Sahithya

There are some good memories which you know will stay with you for a lifetime even if they are for a few moments or a couple of days and the hostel gang’s trip to kerala is definitely one of them.

After the monotonous routine of poring over textbooks, late nights and pathetic hostel food during the vtu exams, the trip came as a relief to us and we were all set to lose it completely!

After the bus reached kottayam, we had breakfast in a restaurant known for its masala dosas. We tucked in and got into the cars arranged to take us to peermade.Although tired from the previous night’s journey we couldn’t help but stare out of the window at the picturesque view on the way to tam’s house.Out came all the cams and within no time we were clicking away to glory asking the driver to stop whenever we wished.We reached tam’s house and after settling down and over eating on a sumptuous meal we left for Periyar tiger reserve which was a two hour drive from there accompanied by tam’s parents.

As we entered the reserve and drove through the wilderness , tam spotted the leaves which leave an imprint when pressed against your skin and we got down to get ourselves some natural tattoos We drove further and shifted to a jeep which was better suited for a drive through the woods  and finally reached our destination – a house set right in the middle of the forest with a waterfall flowing  beside it, with an atmosphere so serene , that all we could hear were the crickets, the calls of different birds and the sound of water gushing through the rocks.

After unpacking and marveling the wooden flooring and the beautiful wooden elephant carvings on the walls of our rooms, we had tea with ginger biscuits and jam tarts ( my fav!) by the waterfall side and enjoyed the misty view of the tall trees around us.

Tam’s mom suggested we take a small trek in the woods before the night set in, so we put on our jackets and jogging shoes and armed with salt to protect us from the leaches , we started on our evening walk , all set to enjoy the pleasant breeze and the smell of forest air. Little did we anticipate the chaos which ensued.Leaches.There were millions of tiny leeches all over the place and as we briskly walked on the grass, they stuck on to our shoes and swiftly climbed on to our pants within seconds.As one person paused to put some salt over it and flick it off,  someone else would scream out and the packet of salt was passed there. Except the few who were unaffected by the leech and calmly walked ahead, the rest of us , especially me being the one paranoid about all sorts of insects and worms, ran as fast as we could to avoid the leeches. The whole walk turned out to be hilarious as me and gayatri ( who made the situation even funnier when she yelled sai baba as she sprinted) ran frantically into a trail which led to nowhere and had to run back to take the correct path! The guide was completely taken aback , which was expected coz the gang had split into various groups, some walking , some almost jogging, others running wildly ,but mostly coz he had probably never seen girls acting this wild before. J

Panting and totally drained out , we came back to our place , a campfire welcoming us. Some snacks and juice was passed around and after freshening up and relaxing for a while, we left for a night safari on the jeep. Although the ride was a little bumpy and it was pitch dark outside , we had a nice time shining our torches all around and spotting footprints of animals, backs of deer moving away as we came near them and also the red eyes of wild bison. We returned to a light homely dinner and soon retired to our rooms and jumped into our beds after the long day we had.

Early next morning, the IS crowd (sangeeta,shruthi,tam,gayatri,upasna and myself) woke up eagerly to explore the forests in daylight. Before the sun could rise, we climbed into the jeep and the driver took us on another safari. That is one drive I will never forget in my life! We took turns to stand and stick our heads out of the jeep and to our excitement spotted some flying squirrels,samba deer,elephants and bison! The slight drizzle on my face and the wind blowing as the jeep sped past lush greenery while I inhaled the fresh unpolluted air – definitely one of the best experiences of my life.

Completely rejuvenated, we returned to get ready for the drive back to tam’s place. After playing with the owner’s friendly Alsatian  and taking pics with the tiny adorable turtle which we discovered, we packed our bags and left for kuttikanam. On our way we stopped at “parindapara” which we christened “ Rabindranath tagore point” as one of the peaks had a striking resemblance to his face.The view was simply breathtaking and I don’t blame upasna for declaring dramatically over the phone to her mom – “Mama, I am on top of the world”!!!

Back in tam’s place, we played for a while with tam’s dogs -  tim ,the golden Labrador and rudy , the jealous Alsatian, played monopoly to kill time, watched the movie bucket list just to stay awake and celebrate dribbly’s birthday and as midnight struck, we groggily watched as dribbly cut the home made chocolate birthday cake tam’s mom had baked for her.

The next morning, after a yummy breakfast of fresh sugar coated doughnuts made by thengaccha( tam’s cook), we drove to the huge waterfall downhill and climbed our way up the slippery rocks precariously. We were the only souls in the entire place and we utilized that benefit to the maximum, singing, continuously blocking and unblocking the water.( this can only be understood by the crazy fools who invented the game..when will we ever grow up?!)

Lunch was followed by kayaking in the dam which was a little strenuous but great fun!We walked back home and stopped to visit the treehouse en-route which was built by some local tribals.

After spending most of the day outdoors, we relaxed at home for the rest of the day and had dinner at Misty mountain.

Our last day in kerala dawned bright and clear and as we dint want to waste a single moment, we went for a early morning walk through tea estates, picking leaves and sitting by the small natural lake we chanced upon.

We left soon after breakfast( hot delicious appams ),to catch our train to Bangalore which was as eventful as the rest of our trip, since we dint have some identity proof for our tickets and had a heated ( read amusing) discussion with the tt.

The longest trip taken by the hostel gang so far – the trip to kerala – is one of the most memorable trips I have ever made. Every single moment including the numerous funny incidents which might have seemed insignificant in an account like this (gaya sleeping through “free willy” and asking her to wake us after 5 mins, me refusing to enter the bathroom housing the big mean looking bat which dribbly claims stared back at her <rolling eyes>, the photo session with us serenading around in golf and sun hats!)  will be cherished by each one of us for a long time to  come.