to end the impulse and enjoy the beauty of a deciduous forest seen for the first time in daylight.

Busy monkeys on a food-hunting spree moved along excited tourists at the Bandipur National Park. They were found emptying bottles and upturning dustbins, besides ripping the pillion of a parked motorbike. One of them snatched a bottle of mango juice from Mother’s hand while we were surveying the Information Centre. Amidst such surroundings, I saw a monkey, seemingly wary of human presence, clutching her baby. I was so inspired by all the information I had gathered during our interval at the park that I fancied working in the forest department as a wildlife biologist!

On the next highway, we found a decent restaurant with outdoor swings. After quick refreshment, we swung on the swings and left the place a few minutes before sundown. When the atmosphere was painted with the golden light of the departing sun, I pulled off the road and ran across to a barren land with my cousins to bask in my most favourite light, while Bubba and Mother stayed in the car. Before long, we were summoned by Bubba, who walked towards us with a solemn expression, but when asked to pose for a picture, forgot why he had come.

During the drive, he had us rolling in the aisles when he confidently said that elephants and tigers are domestic animals, and argued that Mysore Palace was built by Tipu Sultan. How could, then, my cousin Anusha not transfer the title of ‘Asinine Cousin’ from me to Bubba?

He considered every car in our vicinity a competitor in his fabricated game of car race. He also presumed that other drivers were building strategies to defeat him in the race. Dipper was used constantly. Certain maneuvers had us yelling at him. It was only when he emerged as the winner that he seemed to be at ease. His fixed jolly disposition made the road trip merrier.

Before I forget, we never encountered hairpin bends during our journey.