Prarthana – Prayer is located on Davisdale, a hill towards the south of the race course and overlooking it, Prarthana offers the best of proximity and privacy to the traveller. Prarthana is hardly a five minute drive from the town centre with the main attractions of the Botanical Gardens, Boathouse, Race course all within a kilometere radius. Prarthana is also a walking distance from the Rose Garden – one of Ooty’s primary attractions these days.

The house is set within a neatly maintained garden with a hedges and a stone wall to provide privacy to the grass lawn where one can enjoy the warmth of the sun.

Two comfortably furnished rooms with attached on the first floor with its own independent access along with a hall, a little sunlit room is what is on offer to travellers.

One can wake up in the morning, take a walk along the full bloom Rose Garden, and enjoy a glimpse of the Ooty racing season. Enjoy the bright summer sunshine in the lawn, or go down to Ooty town to savour its main attractions.

Prarthana is the best of both worlds.

When Karthik went over to Ooty to meet his family friends…

The Vittalmoorthy’s are residents of Ooty for quite a long time now. Mr. Moorthy worked with and retired from the Hindustan Photo Films at Ooty. Mrs. Jeyalakshmi is a close friend of my mother’s and my mother was with us primarily to meet up with her. With their only son well settled in the US, the Vittalmoorthys find the house too large for their requirement. Being an enterprising person, Jeyalakshmi maami decided to register with the TTDC’s homestay program. One verification from the TTDC and two independent verifications by the police later, their house has been approved by the TTDC and listed on their site.

Prarthana is a double storied building, located on a hillside overlooking the race course. The Vittalmoorthys are letting out the first floor of the house, which has its own independent entrance. One enters a huge living room, and on its right are two bedrooms. Down the living room is the kitchen, which does not at this point of time have any cooking facilities. On the left is a small sun filled room with a divan that can be used as a reading room. This little rooms leads to a balcony where clotheslines are available.

The front of the house provides a panoramic view of Ooty town with the racecourse in the centre and hills around it. It makes for a striking picture in the morning sun, when the light is directly reflected off the hillside, and when parts of the valley are still in the shade.

There is a small and private lawn towards the right of the building, near the stairway leading up to the first floor. Jeyalakshmi maami is a keen gardener and she has a decent collection of Orchids and Cacti. The roses are not in bloom since its still early spring. But Summer should bring in a lot of colour to her garden.