Journey Into God’s Own Country aka A Brief Kerala Road Trip
Hmmmm…
Been planning to attend Jyoti and Sushanth’s wedding right off the bat for almost three weeks now but last minute meetings at work and a whole host of other factors (including my insufferable laziness to change my ticket bookings) saw me on the road to Kottayam, through Bangalore… The cast of characters this time had potentially included Sandeep “The Hunter” Menon, Nikesh “Where Am I Today” Pereira, Monseiur Rajesh Le Nair and me… Sandy did one numbers Shikhari Shambu vanishing act and had to excuse himself from the travails of travelling into God’s Own Country whilst Nikesh had to work the weekend, so that left the remaining two little Indians… The agenda was very simple – attend Jyoti-Sushanth wedding and also sample the culinary delights of Kerala – Karimeen and Kallu or was it vice versa, I suddenly can’t seem to remember… Anyways we dinna bother with any of those insufferable technicalities… After all, you don’t need an excuse to have a good time do you???
Nair and I, accompanied by his brother headed out from Bangalore to Kottayam, through Palakkad… Beautiful, gorgeous, idyllic, picturesque, scenic and all the other usual yada yada yada adjectivals to be applied here… what made the drive even better was the good roads, the NH7 all the way from Bangalore through Hosur, Krishagiri, Salem and Coimbatore and then the leap into Kerala state through the NH47… That took my breath away completely… The scrub and bush land of Tamizhl Nadu replaced by lush and verdant greenery… Paddy fields, banana and coconut plantations, semi-tropical jungle growth, the monsoons had done their turn and everything looked greener after the turn of the state border… We reached Nair’s family home in Pallakad and stopped for lunch there… Good ersheri with rice topped off with payasam… Post a small siesta, Nair and I headed off down south towards Kottayam, passing Thrissur, Angamally and a few other back-of-the-bush towns… The best part was the drive on the ridge of the Western Ghats, quite steep and winding, with the attendant “watch out – dangerous curve ahead” every 200 meters or so… We were driving peacefully in most places and enjoying the view around us, the point of the journey being not to arrive… And reached Kottayam post 9 pm and met the other junta at some place “downtown” that served plenty of sea food, and liquor at ridiculously low prices, I suspect they must have been brewing some of that stuff inhouse – illegal stills, shhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Anyways we made merry till the almost wee hours of the next morning, when we remembered we had a wedding to attend… That got us all shook up, having been told tales since our childhood by the family equivalent of Aesop or the Brothers Grimm on how quick and short the marital ceremonies of the Nairs are compared to the other procrastinating castes and creeds in India… Almost legendary enough to warrant a reverse quote “Don’t Look Left Or Right, or You May Miss The Actual Wedding”… Ya, well we made it to the wedding on time, which finished on time, though some wise arse did have to make a mention that “Sushant’s wedding took longer than most Mallu weddings I have attended”… I then realised the poor sod used to keep a stop watch and timer beside him on such occasions… Definitely has a part time career during any track and field olympics or similar event…
After a hearty kalyana sappad (read as Calories – ~100,000, here’s to Talwalkars India!!!), we headed back from Kottayam… On the way back, we managed to stop at one of Nair’s haunts from yesteryears – Kalyan Hotel for an excellent repast of Karimeen, Kalamakai and Kallu… Super Stuff, Super Stuff…
Fully sated, we headed back on the road wishing we did not have to leave… Well, there’s always next weekend…
Peace
S