Date with Nature (Munnar, Thekkadi, Alappuza) Part I

I always manage to steal a visit to Kerala, God's Own Country, when an opportunity lends itself. So when I had to attend my friend Vichhu’s daughter’s marriage in Coimbatore, I said to myself, not without a visit to Guruvayoor. “And, how about inviting Ragu and Padma, our family friends, to join us at Guruvayoor?”  I got an inner call. They were keen to visit Kerala for long. Only in January they took us around Kumbakonam, Tanjore, Trichy...  Let me reciprocate it with Guruvayoor, Munnar, Thekkadi and Alappuza. Thus what started off as a purely 'business' trip culminated into a business-cum-prayer-cum-pleasure trip.

A few hours before departure we had the privilege to attend an enchanting traditional bhajan organized by Ravichandran of Alder 8022 at his home - as though to wish us bon voyage. The larger SFVian community will have an opportunity to see Ravi's group in action again on Sunday evening, 14 April, at Club House during the Ramanavami celebrations, thanks to the SFV Satsang Group.

It was a sort of Ram-Bharat milan of Vichhu in Coimbatore - after a long time. He is a man for all seasons, well informed and, above all, an excellent conversationalist. Unfortunately an accident during a highway drive years ago impaired his speech and movement. Regardless he is full of life.

From Coimbatore we reached Thrissur early and waited at the station for Ragu and Padma, coming from Bangalore. The train halted, but I could see only Padma, that too minus her customary smile. And no trace of Ragu. “Where is Ragu?” I asked her. “He alighted even before the train had fully stopped to rush to the Railway Protection Police (RPP) office.” “What on earth for?” I persisted.  Yes, the ever-in-a-hurry Ragu had begun to keep his luggage one by one near the exit door no sooner than the train had left Vadakkanchery, the station prior to Thrissur. By the time he brought the second suitcase near the door, the first one managed to roll down to the ground through the open door as he watched it with open-mouthed helplessness.

To give him moral support I too rushed to the RPP office. After the deliberations, the constable thought it better to note down my mobile number as I could communicate in Malayalam, should he make any headway in tracing it. 

We got into a car, directed the driver to the nearest Kalyan Silks showroom to buy essential garments for Padma, whose suitcase it was, before rushing to Guruvayoor to be on time for Senior Citizen darshan. Hardly had the car gone a kilometer when I got a call from RPP asking us to rush to Vadakkanchery railway station.

Yes, a rag-picker walking along the tracks on his day’s treasure-hunt, chanced upon the suitcase, and carried it to deposit it with the Station Master It could have been a field day, but honesty knows no bounds. An overwhelmed Ragu handed a five-hundred rupee note to the Station Master with a request to hand it over to the boy should he turn up later.  “I hope he does, but what if he didn't,” quipped the Station Master. “You wait for a week, and after that put it in the hundi of the nearest temple,” Ragu replied as we, now a transformed beaming lot, got into the car to rush to Guruvayoor. We missed the Senior Citizen darshan by a whisker. But since Ragu’s earlier prayer to Guruvayoorappan for a safe retrieval of the suitcase was acceded, as gratitude Ragu bought one of the higher-end archana tickets which also permitted a special entry for darshan. As a bonus we smiled at Suresh Gopi, Malayalam actor, standing head and shoulders above the rest at the entrance. He is contesting from Thrissur on a BJP ticket.

Early next morning we stood in time at the Senior Citizen queue and had darshan not once but twice. Now a fully satisfied lot, we headed to Krishna Inn for a buffet breakfast. The menu, aside the normal South Indian items, included the Kerala special Ela Ada and Puttu. Normally one should go light before a mountainous drive. But the fare was too tempting to resist. So we said, next time onwards, and had a go at it.

Off to Munnar (next)