WAYWARD WAYANAD

“More to travel, than to arrive……….”
(Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance)

The rusted mike in LH shrieked out loud “Final year batch meeting in the courtyard…All final years come to the courtyard”…OH no…pls not again one of those dumb meetings.I somehow manage to get out of ma blanket n get to the meeting….The batch rep n all those meeting deprived final years…n wut cud be new????it wud be again those impending archi treats???grand plans to teach the juniors one of their lessons!!…but unusually something interesting is happening ..”yeah,it’s the final year tour…!!!!”hot discussions bout one of those destinations…All those spots from USA to Iraq to Kannur are getting discussed….n finally we decide upon our desti…”Wayanad”…some of them shrugged it off but there wer those wild beings who were exhilarated hearin that n fortunately I belonged to the latter group.

When we were fixed bout the desti, it was time to get the permission from our dearest Warden sir.Grand plans were getting laid out to get the positive nod from that spirited (oh pls …!!!!!) specimen in the mechanical dept…The right ppl were selected,the right words selected to get him ok with the plan….but we dunno wut happ ,our warden was more interested in sending us away than anyone else(may be the prospect of a reduction in the number of ‘good-for nothing gals’that he has to look after….wuteva!!!!)

Now it’s the teacher who has to accompany us.Who would take up the challenge of being with 50 odd tribals for two god-damn days????????The search began for the right person.N unfortunately we realized all those lady teachers in our college were all ready with the right excuses “Pregnancy (oh pls…got no other time?????)….husband away(NO wonder….with you as wife….)daughter got board exam(they wil flunk for sure cos u din listen to the wishes of a band of young gals)!!!!!!!,n last but not least accreditation business”.But of our desire to travel(more a desire to get out of mundane LH for 2 odd days)…we decided not to give up and somehow managed to get one of those meek teachers who couldn’t frame up any of those desultory excuses before we reached her to come with us(poor being!!!!!!!!).

So we set out….unlike all the class tours this time no boys with us(therefore no prescribed code of conduct…afterall the ppl accompanyin u r not prospective lovers n u don needa create that good-gal impression…thank god!!!!)….so all Final years got ready in the most weird attires(were we goin for demo week or a tour????????even those souls who r always clad in those churidars wer dressed up in the most funky style…)…

Now its Wayanad –full throttle…
The bus rolled out of LH,we bade adieu to Panchaarakaad for the better Wayanadan Kaadu, shrieked out loud…”jai bolo lhites ki “(phhhh….when will we realize that no one is really bothered!!!) …

Then began the Dance (less of dance n more of ONATHALLU)…all those rappers were on the floor dancing away to glory….n even those intellectuals were there glued to the window seats n enjoyin the natural beauty (phew!!!!) …n all those ladies missing their boyfriends (full time clinging to the mobile phones….)….so the journey began ….no kickstarted.

After a day of rolling in that rickety bumble bee bus ,we reached ADIVARAM (oh my god….u mean the underworld or Paathalam)…now it’s the lofty Thamarasery Churam to climb(we had our own apprehensions….will our driver be able to do it?????)…
N the Churam was happenin…those dangerous creeks,the narrow U-turns,the narrow roads bordered by verdant green forests,n on one side the mighty abyss (one fall….n all is gone..i hav never remembered mom n dad more dearly in ma whole life like I did then )…it was one of those beautiful frames…clouds playing on hills,dense forests with different hues of green n occasional spotting of those red wild plants,pre-medeival rocks,those wild beings……..yeah now we have made it…our driver has done it!!!

We r in Bathery(the most populated n the slightly civilized part of Wayanad)….had a quick breakfast n no not bathes(after that long stay in LH…no we r not used to it!!!!!)..we set off to Thirunelli temple.

The 3hour ride though Tholpetty Wildlife sanctuary(the dense forest ,n occasional spotting of those wild deer,the woodhouses ,the tribals, the beehives …it was nature unadulterated….royal treat for us).But some in the crew were unhappy n were sighing “we could have gone to Banglore!!!!(well wat is there in Banglore??…Forum thronged by gals n boys asking how useless u r …no guy for 20yrs!!!!!….,the commercial street with huge pile of clothes (pls my figure doesn’t even allow me to look at it…or Lal Bagh…pls no)

So thirunelli (I remember coming here with family when one of ma maternal uncles had a nightmare where the ghost of ma great granma asked for an after death ritual at Thirunelli!!!)…. The dilapidated Krishna (frens have tried to replace him with Howard Roark…no way…he remains ma all time romantic hero!!!!) temple on top of a rocky hill,the noon sun baking ur natural foot soles,the ethereal Papanasini,the mystic air of those souls watching you,the spiritual forest rustling its own tune….true treat for a jaded soul!!!!…

Next we are off to Kurava Island….the Archipelago on the river Kabini( this river offers shelter to those alligators…grim reminder of a prospective death as Steve Irwin)…We cross the Kabini on a boat and reach the first isaland..heavily forested by all those wild trees ,the only familiar one being our good old Mangifera Indica ,and those singers of the jungle the bamboos making the groovy rustle….As we tread into the forest…we get the spectacular view of the numerous islands separated from the parent one …As Tagore says in Gitanjali “It is the pang of separation that spreads throughout the world and gives birth to shapes innumerable in the infinite sky.It is this sorrow of separation that gazes in silence all night from star to star and becomes lyric among rustling leaves in rainy darkness of July.It is this overspreading pain that deepens into loves and desires,into sufferings and joys,and that is that ever melts and flows in songs through my poet’s heart…”very true of the Bard,the small lil islands separated and caressing each other with those shallow waters,dried out leaves acting as messengers bw them,….we move from one island to another…wade through the waters (pazhani vel muruga…pls no alligators or those leeches…pls no )…..
The day’s outing gets over with Kurava.The peaceful night at our lodging with the lucky ones chatting with their puppy love partners and the not so lucky ones under the blankets!!!

Next day we are off to Edakkal caves …the Neolithic caves housing the stone age man’s paintings at an odd height of 4000ft above sea level (a lazy bug as me managed to climb it!!!),formed by an earthquake some 30,000 years ago…well grt and wut diff does that make????…but lemme tel ya..the place is just awesome ,worth the effort!!

Next in line was the Soochipaara Waterfalls,the beautiful cascade of water through those rigid waters,dense foliage,the gurgle of water making its way through pebbles…nature’s true preserve!!!!!!(and let me tell ya beforehand…the rocks are damn slippery…never try walkin on them with your slippers on…its better not to fall than tryin to veil the shame of your fall after it!!!!!!!)

So there came the end of our jaunt into one of those rare places where still nature reigns and not those ugly engineers!!!!!

The wayside watermelon vendors, the sambhaaram selling chechi,the macaques trying to snatch our low budget food,the pulimaanga,the tribal bangle stalls,the bamboo pappadam kuthis,those gnarled roots exhibited as ‘soul of Kerala’,those gawky human specimens nurtured by nature,the meen-pollichath and the kappa,…….the perfect symbols of an un-engineered life.
Wayanad is just the perfect hideaway for those non-engineers stuck with engineering.Wayanad is inspiration to remain un-engineered…and say bravely..

“Gonna ride across the river deep and wide

Ride across the river to the other side”

(Dire Straits,Ride across the river )

PS:
Well am not one of those travel writers and I was never bothered about how to get to all these
Places,not even the distance,not the means…I just floated.So better refer a travelogue.