Our Wild Trip down South - January 2009

It was quite a special trip that i knew i wanted to record in detail... and while my family laughed everytime i pulled out my black notebook to make a note, i do hope they value the memories i’ve managed to collect... here are some things i loved...

Bombay to Kochi
- Planning a trip 3 months in advance – a trip where my pa, ma and ko would get a chance to spend time with manu. The trip getting cancelled suddenly and just as suddenly getting back on track.
- The thrill of making a long long list of things to carry and comparing notes with mom 
- Not being able to sleep the night before and getting up too early
- Reaching the airport too early and catching a cup of coffee with ko... and getting so lost that we had to be paged to board!! How embarrassing was that – our first time and really it has to be our last!!
- The view from the window as we approached kochi – the green patches of land that seemed untouched by humans – the million trees with a few red slate roofs peering through
- The kochi terminal – so tiny and quaint... walking from the aircraft to the terminal – not something you get to do too often
- Ko welcoming us to his city with a huge hug... and me realising that he was hardly the tiny little boy who i saw in the hospital nursery... and yet i loved him just as much as that day
- Amazed at how ko spoke to the cab drive in mallu. The malyalis have a soft, barely audible, rumbly, confusy way of speaking that we north Indians find hard to even hear, let alone understand.
- Everyone here is either a cheta (brother) or a chechhi (sister). When ko first called out to the cab driver, i thought he said Jeda... like the Jedi warriors from star wars!! Funny.
- The only billboards we saw on the way were those of either saris or jewellery – which makes me think about the status of women here – it is still largely a matriarchal society.
- As we got closer to Ko’s house in elamakara, my excitement grew – what lay ahead was a whole week with my family – all the people i love the most in the world... in an exotic land... with lots of plans...
- As we pulled into a tiny bylane, i asked ko if that was his lane... he said that it was the main road that lead to the lane that lead to his house!! : )
- Being shown around his adorable little house – his castle! Felt so proud in that moment. Hugged and hugged ma and pa... happy to be with them...
- Quickly scanned through his lonely planet and another book on kerela and we were off to Mattencherry and Fort Kochi. I must say that my little brother is an excellent, well read and wise guide...
- I love the kind of homes i saw on our drive... bright vibrant, crazy colours – bright pink, mango yellow, grass green... these people are nuts and i loved that... i saw the exact purple house that i hope to someday have as mine!!
- The jewish market – what looked like tiny antique filled stores turned into long long stores that opened up to the other end of the street – fascinating pieces of work – from the largest varpa to row boats, to elephants made of rotting wood to trinkets and cow masks... i walked around wanting to photograph everything – which we more or less did...


- In each of those old pieces of work, there seemed to a past that was trapped – felt a strange something that made me hesitant to touch the things....


- Found many interesting doors and windows... wild colours and a mystery mixed with character... the things i find most attractive...
- What made me sad was that truly a lot of the handicrafts were the same that i would have found at janpat in delhi.... there was nothing very unique here.
- Had a cup of tea at ‘The Teapot’ – took my breath away – careful carelessness which is hard to achieve – camomile and blueberry tea amidst hundreds of tea pots – on shelves, hanging from the ceiling and even on the wall. We knew we would have to come back here again...
- The jewish synagogue – a lot of history and even more history there – i had never been into a synagogue before... we sat quietly on worn out old wooden benches and there was something to look at no matter where you looked – from the blue pottery tiles which seemed to enact a story on the floor to the many many chandeliers that seemed to twinkle as the light passed through them – divine... the watercolour paintings depicted how the jews first arrived here and were welcomed by the locals and how this became home for them for hundreds of years... the tablets laying forelorn outside, weeds growing in and out of them, had the most interesting signs etched on them and i wished i could run my fingers over those ancient carvings
- Chinese fishing nets which were still used – what a contraption – and what a catch – we found little shacks filled with the most interesting sea creatures – so so beautiful that i wondered how i could eat them – saw the biggest fish that i had ever seen... Manu’s hand had to be held tight and he needed to be dragged away...
- We just about made it to the kathakali performance – it was on the first floor of what looked like an old home that had been turned into a theatre... it was an enthralling performance which we managed to understand cos we were introduced to what he different gestures would mean – it was the enactment of a part of the mahabharat – kichchaka vadhan - where bhim kills kicchaka for insulting draupadi... what i found enthralling was the different gestures and expressions that were so exaggerated, the two drummers who seemed to hold the story together and the singer who was the voice that evoked so many emotions from laughter to horror to amusement... the synchrony between the dancers, the drummers and the singers was really what made it come together...


- Pa and ma had arrived a day before us and had already learnt how to find their way around – thay had a quirky way of remembering names of places – elamakara (where ko lives) became allah + makara (the husband of a spider!!) and Punakal temple (the landmark to get to where ko lives) became Pune + kal.... crazy parents of mine...
- Loved the ‘a’ that gets added to every word here – so its ‘lefta’, ‘righta’, straighta and my favourite – ‘fisha’... mum has been trying to call the driver and other men ‘chetta’ but is just hopeless – she’s created a hundred versions of the word that are just not right – from chella to cheddar to cheter... she did not show signs of giving up till the end of the trip...

