My Father Da Great
I have done some good travelling over the last few days. Soon after the placements i packed my bags and off i went to kerala. Kerala is where all my relatives are and being the fraud mallu i am i dont know half of them. So whnever you go to kerala you invariably have cribs about not having seen them all. So this time with the intention of having some private time i went there unannounced. The best part of an unannounced visit is tht its ends up being a small adventure. After 95 this is the second time that I am going to kerala and so my knowledge of kerala and the things there would make any fraud mallu proud :)) Then there is also the problem of the absolute lack of directions and bus boards that I can read :))
When it comes to travel my father is pretty meticulous. He would plan up everything in advance and invariably book the train tickets and take care of all the small things that you would never think of. But a guy who makes his plans at the last minute a bus is a much more suitable means of travel. And bus to kerala from Bangalore are there far too many.
The Volvos and the private buses network that exists in the south and mumbai region is something thts pretty different from what happens in delhi. In fact some of these buses can help you reach your destination quicker than a train and additionally you have the luxury of last minute booking and much more flexibility.
Whenever I go to a place I am not very familiar with, I usually make it a point to find someone who does. The advantage of doing that is that you can then enjoy your travel and all worries of getting to your destination automatically rests on that poor soul :)) And in the event you get hold of someone interesting then you also get some company to kill time :))
That day I felt that I was doubly lucky for I found this law grad who seemed interesting and he was to go to the same location as I was heading to. The friendly guy assumed full responsibility for me and it looked like a hassle free journey ahead. So we stood chatting and waiting for the bus to come. In the mean time a bus to kerala came and stopped right in front of us and we continued our chat for my friendly guy assured me that our bus was yet to come. Jus before that bus was about to leave I realized that our buses were different and I managed to get into the right one just in the nick of time. Suddenly I realized the wisdom of my father’s preference for trains. When you are on the right platform you have little risk of having different trains with the same name going to the same location and leaving at the same time :))
As if that was not enough I was further subjected to a three hour long Malayalam movie. There was a time when I felt that mallu movies were far better when it comes to plot and substance but this one with its twists and turns could beat any b grade bollywood fare hands down. Neways I reached the nearest town to my destination around 5:30 and I suddenly realized the number of kids who are related to me is quite large and with kids a relative coming after a long time is like a santa with a pack of goodies. So at 6 in the morning I went around the place looking for something for the kids. It took me a hour walk before I could actually find a shop with some chocolates. So with about 40 chocolates in the bag I spent another half hour to get back to the main bus stand.
Finally when I got into my bus I thought about the fact that no one in kerala knew about my impending visit. Was kinda expecting my uncles and aunts to blast me off for coming like this unannounced. So I started thinking of saving myself from the impending encounter with the elders in the family. Its then that I realized that my attempt to get hold of the chocolate was an unintended master stroke. For one it ensured that my relatives wouldn’t have to be woken up from their beds and then with the chocolates I was sure of having the support of the kids :D
So I entered my house with apprehensions but what followed was one of the biggest anti climaxes of my life. My aunt opened the door and her first expression converted into hindi was, “Tu phir aa gaya” :))
The next few days was a whirlwind tour of the kerala. I met as many relatives as humanly possible and by the time I left the place I had quite many of them pissed up with me for not having met them or for not spending enough time with them.
Almost all of them wanted to get me married off. Some like an Aunt of mine had some really insightful things for me on the same subject. Then being with the tiny tots and all those people was a special experience for someone like me whos spent most of life away from them.
Finally I was supposed to wind up and meet up with my brother in Munnar. Some of my friends from Bangalore were to join me there. Fortunately or unfortunately most of the places in kerala including munnar is out of coverage for most of the major telecom networks. So the plan was to have my brother as a conduit and call him up to update our status.
So on the designated day I called my brother to find out that he had his sports day that day and so wouldn’t be available till evening. Half concerned that my friends would be looking for me I took a fast bus to munnar and after traveling for almost three hours I reached munnar at around 11:30 only to find that there was no clue of those guys. I waited for another couple of hours and then gave up waiting. So went to this dhaba like structure and had some meal. It was tastiest meal I have had in a long time perhaps because of the experience I had earlier in the day.
