The Koyo Story.....

For those who dont know what Koyo is, "Koyo" is a Japanese word and means "The autumn colours". And I have been waiting from last year to see the autumn colours in Japan. I missed it last year because I returned to India for my delivery just as autumn started in Japan. But was very sure that this year there was no reason I would miss it. But this year too,I missed it ..........almost.

We had earlier decided to visit "Korankei", a place famous for viewing autumn colours and located not very far away from Nagoya. The colours there was supposed to be at their best during the last week of November. So we had decided to visit Korankei on Nov 25th, a Saturday. On Sunday, Nov 26th we were supposed to attend an Indian get together, our first one. But as the proverb goes "Man proposes and god disposes", our plans were disposed.

The reason was autumn itself or the Rotavirus that generally strikes in late autumn or winter and kids and infants are the ones usually affected. Poor Prekshu was infected by Rotavirus and started vomitting on 19th. She had severe diarrhea and wouldnt drink the electrolyte fluid given by the doctor. The choosy fussy eater, like her mom, did not like the taste of the sweetened water. She got dehydrated and looked so pale that it broke my heart to even look at her and I spent most of my time sulking. Finally on friday, Nov 24th she was given IV fluids and I can never forget that day in my life. It was so hard on me to see my darling baby being poked with needle and lying on the bed crying constantly. But it had to be done and Prekshu looked a lot better when it was over.

So, we called off our trip to Korankei and also the Indian get together. But I wanted to see Koyo and so after a lot of research on the net we decided to visit Jakkoin Inuyama since the webpages claimed that the koyo there lasted until Dec 10th. So on 2nd Dec, a saturday again, we visited Jakkoin Inuyama.

We reached Inuyama with no high hopes, we were prepared for the worst. We hired a taxi from the station to Jakkoin and the taxi driver's comments were disappointing. According to him, it was late to see the autumn colours and told us later that it was still beautiful after he heard our sigh of disappointment. The sight on the way that led to Jakkoin was a proof to what the driver had to say..........it was late........we could see only withered trees. When we reached Jakkoin, we realised that we had to climb almost 1000 stairs to reach the top and get the view. I was already in one of my worst moods..........climb 1000 stairs carrying Prekshu , to see what? Withered trees? My poor hubby had to carry all the luggage and Prekshu's stroller. But while climbing the stairs we realised, it wasnt that bad after all. There were nice colours if not excellent ones. I would not call the view from the top as breathtaking, but it was good. We could atleast claim that we saw Koyo, a little late, but it was still beautiful. We met a Pakistani family and it was nice to hear hindi mixed with urdu, the kind spoken in old hindi classics. An old japanese gentleman , accompanied by a young and beautiful japanese girl approached us because they recognised that we were from India. We were shocked to learn that the old gentleman was a professor in sanskrit and Indian Philosophy and the girl was his student and he knew a lot about West Bengal. We spent some time at the top taking pictures and started our descent. The descent was easier than the ascent and we finally returned home in a better state of mind than we had left home with. My hubby promised me that next year, if we were still in Japan, we would surely see the autumn colours at its best. I only hope god does not dispose it next year.