Kodaikanal - The Prince of Hills

There were four of us, myself, Renju, John and his wife Raji. We started on the morning of the 8th of November and reached Kodai around two in the afternoon, close to 440 km. Everybody had been to Kodai at least once before in their school/college days.

There are many resorts in Kodai today and only a few of them can be booked on the web through secure means. The resorts look very beautiful on their web sites, but in reality they can be quite small.We had booked two cottages and finally they turned out to be two rooms on one side of the main building! But the place looked good.

Crowds at Kodai have grown. The charm of renting a cycle to go around the lake is extremely reduced nowadays due to the heavy traffic around the lake. We took a walk around the lake and it turned out to be a looong one. The shape of the lake is like an amoeba (they say it looks like the India map) with small limbs protruding in all directions that a person looking at it from the banks never gets to see it in complete. So you are easily fooled to make the decision of trying to take a walk around the lake. In our case, this walk set the tone for the entire trip and we kept on walking for the rest of the trip.

There are more things you can do in Kodai other than the traditional boating and visiting various parks. We went for a trek through the hills on the next day morning. Our guide, Periyasami, had an adventurous streak in him and was also a keen photographer. Many of the spots we went to and some of the beautiful pictures we took were all due to him. The trek, or rather the walk, was vigorous enough that we decided to close the shop for the rest of the day after we reached the hotel in the evening.

On the final day, after checkout, we took Periyasami to show us the highlights of Kodai in half a day's time. He planned and executed that admirably. As we drove down from Kodai, there were certain things we had missed. One was boating in the lake, we never reached the place before 4 in the evening. Second was the Coaker's walk, we were staying right next to it and after the second day no one wanted to take another walk! But in spite of all that, we did enjoy what we were doing and that's what we went to Kodai for.

Before I sign off, here are some pointers to people visiting Kodai.

• Irrespective of how they look on the web, most of the resorts are small affairs and charge you much more than the hotels. So be careful while selecting a place to stay.
  
• Think twice before deciding to take a walk or a cycle around the lake, specifically if you have someone in your group who is not very keen in walking.
• Its probably not a very good idea to send kids alone on cycles around the lake. There are many huge SUVs racing the horses all around the lake.
• Take a guide. That does not add much to the expense, but it can really enhance the experience.
• Eat lots of corn, mangoes, chilli bajjis and bread omlettes while you walk around. Also, have some masala tea once in a while. They are good for you.
• Finally, if you are driving, ensure that you have a good torch in your car with good batteries. We spent two hours in the middle of the night trying to change a flat tyre using the mobile phone's display light. Yes, I know, everyone other than myself carries a torch. So, this pointer is to myself.
  

Ammoomma

When Ammoomma (my grand mother) passed away, it was not a surprise to anyone. For the last three months, her body was gradually shutting down various systems and operations. And on the evening of the 5th of June, 2007, it came to a complete halt. She passed away. For us, her grand children, an era ended.

When she was born in 1910, her uncle* was the king. She lived in a society that was a curious mix of conservatism and modern thinking. She played tennis and cards as a child and grew up to be a modern and practical person as someone who was born in that period can be expected to become. Even though born a princess, a period that saw two world wars ensured that many a time, she had to struggle to make ends meet. In spite of all that, it is amazing that she never took money as something she needs to amass. She loved to distribute the money she had, and always wanted more because she could distribute more! A lot many people will miss her because her demise would now stop one channel of their income.

When she was born, her family ruled a country, even though small. Later on, that country became part of the Indian union and she became part of the common masses. She lived through a period that saw radical changes and adapted pretty well to the changing times. There was even an inversion in the social order, but she was never worried about it. She lived by her own rules and was never bothered about how her surroundings changed. She lived in her own world and was content.

I am not able to place which one is my earliest remembrance of her. As a grandson. I enjoyed many special privileges from her, which probably her sons and daughters never got. I was one of her regular travel companions and she took me to many places along with her. We used to travel together in train to chechiyamma's (her eldest daughter) place in Trivandrum when I was too small and she was too old to understand the ways of this changing world. I have caused her innumerable troubles in those journeys, but she continued to take me. She remembered my likes and dislikes and stored things for me. She must have done that for every one of her grand children. She was a perfect grand mother, remembering what we liked and never interfering in what we did.

She was a very organized person in her own ways and lived to a packed schedule till almost four months before her death. She planned for every single hour of the period that she used to be up and about. By nineties, her eyes and ears had failed her, but she continued on and we believed that she would go on past hundred. So it was really unexpected when she became bed-ridden two months back. Her brain started playing tricks with her and gradually she lost her will to live. She moved on.

