പ്രവാസി ജീവിതം

പ്രവാസി ജീവിതം വര്‍ണശബളമാണോ അതൊ വെറും അക്കരപച്ചയോ???
20- 25 വ‌ര്‍‌ഷം ലോകത്തിന്റെ ഒരു കോണില്‍ താമസിച്ചിട്ടു എഴ് കടലും താണ്ടി ലോകത്തിന്റെ മറു കോണില്‍ വന്നപ്പോള്‍ ജീവിതത്തില്‍ ഇത്രയും മാറ്റങ്ങള്‍ വരുമെന്നു വിചാരിച്ചില്ല. മണിക്കൂര്‍ സൂചി പിന്നിലേക്ക് തള്ളപ്പെട്ടപ്പോഴും മണ്ണീനും മണലിനും പകരം മഞ്ഞു കണ്ടപ്പോഴും തീരെ പ്രതീക്ഷിചില്ല. ജീവിതം മാറി, ജീവിതരീതികള്‍ മാറി, സമയം മാറി...ഇനി എന്തെല്ലാം മാറാന്‍ കിടക്കുന്നു...

തുടരും...

എന്റെ കേരളം

സ്വാഗതം സ്‌നേഹിതരേ, വായിക്കൂ, ആസ്വദിക്കൂ

My Gang

Myself, Bastian, Pattar, Ranjith and Gijoy

A Gr8 Weekend

<One of my old travelogues>

August 20^th­ _- 22^nd, 2004

Even though this is more of a religious trip, I hope you guys’ll enjoy.

It was indeed a gr8 weekend, relieved from all the dirt of the busy professional life, spending time with god and nature, that too alone.

I reached Mookambika (Kollur) around 6am Saturday. I have already been to Mookambika several times, yet every visit to the mother is a fresh experience. She was alone there, may be due to the heavy rain. So could meet her fresh without rush and could tell her my grievances and thanks. After the afternoon pooja, I had my food there itself. I can tell, you’ll really long for the Anna dana at Mookambika, if you had one earlier. It’s a delicious meal. But we won’t ask for more. It’s like that only.

If you happen to go to Mookambika, visit Souparnika and Kudajadri too. I have been there earlier. Souparnika is a sacred river comprising all the medical elements and it’s believed that a bath will relieve u of any diseases. You have to take a jeep to go to Kudajadri and there is a temple of Panchaganapathi. And then you have to climb the peak. You won’t feel tired.

Kudajadri is a peak, at the top of which Adishankara established a temple. Brahmin boys will b taking their Upanayana in that temple always.

Around 2pm, I was on the way to Sringeri, dignified by the presence of Adishankara. And the journey was awesome, through the beautiful forests. Ariyathe chodichu poyi – “Ee forest muzhuvan kadanallo ennu”. The journey was excellent through the mist filled forests, full of hair pin curves (almost 20) and occasional waterfalls. The journey was mainly through local transport providers.

I reached Sringeri around 6pm. I took a room and went to the centuries-old Sharada peetham, established by Adishankara on the bank of Thungabhadra. It’s believed that he lived in the 6th century AD (there’re many controversies regarding this). And he came to this world to renovate the Sanathana and Advaitha dharma, which were deteriorating due to the negativities of Buddhism. Such a peaceful atmosphere, you’ll love to stay there for days.

Adishankara is the reincarnation of Lord Shiva and he did the prathishta of Saraswathy Devi here. Sharada Devi (Saraswathy) is being worshiped there and also Lord Shiva. Dhyana mandira is depicted with the story of Adishankara. Now it’s the 36th Jagadguru of Sringeri, Bharathitheertha and he stays on the other bank of the river in Narasimhavana. After the prayers, I had the food there in the temple itself.

Next day morning, after the morning prayers, I was on my way through the Kudremukh national park. The famous Karkala is also near. Nice forest and dazzling sceneries!!! I went past the Netravathi river, which also is considered sacred.

Around 11.30, I reached Dharmasthala. People come there mainly for the mundhan. After 2 hrs of queue, I had my darshan, the main idol being the Amman and Shiva and there’s a statue of Bahubali too. I had my food there at the big hall. The Anna Dana at Dharmasthala is also famous. Then around 2pm, I started my return journey.

Two days theerthadana thus came to an end. Though the whole journey was covered with rain, I felt it as nature’s happiness!!!

After reading this, if you felt like going, then I’m blessed!!!

