Escaping heat to get trapped in it

Hey guys! I know I have been inactive for the past month, and that's because my holidays had a packed schedule. But, I did have a break and I went out of the city, hoping I could beat the heat, but unfortunately, something unusual happened. Wanna know what it is? Stick till the end.

To begin with, I was out of station for the past four days. We started on 28th, I guess, a road trip to a city that never sleeps. Yeah, you got me there! How is Madurai not that hot? Apparently, that was just the beginning. We reached Madurai by the end of the day, and the hotel we stayed at had spectacular decorations made of wood. And the food there was quite good too.

The next day, we visited a few temples and the famous Madurai Nayakar Mahal. That palace was splendid! Now here's the interesting part. That day marked the end of the intense heat of summer. According to our myths, it had to rain all over Tamil Nadu. Though Chennai was quite unlucky, Madurai had about half an hour of mild rain. When you see the rain after such a long time, well, you know how that feels!

On 30th May, we hit the road again; but this time, it was a trip from Madurai to Kodaikanal. The climate wasn't that bad, but it was still hot. We reached our destination by late afternoon. The place we stayed here didn't have good views and all that, but it had great food! That day, we decided to skip lunch and go out. We did boating first, and Kodaikanal lake is quite famous for boating. After that, I went horse riding. I had a great time doing these. And then, we visited a botanical garden near Kurinji Andavar temple, and we went there too.

On 31st May, our first stop was Bryant's Park. Who would miss the famous flower show? To be honest, people who did all those decorations have "Tons" of patience! Following a selfie session, we visited another temple which is around three thousand years old near a village near the mountains. (Yeah, I like going to places that are thousands of years old) According to the legends, the sage Bogar created the idol with 10 types of poisons after his visit to China. Not going into those details now. After that, in the evening, we took a stroll at the Coakers Walk. That sight was truly amazing. After 2-3 kilometers, when you look from the height you are in, you can see nothing except mist, mixing with cloud and resulting in greyish white color. And it rained in Kodaikanal for a while.

The main thing here is, the temperature at Kodaikanal was around 20-28 degrees. Though this is way less than what we experience in Tamil Nadu, this is an effect of climate change. 10 years back, when I was 5, we had visited Kodaikanal for a vacation, during the same dates. The temperature at that time was around 14-16 degrees! This is something that each of us, including me, is accountable for. If we don't realize the value of nature, and the need to protect it, we are the ones who will suffer in the near future.