Chapter 26: A City That Kissed Me - 1

For all those people out there, reading these words with immense patience and graceful expectations, let me tell you a tale, a tale about a magical land filled with art and joyous music, far far away from the place where you sit. The tale starts on a fine Thursday morning from a beautiful park bench facing the majestic blue ocean. I was sitting on the bench, lost in my thoughts, deep down in my heart, feeling sad. I had some concerns which disturbed me frequently. I tried to move out of the place, where I'm staying for some reasons, but later I came to know that it is not possible to do that because of a contract. There was this loneliness, hectic college work and an argument with my close friend which I wish I could take back. I thought that I was in some kind of a cage, longing for freedom, freedom to fly away from the world I know, from all the sorrows and feelings. I was watching the seagulls flying high above the ocean, far away from the civilization and people. Watching them, for more than a hour, makes you want to fly, fly to a faraway place where everything is beautiful, peaceful and colorful. Obsessed with these dreamy thoughts, I decided to fly away!

 The bench from which the tale begins! 

 Fortunately the following day was a Good Friday. I only had the thought of flying far away, but I had no plans to execute. So when I started thinking about the possible destinations that I could go for and return back within three days, I came up with three options. Sudbury, Montreal and Niagara falls. After much thought, I eliminated Sudbury and Niagara since Sudbury required well laid plans as it is a northern part of the world and Niagara is too close from the place where I'm staying. It won't require three days. So, I made a tick on Montreal, not knowing the fact that the trip is going to change my life, forever! I heard some very simple expressions about Montreal, back when I was in India like 'It is a nice place with beautiful buildings', 'It is a cool place' etc. So I had no expectations about the place. Pictures in Google images and other sites weren't that impressive. I ticked this place because I had no other options. Within dusk, I had a slight idea of what the city has to offer, about the accommodation and the ride which is going to get me there. I decided to tell Dominic about my plan as we have photography and our cameras in common. Within that midnight, we made sure that we get a ride to Montreal. (thanks to kijiji.ca - the rideshare column.)

-Bright Dawn of the Good Friday- We didn't say a thing about the trip to our roommates. Before anyone woke up from their nice and cozy sleep we were standing near the "Gate 3" of Scarborough Town Center waiting for our ride to show up with packed bags in which there were only two T-shirts, brush, paste and some apples. This is an advantage I'm having right now. Nobody cares about me or asks questions about my whereabouts. Even if I'm gone for a week or two, nobody is going to shed a tear or worry about me. But the consequent loneliness is the price one has to pay. We were supposed to leave from Scarborough Town Center at 9 AM. But after three courses of betrayals from three different drivers we finally found a nice Arabic man who offered a ride to Montreal. There were already three people, sitting inside the car. One person, was sitting in front, near the driver. I swear I never had a chance to take a glimpse at him. All I know was that he had a long and weird hair. The other two people were a couple, in their fifties. Besides them the car was full of newspapers and I found a place to sit near a pile. The couple were kind enough to share the space at the back of the car for Dominic. Driver asked "Shall we?" After a nod of agreement the doors were locked and the engine was ignited. After a minute or two, that elegant vehicle geared up and found racing with all the other vehicles, in the neat and smooth 'Highway 401', North America's longest highway!

I never had a chance to travel outside Toronto, before Montreal. Toronto is just the exaggerated and organized version of Chennai, the city which I call home. So, nothing in Toronto, to this date, got my attention. In my opinion, everyone in Toronto are just surviving, nobody seems to be living. Life is so complicated! Nobody stops to hear and admire a musician in a subway or a baby's smile in a bus. Everything is organized and in a hurry. No one stops, not even for a second. So, more than the destination, I was excited about the six hour long drive. We slowly got out of Toronto, the rush, the hurry and the cluster of buildings. At last I saw the sign I was hoping to see. 'Thank You for visiting Toronto, Ontario's capital!' The vehicle reached a whooping speed of 120km/hr. We crossed that sign board and that's when we had our first conversation. I was sitting there with all the newspapers, not believing that we were officially out of Toronto. "So, what brings you to this road trip?" It was the husband. "Montreal! For the Easter holidays." Dominic replied with a smile. "That's amazing! I'm sure you guys are going to have a great time there." He then, introduced himself and his wife. "I'm John and this is my wife Jess."(Names changed) "Hello guys" this was Jess. She has an amazing voice, a right proportion of command and sweetness. We later found that John is from Poland and Jess is from Quebec. John is a traveller and has travelled to a countless number of countries in all the continents and surprisingly he knew a lot about India and Indian food, particularly Kerala. Jess is an intelligent woman, the one you could identify right after a single glimpse. Within an interesting hour, we had many set of conversations about India, Boat house, the name Madras, British rule, Kerala food, Elephants, Toronto zoo etc. By the time the car was passing by a beautiful quiet village. Once you set foot outside of Toronto, it's all about beautiful villages, blue lakes and farms. Most of the sights I saw, were nothing short of spectacular. There are some people in this world whom I love the most, the people who seem to enjoy the beauty of this world with me. I wished that they were there in that ride with me. I saw a narrow road in the middle of a barren field that ends in a magnificent blue ocean. No people, no noise except the hush of the winds and a beautiful wooden house in the middle of the same field, with ocean in the backdrop. The vehicle, in a constant speed, was crossing some peaceful villages, small yet dense woods, lagoons, streams, rivers, farms, barren lands and some roads to nowhere. Another hour later, we finally came to a halt. "Alright, break for 10 minutes" I heard the driver's voice. I was hoping for a break too because of a mighty natural phenomenon.

