A Romance with Yarra Valley

So it’s been two weeks I have been in Melbourne. The environment has been cheerful since the beginning but homesickness has gradually begun to creep up on me. In all honesty, I could have avoided that easily had I agreed to go on the trip my colleagues have planned for this weekend. It was really nice of them to invite me even, considering how I usually keep to myself at work. In any case, here I am, in my clear-cut studio apartment waiting for the minute clock hand to finally strike 12. At 9 here, it’s still too early in India, but my mom never needed an alarm clock to wake up at 4 am, sharp!

I too am a morning person, in a home that's in hustle at 5 am, there was no way to be otherwise. However, I always needed a gentle shake from my mom to wake me up. Back home, it was ridiculous why she would wake me up even when I didn't have or trip to prepare for. I asked her for the same, requesting to let me sleep in at least on the weekends. To this, she always replied, ‘It's not for you, I'm selfish and I need to see your face the first thing in the morning, and your voice to start my day!', leaving me disarmed to even throw a minor tantrum.

So, as a result, I have always been the first person to get up along with my mom, disturbing the sweet morning slumber of all the other late wakers.

When I got placement in Hyphen, it was not much of a deal for my friends, they always somehow have more expectations from me than even I can imagine. But at home, it was a completely different story. I was the first person in our family to have earned a job outside of India, and no one was prepared for such a huge change.

My mother, despite appearing the most conservative member of the family, was the only one who helped us all to understand the significance of the opportunity. Having faith in her wisdom, all agreed and prepared for me to shift to Melbourne. It was all hustle in the month of the departure, but on the final day, it was as smooth as one could have hoped for. Even here in Melbourne, the company has made great arrangements for all the placements to help find accommodations. Even in the workplace, everyone is nice and welcoming. So it should have been an easy yes for me to accept the kind offer and visit the Yarra Valley with them all, but I still have to overcome my newly developed introversion, or is it something that I have only recently developed?!

I turned to clock almost impatiently, it was two minutes over 9! Mom has never been late even by a minute!? I picked up my phone to make the morning call myself, and just then the phone vibrated, and there was the smiling face of my Mom. I picked up the call before the first ring was over, and was overwhelmed by the caring exclamation from my mom. I was on the verge of tears, but nothing good can come out of worrying my mom 10 thousand or so kilometres away! So I stifled my emotions, lest a snivel warns my mother of my weak emotional state.

‘Good morning baby! How’re you this morning’

‘As healthy as a stallion’

‘Really!? you sound funny’

‘Must be the weather, it’s cloudy here today’

‘I don’t know, there’s no disruption, just your voice is different! Anyways what are your plans for today? I don’t want you to sulk in your room again, you told me on Thursday that you’re all unpacked now. So no need to stay back again!’

‘Yeah, but it might rain today. And you know how clumsy I get when the ground is wet’

‘That’s the worst excuse you have ever come up with! Either tell me that you’re making a plan with Rajesh and Heidi, or I’m calling them up right now’

‘No don’t! They already have plans for this weekend’

‘What? And you’re not a part of it? Are they dating or something?’

‘No mom! Aah! Well they are off to Yarra Valley on an office trip’

‘Well that's a bummer if it's an office trip shouldn't you be out there as well? And you told me they’re all friendly and everything!’

‘Well I was invited, but I didn’t feel like going at the time’

‘What!? You said NO to an office trip? That too to Yarra Valley?'

‘Yeah! Seems like I left my brain back there.’

‘Well, now I'm sending it back, in the meantime, I want you to get up a set yourself on the way to the trip'

‘Can’t do that now! They all left last night!’

‘Oh really! And since when do you require a company to book your tickets to a place only an hour away.’

‘umm’

‘No, I’ll call back in an hour, by that time, you should be on your way, is that clear?’

‘Yeah….’, I trailed off. Not knowing what else to say.

‘I'm going to hang up now so that you can prepare. As always, love you my chumpkin!'

Wow! She really has some magic. I thought and rushed to pack my essentials and off I set myself to meet Harminder. He told me to join him if I change my mind. He had some work last night, so will be leaving in half an hour to join the team.

On our way to Yarra Valley, the sky kept getting clearer, it might rain in Melbourne, but no trace of clouds appear on the horizon in the direction we're headed to. My punctual mom called me exactly 15 minutes into the travel and sounded really pleased that I took her advice.

Once we reached there, all teammates welcomed me warmly, and this time I threw away all the caution and reacted to their greeting with as much warmth as I could muster. Heidi has already left with the other girls to the winery. Boys along with Rajesh were waiting for the remaining party. Rajesh gave a toothed grin, and off we go to enjoy the beautiful valley.

Wherever we set our eyes, cheerful views held our attention with complete rapture. It is really so amazing to see horizons, and vegetation, after long weeks in comfy yet geometrically sharp city settings. I always think, our nomadic ancestors still live in us, or why would we always feel nostalgic in greener settings, even if the place has never been visited by us ever before?

After taking brunch at the closest food joint around the winery, we all set ourselves towards the famed horse trail rides in the Yarra Valley. As we kept getting closer, I found myself feeling more excited than I have ever since my flight departed from the airport at Delhi. All my friends and cousins asked me to share the pictures of me on the horse rides. They were, again, more excited about such trips than I was. So I took out my camera, a kind present from my aunt, and started taking pictures even before we were at the stable. My first horse trail rides in Melbourne was to set off from another beautiful place called Chum Creeks. The huts in the place looked extremely cosy from the outside, but we had neither time nor permission to enter that part of the premise. The place has to be booked days, and sometimes weeks in advance, and already a family was staying there. So we steered ourselves to the horse hut instead.

There the horse trainer Frank showed us off his beautiful and robust horses, with as much affection as I remembered my parents showing me off whenever I have remembered a poem, a feat in my early years.

I chose a chestnut beauty as my mount and exchanged a respectful ‘horse handshake' with it. Frank helped me mount the horse, and Heidi quickly snapped my photo. Once on the horseback, I realised how tall my horse actually is. Now despite the calm demeanour of the ‘Garnet’ my horse, I began to feel panic creeping up on me. And almost instinctively I felt tension rippling through my horse’s fine smooth skin. Then I remembered having read something about nervous horse riders, and made conscious efforts to calm my nerves. Just at the moment, Frank came to us and gently patted Garnet on the shoulder. After that what happened is a story for another time.