Even though she has passed away, her undying spirit will continue to be a motivation for her grand children. She was partly responsible for bringing us into this world. She is a part of each one of her grand children and would continue to live through us.

*In 1910, Rajarshi also known as the abdicated highness, was the king of Kochi. Rajarshi was not uncle to ammoomma in a direct sense. The term uncle has been used here only to convey a general relation. Ammoomma probably called Pareekshit Thampuran by the title ammaman even though he was also not her maternal uncle in the direct sense.

KP

For a Malayali, K.P is not Kevin Pietersen, but their very own Kerala Police. The force is currently celebrating their "50 years with the people". Polite but Firm is the motto of this force. There is no question on the firmness, as many have found out from their lathies. But politeness is very much debatable. I am sure that the guy who thought up this inspiring motto must have been a visionary - it must have been his vision of the Kerala Police in 2050.

Every Malayali must have had their own share of experiences with the force. In this special year, let me narrate my experiences with the Kerala Police. I am a middle class Malayali and has no claims to any special treatment by the Police. So it struck me that my experiences with the force would mirror how an average Malayali sees the Police.

My first memories of the Police are centered around the trouser-clad constables who used to be seen around the temple of my home town, Tripunithura, especially during the festival season. As a child, I was scared of the Police. I think every child in the state probably still is. I remember an incident from my childhood, wherein for some reason, my cousin Nandini chechi and I threw balls of cow dung at Raman Nair, a person who used to work for us. Raman Nair told us that he is going to complain to the Police and will have us arrested. As he went outside, we followed him and saw that smart man talk to a constable who was having tea in a shop near the temple. I remember running back home to my father and admitting the sin committed. Even though the Police did not turn up, that incident stopped my attacks on Raman Nair. In short, as a child my impression about the Police was that they would arrest anybody who wrongs others. This was a notion that changed as I grew up.

I did not have anything to do with the Police throughout my early childhood. But later, as I started going around by myself, I started running into the force once in a while. I remember the Police man who stopped me as I was returning from a second show at night. I was treated to a good amount of foul language before I could find the cinema ticket to prove that I was telling the truth. This was my introduction to the official Police language. My introduction to the Police lathi was equally, if not more, unpleasant. I was standing in a queue in front of a cinema ticket counter on a day of huge rush. A sudden unexpected push propelled me out of the queue. I was trying to get back into my rightful place in the queue when a Police man came running and hit me with his lathi. The guy thought I was trying to get into the queue illegally. Who would try to argue with a Police man when he is wielding the lathi, and so I had to go back home without watching the movie.

The only time that I have been to a Police station is on a traffic offense. I was caught breaking a one way rule in the city of Kochi. I was working in Bangalore at that time. I was used to the Bangalore Traffic Police who used to settle all traffic offenses for Rs.100. But this Police Flying Squad that caught me refused to acknowledge my hints at a bribe and sent me to the Police Station to pay a fine. Maybe it was a month end and the Police wanted to meet their target of traffic offenses, but still I cherish this incident as a time when the Kerala Police stuck to their duty.

I have had several other occasions to deal with the Kerala Police after I decided to return to my home state. Another incident that I will always remember is when I was sitting on the steps of the Museum building in Trivandrum with Renju, my dear wife, but a little before our marriage. We were watching some photographs and two people came to us and told that we have to leave the place where we were sitting. I, feeling very protective, asked him why and was told that he was a Police man in mufti (disguise) and I was supposed to obey him. I asked him for an ID proving that he was a Police man and he got enraged. It ended in him taking us to another guy who showed me an ID stating that he was a Sub Inspector. They threatened us that we will not be able to do anything if we were detained in the Police station for the night. I was also told never to ask a Police man for his identity card!

Every Malayali who drives a vehicle is familiar with the infamous Police escort to the VIPs. The Police jeep that goes at ultra high speed in front of the VIP convoys, blaring its horn and shouting at people to get off the road. We are also familiar with the Highway Police who goes at a speed of 40 km/hour or less on crowded highways creating a large queue of vehicles behind them. What a contrast! That is Kerala Police for you.

On the occasion of the anniversary, the print media wrote a lot about the Police. Some said they should be trained on proper language (we thought they would have learned that in school!). Some said the lock-up beatings need to be stopped. Still others said the high speed convoys ought to be abolished. In fifty years, the Police have grown to be the pet hate of the media. At least, everybody agrees that there is a need for change.

The Police in India was created by the British to control and oppress the native Indians. Subconsciously, all the Police forces in India still have that in their blood. Changing a mere logo does not really change the mindset of a force burdened by the legacy of its history. On the year of the 50th anniversary of the force, we need to introspect and see where the force is going. We are a free democratic country on the threshold of huge development and we need to have a Police that provides public service as opposed to intimidation. We need a Police force that is professional, accountable and has the right weapons as well as the mandate to use them. We need a Police whom the people trust, and not fear.