New York Rocks - Prelude

Not all dreams transform to reality. It’s even sad when a lot of hard work and expectations were put into. At times we come across experiences which we never thought off, which we never expected or desired. Then it’ll be a pleasant surprise, won’t it be? Have you ever felt like that? I did!

That’s how I felt when a cold breeze cuddled my face as I was watching the entire city standing in the 86th floor of one of the world’s tallest buildings

That’s how I felt when I walked against the heavy wind on a bridge that was constructed 100 odd years before

That’s how it felt, when a sandbar shark and I was separated by nothing but a glass window

Yeah, New York rocks

-A city that never sleeps-

-Prelude-

Nothing was planned when I suddenly got a 4 day weekend i.e. weekend plus Monday holiday for President’s day (can you believe, it’s celebrated hereJ) plus a day off for my hard work on a holidayJ. It was just about a month me and my wife came to US and almost got settled. Also winter was looking dangerous with frequent snowfalls and nasty winds. Sunny Uncle, my father’s friend was there in NY and has called us once to visit their home. Also we had no other choice of places too. The idea struck and we passed the billJ. Finalizing travel plan was confusing. Interstate transportation is not that efficient in Nashua NH where we live. Finally my colleague Kaushik told he’ll drop us at Lowell where we work. Not much of packing was there except the winter clothes and some sweets for my uncle.

New York Rocks - Kickoff

α. Kickoff - Friday 17th

Kaushik picked us from our home at 7.45 am and dropped us at Lowell railway station. There are two types of rail here, Commuter rail - long distance one and Subway - city transport. We took the commuter rail to North Station, Boston. It looks more or less like our Shatabdi and Rajadhani. We can take tickets inside the train too and Conductor collected our tickets and placed a pass in front of our seat. We reached North station in 45 min and came out of the station to go to the nearby subway station. Here things are automated, we can buy coins or cards to enter platform. After paying the base fare, any subway can be taken on any different routes without coming out of the station. The rail network is interconnected like spider web to facilitate accessibility virtually to the entire city. We took the orange line to downtown crossing and red line to South station. Bus terminal was just outside the station and we got a Chinatown bus to New York. The word “China” stands for cheap allover the world I think. It’s just 15 bucks to NY and a good bus too. Here buses also have restroomsJ. It took 5 hrs and we landed in New York at 3. Bus stopped at Canal St. Since my uncle gave proper directions, it didn’t take much time to reach Broadway and catch subway. We can buy metro cards to travel by subway which have different options like single ride, 1 day fun pass etc. Cards can be swiped to unlock the metallic bars. We bought two cards and caught the subway to Whitehall St. This is the southern end of Manhattan from where can take the ferry.

New York City is divided into five Burroughs – Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island. Manhattan is the heart of the city with all the skylines and other attractions. We took the Staten Island ferry which operates free from Manhattan to Staten Island. On the way, we saw the Lady, gifted by France to US, a glance of which people throughout the world desire to see once, Statue of Liberty! The lady holding the torch in an island was an amazing scene. It is located in Liberty Island. Ferry took 20 min to reach Staten Island and uncle came to pick us up. The house was 15-20 min away from the station and we reached around 5. Staten Island is a calm place devoid of the traffic and crowd in Manhattan. We refreshed and then decided not to go out as it was late. The weather in New York was around -10⁰C and will feel colder than anticipated due to cold winds.

New York Rocks - Expedition

β. Expedition -Saturday 18th

We took 10’o’clock ferry and then the subway to Central Park. Spanning across 843 acres, the 150 year old Giant Park occupies the central part of Manhattan (almost 6%) and is one of the most visited places in NY. We were stunned by the view from outside itself. There was a frozen lake with trees surrounding. It was snowing slightly. A lot of Horse-drawn carriages were outside the park. We entered the park and slowly walked beside the lake. There was a small bridge and the water below that was flowing. Ducks were playing in that and visitors were feeding them. Wollman skating rink was nearby and people skate there in masses during winter. We watched the skating for sometime and then headed to Central Park Zoo.

You want to know how the zoo started. It started when people began to drop unwanted animals in the arsenal ranging from swans to bear cub. Quite funny isn’t it? Near the entrance, there’s so called “Retirement Tank” in the central garden with California Sea Lions. We rushed here to take a quick snap, but in vain. These guys will keep on somersaulting in the tank and keep us waiting. We can see them going down through the glass windows of the elevated tank. But is a fun the way they are playing in the tank like kids. Usually found on the West coast of US, they use their long flippers to move in land and water. We then moved on after tireless attempts to take a good photo.

