“BEFORE THE NIGHT IS OVER”

The drive was not as long as we had expected; by 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we were in Ooty. After a relaxing stay at our friends’ place in Bangalore, we had started our drive around 8 in the morning with a lot of excitement and apprehensions. Making it to Staff College was special because Hazy had put in a lot of hard work and we were told that Wellington is the best time one can have in his entire career in the Army.

The drive from Ooty to Wellington was beautiful and shorter than we expected. Entering Wellington gave us a sense of fulfillment and contentment. But as we approached the cantonment, we started to wonder if we were at the right place! It was filthy at places. But the PCK about the place and the course was strongly keeping us hopeful and made us ignore what we were seeing. We had no problem looking for our allotted accommodation in the circle quarters- 3/5 it was!

As we entered our house (not home yet), we were taken aback. It was not what one would expect at the prestigious staff college. We reminded ourselves of Bobby McFerrin’s lines “In every life you have some trouble, when you worry you make it double...” and of course - "PCK, PCK"!! 

But the MES people were kind enough and agreed to do up parts of the house. Settling down after that was quick, as we were used to it. The course began and we met a lot of new people- husband's course mates and their wives et al. It was a barrel of fun, as husbands were getting reunited after years. The “hubbub” continues till date...and we love it!

The events that followed added to the fun- the hikes, the angling trips, sports, SCADS, and the plethora of courses for the ladies.  The other socials (course, syndicate, squadron etc) have made sure that every time you meet someone you haven’t met before. Besides, the number of gorgeous and pristine places that are there to explore around here way exceeds the number of weekends we are left with now.

"THE PATCH" (as someone had aptly put it) back at our now "home" doesn’t matter anymore. Our home is perfect as it is always filled with warmth, love and laughter and our friends make sure that it remains so all the time. So the PCK was absolutely correct! This is ONE place to be and we are cherishing every moment here. I don't care that I have to wear jackets, inners and socks all the time, or my clothes have to be dried with the help of blowers. There is much more to life than this... and Wellington makes sure you realize them right in time :)