Datta is my childhood friend. He now lives in Colorado Springs, USA. I had been to his place when I visited the US for the first time. This visit I was unable to go there. Since Mohammad could not go to the mountain, the mountain decided to come to Mohammad. Datta came to Nashville, where I am presently staying, and both of us travelled to Knoxville, another city in Tennessee, and stayed in a hotel for two days with an intention of talking, talking, talking and time permitting, visiting the Smokey Mountains.
Knoxville seemed to be a nice place. The Tennessee river flows right in the middle of the city and adds considerable charm to the place. The usual river side restaurants and river cruises are there but they seemed to be low key. The river side walking path is a wonderful place for a leisurely walk. The university of Tennessee is located in the city and it probably helps in reducing the average age of the residents and adds some bounce to the place. You can see lots of young boys and girls running around the place and literally running during early mornings and evenings. The downtown is full of coffee shops, ice cream places and restaurants and the university colors of Orange and white are everywhere. During the evenings, one may spend an hour or more just moving around the market square or if your legs are not used to moving, sitting on one of the benches in the square.
As it happened, we did visit the Great Smoky Mountains. The ‘Smoky’ in the name is because of the dense fog around the range seen from a distance but as one gets closer, one may believe that the ‘smoky’ is because of the fuel smoke from the thousands of vehicles which clog the mountain roads ! But it was a wonderful trip. The fall colours are yet to take hold of the range in full ernest but it has begun and the vegetation is beautiful as it is. The clear stream running along the road makes the route very pleasant. We did reach the highest point, the ‘Clingman’s Dome’ but I was fascinated more by the presence of the Appalachian Trail, the longest hiking trail in the world - 3420 kms - which passes through the top of the range. We did walk along the trail for half a kilometer and now I can boast that I have walked the AT too !
On the whole, we walked a considerable amount, talked a lot, laughed a lot, cried a bit and had a wonderful time together befitting our meeting after fifteen years. I am sixty nine and he is seventy two. We stay nearly 20,000 kms apart. Who knows when we see each other next ?
