Kaleidoscopic Kerala

Its not for zilch they call it 'God's own Country'. Needless to say, Kerala transports you to a verdant landscape, some untouched by the vagaries of ruthless mankind. And you revel in it, allowing the scenic beauty, and not too seldom - the simplicity of it, to captivate and overwhelm you. In many ways it is very similar to Karnataka, my native state, however more lush and beautiful than the latter. Stately coconut trees and lavish churches are conspicuous by their multiplicity, you'll find them in every nook and corner. The people of Kerala are an amiable lot too - simple and extremely helpful. And special mention goes to the men (no, this is not about their potbellies and giant moustaches)... chivalry is their code! Every man, right from the bellboy to your taxi driver is so respectful towards women! This is evident in their behaviour - little things like holding the door open, not gawking/staring, passing rude comments.... I have never come across a disrespectful man in Kerala, yet - not even the hippies on their religious journey to Sabarimala (I saw hordes and hordes of them, clad in black). Hats off & more power to you guys!

As for Kerala - I'm coming back again!! I've not had enough of you! :) I miss the banana chips, home-made chocolates and the heavenly smell of spices already! Here are some snapshots of our stay at Thekkady, Munnar, Ashtamudi & Kollam.... Madurai too, but that's in Tamil Nadu. The pics defy the mere 6 MP Kodak camera that I was armed with. That's because each place is so beautiful, you don't need a fancy camera to capture their beauty!

Is any trip to Kerala complete without an elephant ride? Here's the beloved Bhagya (that's what our elephant was called) giving us a tour of a spice plantation... look at her posing for the camera....!

When we asked a firang who also rode the elephant to describe the experience, he replied, 'It was nice, it was funny.... it is kinda hard to explain'..... lol.... that aptly sums up our experience as well :)

The verdant spice plantation - the guide gave us a very detailed explanation of all the spices growing there - right from the king of spice (pepper), queen of spice (cardamom), price of spice (saffron) and princess of spice (vanilla).... phew! Bet you didn't know that too! :)

The mahout and his giant, but gentle ride... elephants are such docile animals!! But then, who wants to annoy them too?

The famous Kathakali mudra-dance - the costumes and face-paint are intriguing.... I wonder how the performers handle the complexity of it all!

The beginning of Kalaripayattu - the famous martial art from Kerala. They had dimmed the lights at the beginning of the performance giving the entire stage an ethereal feel.... beautiful, glowing diyas!

The performers were brilliant, each performing stunts more dangerous than the other, with swords, knives, spears and burning rings. What were their names??? Can remember only 3 - Muthu, Saijju and Kinchu (funny, na?)

Gladiator, anyone? These guys are menancing... swords clashed so hard and swiftly that they created sparks!

The very agile Muthu jumped through 2 fiery rings simultaneously. And I thought this sorta thing only happens on TV.... watching it live was unnerving. Brilliant stuff, though!

The breathtaking view from our resort at Munnar - a place well known for its numerous tea plantations

A tea garden at Munnar

A hill bedecked with tea plantations (Munnar)... the tea shrubs are short and stubby, and need constant tending to.

Whatta view! (on the way to Munnar)

I want to be on that little island!

The waterfall at Chellarkovil (near Thekkady).... we walked a good kilometre, through a narrow winding path, just to spot it

The view from Chellarkovil hills

That's the entrance to our resort at Ashtamudi - wondrous, wondrous place!

Our restaurant was on one of these rafts

I SO wanted to stay at Ashtamudi for much longer! Love the clouds in this pic...

Postcard-perfect!

Coconut trees and Kerala - you can't separate them!

Lazing in a hammock

The stately lighthouse (functional one) at Kollam

Why does this remind me of a candy bar?

The spiraling staircase to the top of the lighthouse. 200 steps in all. To the ones suffering from Vertigo - beware!

The view from the top of the lighthouse - see that church (in the middle) engulfed by coconut trees around it?

View of the Kollam coastline

Another spectacular view

And another...

Isn't this just beautiful? The Kollam coastline - pure and unadulterated!

Kollam beach

Mom insisted on visiting the Meenakshi temple at Madurai.... disinterested at first, my stance changed as soon as I spotted the temple - a magnificent, massive structure with so many details, it will stump you... indeed, God IS in the details!