We entered the Polar zone to see Gentoo penguins brought from Antarctic Peninsula. In Welsh, “pen” means head and “gwyn” means white, so meaning white head. Though strange, it’s thought that the old British sailors named it as they have the white spot around the eye. It’s a cute yellow-beaked creature and it’s a cool scene to see them walking while flipping their wings. They follow the one who walks first and it resembles children walking to school. They attract their mates by holding a pebble in their mouth and the ones interested will accept it. Cool technique! Polar bears were the next exhibit. They were sleeping all the time, so we were not able to see any of their movements. They live on the arctic region as opposed to Penguins which are from the opposite side. Arctic means bear in Greek and Antarctica means no bearsJ. Their fur is actually not white but looks white due to the way light reflects from them. It is hollow and focuses sunlight directly to the dark skin which retains the heat. A polar bear's nose, lips and all skin under their fur is black. The fur is water repellant too. Then we saw Harbor seals. They belong to North Atlantic Ocean & North Pacific Ocean and spend most of the time in water. They can’t move easily in land like sea lions, due to their short flippers.

While we were moving to the next region, we saw something on a huge glass window. When we went near, some creature was licking the foggy window. It was a Cotton-topped Tamarin. They are small monkeys resembling a squirrel and have a long thick tail and white hairs surrounding the head. These funny creatures hail from Central and South America. In temperate territory, we saw North American River Otter and Mandarin ducks, a Chinese symbol of fidelity in marriage. The next exhibit was. Both Mandarin duck and Otter are crepuscular i.e. active at dawn and dusk. So we have to go either early morning or late evening to see them active. We then moved on to see a small red creature on a tree top. It was Red Panda found in Himalayan foothills of Tibet and Nepal. Their red fur is amazing and they are called “hun-ho” (fire fox) in Chinese. Anyway it was sleeping and didn’t come down to see usJ. Panda means “bamboo eater” but species wise it is not related to the famous Giant Panda. Now only few of them exist. Close to this, an island like exhibit was there with a troop of Japanese macaque or snow monkeys. A troop is a large, hierarchical family group containing one dominant male, several adult females, and their young. In the island premises, we found a pair of beautiful Latin American Black-necked swans. They are the smallest swans having white bodies, long black necks, and a black bill with red skin over the beak. They mate for life hence a symbol for lovers.

Tropical region was the next to see. The conditions of a rain forest are replicated perfectly with a riverbank, cave, towering tree trunks, and a 20-foot roaring waterfall. We saw Mouse deer found mainly in Asia. They have pencil like legs and tusks from mouth, thought as a cross between pig and deer. They are known as “living fossil” as they have not evolved much in 30 million years. The other animals in the vicinity included Fruit Bats, Red-handed Tamarin, Black lion Tamarin, Giant day gecko, Colobus Monkey and Tortoises.

Enough of wildlife, we got out of the Central Park. Outside there was a big golden statue of a man riding horse. Suddenly one thing caught my attention. A big Indian Flag!!! It was the Taj Pierre Hotel. Don’t know why, may be because it was unexpected, I stood there for sometime mesmerizing at the sight of the Indian beauty flying in the wind.

We then ate from a Chinese restaurant nearby the park. Quite a good number of limousines were seen plying. After lunch, we proceeded to Roosevelt Island. It is a small rectangular strip of land between Queens and Manhattan. An aerial tramway took us from 59th St to Roosevelt Island across the East river. It takes 4 min and was described in New York Times as the most exciting view In New York City. We had a spectacular view of the skylines from the tram. We roamed the island in a red bus that ran to the stretch of the island for a mere 25 cents. We went to a riverside Park and saw a lighthouse too. The view of the city was beautiful from the island. But it was very cold and we returned back to Manhattan.

We then went to Grand Central Terminal. It’s a monumental gateway built in 1900s. It is the largest train station in the world by the number of platforms – 44 with 67 tracks, situated on 2 underground levels. The main attractions are Vanderbilt hall, a magnificent central hall and Omega watch board.

Our next destination was the Crossroads of the World – Times Square. It was named after the earlier HQ of New York Times. An international attraction, it’s an amazing place to see particularly after the sun goes down, with plenty of illuminated signs, tall towers and theatres of Broadway. It has the 100 year old custom of ball-lowering from the 1 Times Square's rooftop pole on New Year Eve. NASDAQ market site is located there. We roamed there for quite some time enjoying the displays.

