God's Own Country

I barely managed to convince myself to join the excursion organized by fellow friends to Kerala. That it was the final year of my undergraduate studies and I don’t venture to distant lands often - must harvest this opportunity ,was what appealed the most to me. Travelling and trekking being two of my most cherished passions, something inside me was calling out an ultimatum-not to miss it. So, I acceded.

Our encroachment into kerala began on the rainy evening of 18^th September 2010 on a bus named Asian Travels. We travelled for almost 24 hours to reach our first destination-Munnar. Both the bus and its driver could not contain our excitement , the noise, screams and antakshari sessions. So they did expedite in reaching the destination.

Travelling from the bottom of the hill to the acme, we could feel the temperature dropping slowly as we ascended every feet. We went for a brief walk along the misty roads that night exploiting every opportunity to capture ourselves and the sceneries with our camera lens. The next Morning was a very special morning as it gave me all that I expected from kerala in a single shot. We explored the length and breadth of Munnar in jeeps listening to some Tamil and Malayalam songs ( I could not discern their meaning but it was fun watching my tamil and mallu friends singing aloud ). All the mountains were clad with a blanket of tea plantations. I metamorphasized into a fanatical person when I saw the limpid streams dancing and sliding from the cloud masked mountain tops. After going through all the avid places of Munnar, we ended up telling each other fervidly-“ Macha, I am going to marry a mallu girl and settle off here!” . Ha! What a timely wish!

Munnar holds a very special place for me ,not just because it was a new land , but that was the only place so far where I said to myself-“ I am gonna come here a million more times!”. The tea plantations are so abound there that it made me sit back and think that the whole world drinks tea that grows in Kerala. The whole world breathes the oxygen from Kerala. It’s the kind of a feeling that you get when all the sceneries and wallpapers on your desktop materialize into realness and are calling out for you for a warm stay in their bosom.

The second day we reached “Lake Heaven Island Resorts”( do you catch the name?:)) at Alappi ( Allapuzha) at 12:15 am in the morning. After sleeping for a mere three hours, I went peddling over the waters near the resort, also went boating listening to the Malayalam poems of the boat owner. It was the first picture perfect resort that i ever stayed in.

We all returned after a brief sojourn, each one of us with jocund moods ,depositing some happiness in each other’s memories. I was, for most obvious reasons pleased with myself for at least making a half hearted decision to travel to Kerala, lest I would have missed the best days in close proximity with nature. My physical body is back to Bangalore, but my inner self is still there in Kerala , lingering in the abyss of serenity.

Dear newly weds, heed my words. Nature’s greatest temptations are slumbering in a land called Kerala. If you are googling your brains for honeymoon spots, then choose no other place than Kerala (Munnar,Alappi,Thekady and Wayanad). I promise you won’t regret.

Dear techies going bald over the daily workload, if you care for yourself, take a week’s break and venture into Kerala. Let your lungs drink deeply the fresh air from the lush mountains and let your mind know what peace means.

And my dearest fellow youth , craving for some adventure? Begin “Mission Kerala”. It is nature at its resplendent best!