After that I decided to do some stuff on my own. And I found out that there was this place called devikulum that was about 8 km from the place I was. The walk to that place was the walk of my life. I mean its hard to describe the sight from that walk. The road that I took was right in the middle of a hill. Above and below the road were unending tea gardens with rows of eucalyptus trees. These trees supposedly helps maintain the right amount of humidity for the tea plantation and their presence makes the whole place look heavenly. Adding to the beauty was a thin veil of mist and workers who were plucking the leaves.
I then took a walk inside one of the gardens and the experience was awesome. Then when I was back on the main road I heard something like a stream. But vegetation was so thick that I could hardly see a thing. So with a spirit of adventure I decided to go down and explore. I saw the stream and by the time I was back I had a cut on my body :))
It was then when I reached a cluster of shops and it was close to 4 almost six hours since I had entered munnar. I finally gave a call to my brother who informed the arrival of my friends ;) So from there I took a lift from a truck and within another half hour I was back in munnar town and met my brother. He took me to where my friends were staying and it so happened that my friends were in munnar since around 8 in the morning. And soon after reaching the place they happily dozed off without informing my brother :(
The rest of the day just went by. I spend a few hours jus walking with my brother. Among other things there was a rickety hanging bridge. We had some gud fun on that and while we were having our food my bro suggested of this place where we could do some trekking early next morning. The idea was tht my bro and me were to pick up the other five at around 6. But by the time we reached the guesthouse the only guy awake was little Ali.
Ali used to stay right next to my room and operations is his are of interest. He has internalized so much of operations that he had planned the entire holiday to the last minute. The perfection of his plans was equaled only by the reluctance of the others to stick to it.
The other guys in the group jus simply refused to wake up at six in the morning. So finally we had to leave all but ali behind and off we went for our tiny little walk. I had no clue about where we were heading, all my brother told me was that there would be some water so better be prepared. So in my infinite wisdom I took a rubber slipper from a friend of my bro.
And very soon we got started on what was to be a walk up a stream. The place was wet and thanks to the moss on the stones some of the parts was extremely slippery. My rexona hawai chappal made the task of walking quite an adventure ;) And soon enough I had a royal fall right in the middle of the stream. The entire thing was made more hilarious cos I had landed right on my butt and little ali made the profound observation that all this was due to my wearing the slippers. He went on to add that slippers were called hence cos they slip :D
The trip become even more interesting after that. The boulders became larger and path looked even more menacing. We reached a cave like structure from where the stream was passing. Finally we had to give up the walk cos the trail was becoming slightly difficult and without proper gear progress was dangerous.
When it comes to travel my father is pretty meticulous. He would plan up everything in advance and invariably book the train tickets and take care of all the small things that you would never think of. But a guy who makes his plans at the last minute a bus is a much more suitable means of travel. And bus to kerala from Bangalore are there far too many.
The Volvos and the private buses network that exists in the south and mumbai region is something thts pretty different from what happens in delhi. In fact some of these buses can help you reach your destination quicker than a train and additionally you have the luxury of last minute booking and much more flexibility.
Whenever I go to a place I am not very familiar with, I usually make it a point to find someone who does. The advantage of doing that is that you can then enjoy your travel and all worries of getting to your destination automatically rests on that poor soul :)) And in the event you get hold of someone interesting then you also get some company to kill time :))
That day I felt that I was doubly lucky for I found this law grad who seemed interesting and he was to go to the same location as I was heading to. The friendly guy assumed full responsibility for me and it looked like a hassle free journey ahead. So we stood chatting and waiting for the bus to come. In the mean time a bus to kerala came and stopped right in front of us and we continued our chat for my friendly guy assured me that our bus was yet to come. Jus before that bus was about to leave I realized that our buses were different and I managed to get into the right one just in the nick of time. Suddenly I realized the wisdom of my father’s preference for trains. When you are on the right platform you have little risk of having different trains with the same name going to the same location and leaving at the same time :))
As if that was not enough I was further subjected to a three hour long Malayalam movie. There was a time when I felt that mallu movies were far better when it comes to plot and substance but this one with its twists and turns could beat any b grade bollywood fare hands down. Neways I reached the nearest town to my destination around 5:30 and I suddenly realized the number of kids who are related to me is quite large and with kids a relative coming after a long time is like a santa with a pack of goodies. So at 6 in the morning I went around the place looking for something for the kids. It took me a hour walk before I could actually find a shop with some chocolates. So with about 40 chocolates in the bag I spent another half hour to get back to the main bus stand.
