After watching the gorgeous backwaters in the movie ,”Autograph” ,I was eagerly looking for a moment to Alleppy Trip .The election came as a bliss in guise , when Chennai was declared holiday on 13 th May .Adding to that, the subsequent Saturday was also declared the holiday , due to Election Counting … I packed off 12 th May evening to Coimbatore in Mangalore Express on a Tatkaal ticket .Kandha shasti Kavasam songs played in a share Auto brightened my spirit that the trip will turn into an awesome one .The Train Started by 20:00 Hrs from Egmore and managed to reached Coimbatore by 11:00 , next day ,travelling a whooping distance of 950 kms in 13 Hours .Located close to Kerala , the climate was very nice even in the Fore Noon, even in the Mid of May. I attended Sri yathee’s (my Niece) Punyaarchana and came to KSRTC stand by 21:30 Hrs … Even while standing in Coimbatore Bus Stand , I had the feeling of standing on Kerala Soil , reason being I was fully Surmounted by keralites. To avoid being blue in the moon , I thoroughly enquired on buses availability to Guruvayur . As a bad luck , I had a bus only to Thrissur .Got a reservation token , and entered the bus .The Width for walking in the bus was spacious than a TNSTC and the space was obviously borrowed from seating Comfortness of passengers .Consequently , 2 Co –passengers who sat near me struggled through out the Journey for the want of Space .The seats would be a bless only for Love birds ..The only Console is the Window without Grill bars that helps in mingling with Scenic nature on the Road Side . I should Have travelled by evening /Early Morning time to enjoy this ..
It was 01:00 , when I reached Thrissur . Bus to Guruvayur was by 02:00 .In the mean time , I strolled leisurely on the foot paths of Thrissur bus Stand .I could observe that there were No Dust Spilled , No stains on the Seat , No chaos and looked totally Opposite to Hyderabad Bus Stands .When the bus arrived ,most people preferred the queue system except the other State people .(No doubt as why kerala outperforms other states in terms of high literacy rate ).. I could see inside my first chamber heart , that the respect towards Kerala I have ,was getting deeper a bit lot !Getting down at guruvayur by 03:00 , I saw devotees standing in long queues .It was just 03:00 and I was taken aback by the devotion they had towards deity . Being a Friday I didn’t get a room in Guruvayur even after roaming for 1 hour in NEWS (North East West South) . Adding to that I went as a lonely Sailor ,so I was forbidden the access Entry .(Only few lodges offer rooms for Lonely Sailors) . So I took bath in a Surabhi Complex ,kept my belongings in Cloak room and joined the queue by 04:30 .I was sleepless ,the last night ,but still the fancy I was drawing from the citizens of god’s own Country ,didn’t let me sleep .Divine Ladies with streaks of Chandan in their foreheads, wearing traditional White Sarees with brown ,pink ,yellow ,brown borders and Jacket Colors matching their borders .Cute Smiled little girls with midy dresses and flowers hanging on their V Shaped hair . Gents and sweet little boys wearing dhotis , waiting eagerly to have dharshan of Lord Guruvayur Appan (fondly called as Lord Krishna),were prickling my divine senses to become a keralite atleast in my next birth .Apart from that, there was not even a milliliter of body Deodarants Foul Smell ..It was a natural World .. My desire to marry a keralite girl was growing deeply in the second chamber of my heart .The very thought went in hand in hand to see a typical Keralite marriage performed on the temple premises ..Ceremony went hardly for 20 minutes ,after which relatives were feasted ..Relatively Simple than the Tamil Nadu ones! To keep me alert , I drank a coffee ,which I never used to drink ,except to keep me wake …..By 09 :30 , I had the dharshan .