  There was a very small burger shop and a closed convenience store at that place. I couldn't see any other building, not even a house. It is a typical location for a sleazy Hollywood horror movie or maybe for a road trip genre. After a nice and smooth response for the nature's call I had a cheese burger. Not much to say about this part because nothing happened, maybe except for the cute country girl, who served me. I looked through the glass window of that shop, the mystery third man of our car was stretching his arms, facing the other side. Again, nothing about him, except for the weird hairstyle. Skipping some parts like 'shall we?, nod of agreement, engine ignition' we were back in the cozy car, racing again through the highway. I slept, I woke up, gazed through the window, passed through a city called Brockville, Thousand islands, saw the exit sign board of Ontario, welcome sign board of Quebec and finally we took a diversion, entered into another lane, the lane which read 'Montreal.' The initial few minutes into the outskirts of the city, failed to create an impression. Less than ordinary buildings, busy roads, Tim Hortons coffee shops (as common as sighting a car in a road). The car diverged from the road and threw us out near a subway station. "This is the Namur subway station and this would take you inside the city. Enjoy your visit." again it's the Driver's voice. We bid a reluctant goodbye to John and Jess. As the engine sound faded away, we realized that we were the two new strangers who knew nothing except the name of that mysterious and unknown city!

Namur Subway Station

(Note: There are two important notes in this post)
(Note 1: Keeping in mind that, the tale of Montreal is too long to wrap up in a single post, I have divided into two posts.)
(Note 2: Ted and Frenzie, I'm sure you guys are out there somewhere, reading this post, sitting in a cozy couch and tasting one of the finest wines ever made. This note is to say that it was my pleasure to meet you people. You guys are amazing!)

Chapter 25: Barren land and the Beautiful Chimney

The red coloured bus slowly came to a halt. We stepped down from the vehicle and looked around. It was a nice and quiet neighbourhood. It had a closed catholic high school, an Irish pub, a Sushi house, a massage parlour and a quiet little road in which the vehicle frequency was too low. The sun was giving out its final few rays of the day. Dominic accessed the GPS through his phone and found that we had to take that quiet little road to reach the place. The place we were looking for, is called Bluffers Park. It is one of our short exploring/photography trip.

By the end of my first month in Toronto, I understood my routine and every little thing came into picture. In the mean time, I also came to know what the term 'Home Sick' and 'Feeling Lonely' means. I'm thousands of kilometres, twenty hours and $750 away from my home, from my friends and from all the people who could understand me and my weird thoughts and mood. Sometimes the day would start with a blissful but ironically a melancholic dream. The dream of me lying in my good old soft bed, in my home back in my country. The dream would be so realistic that every time I would almost expect to wake up in my own room, filled with the pale yellow morning light. But disappointment would be waiting for me in disguise as my new white coloured Canadian room with broad glass windows allowing the pure white morning sun rays which in no way similar to the beautiful and unique pale yellow morning rays. This loneliness started to grow on me. That growth had an impact, an impact so strong, an impact which made me to forget my own character.

I'm a travel freak. Usually when I'm at a new place, I'd check out the neighbourhood, I'd look for some unique places like lakes or parks. I'd like to establish a comfort zone or rather a personal space of my own in that new place. But for the whole January, I never did any of that. I just went to the college, did my assignments, attended the tests, came back to the room, slept, woke up and for most of the time I regretted my decision of coming to Canada. I never read a book, I never watched a movie. I was forgetting myself in the large intersections, stops and signals of this magnificent city of Toronto. For most of the time, I was resenting the loneliness and having debates with my mind on the topic 'How lonely am I feeling?'

