THE FABIA CLUB

Srreekumar · Been Around Fabiosi Joined: 05 Jun 2009 Posts: 54

“A travel thro tamilnadu? Didn’t sleep at all at night during the travel? Greenery in tamli nadu? are you mad?” asked my friend.. he couldn’t be blamed as these were the questions I expected the most if I ever told someone that I enjoyed my nite journey through tamilnadu. But, for someone who loves rural life and nature, this is a journey to cherish.

The background of the travel was the constant biting by the ‘travel bug’ which bites me every now and then. But, this time the bug had bitten me so hard that I wanted to undertake a journey and tick off the pestering bug. The nearest possible thing was the road trip to Bangalore via madurai-selam. I’ve been a frequent Bangalore visitor for the last 12 years, yet this trip was special for me as I was planning to write down a bit about the travel experience..

The decision to travel via nagercoil didn’t backfire as it gave the beautiful night glimpse of the vastness of the flat lands and the ‘u-wont-believe’ heavy farming on either sides of the roads…wonder how beautiful it wud’ve been if it was a day travel..Started from Trivandrum at 6pm and it took 3 hours to reach nagercoil by 9pm..3 hours stuck in the mindless traffic, crawling at 40kmph @ the max..wish i had a gun to hold onto the National Highway Authority of India and ask them to 6 lane the roads to tvm on the double..I couldn’t wait for the wide 6 lane NH which, which’s abt 30kms from nagercoil..and the best part is the difference it makes once u get over kerala.. eyes get soothed by the openness and greenery rather than concrete structures by the road side in kerala

Had the customary ‘ney-roast’ at udupi hotel in nagercoil..dont know y the trip this time was more nostalgic than ever before.. may be its the urge to write down something..udupi used to be the usual ‘feeding point’ on the blore trips of yester years and the trips to vadakankulam raja dental college during 96-97..it was nice to be back at udupi after nearly 4.5 years..last stop there was during the Chennai trip back in august 2005. The 2nd stretch started at 9.30pm and the wait for nearly 30 kms till valliyoor was like eternity. But the journey would be thro thovala, arulvamozhiand kavalkinar before reaching valliyoor..

Being a music lover, I’m inclined to use some of the songs which Ilayaraja-Vairamuthu duo had made. Some of the lines in such songs have been quoted to convey the beauty of the places/ memories..

Thovala

vetti veru vaasam,
vedala pulla nesam,
poovukku vaasam undu,
bhoomikkum vaasam undu,
verukkum vaasam vandha-thundo mane..

dont know y i love Thovala so much, as the bus sped by passing thovala, the fragrances of flowers came in..the roads were dotted with flower shops on either side. As the bus stopped for the customary purchase of the garlands from a flower shop, the fragrance rushed in more as doors were opened. Wonder if ilayaraja also had the same liking for the nights and fragrance of flowers as he composed the songs like ‘rasaave unna nambi indha rosaapoo irukkudunga..’ maybe he saw or visualized the full moon up in the sky as he stood in the flower fields..

Arulvamozhi

mustafaa mustafaa dont worry mustafaa
kaalam nam thoazhan mustafaa
day by day day by day vaazhkaip payanam day by day
muzhugaadha shipae frienshippaa

those were the days of ‘96, the days of the Rajas Dental College at Vadakkankulam, where i had spend the time between Nov.96 and Jan.97. (That’s another long story as to how in joined RDC and the entire capitation quota seats of 96 batch was kicked out). To reach the college, we had to get off at the aruvamozhi jn. and take the right route to vadakkankulam. Arulvamozhi used to be a typical tamil junction with small temple, few al-marams (banyan tree), pettikadakal and small hotels. ‘Mustafa’ song got popular at that time and was played on 24hrs then. As soon as we alighted the bus at the arulvamozhi jn., we could hear Mustafa..mustafa....it followed us everywhere, on the road, in the trekker service to vadakkankulam and in the seniors rooms in the hostels. May be it was the only sound at night in the hostel. There are songs which reminds an era or event in life which has gone past us..Mustafa brings back the memories of good ol’ RDC days..the song did capture the essence of college life.