We then headed to 34th St and saw Madison Square Garden, a famous sports arena and Macy’s store, a huge departmental store. We then saw the 102 storied skyscraper without which New York City is not complete, a state of art construction kissing the sky. Yes, its one amongst the modern seven wonders of the world - Empire State Building. Designed by Shreve, Lamb and Harmon, the building opened on 1931. It was the tallest skyscraper in the world for 41 years until WTC overtook it. We bought the tickets and headed to 86th floor observatory. The moment of the life came when we opened the door to the outside terrace and stood on one of the tallest manmade heights in the world. Even the coldest of the winds couldn’t prevent us from enjoying the entire city down with tall buildings and bridges as multiple color spots. At one time, we almost got frozen by the wind. There were telescopes to observe the city which was seen in the movie “Jeans”.

Though not satisfied completely, we left as it was getting late. We took the subway and ferry later on to reach the house.

New York Rocks - Follow up

γ. Follow up - Sunday 19th

Instead of taking the usual path to Manhattan, we went to Brooklyn. Uncle dropped us in Coney Island. We went through Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, one of the world's longest suspension bridges. Named after Giovanni da Verrazano, the first European explorer to sail into New York Harbor in 1524, this is a major link to Staten Island unaffected even during extreme weather conditions. We went to the Coney Island beach and it was the first beach we saw in US. Crazy to go to a beach at around -9⁰_­C J!

New York aquarium was nearby beach which was opened in 1839. My desire since childhood to see sea animals underwater came true here. A large water tank was recreated to show the oceanic conditions. Beautiful coral reefs and color fishes were attractive but the real star was a Sting Ray which reminded me of Stealth Aircraft. It kept on moving in the water and there were 3 or 4 of those. Belize barrier reef, extinct species of Lake Victoria and species of Lake Malawi were the next exhibits. Anemones, Star fishes, Jelly fishes also followed. Piranhas from Amazon and other South American rivers which can eat anything from cattle to parts of human and reduce them to skeleton in minutes was yet another attraction. They don’t kill their prey; they just start eating the victim alive. They venture out in schools and when they are in a feeding frenzy the water appears to boil and churn red with blood.

Then we saw Pacific walrus, a large semi-aquatic mammal from Arctic regions. It was a treat to watch those biggies playing in water, spraying out water and making sounds occasionally. These younger ones didn’t develop their characteristic tusks. But they had a superb moustacheJ. Then there was California Sea lion and Northern Fur Seal found in North Pacific Ocean. There were California Sea Otters too. These animals were funny to see as they always float in water looking as if they are praying. They are threatened species due to fur trade. There was a small rocky place with caves where Black footed Penguins were kept. They are an endangered species and come from Africa. These penguins live on ice. They are called Jackass penguins because of their loud donkey-like braying noise.

We then moved to an underground area called Sea cliffs. We could see Striped Bass and Leopard shark. But the best part was watching walruses, sea lions, sea otter and seals underwater. What a fun it was to watch them playing. Walruses resemble hippos, that big they are. We saw Seahorses. They are specialJ. While linked in the mating embrace, the female forces the eggs into a pouch on the underside of the male, where they are fertilized and where they remain until they are expelled as miniature versions of the adult. Unlucky guys! Different varieties of them are present like pipe fishes. We also saw Octopuses and Lobsters.

Sharks, Turtles and Giant sting rays formed the next section. It was truly amazing to see the sandbar sharks moving like a rocket close to us. Last section was Alien Stingers which comprised of Moon jelly fishes. They are translucent and beautiful as they were kept in blue light illuminated water. Also there were Elephant nose fishes and Electric Eel.

It was almost 12.30 when we finished the aquarium part. We then took subway to Manhattan and went to Brooklyn Bridge City Hall street. Brooklyn Bridge was walking distance from the subway station. It was a truly spectacular scene to see the 120 year old bridge spanning across East River connecting Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. You would have seen it in Kal Ho Na Ho. A giant of bridges, it was the first steel-wire suspension bridge in the world and was the world's longest suspension bridge at the time of its completion. We walked for some distance over the bridge through a walkway over the vehicle lane. The bridge was used in 2001 by people in Manhattan to escape the September 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC after the subway service was suspended. Manhattan Bridge stays next to that. Built by J. A. Roebling and his son Washington Roebling, many painful incidents occurred during its construction.

