I spent the last week of 2022 out of the city. It felt good to see the concrete landscape gradually give way to greenery nearby and the mountains from the Sahyadri ranges in the distance. In the mornings I stepped out to take long walks past the sleepy little villages.

It is difficult to put into words what you feel when you see an empty road, intermittently hemmed in by fields or grassy expanse, stretching out far in the distance. You can hear birds chirping about in the trees. Occasionally, you pass cattle munching on the leaves contentedly. For a city person like me, it is a wonder to hear the sound that a solitary leave makes while falling on the road. Or the rustling of the wind in the trees. I never knew that the leaves can be of such different shapes. It is a delight to see the patterns that the sun's rays make as they filter through the treetops. Or to suddenly come across a burst of tiny blue flowers in full bloom by the roadside.

You can see giant spiders waiting patiently in the middle of the web spun across tree branches. If you are lucky, you can spot a snake slither away in a thicket. I have seen this only once and was so thrilled that I could not stop talking about it the whole day.

This road is my favorite hangout. Every time I go for a walk I discover something new. I never tire of it. And when I return to the city, I see it in my dreams as I fall asleep in the night.