Kavalkinaru - The windmill road

This is the way
That the windmill goes round
High, then low
Brushing the sky

Windmills were always a fascination for me, right from childhood. The windmills banked the NH7 at Kavalkinaru. One section went on till valliyoor and another section ran to right to reach Vadakankulam crossing the railway lines. At vadakankulam, the hostel rooms in RDC had direct view of the windmill farms beneath the mountains..As it came to life, the windmills has a humming sound, which would be the only audible sound in the nearby area and this created a mystic aura..This was broken only by the murukan songs and ‘suprabhathams’ coming from the temple atop the mountain along with the distant whistle of the trains passing below the mountain..This track then runs parallel to the NH at Kavalkinaru till valliyoor.

Valliyoor

the roads are wide, open and long
but I have a journey to begin
and miles to go before I sleep..

This was what i had waited for..the wide open roads and it was like a rush to fresh air from the container bottle.. there, it lay before me as inviting as it was..it wouldn’t be off mark to state that the road ahead me was one of the beautiful NH in the country, if not the beautiful. I presume that even the bus felt happy to see the sudden openness in the roads and the meaty vroooooommm... from the rear engine of the powerful Volvo bus denoted its happiness. From there, the journey would be through the middle of the farms and plain lands.

Thirunelveli- Madurai - Dindigal

Antha Nilava Thaan Naan Kaiyila Pudichen En Raasathikkaga
Enge Enea Konjam Naan Parkuren
Kannai Moodu Konjam Naan Katturen

By then, the moon was in full flow, spreading the milky white radiance on the trees and mountains. Having travelled recently in the stretch till thirunelveli, I decided to doze off a li’l bit. As I woke up, the bus was nearing Madurai. It seemed that the stretches after thirunelveli were more vast and with the mountain silhouettes at night and the moon light reflecting over the full canals, the setting was perfect..If I had my camera with me then, I would’ve definitely bribed the driver to stop at such sites where the moon got reflected..

thenmadurai vaigai nadhi
dhinam paadum thamizh paattu
thaeygindradhu
thaeygindradhu pon maalai nila

My mind went back in time.. back to the winter of 93 when I first passed thro the same road. It was a narrow double lane then, barren on both sides with occasional trees and dried up rivers and canals. It seemed like a desert then and I closed my eyes, to shut off the emptiness. But, as the Banglore trips increased after 99, I had noted the changes that came thro the area each timeI passed thro. Canals were dug up, streams were formed, the barren landscape made way for occasional trees and other shrubs..and today, it looked like an agricultural land with canals criss crossing and the Vaigai river in its glory and the road was 6 laned. Now, think of situation on Kerala, it would be just the opposite..
What remained unchanged was that unending rail track which cut across below the road and then went on and on into infinity. The moon light was lighting up the track and once again, I saw a train, which I presume to be the Vaigai Express steaming down.. What surprised me was the transformation of Dindigal. Building construction was goin on everywhere and all those half baked structures had an eerie appearance in the moon light.

The journey went on and on..and i dozed off again, and as I woke up, we had left Salem and nearing Thoppur.

Thoppur -Dharmapuri -Krishnagiri

Malai oram veesum kaathu
Manasodu paadum pattu kekudhaa kekudhaa

Thoppur was the beginning of the ghat section and the ghats continued for more than 70 Km. Thoppur is also the diversion point to reach Mettur, a place which is said to be having all year farming with the Bhavani River feeding it. The entire Thoppur- Dharmapuri stretch ran beneath the mountains and midst the vast farmlands. The farms were in glory on either sides and it was a color riot, even at night with the farms dotting the fluorescent green, yellow and red colors. The moon light illuminated the unpaved country roads dotted by palm trees on either sides and these roads ran into the mountain at times. Else, the roads ran across the farmlands, which I felt would be worth 1000 snaps during day time. Ahhh..this was the real rural tamil nadu for which I’ve been searching for. The coconut leaves swayed in the mild wind and the red& white walls of the temples atop the mountains were illuminated by the moon. The scenery went on forever and ever for almost the entire distance and...

