Saturday, Jan 10, 2004 IT WOULD be hard to write up Meghamalai for a tourist guide. There are no specific spots you can mark out and no particular activities you can list under `must dos'. Meghamalai is not as much a place as an experience. And you don't need much to have it. A little bit of time, some sensible clothing and a good pair of boots will do very well. Secluded in the Western Ghats in Theni district, this verdant stretch of reserve forest can be approached two ways -- from Theni via Chinnamannur and from Andipatti via Kandamanayakkanur. Temptation to try both routes leads me to alter my schedules. I go up one route, retrace my way and then go up the second route. As it turns out the approach via Chinnamannur is more scenic. From scrub forests at the foothills, to ubiquitous expanses of tea and coffee estates, to the spice (pepper, cardamom, cinnamon) plantations and finally to the dense evergreen forests at the top - the changing hues provides as my taxi chunters up the mountainside. My city lungs swell up gratefully with fresh mountain air. I stop off at the quaintly spelt Highways a view point that affords a peep at the entire range. There are estates all around, some houses of plantation workers, an artificial lake and plenty of scope for making leisurely walks. By 4 p.m., a white blanket of mist covers the mountains. If you must stay overnight, you need to book at the town panchayat rest house in advance. There is not much choice by way of food either, but the chapattis and kurma from the only nearby eatery seem adequate. After all, I am here for the zero-pollution, plastic-free, all-green experience, I remind myself before turning early to bed. Highways is fringed by forests but if you want to go to the heart of Meghamalai, then Vellimalai area is where you should be heading. Silver-lined clouds seem to rest gently on green hilltops and nestled somewhere in this region is the place where the river Vaigai originates. For those who do not want to walk, the daily bus from Theni to Vellimalai is an option. But if your legs are eager and willing, then get off the bus at Varashanadu and haul yourself up the picturesque dirt track it takes about two hours and is well worth it. I am accompanied by forest guard Murugan, an ex-armyman with a bullet injury in the Kargil war to show for it. He came to Meghamalai three years ago, an area that he regards his battlezone: 1,200 hectares of reserved forest that need protection. He tells me that diehard trekkers can walk all the way from Highways to Vellimalai in eight hours, a route that strays briefly into neighbouring Kerala. As we walk among trees of rosewood, nellikai, kadukai, pine and eucalyptus, he cautions me against the leeches and the snakes. "This is an undisturbed area and the lack of approach roads and facilities restrict the number of visitors," he tells me. Adding: "Mostly researchers come here." Walking under the verdant canopy, which is vibrantly alive with the sounds of insects, the trill of birds and the gurgle of running water, Murugan regales me with stories about the sightings of animals, encounters with poachers and raids on ganja cultivations. In the middle of this wonderful journey, there is a sudden moment of epiphany. Murugan guides me towards a clearing behind the foliage, where there is a herd of elephants, relaxed, lazily waving their trunks and seemingly oblivious of us. Seeing them on foot is an absolutely different experience. I silently thank Murugan for making my trip to Meghamalai even better than it might have been.