Finally when I got into my bus I thought about the fact that no one in kerala knew about my impending visit. Was kinda expecting my uncles and aunts to blast me off for coming like this unannounced. So I started thinking of saving myself from the impending encounter with the elders in the family. Its then that I realized that my attempt to get hold of the chocolate was an unintended master stroke. For one it ensured that my relatives wouldn’t have to be woken up from their beds and then with the chocolates I was sure of having the support of the kids :D
So I entered my house with apprehensions but what followed was one of the biggest anti climaxes of my life. My aunt opened the door and her first expression converted into hindi was, “Tu phir aa gaya” :))
The next few days was a whirlwind tour of the kerala. I met as many relatives as humanly possible and by the time I left the place I had quite many of them pissed up with me for not having met them or for not spending enough time with them.
Almost all of them wanted to get me married off. Some like an Aunt of mine had some really insightful things for me on the same subject. Then being with the tiny tots and all those people was a special experience for someone like me whos spent most of life away from them.
Finally I was supposed to wind up and meet up with my brother in Munnar. Some of my friends from Bangalore were to join me there. Fortunately or unfortunately most of the places in kerala including munnar is out of coverage for most of the major telecom networks. So the plan was to have my brother as a conduit and call him up to update our status.
So on the designated day I called my brother to find out that he had his sports day that day and so wouldn’t be available till evening. Half concerned that my friends would be looking for me I took a fast bus to munnar and after traveling for almost three hours I reached munnar at around 11:30 only to find that there was no clue of those guys. I waited for another couple of hours and then gave up waiting. So went to this dhaba like structure and had some meal. It was tastiest meal I have had in a long time perhaps because of the experience I had earlier in the day.
After that I decided to do some stuff on my own. And I found out that there was this place called devikulum that was about 8 km from the place I was. The walk to that place was the walk of my life. I mean its hard to describe the sight from that walk. The road that I took was right in the middle of a hill. Above and below the road were unending tea gardens with rows of eucalyptus trees. These trees supposedly helps maintain the right amount of humidity for the tea plantation and their presence makes the whole place look heavenly. Adding to the beauty was a thin veil of mist and workers who were plucking the leaves.
I then took a walk inside one of the gardens and the experience was awesome. Then when I was back on the main road I heard something like a stream. But vegetation was so thick that I could hardly see a thing. So with a spirit of adventure I decided to go down and explore. I saw the stream and by the time I was back I had a cut on my body :))
It was then when I reached a cluster of shops and it was close to 4 almost six hours since I had entered munnar. I finally gave a call to my brother who informed the arrival of my friends ;) So from there I took a lift from a truck and within another half hour I was back in munnar town and met my brother. He took me to where my friends were staying and it so happened that my friends were in munnar since around 8 in the morning. And soon after reaching the place they happily dozed off without informing my brother :(
The rest of the day just went by. I spend a few hours jus walking with my brother. Among other things there was a rickety hanging bridge. We had some gud fun on that and while we were having our food my bro suggested of this place where we could do some trekking early next morning. The idea was tht my bro and me were to pick up the other five at around 6. But by the time we reached the guesthouse the only guy awake was little Ali.
Ali used to stay right next to my room and operations is his are of interest. He has internalized so much of operations that he had planned the entire holiday to the last minute. The perfection of his plans was equaled only by the reluctance of the others to stick to it.
The other guys in the group jus simply refused to wake up at six in the morning. So finally we had to leave all but ali behind and off we went for our tiny little walk. I had no clue about where we were heading, all my brother told me was that there would be some water so better be prepared. So in my infinite wisdom I took a rubber slipper from a friend of my bro.
And very soon we got started on what was to be a walk up a stream. The place was wet and thanks to the moss on the stones some of the parts was extremely slippery. My rexona hawai chappal made the task of walking quite an adventure ;) And soon enough I had a royal fall right in the middle of the stream. The entire thing was made more hilarious cos I had landed right on my butt and little ali made the profound observation that all this was due to my wearing the slippers. He went on to add that slippers were called hence cos they slip :D
The trip become even more interesting after that. The boulders became larger and path looked even more menacing. We reached a cave like structure from where the stream was passing. Finally we had to give up the walk cos the trail was becoming slightly difficult and without proper gear progress was dangerous.
Comments