As the time draws to a close and I finally take this step to put things in perspective ,I wonder what's missing and how can redundency be avoided ? How to avoid anything that can cause the joy to seep out? I can be conscious enough to be upbeat about things and think about all that has been good to think about, but at the same time I would just be honest enough to accept that all was not too well.But definitely the great moments would out weigh the bad ones by a long way. Of all the things to start about, it was most about the trips that captures and entices me to write more.Its like a flighted delivery,juicy and inviting. But where do I start ?
I plan to skip the boring and uninviting details of everyday life and focus on the more exiting ones. To start with the trip to Mookambika temple a first of its kind for me, and to be honest I don't know about others .
I had just started shedding my feathers and there could not be a better way to put it. I felt that life was being stereotyped and morose.The frustration of giving up on some age old concepts of working in a software company having worked hard to master physics. Some would call it a safe move but for someone whose ego gets the better of him sometime it was a tough thing to swallow. After deciding to quit by may 2010 it was also an sub concious effort to gather some souvineirs before typing a long letter bcced to everyone, u know telling them,look I am off for something good. However that didn't happen...
It was a trip which was purely to feel free from the daily chores. We had planned for it couple of weeks in advance and had bought train tickets. The plan was to board Mangala express from Shornur. It was me along with Karunan,Fabio and Sujeesh who started from our rooms with Rajeesh joing from Calicut with a set of biriyani packs. (u couldn't have asked for more). We had to reach Shornur,which meant that we had to go to Ukkadam, take a bus to Palakkad. From Palakkad to Shornur. The bus ride from Palakkad set the tone for what would follow. The bus,was hardly one. It was a metal scrap on four wheels and boy did we have a ride !!!. The tin on wheels delivered us to the station where we waited for the train to take us to our destination. The train arrived and me as is the usual case took a much awaited nap. Fabio occupied the upper berth and went into his majestic sleep only to be woken by the smell of his own land Tirur. Fabio who spent a good couple of years here,was back to senses and started his epilogue of the so called "a careful cross section of the kundanmaar in tirur". As was the case always it had exaggerated detail of an incident and a simplistic generalization to one and all. Probably a reminiscent of his math graduation days. He had the ability to absolutely generalize things which to our horror , sometimes was far from reality. I could do nothing but think about my poor dad I only thought his kargil storied were repetitive...only that he did it on days when the quota was on.The train, to everyones annoyment was taking a much longer time to start from Tirur and then came the blow... Landslide in Konkan...train diverted.To hell with all the kundanmaar in tirur including the one with us..................................................
Although it was possible to go till Mangalore,we started having second thoughts on continuing.I felt like saying ''lets pack up'',i could feel the samething from fabi too.Sujeesh willed otherwise and karu too was in favour of continuing. Frantic calls were made to Rajeesh to inform train has been cancelled but finally it was the biriyani that called all the shots and so it was. Plan B was to go to Calicut have biriyani and then decide whether to go or not. But as they say "where there is a biriyani, there is always a way" and way did we find.Calicut arrived and koya joined us.We were so happy to see him with a polythene cover with calicut biriyani,someone might have definitely thought " A koya with a biriyani is only twice gud as one without".Since we were famished the biriyani went without trace as we ate its soul too. May it rest in........ (guess dont have to complete it). The day was also marked by a rather strong protest by the communists against the "Sell off" by the government to the US on the proposed nuclear deal. As the train made its way over the "Souparnika river" bridge, the "Human chain" across Kerala had taken shape of protest which was visible across the adjacent road bridge.