Our next destination was American Museum of Natural History situated on Central Park west. When we got down from subway, we directly walked into the museum. First we were surprised as we couldn’t find the galleries. Soon we entered African mammal hall. The models of the animals were created and the background is matched so perfectly that we feel it’s original. We were running short of time and soon explored all the galleries we could like people, civilization, fossils etc. What an amazing feat of achievement it is! Truly a pick of a museum and certainly the pick of our tour!

We headed towards Times Square again and saw Radio City Hall and Rockefeller Center. There was a skating show going on and the flags of all countries are hoisted. Then we went to Wall Street to see the Federal Hall with Washington’s status where he gave his first presidential speech and then New York Stock Exchange. It looked marvelous with a Giant American flag flying. The street was stranded and we left the place soon. We narrowly missed ferry and had to wait there for 1 hr to get back home.

New York Rocks - Curtains

δ. Curtains - Monday 20th

We slept for long hours. We started from Staten Island at 11am and got the bus from Port Authority terminal. We took the Peterpan bus via Hartford and Worcester. 3 connecting buses were there in total and we reached Nashua at 7.30 pm. We got the city bus luckily and reached home fast.

Thus a journey which will linger in our mind for ever came to an end. Now I knew why New York is one of the world’s preferred tourist spots. A well planned and superbly connected with subways and buses, this is certainly worth one more visit.

Kodai Trip, a sequel

An early morning in the June first week of 2005!

Bangalore was calm, deep asleep and cold even in this hot season. No rain, No Falling tress, No Traffic jam; Darkness seems to be much more beautiful than the busy hot daylight. A two storied building near BTM. Lights are there on the last apartment on the second floor. Hey, is that the music from 91 FM? Who is so crazy to get up this early? What are they doing? Five people were busy carrying their luggage down to a white car parked down and serious talks going on.

…Woods are lovely dark n deep

And Miles to go before I sleep…

Yeah, Cool Guys are going out for a tour of 3 days. Read on, a sequel to our Ooty Trip.

…Things changed much after the Ooty trip. Ranjith moved to Trivandrum and started his own software firm inn Techno park – Cell technologies Ltd. Guys became busier with office. I got engaged. And most importantly, we changed our house to near Silk Board. As expected, life started becoming duller. Invitation bar was sought as a relief – A common chill-out. Frequency was at an all-time high – 4-5 times a week.

And there came an inner call that we have to go for yet another outing for 3 days. It was with everyone and Ranjith keeps on asking when we will go.

Kodai Trip, a sequel - 1

May 18^th, 2005

Wednesday

Finally we decided that we’ll try to go on June 1^st week. It’s not that easy as we have to arrange our leaves and after June 1^st week, it wont work out this month as Bastian will be having a training program. So I asked for leave and it was on hold as I didn’t get it easily. I have to wait. On May 23^rd, my leave was confirmed. Bastian and Gijoy had no problem with the leave. And here comes the turning point of the tour. We have one more man – The one and only Sreeram, called affectionately as Pattar. He was no there with the Ooty tour due to some reasons and he was so sad about that. So we decided we’ll take him at any cost. We played around him and threatened not to take for tour. It’s prank anyways.

June 2^nd, 2005

Thursday

Bastian and Ranjith came early morning. He bought the package of the tour – Chivas Regal. Can you believe it? Ranjith got us the Sony handy cam from Gijoy’s brother, but he forgot to bring the cassette. Pattar came with his luggage in the evening. Then Bastian and Gijoy went out to take car. Pattar, Ranjith and I went to forum to buy camera’s battery and cassette for handy cam. We got the battery, but the cassette bought was inappropriate. So we all went out again on our car to Forum. We were arguing and literally begging to take the cassette back and the shop owner was not yielding. Finally we decided to buy the proper cassette. Then we saw pattar asking the details of the digicams. We thought it was his usual “killing”. To our surprise, he was serious and finally ended up in buying an Olympus digicam. Pattar’s simply gr8! Then we took some snaps and left for Invitation – Pre tour boozing. We were busy mainly with eating. Snaps were taken and we reached home around 11 and slept@1am.

