Travel is what most people do and have been doing .Since past, nomads travelled in search of better facilities, civilisations later did to find suitable shelter, even I did, but unlike them, I did for fun of exploring. South India, though in India, is very different from rest of the nation, in what sense erupts the next question..?? Well, it’s the only place where people get up at 5am and shops close down by 8pm, a place where people talk in a complete different language which appears funny, you can’t make out whether they are chatting or abusing, anger management is taught to every child in his mother’s womb, very innocent people.
When I put my big head outside the plane, all came to a hault.My hands went into the pocket and next few minutes till I reached the arrivals I was wiping off the sweat. Its was scorching heat !!!..Driver was waiting, I waved at him, he took my luggage to the car and waited pateintly.On asking he mentioned that he awaited the arrival of “Mr Maheshwari”.For a moment I almost forgot that, Maheshwari is also a first name here. See,that is what it makes it special. After having a quarter north and rest south northern dish I went for sleep.Tomorow was going to be a big day.
A jerky flight to Madurai due to bad weather and the huge quantities of sambar vada and dosa made me feel vomit. I was admiring down the window, a green blanket that covered beautiful protrusions of the Eastern Ghats, dressed with blue strips. A small city near the sea,amazing,what a beauty but all my impressions about the city got vanished as it reminded me of Delhi;pollution,crowd and bikers .The huge church, Madurai palace, zoo and railway bridge accompanied me to my hotel. Hotel Germinus was huge ,clean and luxurious. Like a bullet ,I checked in fast and reached my room Switched on the tv and was again rajnikanth creating tornado by shaking his leg.seriuosly south Indians are living in a fascinating world and believe all the “STUNTS” shown.curtains raised and wow!!!! What a view.behind me were the ghats which seem to call me.so I politely accepted their call and went on for a day trip to koidaikanal.The golden quadrilateral seems to be so smooth that the cm’s car ran so fast,I wondered about all those traffic regulation taught to us in school.my river gave way for them,as a mark of respect.a small though chilly hill station and those who have back problems are advised not to take the road,though its a different case you will have no other way to go.but you will spin round n round on the roads. It’s just too “hilly”
The botanical garden smelled so fresh, plants so green, milk white clouds hiding the green mountains,a silent blanket of chilled winds and me freezing here because I forgot mi sweater.ears were coverd with “woollen caps” unique ones,which later were seen in other parts of the nation.truly,they are innovative.cycling around the lake should have been fun until I realised that the endless track was 5km long.now the cold was getting unbarable for me,I had lunch and was leaving when I met an unknown still known friend, the cm’s “khafilla”.again the car stopped.after he also needs a break,but unlike me he had sweaters.
The huge trees, deep valleys, noisy waterfalls,”desi tea bags” were what I witnessed again. Awesome is the word. Monkeys on road and it was getting dark. The milestone said 185km.wow!! I didn’t realise that, funny it seemed to me.
Next came a small, religious, coastal and once again hot place 200km from Madurai by road. What the hell???? By road. Again the same story :running coconut trees, merry children and plastic pots. I looked and smiled. Then with astonishment turned back again “plastic water pots??? blue, red yellow ,never seen them before “.peninsular soil is not suitable to make them, and hence “pilashtic” ones. Smelly trucks (fish), loads of tourist buses, beach sand, naval bases, anna-akka in kanjiwaram saarees and wearing jewellery heavier than “bappi da”, uttering chants-prayers and Anna in white “lungis”.welcome to Rameshwaram
Only lungis were allowed in the 54acre temple. Making my way through the crowd with most of them shorter than me in height and their hair smelling of coconut oil and ‘gajras of mogre’ I bathed in all the 22 freshwater wells and later finished the ‘pooja’.Marvellous architecture, painting and statues of men with women clothes, just bought a smile on my face. Lunch was nice.bala finds out a nice one.I didn’t realise that I am taking back ‘memories’ that made me laugh and sometimes irritated when they didn’t understood my words, stomach full of idlis and vada,camera full of colours of life, eyes with visions of nature’s beauty and how man applied a face pack to it.
Will miss: polite people, temples on every 20m, kaanjivaram saaris, lungis,heat,idlis –vada,obese policemen,boys having fat thighs and wearing shorts munching bananas,desi tea bags and plastic pots
Keep exploring!!! You will enjoy
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