Then on kannur came,soon kasargod too....and as time etched closer to 7.30 we made it to mangalore. As expectedly unplanned we were ,we had to do some ground work and so did we. To our surprise we knew it was late enough to kolloor and that we could start only next day morning and that meant we had to find a decent shelter before the rain and damp cold got the better of us.It might not have mattered a bit to the trio of suj,koya and karu,technically speaking they only exposed a very small cross section as compared to me and fabi.We had a lot of body heat to lose. And so we spilt commando style for rooms and I guess it was koya or fabi who found a cheap stay at last.It was a typical lodge the way to which was thru a narrow alley with puddles of water which shone in the dim incandescent bulb which hung over the board. I wondered how I had seen similar lodges with the same architecture or the lack of it in various places. It seem that all were built by the same guy who liked dark alleys and eerie corners. To our surprise the caretaker was hands on his desk and seeing us tired and lost at 10 at night thought we were a price catch. But as they say "how many ponds has the crane seen".We argued and settled for a room "Without a TV" which it seemed was the differentiating factor in all the rooms. Similar doors,similar beds,similar floors but the USP was the TV.To our utter confusion we were given a room with a TV and when the old man was notified abut this he said he would have the TV removed and came sometime later to "remove it". He unplugged the tv set and unwired the cable cord and tried to pick the set. After a failed attempt and another ,followed by another,he gave and left dejected but humble enough to say "you can watch it if u want". I wanted to smile at his helpless reaction,but instead thought it unwise to do so,and so just laughed my heart out. Alarms went off in flurry and we raced down to paradise to put yesterdays biriyani to rest RIP (Rest in pieces). We rushed to the bus stand and found a karnataka state bus to kolloor and with fabi the veteran fabi in the queue no one would dare deny us a ticket. He was the darling of the queues, the nudger the pusher who would even make the wall Rahul dravid envious. With sleep in our eyes and comfortable push back seats, a warmth which was a remenicent of the battle with dampness with the rain,hope of a great day to unfold and most importantly the sense of companionship ,led us to dream our remaining way to udupi. A small stop at udupi and along kundapura and western ghats to kolloor.
A place as famous as Kolloor (for Mookambika Temple ),had a relatively modest facilities.The day was dark and though covered by a thin dark veil. There was new of floods elsewhere in karnataka and the river close by was at full rage. The way to the temple were dotted with small shops which lent the place a lot of warmth and homeliness. A short walk way and steep right turn the temple was visible. We first made way to the river banks and washed ourselves and changed into our loin cloth or to say mundu.We entered the temple me ,koya,suj,karu and Anthony Nair from Adivaaram. We prayed for what bought us here...where it might take us and offered flowers from our own hands. An unique and a pious experience. While we prayed Anthony nair wailed in hunger and found helping himself in front of the offerings counter ,it was a pious experience for him, one which was 'filled with contentment'. Having seen the temple and it surrounding we hoped to reach the place we had just read or seen in documentaries Kudajaadri and chitranmoola . Meanwhile news of sajeesh trekking all the way with his buddies to kudajadri tempted us to start for the trek but it was getting late and with sun hardly out would mean that it was riskier. We hired a jeep to kudajaadri and had the ride of our life. The jeeps started out in a pack. The basic idea of the driver was to trust his jeep...its grip and we only trusted our prayers. It was something which would have easliy made to X games...hop over from one boulder to another and with every leap ..leapt our faith. Hardly anyone spoke. The jeep slipped passed craggy mountains slopes..kicking a pile of boulders down the hill into oblivion and like a monster truck, drove past every little potholes giving them the least respect. Finally we were there. The terrain getting flatter was a prelude to the fact that we were alomost there. Dense fog and heavy drizzle and cold wave kept us on our toes and i was eager to hug fabi....our very own russsian blanket. We were famished and really wanted to have something hot, the problem was there was none.The visibility had droped down to a few meters and the chill were all plotting against us . With hints from people descending the slopes we were able to fiind our way.Then began the climb, we were warned about leaches and to take care. It was one of those moments when you feel that you were up against the elements. To be quite honest, although the weather was quite picturesque, the climb wasn't. Wet legs found it a bit hard to grip and as for me, it meant that I had to use all the available limbs. The climb became steeper and now was taking us thru a thicket and leeches were a concern. All the rain and chill could not stop the prespiration, I felt it was more due to the excitement than the actual activity.on our way up we finally had a chance to refill... Hot tea decoction. That was the last of me remembering Fabi. He seemed to have fallen behind and we almost lost track of him. The slope was dotted with small shrines ,where men,women and children rested and prayed until the final shrine. It was just the previous shrines in respect to its simplicity . Standing in front of it meant the culmination of journey we had planned together. A sense of immense satisfaction and humbleness overwhelmed me. The emotional side was flooded with a sense of gratitude and a happiness which is un explainable. I rather we had acheived what we had planned for. A silent moment or two and rendevouz with sajeesh and his friends also marked what I undertsand another coincidence. Both twin brothers started differently but were there at the samr place at the same time after having undertaken differnt paths. Thinking about it now makes me all the more philosophical, but the matter of fact is I hardly miss any.Just as my emotions started to dissipate in the unrelenting rain, there was a surprise in store.It seemed that the other side of the mountain with a steeper slope had a place which was worth visiting. The place was chithranmoola. It was a place not frequented by many. Only a handfull of people who actually came to kudajaadri made it to this place.There were no chartered ways and all was through a narrow path through the thicket.What started as a cautious trek no turned into a mad run. The downward slope was getting the better of us and we were literally on all four limbs. Pushing,kicking,nudging,trudging we clung on to branches which stooped over us. One slip and you would rather find yourself kicking the entire entourage into the valley below. Rain too wasn't helping and we struggled for grip. After about 15 min struggle the slope flattened into narrow path, which lead to a the foot of a small shrine within a cave. This was Chitranmoola.