Kochi to Munnar
- The drive up to Munnar was beautiful... despite the green curtains in the quailis that we had hired... we really took to our driver – jyoti chetta who was quiet and respected the fact that he would be stuck with crazy north Indians for next many days...
- Pa kept us all busy and excited by asking us questions like – our favourite travel moments – the answers ranged from Manu in Cyprus to Ko’s trek to the Himalayas, to the swiss cows that Mum will never forget, Pa’s memories of London and the breath taking starry night in Bhinsar that will never leave me for as long as i live...
- We stopped at Hotel Malabar on the way – not a hotel and not in Malabar – just a little wood and tin dhabba – we ordered coffee and ma spread out her little picnic – pakodas and chatni in buns filled with butter!! Oh boy... even when we’re not in the north, my mother carries it’s essence firmly with her... we walked around and watched how rubber was being collected from the trees... the spiral white cut that ended in a coconut shell, filled with a sticky peaceful goo, dripping drop by drop...


- When we needed to take a loo break or were assessing if a place was safe to eat, the expression on ma’s face, was what we all turned to look at – that woman is incredible, she can assess a place in seconds – our very own self-designated Family Health Officer – we love her annoyingly snobby ways...
- The car filled with songs that we had grown up hearing especially on holidays– old hindi songs that i will always associate my pa with – i closed my eyes and told my mind to capture forever, the soft singing of my father and brother... their singing made my heart stir so...
- As we spiralled up the hills, we moved from sunny stretches to dark patches... and if it was an open jeep, i’m pretty sure, i would be dizzy...
- Came across so many malyali signs on the roads that i started a silly game... i drew some of the letters and then tried to associate it with something...
- Hill rides are the same and yet they are distinct differences – instead of the hanumanji temples in the hills of the north, here in the sahyadiri ranges, we saw little churches... i love the hills no matter where... saw tall tall slender trees with miles of gorgeously textured barks...
- We stayed at the Riverside Waywood Hotel – played fuzball and carom in the recreation room as pa checked us in... remembered the many summers ko, ma and i played ludo and carom all afternoon – i was so bad at it and ko was such a pain... he had such weird moves...
- We had lunch at Rapsy in the Munnar market – parothas (the south Indian version of our parathas) chicken chops and biryani
- Met Mr. Jospeh Iype – labelled by the Lonely Planet as the ‘swiss knife of Munnar’!! we can tell you anything about the place so i asked him how i could experience the sunset while walking through the tea estates. He told us to walk about the General Manager’s bungalow ‘Land Brooke’ at Devikolam. What a drive that was... tea estates all through – more shades of green than every thought imaginable and what perfect order it was in – like a blanket with patch work squares of every conceivable print in green....


- We found a little stream where we saw a spider struggling to go upstream to join his family – the boys took a hundred pictures of him and even tried to help him... crazy creatures...






- Getting a beer in the state of Kerela is no easy task... firstly no one understands if you say beer or alcohol.... it’s called beverage here, pronounced ‘beeeeverage’... and then when they do direct you, you end up in a government store, at the end of a very long line.... only to pay three times what you would elsewhere in the country!!
- Mum had us in slits as she tried to tell room service that she wanted tea... he kept saying ‘pottea’... and mum kept repeating yes, 2 ‘pottis’ very hot please!!!
- I loved the swing by the river... loved how manu pushed me high...very very high and then said that he did not thing the branch supporting the swing was strong enough!!
- All ko and pa and manu seemed to discuss what taxes and what paper work needed to get done! It was so not entertaining....
- After a very dull dinner.... we decided to take a walk in the cold... it was freezing – well not really but it was by my standards... i snuck one hand into manu’s jacket pocket so that his hand could warm it up and another into ko’s jacket.... will never forget that moment as we walked towards a little bridge.... three of us connected in a strange manner... looking up to see the stars appear slowly in the night sky as we got further from the bright lights of the hotels.... there were more stars out in the sky than in that sky over bhinsar.... and i could not stop exclaiming...

- Next morning, we were off to Top station and the two dams... we had Maggie made over a wood fire, had real strong coffee that i think will keep me awake for the entire holiday, the boys tried their had at rifle shooting while ma bought a bizarre hat.... we even went on a paddle boat ride... watched the boys struggle as i sat snug in between... and watched them steer our boat in all directions... looneys...


