Yonder Side Plate
Yonder Side Plate
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VAGAMON IN KERALA, INDIA AN EXOTIC HEAVENLY TOURIST SPOT ON EARTH !
Day before yesterday, second saturday, 8th August, 2009 is a joyful day in my life. Yes,the day we went on a picnic through the misty mountain ranges of Idukki District. My fourteen friends from the Office where I am working started off at 7.30 am. from Ettumanoor. I boarded the bus at Thelliyamattom, my village town. On entering the vehicle I surveyed my friends. I was disappointed in the unhappy absence of my friends Blase, Paul Varghese and Thomachan, though it was not unexpected. In the early morning itself many of my friends were at the high pitch of enthusiasm. As for us it was a day of complete oblivion, without stress. The party was, indeed, living completely absorbed in the present moment. They behaved with the innocence of L.K.G. children. The bus was moving slowly through the meandering village road piercing the morning snow.The man who drove, namely, Hajiyaar, looked good at his job. He had a long beard heralding an orthodox Moslem outlook.
As per the Itenarary prepared by Premkumar, our first spot was Ayyampaara, much high above the sea level in altitude. It was only 8 km. away from my home. It was incredible for me to think that such a spot enriched by nature's bounty was so near me ! I thought that humans tend to ignore the good and the beautiful things which are so near and accessible. We are fascinated by what is far-off and inaccessible. The place got the name from the popular Hindu God " Ayyappan " seated on a huge rock running three hectares ! It is only 9 km. away from Erattupetta in Kottayam District of Kerala, India. We alighted there at 9 am. We were spell-bound by the beauty of nature. Yonder, in the valley we could see church domes and buses were seen moving like soap boxes! It was greenery all over. There was the ancient temple recently renovated, but certainly not having the grandeur and glory of ancient sculpture.We spend about 45 minutes there bathing in the morning sun, absorbed in the ecstacy of the experience. There we sat down on the rock to take our breakfast. Iddily with chutny , saambaarand uzhunnuvada was served, I thank Bhanuprakash for such a tasty, sumptuous dish. The journey resumed at 10 am and reached Kurisumala near Vagamon. The spot is a pilgrim centre of Christians. There is an aashram which takes after the Hindu traditions.The dairy farm of Kurisumala provides milk to people of even far-off places.We took snaps of landscape and ourselves as there was no want of cams. The group of 15 was high-spirited with ample supply of liquor. Our Haajiyaar was luckily a teetotaller.Naazar too was so. All of us participated in a musical game called "Anthaakshari". Our team led by Johney won by defeating the other team led by Saji. Thus we enjoyed every second of the trip with alacrity and without inhibitions. The cold climate of the place was enjoyable and the pain of biting cold was mitigated by the incessant intake of peg after peg. The punch or the kick of it was not as strong in the high altitudes as of the plains. From Kurisumala we set out to our next spot 'pine valley".There we had a feeling that we had been loitering in an alien dreamy world. The euphoria was indescribable through human words of mouth. Around 1'o clock we resumed the journey to our next spot Parunthumpaara. On the way we stopped on a river bank in order to take lunch. The place was exquisitely beautiful in the setting of the tea-garden shining in the flood of sunlight. The air was conditioned by the proper mix of cool and heat, the heavens were cloud-free though it was supposed to be raining cats and dogs ! I had brought rice with veg. curry , Johney had chicken curry, Abey had Beef curries. Naazar brought pickles, pappad, plates and other necessary paraphernalia. The lunch was majestic and the flavor of it was spicy.The intimacy of the group was reassured and reasserted by the commonness of purpose and attitude of sharing. All of us had taken more food than usual, maybe thanks to the appetizing spell of alcohol. After the sumptous lunch we started again . Our next destination was Parunthumpaara. A place near Peermade, about 5 km away from N.H. 223. The panoramic view there was ravising to the eyes. The noisy wind, the cool, the drizzle everything positively contributed to the euphoric ambience. Above all the bottomless depths ! What was there in the yonder valleys! we exclaimed. The mystery of makaravilakku inthe ponnampalamedu is said to be visible from this spot. Unexpectedly we had to go back into the bus as the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. In order to intensify the cold thrill Nazar supplied an ice-cream to each... We were enjoying it like children...There was no sign of rain's retreat. We decided to sign off though with reluctant minds... THE WOODS WERE LOVELY DARK AND DEEP BUT WE HAD PROMISES TO KEEP AND MILES TO GO BEFORE WE SLEPT AND MILES TO GO BEFORE WE SLEPT As the bus was moving down into the plains from the mountain peaks, our minds also were also taking u turn from the peak- flight of imagination into the plains of realities....
About the Author
im from kerala India
pure vegetarian
my blog ------ mohanas.spaces.live.com