As i looked up to get a feel of the descent, it felt we hadn't moved at all. Back to my senses, as I peered into the cave.It felt divine. Hidden in the darkness of the cave was a Shiva Linga which was constantly cleansed by a small stream of water falling from above the caves. Shiva with the Ganges in his locks looked more related and understandable.In this moment of adventure and divinity we were humbled what nature had in store for us. She had played with us,toyed with us, caused the train to be diverted, brought in the rain to hamper the progress but we were there.
Trek back was a tedious task but we made it back without any fuss.
Sometimes when you think about it today, you cannot help thinking that wasn't this well planned by her? She drew us out of our shells and made us run for it, that which we call adventure. I still argue with myself whether to call it a divine trip or a purely adventure one. We visited temples, prayed,made offering ,so then it should be divine, but then did we go there for blessings or prayers?
Well looking back now,having a neutral sense of things that played out after 2 and a half years of that trip and having moved on to an alien place with alien faces. I surely believe it wasn't either (Divine nor adventure). It was just a sense of accomplishing things together. We didn't do anything that can be termed too adventurous did we? We shared the joy of being together.plainly said a sense of companionship.The trip definitely was an ice breaker ,and as I later realised ,had set the tone for a lot of good things to follow. We have had different ocassions to enjoy and some instances had difference in opinion but then it is good. It proves we still are individuals.
I can just ponder about it now. Can't I?
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Coimbatore Memoirs
As the time draws to a close and I finally take this step to put things in perspective ,I wonder what's missing and how can redundency be avoided ? How to avoid anything that can cause the joy to seep out? I can be conscious enough to be upbeat about things and think about all that has been good to think about, but at the same time I would just be honest enough to accept that all was not too well.But definitely the great moments would out weigh the bad ones by a long way. Of all the things to start about, it was most about the trips that captures and entices me to write more.Its like a flighted delivery,juicy and inviting. But where do I start ?
I plan to skip the boring and uninviting details of everyday life and focus on the more exiting ones. To start with the trip to Mookambika temple a first of its kind for me, and to be honest I don't know about others .
I had just started shedding my feathers and there could not be a better way to put it. I felt that life was being stereotyped and morose.The frustration of giving up on some age old concepts of working in a software company having worked hard to master physics. Some would call it a safe move but for someone whose ego gets the better of him sometime it was a tough thing to swallow. After deciding to quit by may 2010 it was also an sub concious effort to gather some souvineirs before typing a long letter bcced to everyone, u know telling them,look I am off for something good. However that didn't happen...
It was a trip which was purely to feel free from the daily chores. We had planned for it couple of weeks in advance and had bought train tickets. The plan was to board Mangala express from Shornur. It was me along with Karunan,Fabio and Sujeesh who started from our rooms with Rajeesh joing from Calicut with a set of biriyani packs. (u couldn't have asked for more). We had to reach Shornur,which meant that we had to go to Ukkadam, take a bus to Palakkad. From Palakkad to Shornur. The bus ride from Palakkad set the tone for what would follow. The bus,was hardly one. It was a metal scrap on four wheels and boy did we have a ride !!!. The tin on wheels delivered us to the station where we waited for the train to take us to our destination. The train arrived and me as is the usual case took a much awaited nap. Fabio occupied the upper berth and went into his majestic sleep only to be woken by the smell of his own land Tirur. Fabio who spent a good couple of years here,was back to senses and started his epilogue of the so called "a careful cross section of the kundanmaar in tirur". As was the case always it had exaggerated detail of an incident and a simplistic generalization to one and all. Probably a reminiscent of his math graduation days. He had the ability to absolutely generalize things which to our horror , sometimes was far from reality. I could do nothing but think about my poor dad I only thought his kargil storied were repetitive...only that he did it on days when the quota was on.The train, to everyones annoyment was taking a much longer time to start from Tirur and then came the blow... Landslide in Konkan...train diverted.To hell with all the kundanmaar in tirur including the one with us..................................................