- Had a yum kerela meal... took a snooze and then drove to sunset point but really did not get a sunset...
- We visited the kanan devan hill plantation where we saw how tea was made.... tasted some... bought some... even watched a short documentary called ‘New Roads Old Mountains’ which was really fascinating – Munnar was first discovered by the British as they pursued the evading Tipu Sultan... tea was found to be the most suitable thing to grow due to the elevation, the rainfall and the angle of the slopes... the Madhumalai tribe was hired as advisors and guides due to their vast knowledge of the terrain... labour came from Tamil Nadu... Munnar came to be named because of the 3 rivers... UK company Finlays bought a large part of the tea estates which were later bought by Tata and are now owned by the people themselves and known as the Kanan Devan Hill Plantations... the people were careful to conserve the environment and hence only 30% of the land is used for the plantations... the rest remains free for the flora and fauna to flourish... the british had built a mono rail, a ropeway, roads as well as a light railway but it was all destroyed in the great flood of 1924... many many interesting facts...
- We had lunch at the SN lodge... and it was fascinating to watch the locals eat all the rice and curry and veges with their hand... it really did seem like an art that i want to try out at home one day 
- We went into the ‘Cinnamon Garden’ and Mr Nayar took us for a tour... we saw a whole bunch of trees and shrubs and we made an attempt to remember them all as we drove away... the neel karanji flower (which blooms once in 12 years.. net expected to bloom in 2018!!) coffee, nutmeg, chillies, pepper, vanilla, cinnamon, cardamom, bettlenut, aracanut, mango, tamarind, agarbati tree (i forget the name!!), cocoa, banana (i had not really tasted a banana that was as banana as that one), strawberry, guava, pineapple, passion fruit (2 types), almond, lemon, orange, orchid, shoeflower, payaya, jackfruit, teak trees, sandalwood trees, sugarcane, palm, tulsi, turmeric, arrow root, mulberry, kokum, allspice, cloves, lemon grass, amaltas, palash, rose apple, eucalyptus, the insulin plant, evergreen, periwinkle flower... it was an eye open to see the different flowers, fruits and spices... had no idea how they had grown before this... my. Nayar is an extremely knowledgeable man....


Kochi Again
- Laughed at how pa kept wanting to know what the plan was and ko kept getting annoyed... hahaha...
- Met up with ko’s friends at the Cochyn Bar – their getaway for a beer, chillie chicken and football while REM played softly in the background... think your friends are a reflection of how you are... and i really liked ko’s... then walked to The Cocoa Tree to get a mudslide... some super chocolately dessert while we talked about whether love really was real and what it meant to be married... interesting... tried to get information on ko’s lovelife... not much luck in my quest.... 

Kochi to Kumarokom
- Manu was the chetta in this trip.. driving ko’s friends car to our boathouse... how we managed to get the houseboat is a story that i can write into a thriller and make a pile of money selling!! Scary and amusing and something that will only happen with my pa....
- Manu made it very clear that he was on this trip for the food and if the meal did not have fish, it was a waste of a meal... ko kept thinking that we had not packed enough to snack on while ma made a thorough inspection of the houseboat, giving it a thumbs up... the kailasam 4 was indeed a luxury houseboat.... complete with three bedrooms, fancy shower fitting (alas no water pressure), a first class kitchen team, an LCD TV and DVD player (alas crap movies that don’t work) and the best spot – the sun deck....
- We set sail... excited about the adventure that lay ahead... and it began with the lavish lunch that was served to us... karimein was truly all that it was made out to be... delicious, delicate fish and it easy to navigate around the bone... loved the kerela curd curry – sour and so light... within minutes of finishing the mean, we were on the sun deck... sprawled out in the bright sun... the feel of the sun warming up my bones to the sound of water lapping lazily about out boat... next stop was the fisherman’s cove where the boys picked up the prawns that they wanted for dinner... straight out of the fishing nets....






- Saw all the beautiful hotel properties, the birds, the water hyacinth – imported by the government to stop mosquito lava from growing and now considered a menace as it kills everything around it... they looked so lovely with the pale blue flowers... islands of green floating on the lake...
- We docked in a canal next to a village for the night... ko had plans to sleep under the stars... we geared up to repel the mosquitoes...
- Pa asked more questions!! What has been our favourite moment on the trip so far... for ko it was the lunch and the incredible setting for it, for Manu, the cruise was better than that on the River Danube. For ma, it was the first glimpse of Lake Vembanad as we got out of the canal. For pa, it was the selection of the houseboat and knowing that this one was right at the first glance. For me, it was lying in the sun after lunch... that feeling of calm and that desire to find a way to keep us together like that forever... being stranded seemed so desirable...
- I took photographs of my little brother from every angle conceivable... he loved it and so did i.... for every 10 pics i took, he took one of mine... i never thought myself beautiful before this trip... think that being in the sun is more my thing than the cold... it brings out all the browns and darks in me and i love those colours...
- Early morning, i jumped out of bed... ran up the sun deck... the scene was completely different from the starry coconut lined skyline of the night before... the mist swirled eerily over the water... a calm mesmerizing movement... similar to agarbati smoke swirling away in the light of the candle... ko gave fishing a shot – unsuccessfully!!
- The service in the boathouse was special... and it was a cruise that we will never forget... and guess what ma found someone who she could speak to in Hindi and call ‘bhaiya’... phew!!

Back to Kochi
- The last leg of our holiday... tanned, relaxed and beginning to grow sad... manu asked when i would start crying about missing ma and pa and i cheekily told him that i was saving it for the last day.... it had been a special week for me... one that i will hold close to my heart... from being called a malyali, to getting terribly lost on our way to Fort Kochi, to leaving ko and waving to hi till he was out of sight, to watching ma and pa disappear into their aircraft, knowing that ma was crying just as i was... this is how the best memories are made... and this is what will keep me going till we all unite again on another adventure...