It has been in mind for so long, to take a day off
and set out to the lavish greenery of Alappuzha to rejuvenate my soul. The
place where the essence of Malayalam could be sensed with all its purity. The fertile
smell of land, when the monsoon showers hit the surface. The sip of a hot black
tea from a local tea shop near the river side, with two crispy vadas. Kerala
back waters should definitely be on my camera; else I would be missing out the
joy of exploring the natural scenic beauty of my native land. And to make the
experience more like a self discovery and earthy, I decided to opt out the
hangout concept of travelling to the spot with my friends or cousins. After all,
sometimes it’s best to follow our instincts blindly. That’s from where our
wisdom evolves in its true form. We should consider the right to chose or the
freedom we are given to choose our own path as a sacred privilege. The door of
possibilities reroutes itself like in a GPS as we choose a new path in life.
Long before the sun could stretch out its morning
shades, I got out from the comfort of my warm cozy bed. Through the misty
freshness of that morning, I walked past my local church which was preparing
for the early holy mass. Avoiding the comfort of driving with the basses and
trebles of music was a good decision. Boarded an ordinary KSRTC bus, heading to
the town of Alappuzha. I often wondered why the KSRTC buses have different
facial expressions. When I was a child, I used to think of them as the
different moods of these buses. Some of them seems happy, some childish, others
could even have an angry face. While the private buses seemed to have some
trendy looks and new hair styles, which could be the reason why some KSRTC
buses looks grumpy.
I missed the green and yellow tickets, we used to
have before. Technology is a killer. It murdered our past, making some stuffs
the things of past. This wasn’t an old KSRTC but a renovated one I guess. The
hand rails are plastered; I always hated the naked steel rails and its rusty
smell. The rush of school children in uniforms with heavy bags took me back to
memories of school days. Glad am done with it. Speaking of school, I love the
smell of biscuits and milk in water bottles, the smell of fresh text books and
new uniforms. Whenever I buy a new book, I open it randomly and have a long
inhalation. May be that could help me absorb some of the hidden knowledge.
Having taken a private transit bus to Kumarakom, popularly known as the head
quarters of back water packages; hired an auto and headed down the rural inroads
to explore the virgin back waters. Something was bothering me, the calling of
fresh Naadan food. As we passed by a
hotel with its Naadan menu kept on
the road side, I could sense the title song of Salt and Pepper movie calling me
to spoil myself right now.
‘‘ Thana thinna thaana thinna thaana thinna thinthinno.
Thana thinna thaana thinna thaana thinna
thinthinno.’’
Of course, I was on the table the next moment lost
in the menu. Puttum Beefum, I
ordered. Porotta, is my favorite but I
got seduced by the unique Puttu
available here with its Thenga Peera and
the spicy beef with Thenga Kothu. Sipped
the local tea listening to the tunes of radio music and the news paper
conversation of the localites. Before heading to the Kadathu Vanchi opting out the house boats, I decided to come back
here to have the Ucha Oonu with the
delicious Special Fish Curry.
The Vanchikaran was having a local Beedi under the shades of the slanting
coconut tree. I kind of worry sometimes while playing around or passing by a coconut
tree. Isn’t there a risk of the coconuts falling down ? It’s damn scary. An old
man in his 70’s and two sisters boarded the Kadathu Vanchi. Having seen the sisters I thought, there could be a local church somewhere
on the other side. ‘‘ Ok, let’s go’’, said the Vanchikaran in
an indifferent way. I grabbed my camera and the hat. It could be sunny out
there. Should have taken some Pazhampori
or Parippuvada as parcel. Never mind.
We sailed through the shades of local trees and the view of traditional houses
by the river side. Paradise was right there and I was sailing through it. This
is definitely ‘‘Gods Own Country’’. Took some great shots and drowned myself in
the pleasure of sailing wild back waters. We were slowly heading to the big
wide opening of the Kayal. A flock of
birds, probably the Kokku, flew
across the sky. The view was heavenly. And I didn’t miss to freeze that frame
in multiple shots.
We had a small chit chat on the way with topics
ranging from local Chemmeen Chammandhi
to Mullaperiyar. The Vanchikaran was
speaking lots of crap, could probably be some words of wisdom. In fact we are
inclined to believe the words of those whom we don’t know, as they haven’t deceived
us. The clouds were getting darker. Mullaperiyar
issue, in my view is not a stupid water dispute. It’s more than a life and
death situation. The heat of the issue was at its peak then. And there was much
tension and protests between the people of both states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Unless the Mullaperiyar dam is
rebuilt, three districts of my state will be wiped away along with the lives of
3 million people. I defended the issue strongly in our debate of Mullaperiyar issue in the Kadathu Vanchi. I always believed that peace
is not the absence of war but the presence of justice. I wondered if the Vanchikaran was from the other state. The old guy was showing some sign languages. Is
he practicing some kind of Kathakali
moves ? But I sensed something wrong when I saw the strange faces shown by the
sisters. In the next moment, the Vanchikaran challenged me and jumped into the
river. What the ?
It started raining. Thunders fighting in the sky.
And am struck with some strangers in a boat lost in the middle of monsoon
showers. I agree that going through challenges and failures is a solid test to
develop more faith in God. But how could this situation be explained ? The
monsoon showers got much stronger and I could really feel my face getting wet
and colder. Somewhere from the corners of the dark clouds in the sky I could
hear a whispering voice. It was my mom. Mom, you saved me from a big ship
wreck. I was inside the Titanic. I tailored my dreams to make it sound more
appealing. Any way I was glad that I didn’t have to spend much time in that Kadathu Vanchi, wandering aimlessly
through the wide river and getting wet in the heavy monsoon rain.