Although it was possible to go till Mangalore,we started having second thoughts on continuing.I felt like saying ''lets pack up'',i could feel the samething from fabi too.Sujeesh willed otherwise and karu too was in favour of continuing. Frantic calls were made to Rajeesh to inform train has been cancelled but finally it was the biriyani that called all the shots and so it was. Plan B was to go to Calicut have biriyani and then decide whether to go or not. But as they say "where there is a biriyani, there is always a way" and way did we find.Calicut arrived and koya joined us.We were so happy to see him with a polythene cover with calicut biriyani,someone might have definitely thought " A koya with a biriyani is only twice gud as one without".Since we were famished the biriyani went without trace as we ate its soul too. May it rest in........ (guess dont have to complete it). The day was also marked by a rather strong protest by the communists against the "Sell off" by the government to the US on the proposed nuclear deal. As the train made its way over the "Souparnika river" bridge, the "Human chain" across Kerala had taken shape of protest which was visible across the adjacent road bridge.
Then on kannur came,soon kasargod too....and as time etched closer to 7.30 we made it to mangalore. As expectedly unplanned we were ,we had to do some ground work and so did we. To our surprise we knew it was late enough to kolloor and that we could start only next day morning and that meant we had to find a decent shelter before the rain and damp cold got the better of us.It might not have mattered a bit to the trio of suj,koya and karu,technically speaking they only exposed a very small cross section as compared to me and fabi.We had a lot of body heat to lose. And so we spilt commando style for rooms and I guess it was koya or fabi who found a cheap stay at last.It was a typical lodge the way to which was thru a narrow alley with puddles of water which shone in the dim incandescent bulb which hung over the board. I wondered how I had seen similar lodges with the same architecture or the lack of it in various places. It seem that all were built by the same guy who liked dark alleys and eerie corners. To our surprise the caretaker was hands on his desk and seeing us tired and lost at 10 at night thought we were a price catch. But as they say "how many ponds has the crane seen".We argued and settled for a room "Without a TV" which it seemed was the differentiating factor in all the rooms. Similar doors,similar beds,similar floors but the USP was the TV.To our utter confusion we were given a room with a TV and when the old man was notified abut this he said he would have the TV removed and came sometime later to "remove it". He unplugged the tv set and unwired the cable cord and tried to pick the set. After a failed attempt and another ,followed by another,he gave and left dejected but humble enough to say "you can watch it if u want". I wanted to smile at his helpless reaction,but instead thought it unwise to do so,and so just laughed my heart out. Alarms went off in flurry and we raced down to paradise to put yesterdays biriyani to rest RIP (Rest in pieces). We rushed to the bus stand and found a karnataka state bus to kolloor and with fabi the veteran fabi in the queue no one would dare deny us a ticket. He was the darling of the queues, the nudger the pusher who would even make the wall Rahul dravid envious. With sleep in our eyes and comfortable push back seats, a warmth which was a remenicent of the battle with dampness with the rain,hope of a great day to unfold and most importantly the sense of companionship ,led us to dream our remaining way to udupi. A small stop at udupi and along kundapura and western ghats to kolloor.