Each sculpture of the massive structure tells a mythological story

You have to crane your necks to capture a picture of the Meenakshi temple, here - the South Tower

From aboard the aircraft, back home!

Postcards from Pune

If you want a looooong drive in your car during the monsoons and want a relatively quick getaway - head to Pune. And make sure you hop on to the expressway. It is a glorious 2 hour drive - replete with slick, wide and mostly empty roads (enough adulation has already been given to the highway in that respect); majestic, brown mountains humbled in meek, but pleasant green blankets of wild grass and shrubs; tiny rivulets cascading down hurriedly, and of course, the cloud cover that you pass through. Needless to say, it is a wondrous and fabulous experience to drive through these beauties of nature. Who needs to visit the Alps when its twin is right here in Maharashtra?

Some postcards from my drive are uploaded below, which though were taken 2 weeks back, still stay on in my memories. Most of them were taken with my humble mobile camera, with the car windows rolled up. So, though the quality isn't great, the essence is captured. And I treasure it.

Yeh sooni sooni rahein: The first thing that strikes you 'bout the expressway is its wide and thinly populated roads. No pesky rickshaws/bikers and no BEST bus-bullies. The road is, for the most part of your journey, yours and only yours! Check out the huge, looming clouds above too!

Almost got of my car to climb on one of these mountains. Was restrained in time, lest I slip and break a few bones on the mossy slopes.

Well, couldn't take a hike, but atleast could take some pics! This pic reminds me of Mt. Kilimanjaro for some reason. Only the snow is missing.

I love the crudeness of the truck juxtaposed against the beauty of the mountains. Notice the little streams of water running down the hills, as well as the cloud almost covering the tip of the mountain. Similar sights were prevalent all over the journey.

Tunnels always fascinate me. They lead you into darkness and lead you out into bright light. To me it is the perfect paradox created by man.

From Hell (and still in it)

I make rapid, disorderly zig-zags through the swarm of bustling, harried humans at the one-stop nightmare called Andheri station. I mutter a quick prayer - Thank God I don't suffer from claustrophobia; meanwhile cursing the careless chap who has just stepped on my foot. He is making a desperate dash for the train which is already leaving the platform. Maybe he has an important meeting, or his first job interview, or has an ailing mother at home, or the most important of all - perhaps he has a date with his girlfriend (God save him from the woman's wrath if he reaches late!). But I have no more time for such menial musings. I must make myself scarce, get away from this crazy place that threatens to engulf me, as the hour progresses, with more and more humans. My vision is filled with them - young and old, students and office goers, hawkers and salesmen, beggars and ticket checkers. If you're lucky, you may even spot a few mangled dogs fighting over the day's spoils (most likely leftovers from snack-stalls). You will find them all, astonishingly crammed in one place, running helter-skelter to things, from things, away from things. The time: 9 am - an ungodly & poorly-chosen hour to be at this place - for the influx of commuters reaches its zenith, transforming the station into a jumbo-version of the infamous Virar-local itself. Visualize around 3 Virar locals at their peak-loads emptying themselves on platform number 5 and you've got the number of people occupying Andheri station at any point of time between 9 am-9.30 am. It could set a world record - Between 9 am-9.30 am, this station is easily the densest location in the world (Dadar is another worthy contender, but Andheri beats it). And if you emerge out of it unscathed, unblemished and unaffected by its many severities, you pass the test mate. You are now officially a true, brave citizen of Mumbai.

Its like I'm destined go through this daily nightmare. Andheri has always been the unloved gateway to 'life-out-there' for me. Be it my 12th grade classes, CA classes or my workplace, I've spent a solid 7 years travelling here. I know every nook and corner of the place. Every stall, every kaccha rasta, the hawkers who hawk illegal books/VCDs in shady corners, the Jumbo vada-pav wallahs, the ticket counters, the bright-maroon ATMs, the broken indicators, the ditches and the pan stains. The very mention of Andheri elicits a scowl from me. I hate the place. Passionately. But its also where I gained knowledge, learning, my profession, my livelihood. I hate it but I can't do without it. Life is full of cruel, unforgiving paradoxes. And I'm cursed with a major share of them.