But everything ended one day. That was the day which helped me to figure out the beauty of my loneliness. That day started with the same home dream and regrets. Light showers of pure white and beautiful snowflakes showed up in that peaceful morning. I took a hot water shower and then decided to go to the bank nearby, to deposit some money. That was the first time, I decided to go out alone. I walked through the long and narrow corridors of my apartment and got into the elevator which was going down to the ground floor. When I got into the elevator, there was already a woman and her child. He was a small boy in his third or may be fourth year in this world. He was so charming and playful. I waved at him while his mother was constantly staring at the floor numbers inside the elevator. He was surprised at my friendly approach and waved back. I, then whispered back asking "What's your name?" He giggled and replied "My name is Charles!" and after a small thought he asked
"What's yours?"
"I'm Karthick, nice to meet you" by saying I offered my hand for a shake. He was so happy and excited. He extended his hand. It was a cute little shake. By the time the shake came to an end, the elevator hit the ground floor. I bid one final goodbye to him. He reciprocated the same wave with lots of excitement. I came out of the building and happily encountered the beautiful white snowflakes. It was so soft like cotton and had a pleasing charm. The weather was so pleasant that day. I finished my work at the bank and realized that I was hungry and my stomach was pleading for some input. I saw a small coffee shop opposite to the bank and decided to go there. The place was so small with ten tables and chairs. A middle aged Chinese woman was managing the place. She was unusually attractive. No one was there in that afternoon except me. She first offered me a pleasing smile and then offered a small cup of Irish coffee and a doughnut. When she asked me to select a soup, I asked for the tomato soup and then (my mistake) added "It's pure vegetarian right?"
Her smile turned into a sound laugh. "Tomato soup - pure vegetarian" she repeated this phrase in her own cute accent and laughed. After five minutes I was served with a bowl of tomato soup as promised in the picture. To say the least it was unexpectedly delicious. The hot coffee and sweet doughnut added the delight. I expressed my thanks to her for making the most delicious soup I ever had. She started calling me "Veggie boy" I bid a goodbye to her and I got "Goodbye dear" in reply. I came out of the shop to catch the bus back to my room. That day was so relaxing and charming and ended in a peaceful manner. Not much happened, but it taught me to notice the beauty lying unnoticed in some very tiny things. That evening, I took my camera out, after a very long time, and went out for a small shoot. I enjoyed being alone, being myself. That day helped me to find myself. After that experience, slowly I started my little explorations and photography trips.

Dominic with his Canon 550D

Sometimes I go out for short photography trips with Dominic, my friend and roommate. We have mutual interests in photography and film making. He has the very same Canon 550D, which I have. We explored some unique places, parks, hills and mainly the places around Lake Ontario. These trips are nothing less than spectacular. Now, this is the reason or a small flash back behind the first paragraph. Bluffers park was one of our scenic and breathtaking photography trips. I think I stopped the paragraph with us taking the quiet little road. Yes! We took the quiet little road and the road led us to a beautiful forest way. It was two kilometres and a half an hour walk through the woods. After few minutes we got completely cut off from the noise and hassles of the society. The place was so quiet and eerily beautiful.

Quiet little Bluffers road

We continued to walk and I was constantly watching the thick blue and pleasantly beautiful sky in a distance. We just heard that Bluffers is a nice forest area. We continued our stroll as the evening was proceeding to an end. The sun showered the place with its pale orange glitters and rays. It was a sweaty walk in the upside hill. We saw a middle aged man walking in a distance and decided to ask him about the whereabouts of the park. We approached him and asked
"Uhh, excuse me, Where's Bluffers Park?"
"Do you see the ocean back there?"
"Ocean! Where?"
"There..." In the direction, he pointed, there was the blue sky I was starring, giving away no sign that its actually an ocean, lying peacefully with little to no waves, making no noise, with its exquisite and admirable deep blue color. That scene, to say the least, took my breath away. The landscape setting was truly inspiring, the sky so bluish pink, clouds scattered around in a pattern, kissing the magnificent blue ocean.

Ocean in disguise ...

We clicked some pictures, while some people were spending their time feeding nuts to the crowded gang of singing birds. Some pictures later, I kept my camera aside and sat comfortably in one of the big rocks facing the ocean. Except the voice of the fresh breeze, and the mesmerizing sound of sea gulls there was no sound, nothing to be heard. I was sitting there, longing to posses the talent of a painter or a poet. It was one of those magical evenings of silence and wonder.

longing to be a poet ...

ocean and the sunset ...

Bluffers park - birds and people

This is one of my fascinating short trips, the beauty of which I could share only verbally or in writing with others. Often, I'll go out alone with only Mozart and my camera as my company. I'm spending hours in the library, hearing Mozart and recently I'm happy that I'm reading a lot. Lone trips are something special and close to my heart. Recently or yesterday, to be exact, I took a route bus, the route 102, I take this bus everyday to go to my college, but never travelled ahead of that stop.

But yesterday, I had an opportunity to sit on one of the most comfortable seat near the heater, and never got down. The bus passed through my college, passed through a small town, crossed a highway, all of the passengers got down in their respective stops but I never did. It was me and the driver. The bus was now travelling in a beautiful road, which passes through a barren farm land. The farm land had the courtesy to not interrupt the beautiful evening sun rays which entered through the glass window of the bus and hugged me. I finally decided to get down and did so in the midst of nowhere. The place was so alluring, as the land had an unknown working factory in a distance with its beautiful and fascinating chimney smoke, sun rays offered an additional beauty to that chimney smoke. With Mozart's divine solo violin flowing like an entrancing falls through my ears, the chimney smoke, barren farm lands, that walk was one of the special moments in my life. Now, I stopped complaining as I began to see and enjoy the true beauty of being alone.