A place as famous as Kolloor (for Mookambika Temple ),had a relatively modest facilities.The day was dark and though covered by a thin dark veil. There was new of floods elsewhere in karnataka and the river close by was at full rage. The way to the temple were dotted with small shops which lent the place a lot of warmth and homeliness. A short walk way and steep right turn the temple was visible. We first made way to the river banks and washed ourselves and changed into our loin cloth or to say mundu.We entered the temple me ,koya,suj,karu and Anthony Nair from Adivaaram. We prayed for what bought us here...where it might take us and offered flowers from our own hands. An unique and a pious experience. While we prayed Anthony nair wailed in hunger and found helping himself in front of the offerings counter ,it was a pious experience for him, one which was 'filled with contentment'. Having seen the temple and it surrounding we hoped to reach the place we had just read or seen in documentaries Kudajaadri and chitranmoola . Meanwhile news of sajeesh trekking all the way with his buddies to kudajadri tempted us to start for the trek but it was getting late and with sun hardly out would mean that it was riskier. We hired a jeep to kudajaadri and had the ride of our life. The jeeps started out in a pack. The basic idea of the driver was to trust his jeep...its grip and we only trusted our prayers. It was something which would have easliy made to X games...hop over from one boulder to another and with every leap ..leapt our faith. Hardly anyone spoke. The jeep slipped passed craggy mountains slopes..kicking a pile of boulders down the hill into oblivion and like a monster truck, drove past every little potholes giving them the least respect. Finally we were there. The terrain getting flatter was a prelude to the fact that we were alomost there. Dense fog and heavy drizzle and cold wave kept us on our toes and i was eager to hug fabi....our very own russsian blanket. We were famished and really wanted to have something hot, the problem was there was none.The visibility had droped down to a few meters and the chill were all plotting against us . With hints from people descending the slopes we were able to fiind our way.Then began the climb, we were warned about leaches and to take care. It was one of those moments when you feel that you were up against the elements. To be quite honest, although the weather was quite picturesque, the climb wasn't. Wet legs found it a bit hard to grip and as for me, it meant that I had to use all the available limbs. The climb became steeper and now was taking us thru a thicket and leeches were a concern. All the rain and chill could not stop the prespiration, I felt it was more due to the excitement than the actual activity.on our way up we finally had a chance to refill... Hot tea decoction. That was the last of me remembering Fabi. He seemed to have fallen behind and we almost lost track of him. The slope was dotted with small shrines ,where men,women and children rested and prayed until the final shrine. It was just the previous shrines in respect to its simplicity . Standing in front of it meant the culmination of journey we had planned together. A sense of immense satisfaction and humbleness overwhelmed me. The emotional side was flooded with a sense of gratitude and a happiness which is un explainable. I rather we had acheived what we had planned for. A silent moment or two and rendevouz with sajeesh and his friends also marked what I undertsand another coincidence. Both twin brothers started differently but were there at the samr place at the same time after having undertaken differnt paths. Thinking about it now makes me all the more philosophical, but the matter of fact is I hardly miss any.Just as my emotions started to dissipate in the unrelenting rain, there was a surprise in store.It seemed that the other side of the mountain with a steeper slope had a place which was worth visiting. The place was chithranmoola. It was a place not frequented by many. Only a handfull of people who actually came to kudajaadri made it to this place.There were no chartered ways and all was through a narrow path through the thicket.What started as a cautious trek no turned into a mad run. The downward slope was getting the better of us and we were literally on all four limbs. Pushing,kicking,nudging,trudging we clung on to branches which stooped over us. One slip and you would rather find yourself kicking the entire entourage into the valley below. Rain too wasn't helping and we struggled for grip. After about 15 min struggle the slope flattened into narrow path, which lead to a the foot of a small shrine within a cave. This was Chitranmoola.
As i looked up to get a feel of the descent, it felt we hadn't moved at all. Back to my senses, as I peered into the cave.It felt divine. Hidden in the darkness of the cave was a Shiva Linga which was constantly cleansed by a small stream of water falling from above the caves. Shiva with the Ganges in his locks looked more related and understandable.In this moment of adventure and divinity we were humbled what nature had in store for us. She had played with us,toyed with us, caused the train to be diverted, brought in the rain to hamper the progress but we were there.
Trek back was a tedious task but we made it back without any fuss.
Sometimes when you think about it today, you cannot help thinking that wasn't this well planned by her? She drew us out of our shells and made us run for it, that which we call adventure. I still argue with myself whether to call it a divine trip or a purely adventure one. We visited temples, prayed,made offering ,so then it should be divine, but then did we go there for blessings or prayers?
Well looking back now,having a neutral sense of things that played out after 2 and a half years of that trip and having moved on to an alien place with alien faces. I surely believe it wasn't either (Divine nor adventure). It was just a sense of accomplishing things together. We didn't do anything that can be termed too adventurous did we? We shared the joy of being together.plainly said a sense of companionship.The trip definitely was an ice breaker ,and as I later realised ,had set the tone for a lot of good things to follow. We have had different ocassions to enjoy and some instances had difference in opinion but then it is good. It proves we still are individuals.
I can just ponder about it now. Can't I?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)