Mala Kaathu Veesurapothu Malligapoo Paadaathaa
Mazha Megham Koodurapothu Vanna Mayil Aadaathaa
En Maeni Thaenarumbu En Paatu Poonkarumbu

I was walking along the fields in thoppur, clicking pics and suddenly, I sensed a change in air..the moon light faded quickly, the air became cool and the leaves started swaying more and more..the sound of the dry leaves quickly rolling thro the ground was all around me and I heard a familiar sound..of something coming in from a distance..This, was the unmistakable sign of the rain lurking around the corner and i was brought back to sense by the raindrops hitting the window of the bus..Rain..my alluring friend who never lets me catch it, yet, who would come and go off at will leaving behind its trail..and here, rain was at it again, coming from nowhere in the midst of this beautiful journey when I least expected it. I thanked God for this unexpected gift and what a location to make its entry, drenching the fields and farms and soon, the leaves were reflecting the moon light. The rain was the companion for the journey up the wonderful twisty thoppur ghat leading upto Dharmapuri and thereon to Krishnagiri. Krishnagiri was not much different in the landscape, but here, the mango trees were dotting the fields, sometimes, it made a postcard scene to watch a lone mango tree in the midst of the vast field..The mountains were towering over us as we drove on..

The raindrops were rolling down thro the glass and i was pinching myself trying to find if this was a dream run..no, it was the real thing and i dozed off again as the bus moved on from krishnagiri to hosur.

Hosur - Bangalore

I woke up as we were midway through the Hosur-Bangalore NH and found the farmlands interspersed with factories and houses. I felt Hosur as a confused district, confused as to whether it belongs to TN or Karnataka, confused for its identity..It was as if the tradition was battling the encroaching modernity in every aspects..but it made an interesting sight to see the traditional tamilian faces and locations kept cropping around the modern karnataka faces and locations. Would hosur make a cry for separate statehood? Only time would tell..the Volvo was ganing more speed as it sensed Bangalore was near..the speedometer needle climbed up and the ‘once used to be garden city’ was nearing as shown by the presence of flyovers and the elevated corridor..We entered the new pride of Bangalore the elevated corridor near the bannerghetta diversion to Electronic City at got off at Bommanahalli and proceeded to Madivala..It was a wonderful experience over 10 Kms, riding over other flyovers .
Madivala - the entry/ exit point of Bangalore city..where newbies get the first glimpse of their dream city. I felt that Madivala also acts like a parting point, where hands are slowly retracted, silent glances tell stories, memories are recollected and tears roll down or happiness returns as the buses leave for their destinations..

Bangalore – Its my second home..love it or hate it, it has got a special place in my heart..Let it be in another note which would describe the typical Bangalore life of a Malayali..

D-day, leaving to Trivandrum – Bommanahalli - 6pm bus to trivandrum. I was feeling reluctant to leave B’lore..I’ve never felt this restraint over last few visits. But this time I felt the sadness i felt many years before while getting seated into the bus. As the bus stood idle, I got out and looked around..the elevated corridor ran overhead and the NH was streaming with inbound and outbound vehicles. I set my eyes on the inbound tracks, wondering how many newbies would be arriving in those vehicles. I looked at quite a few outbound vehicles and wondered where they were going to..I looked at my watch, it was just 30mts drive back to brother’s apartment..A thought went thru my mind as to cancel my trip and go back..

The sun was setting on the other side of the road and soon the new elevated corridor turned a silhouette. When next? I asked myself. why did I make this trip? i asked myself again. The answer lay within me, in the form of a bug that had bit me few weeks back..it was the cute lil travel bug who pesters me once a while and this time, her pestering was so much..I had decided on this trip to get rid of the bug and as the trip was winding down, she was hiding somewhere. I searched around for her and caught her eyes..I asked her what she has got me into..she didnt reply..she kept looking back at me.

Should I finish her off for once and forever? I asked myself. I decided to toss..Finish her off if it is Tails and Let her continue bugging me if it is Heads. The coin went up and came back. The moment I looked at the coin, I could see the bugs face lighting up. I was about to place back the coin and just then, i flipped the coin to find out that it had 2 Heads..I knew who placed the tossing coin..The bug slowly walked up my arms and bit me..I gave a slap, she bit me again, i slapped again...after few slaps, i found that my slaps were getting weak..I had the realization that it was not worth trying to keep out the bug..It was a slow seduction...her bites were giving me urges..a new urge to explore and experience the world.

I looked at the elevated corridor and the highway..but my mind had images of nature. Concrete jungles or nature? where do i need to be? I look in the eyes of the bug, and thro her eyes, i could see the images of the nature..and there I was, seated in my customary seat 19, passing thro the plains & farm lands again, lit by the moon light.

I could see myself to be back to open nature pretty soon- europe & north america beckons..but before that, a trip to the garden city again in my fabia during daytime and ofcourse, with camera in my hand