Kodai Trip, a sequel - 2

June 3^rd 2005

Friday

I woke up at 2 and began to wake up everyone. Pattar made black tea for all and we were ready to go at 3.30. Bastian took the driver’s seat and took the Kanakapura route to go to Coimbatore via Satyamangalam. Pattar was the sole supporter for this route and was obviously the common attacking point as none of us know the route. Gijoy called some of his fiends this early morning. His masterpiece dialogues viz. “Tell me Yaar”; “Is it so” got the answer for everything. We stopped at tea on the way and get the route confirmed from the locals. We paused at Shivanasamudram which is a hydro electric project. We took some snaps and continued our journey. We stopped at Kollegala for breakfast. Pattar got us a banana bunch on discount! That bunch stayed alive for the next day even. Gijoy drove the car thereafter. We stopped near the Chikkahole Reservoir and took photos and video sessions. And then came the biggest disappointment of the trip; the audio player was not functioning. Anyways we had a substitute for that; the evergreen Radio city 91 FM – Our own Pattar. We went past Chamaraja Nagar from where S. M. Krishna got elected. And now we were going through the Satyamangalam forest which was once the habitat of the forest brigand, Veerappan. The place is beautiful and Pattar was really when we saw the place finally. Instead of Pattar’s repeated yelling for a stoppage to take snaps, no one even paid attention. Pattar started a song session and it went on for a long time with the Bastian’s commentary. Pattar starts a song and Bastian ends it in funky lyrics. Pattar pauses and then again starts. It was fun. Pattar was attacking everyone with his witty dialogues. Pattar’s gr8! At one time we noticed that the distance to Coimbatore is increasing. We couldn’t understand the phenomenon. After traversing the hairpin curves, we climbed down the hill and took snacks from a bakery. We reached Coimbatore by 11.30 pm. We encircled the city with Pattar’s instructions. We tried to rectify the audio system, but they said they will give back the car by 6pm. Pattar was asking whether we can give it there. Mandabudhi! Then we fueled the car and took the Pollachi route. The L&T bypass road was amazing.

We reached Palani by 1pm and had our lunch including the Cassata slice and Sweet pan. We stopped for a minute in front of Palani temple entrance and then started climbing the hill. It was getting really hot and we were really confused about the Kodai’s climate. We even thought of leaving the place and going to Ooty. But weather became milder as we were reaching the spot. We reached our destination– Kodaikanal translating to “Shade in summer” – The favorite honeymoon spot of South India at 4.30pm. Now all we want was the ideal cottage like the one we saw at Ooty. We came here during our college days and stayed at Daney’s Inn. We were searching the same and got the information from one Aziz. He also told he has some old British cottages. However we said we’ll come back. Somehow we found out Daney’s Guest House and it was not worth it. So went back to Aziz bhai and then to his cottage. It was good and the tariff was 600 per day. 2 bed rooms were there and the surrounding was also good. So we settled down fast and everyone started refreshing. And believe me; the water was colder than the ice water. My goodness, my body literally froze. However we got ourselves out at 7 pm and we were searching the city for one important place. Yeah, you guessed it right; Bar. First we went walking and then we came back and took the car. We covered the complete town and to our surprise, there’re only two good bars in Kodaikanal. One is Carlton that we can’t afford. Then we went down to Hotel Kodai International, a three star hotel. This one was too good, both at aesthetics and cost. He just had a glance of the hotel and then went to the bar. It was really good looking with wooden architecture. We were not surprised to see the tariffs, basically because it was the treat of Ranjith for starting his own firm. I stopped at one peg basically because we were really exhausted with the search for a bar. We finished by 11 and then reached our cottage fast. Fortunately, this time we could fine our destination fast unlike Ooty trip. No talks and everyone went straight to their bed.

