Kerala

I knew that this wasn't going to be one of the regular vacations because it was a wdding I was going to attend, but I'd promised myself that I wouldn't let boredom, or a culture shock, however slight it maybe, ruin it for me. And I think I've succeeded at that pretty well. I did get a couple of surprises in terms of the formality and the hoopla, and the scene at Guruvayoor was quite something else, more about that later. But all said and done, one of my most memorable trips to naadu. Loved some of the impressions that the sights and sounds that the people and things around me left. I guess I did take my oath to really 'look' before I think at least a little seriously.

We ended up having to rush because of the betrayal of Usman, the autowallah who usually ferries us around, and the consequent chain of near-disastrous events that almost had us missing our train.

On the train - a guy who lives in Hi-Tech city, and studies in a college at Mehboobnagar. He takes a bus to Sec-bad station, a train to M'nagar and then an auto to college. A journey of 4 hours, everyday. In a college that is barely one, with faculty that aer capable of running to greener pastures in the middle of a term, leaving the students in the lurch. For a degree and an education that I will have as good as wasted.

The thorny bushes and the barreness of the plateau soon gave way to a land carpeted by green, with coconut trees everywhere I looked.

Writing's like penance - a very introverted activity, cleansing, cathartic, embracing lucidity. Honouring images with words can be fullfilling; it can also be frustrating if the translation isn't faithful, and the contrast between the picture in one's head and the one painted by one's words is there for one's sensibilities to wince at. But I suppose it is enough in most instances that the picture in remembered.

I need to start looking... really looking before I can write the way I want to. I was naive to think that capturing images with words was an innate talent and will remain so, whether I used it or not. I didn't take a camera, my writing must preserve the memories that I want preserved. I saw an elephant tied outside a little house engulfed by trees, some meters away from the railway tracks. An elephant leashed, sitting there contentedly. I don't know where else but Kerala this is a possibility. I am taken aback by how green this place every time I come. Houses dot the undulating landscape, barely visible through the wood and foliage. A little temple, nestled in the trees atop a hillock, with the trademark red tiles lining its roof, and a wide concrete structure around its caretake banyan tree, where people seemed to be socializing. Even the slums here look cleaner than I've seen, more human, the huts more like homes.

Favourite moments:

- Talking about writing with Mr. Grumpy-turned-interested listener and interesting talker who had done journalism from University of Pune and being stared at by everyone else around.

- The Malayali caterers who delivered out lunches and dinners wearing huge smiles on their faces and speaking the generous, sing-song language of Thrissur.

- The boy who travels for hours to get to college, his stolen glances for reactions from my mom and me when something was said, his intense concentration when either one of us talked, and his smile, the most innocent, unpolluted smile I've seen on a boy his age. Of course, I still had to take the usual precautionary steps and act the whole nonchalant, aloof aprt.

- The green expanse on the way from Shornur to Thrissur, and while crossing the Ernakulam backwaters in the bus along with the marriage party. There were fishing nets too, the kind that one sees in pictures, on the edge of the sea, silhouetted against the sunset.. Little streams here and there, like fragile strings connecting me to paradise.

- Being dragged for a walk by my incorrigibly talkative and hyperactive nephew and exercising my power while letting him feel I was an equal.

- Seeing my mom take pride in seeing me grow up.

- Watching a solitary cloud kiss the forehead of a hillt hat stood apart, taller, ahead of the others. Right ahead of the train, while the others watched from behind in envy because their clouds couldn't stoop to effect beauty.

- Living without the TV, the computer or music, and keeping myself wonderfully occupied, finding the words that make me feel like the voice in my head is here again.

- Enjoying being the person I was draped in a sari for a whole day, and being all grown-up during the wedding with quite a few responsibilities to make me feel quite self-important.

- The cute, dimpled, new relative who got himself quite noticed in the right circles. I thought he was quite the charmer too. As my very observant mother noticed.

- Understanding a wedding in all its finery and elaboration. What a mammoth affair! My cousin has married into a huge family, and they don't seem half-bad.

- How I'd have to explain to every person I met that they didn't have to translate everything they said into English, I knew Malayalam rather well, thank you very much.

- Walking through a dense growth of coconut palms, nutmeg and mango trees, on a path leading to a 'pozha' or river. The river was green and still, but quite pretty. And there was a house on the other side. How lovely to live on the banks of a river with stone steps leading down to it, surrounded by woods. Showing me this place was a gift from two of the nicest people I met on the trip, two white-haired relatives of the groom, who insisted that we go, and took us under their wing. I picked up a couple of souvenirs from the ground and the trees, and ate some of them. Not the nutmegs, the little mangoes. You can't eat nutmegs the way they are found. We walked back through the thick undergrowth of ferns and long grasses that almost had me stepping on a huge millipede. At least that's what I think it was.

- Realizing that blood ties don't mean much in today's world, but if you wanted to keep them strong, be best friends with your brother or sister, you could.

- Loving the feeling that the place where my roots are is also my favourite tourist destination.