Normally I used to have lunch in the Temple ,but the temple was overflowing with devotees ,I chose a hotel . When I was about to wash my Plantain leaf with a jug of water , I noticed that ,it was jug of buttermilk …Kudos to hotel for letting open the buttermilk to customers..And buttermilk had the coriander leaves , green chillies ,ginger ..Lingeree , indeed ! The vitamin B12 rice of kerala is matchless to anything in the world ..I had gulps of Kgs of rice getting inside me , the reason being i skipped my breakfast in the morning .The Mango Pickle was liquid ,contrary to gravy style of Andra Pradesh. Drank litters of buttermilk .i over utilized the amount of Rs 30 which I had payed to the hotel .I got 2 gallons of pink hot water into my water bottle ,filled ..The server raised no concerns on this ..Had if this been in Tamil Nadu , I would have been blown off ! There were few bharatha Nattiyam Performances going on the stage .Right from Kids to ladies were rocking in the stage ..After clicking few snaps ,I Left to bus stand to move to Cochin .This is the first time ,I am moving beyond Guruvayur ! The buses had a Pick up like a Royal Enfield and drove at the rate of 70 Km/hr in the narrow roads .The driving in particular was too rash and seemed like keralites are used to that .Could see no fears in the faces of my Co-Passengers .On the way to Cochin , I could see , 3 coconut trees , a Plantain tree , Mango Trees in every house .The Scenary was almost same till the back waters appeared for the first time,when the bus was nearing Ernakulam ..Few told me it was the cherai beach of Vipin Islands .I booked a room in Five Star Hotel (Name of the hotel is so ) By evening 18:30 Hrs , scenary got changed as in cochin I could see tall buildings like Chennai ..What took me to surprise was the Cochin people used boat just like chennaites use Metro train for commutation .The Friday evening was bit rush but a friend took me to the back portion of the boat ,which was less crowded , guided me by narrating the ship yards , Coastal navies .He invited me to his house ,and gave me 2 glasses of Rasna ..Very affectionate Family ..He was a god in guise ..The Miracle didn’t stop here .In the cargos Ship ,I had a 80 year aged old person guiding me to Vipin boat jetty (jetty means Station ..Don’t see the literal meaning in Tamil ..Sounds Horrible)Inspite of the mosquito bites , the boat ride was nice ..Had if had I had my fiance here , it would be memorable ..Any way ,I have plans to take her to cherai beach ,next time .
Next day Morning ,I started to Kumaragam .Since had no direct buses to kumaragam ,got down at Vaikkam to get another one ..Kumaragam is an awesome destination to all Romantic /Scenic lovers .In Kumaragm ,I entered a Mosaic Floored , Air Conditioned , Home theatred posh hotel to have 2 idlies .. With 2 chutneys and Sambhar , I was panic about the bill and smiled when it was just Rs 10. One beautiful girl working for the boat service instructed me to go to Kottayam – Bodi Matha to get a Service boat .On the way to bodimatha , I happened to see yet another fantastic Scene ,where Drunkard Passenger was scolding a conductor for no reasons , for which Conductor and fellow passengers never responded .Good way to avoid the fight!
Aligghting at Bodimatha , I asked the Boat Conductor , which side of the boat to sit to catch worthy pictures ? He Smiled and went off . The boat started slowly moving off the Lotus / lilly plants and planks . Both the sides were decorated with Coconut and mango trees .On the banks were Few diving , few washing the cloths .All these reminded me off “mile sur me la tumhara” song . As the boat entered the larger portion , the banks which appeared very near on either sides became too separated ..2 eyes won’t be sufficient to see the turn of the boat into larger portion of the Back Waters .After few miles , Boat houses came into picture and their population increased tremendously moving further ,indicating the nearness of Alleppy .The beauty of the boat houses , is that it is available at various costs to suit various economic sectors. It starts at Rs 500 in the name of shikara where 5 people can travel for 2 hours in backwaters ,Non –Ac Boat houses for Rs 8000 / day ,which moves in Waters the whole day and anchors at banks in nights,returning to Alleppy the next day morning ,Luxury A/C boat houses for Rs 20000/day . Indeed a good choice for honey Moon Couples. I paid just Rs 10 for the boat journey from Kottayam to Alleppy of 43 Kms that lasted for 3.5 hours
I started to Alleppy Beach ,putting a room at Matha Guest house . The beech was humid and average. The beech sand & beech park added some colors to the beech .All I could notice is that most of them were considering me a filmatographer as I was roaming with tripod. Particularly ,when I was shooting some pictures , 4 girls hid my slippers in the sand and asking apologies for their naughtiness .Activities in Kerala winds off by 19:00 Hrs..No street lights were available ,not even in the bus stand Area .People’s prime self job was selling Lotteries. kerala helps Poor people lead a decent life there as the rates are very less from rice to house rents ,but hasn’t seen much improvements the world is witnessing .
Next day morning , I went to Ambarapuzha .Seems it is the second famous Krishna temple in kerala . The pond was slippery ,but awesome . Shrine was big . A College girl from sathya Sai Foundation led children from nearby village to pluck the grasses and weeds in the temple premises .Nice initiative . Spend some time in purchasing kathakali mask and finger rings . A pious place that I felt like visiting again . . If you are in kerala , there is no need of a separate Picnic Spot ,.Watching the scenes as you go through the bus fills one’s picnic penchant .On my way back to Cochin in train , I sat in the footsteps of Train watching the greenery on that cloudy Sunday .”The golden memories of Kerala “ were all running in my mind as the train was reaching the congested Chennai !
Statistics :
9.5 Out of 10 Ladies look Extremely beautiful in kerala. Remaining 0.5 look beautiful.
7 Out of 10 Guys in Kerala help other people .Remaining 3 don’t because of Communication problems.