Kodai Trip, a sequel - 4

June 5^th 2005

Sunday

We woke up much earlier and Ranjith even went to buy milk along with Aziz Bhai in car. We started at 8 am and went to Hilltop woodlands for our breakfast. We then headed to Coakers Walk. It is a narrow pedestrian path, constructed by Lt. Coaker in 1872, a one kilometer mountain road which runs along the edge of steep slopes on the southern side of Kodai road. We had some radishes and then came out fast and then entered Bryant’s Park. It looks good, but nothing compared to the Botanical Garden in Ooty. After that we went to the Green Valley view and then to Pillar rock. Three granite boulders were seen adjoined. The place was very crowded. We resumed our journey to the Berijam route and stopped at a place where there were a lot of tall trees. We played and fought around the trees. We were returning and stopped at Kukkal caves, better known as Guna Caves where Kamal’s film Guna was shot. This was the pick of the tour. Except Pattar, all went down the cave. With his kind of stature, he can’t climb down into the caves. This rock shelter is at an altitude of 1500 m. The cave reveals traces of earliest settled tribal, Paliyans who used to wear leaf clothing. It was quite risky to traverse and the cavern was deep enough to leave no remains of those who fall. Anyway we really enjoyed it and came fast as we feared somebody will object the trespassing. We returned to our cottage and the packed our luggage. Pattar negotiated the rent for 1100 bucks. We thought of buying food and enjoying it during the trip, accompanied with drinksJ. So we bought VSOP XShaw and other food items and started our return journey. We climbed down the hill and for some time everyone slept. We stopped the car near a shady place at 2.30pm. Dining table was the rest above the dicky of the car. We took our drinks and food and then enjoyed it above the rocks nearby. Then Pattar was in full swing and started bashing everyone. This was one of the most fun-filled moments of our tour. Then we were back on the track, going fast in the Tamil Nadu roads. We stopped at a tea shop after Dindigul and went through Salem and Dharmapuri. Pattar was quite entertaining by guiding Bastian how to drive and how to out on High beam. We finally reached Bangalore by 11pm. We went directly to travel house and after the settlement, they dropped us back to our room.

Thus a fun-tour came to an end, mainly filled with Pattar’s bashing.

Kodai Trip, a sequel - 3

June 4^th 2005

Saturday

When Pattar woke up at 6, Ranjith was not there in bed. Later we found that he has gone for a walk. Only god knows his purpose. He made some important findings after this walk that no two storied buildings are allowed in Kodai and Aziz bhai is a rich bhai. We got ready by 9.30 and then one folk at the cottage told us the sightseeing places. We want to visit Berijam Lake and he told permission from forest office is required. Bribing at these offices is quite famous and finally we got it at 200 bucks. We had our breakfast from Hotel Ashok, bought snacks and started our journey. We went through Pillar rock and Pattar acted as a traffic police there and solved the vehicle clogging. We crossed Moer Point at 11.30 and we were on the way to Berijam. Bastian got back stabbed by his own dialogue “Jathyalullathu Thoothal Pokilla”. Suddenly one car went past us and we felt like it just hit us. We screamed at the driver and it stopped a little beyond our vehicle. He was looking us as if we had done something to him. And there was one dent in the left side of our car. It has a Karnataka registration KA04 P686. Pattar was on his high spirits and even Gijoy was shouting. Seeing our aggressive reactions, he became milder. Pattar even tried to hit him and jumped on the floor. Had Ranjith not blocked, he would have been in the hospital. We were really furious and he was defending. Then he said we can settle it in Bangalore. He argued and he said he has no money then. Finally we got his mobile number and the hotel address. Pattar even took car’s photo. Finally we said we’ll meet him in the hotel evening and will settle and we moved on. Our mood was almost spoiled and we were discussing what can be done to track him. We reached Berijam fast and went out to see the eco-village and untamed lake. The scenery was quite nice and natural. We spend some time there recording videos and taking photos. We returned and stopped by the side of lake a little away from Berijam. We had bread, jam and snacks on the side on the lake. We resumed our journey once the rain started. We stopped at Silent valley view point. It was drizzling and we couldn’t spend much time there. We reached Kodai town by afternoon and we bought food as parcel and went to our cottage. We reached room fast and took our surprise packet – Chivas Regal. It was a nice time and we left the cottage around 4pm. We went to lake and decided to go cycling. All of us started cycling around the lake. After some time, we saw some mallu girls and eve-teasing started as usual. When we saw the good response, Ranjith and Gijoy decided to leave cycles and take the car and follow them. We stopped at a tea shop and they went to take the car in one cycle. After some time, I and Bastian went to track them. Pattar was left alone there. We saw them on the way and they have not even reached the other end. Finally I went to call Pattar. They all came by car and I and Pattar took our cycles and gave it back. After that we went for shopping to an antiques shop called “Danish Arts Shop”. It was really good and we bought enough decorative items. Ranjith went to check mail and he really missed the 1 hr extravaganza at the shop. We were searching for another good bar, but was eventually forced to go to Kodai International *** itself. The session was good as we ruled the bar. We reached home by 11pm and the topic divulged to ghosts. Pattar was saying he heard a lady-sound last night. Then the topic took its own turn. Bastian even said that Aziz Bhai himself can be a ghost. Finally everyone slept at 1am.