Sleeping Duties

What is with people who are traveling in public transport who subsequently lose control over the position of their eyelids, the latter steadily descending downwards, the brain slowing losing its consciousness and the head gradually lolling over onto the unfortunate, unaware chap parked beside? To the left and to the right, sometimes northward bound and sometimes southwards, the head rolls (not necessarily in tandem with the movements of the transport), the said unfortunate neighbour being completely petrified of the possibility that it will at any moment land on his quivering shoulder and finally come to a staid rest there. And then what? What does one who is at a total and absolute loss of wit to deal with such a situation do? I can think of 3 points-of-action (1) Should he politely tap the ill-behaving, nodding-off-into-oblivion, insensitive Kumbhkaran-clone and request him to have a control over activities that should only be best adopted at night and mores so, when one is prone on a horizontal surface so as to cause minimal discomfort to the person sitting beside? (2) Or should he simply lift the erring head off his shoulder with an insulted finger and throw it off, having no care whatsoever for its well-being? Or the best option - (3) Should he simply move aside sharply, causing the dozing beauty to roll over to the seat/floor, thereby causing him extreme embarrassment and shame?

Despite having 3 interesting options at hand, each one being nastier than the other, I chose to go with the first option. I politely tapped the wayward gentleman and asked him to please be seated correctly. My action caused him to wake up with a start. He obliged, but without apologizing for his actions. What an uncouth soul! I had a good mind to embarass him further by getting up from my seat and switching places with someone else, but I let it go. No point in that. The nitwit would probably start dozing away on the next poor commuter too. So, I endured him for the remainder of the journey, but thankfully, a hard glance at him was enough to prevent him from repeating his actions.

So people, remember there are sleeping duties that you need to follow while catching the forty winks. High on the list is to refrain from nodding off. If you're feeling sleepy kindly do not travel. Have a nice little snooze at home itself, fix yourself a refreshing cuppa of coffee and then step out into the big, bright world outside. Rest assured, you'd be doing yourself, but mostly the others a huge favor.

Travelogues - Part III (Nainital-Corbett-Ranikhet-Delhi-Mumbai)

The last leg of our journey was perhaps the most exciting and most interesting one. For we visited the enormous jungles of the Jim Corbett National Park, which covers nearly 1300 sq. kms of Uttaranchal's land. India's oldest national park comprises a massive treasure of trees, exotic birds & wildlife including the famed Bengal tigers, thus presenting a rich visual treat to one and all who visit this place. A 3 hour open-jeep safari left us replete with lovely memories of the abundance of flora and fauna in the park and made us wish for more. A dip in the Kosi river was also on the cards and we had a fun time splashing around.

Next on the stop was Ranikhet which boasts of a huge golfing ground atop a high-altitude mountain. Ranikhet is also a popular spot for shooting films as it has the typical 'running around trees' kinda look about it. Well, we did walk about the trees, didn't run around them as is the norm ;)

Ranikhet being the last on the itinerary, our trip was now complete and left us with many lovely memories of Mussoorie, Nainital & Corbett. The fact that we were so far from the bustling city life, rid of all worries and nestled under the wings of pure nature itself left us revitalized, perhaps for a few months. Rest assured, that piling work on my desk will be tended to with a new vigor and zest. Thank you Kesari for a memorable experience!

Pics of Corbett Park/Ranikhet:

With Deeps at the Kosi River, Corbett

Almost blown away by the wind, you think?

Don't go by the look, Khushi was very 'khush' splashing around in the river... was in the midst of performing a balle balle

With Heena, Khushi's sis

Took this snap while a lissome pony was trying to cross the river

Entrace to Jim Corbett Park

One of the many 'sambhars' (deer) spotted: such gentle creatures!

Interiors of the Park

The Kosi passing through Corbett Park (this view was featured in the National Geographic, took one of my own!)

Dense interiors of the park where the only sounds are that of the jeep's tires crushing pebbles underneath and those of various birds chirping

The open-air jeep, the ride in which was a thrilling experience

Lush green interiors of the park

Winding roads in the midst of the jungle (gave us a sore back the next day!)

Ahem. Ranikhet Golf Course. Bollywood's favorite spot.

Amidst gigantic pine trees

Hug-a-tree

Now all I need is a pillow and a blanket ;) Bliss!