There is a famous quote - "You cannot teach an old dog, new tricks". So the solution could be to create a new force with a goal suited to present and slowly phase out the current system that has outlived its time. Maybe, I am being too paranoid, but it's time we started debating on what sort of Police force will protect our kids when their time comes.

Madayi - A Travelogue

Madayi is a small village in northern Malabar which has a very long and illustrious history. It has seen a lot - kings and aggressors, wars fought over its soil, arrival of other religions, evolution of art forms and finally the newest order called democracy. This place was used by the Kolathiri kings as their base for some period of time in the first century AD. The Madayi kavu (temple) and the Vadukunda temple are relics from those days. I am not a historian to put a date on the construction of these structures, but am quite sure that they would have gone through a series of destructions and renovations till date. Madayi is also famous for a 12th century mosque built by Malik Ibn Dinar, a preacher who came down from Arabia. The place bore the brunt of the attack by Tipu Sultan in the 18th century, and still has the remains of a fort built during that time. This area also has a coast line that forms a natural harbor; and the INS Zamorin Indian Naval Academy is coming up here.

So much about the place and its history, my interest in this place was because of the fact that the deity of Madayi kavu is the "para devatha" of Renju's family. We were supposed to go to the temple right after our marriage, but because of various reasons this never happened. Finally we decided to make the trip exactly two years after our marriage and on the Friday 2nd Feb, 2007 that we started on the trip. We took the Mangalore express out of Trivandrum and our destination was Payangadi, a town about 30 km north of Kannur.

We reached Payangadi early next morning and our host Balettan was present in the station to receive us. He took us to his house where we had a nice time with great food, thanks to Devi chechi. The morning was spent in small talk with the Valiachan and Balettan regarding the political and historical background of Kannur. Valiachan, a person who migrated to north Malabar from central Kerala, was of the opinion that the people in north Malabar were very simple and truthful folks compared to their southern counterparts. In spite of all that, this part of Malabar has been known for extreme violence between warring sects, now in the form of political parties. Killings are routine and as Valiachan put it - "The value of a man is only as much as that of a fowl here".

In the evening, we started on our temple visit spree in Madhavan chettan's Bajaj auto. We had decided to visit some more adjoining temples in addition to our main destination, the Madayi kavu. The first place we went to was Sree Raghavapuram Rama temple. Right in front of the temple is a superbly maintained temple tank, a beautiful sight. Even though the presiding deity of the temple is Ram, it is much more famous for his side-kick, Hanuman. People come here to pray to Hanuman, and it seems that Ram is quite okay with conceding the lead role to his ever loyal associate this once.

The next stop was the famous Vadukunda Siva temple on top of the Madayi para. This is an old structure and is currently under renovation. There is a beautiful lake nearby. Mythology has it that the Devi, after killing the demon Darikan, took a dip in this lake. It is said that this lake, situated on the top of a hill, never dries; even in the hottest summer. The proposed Ezhimala Naval Academy is close to this spot.

We moved on from here to our primary destination, the Madayi kavu. The reigning deity here is Durga, that too in her fiercest mood. She is present in the state she was after killing Darikan. The temple has a lot of peculiarities which make it stand out. One of the main offerings here is known as the aka pooja. The usual offering used for this is cooked meat. So unless you mention that you want to do a without pooja, you will get a prasadam of cooked chicken. And you (if you are a strict vegetarian) end up in a state described by the poet as - Nalpumaanude prasaadamallayo, thuppuvaanaruthirakkuvaan pani (This is an offering made to the lord. I can neither spit nor swallow!). All the pooja's of the temple are done by a different sect of people, who do not belong to the traditional Brahmin community as is standard in all other temples across the state.

The temple was not crowded and there was this big guy who was conducting a guided tour inside the temple. He was instructing people which way to go and what to do at each place. This was a refreshing change from the typical Kerala temples where you are always told to move fast along the line. With all these guys and the big drums beating in the background the temple takes on a horrifying atmosphere at night that is in tune with the mood of the reigning deity.

On the way back, we visited another temple - the Ramapuram Vishnu temple. It is amazing how many old temples are located nearby in this small village. The trip was a very satisfying not only because of the number of temples we visited, but also because of the past associated with those places. We were walking along the roads once used by the Kolathiri kings and the rocks on which we had stood had seen battles between the Samoothiri (Zamorin) and the Kolathiri armies.

We started early next morning back to Trivandrum on Parasuram Express with a set of iddlies packed for us for the road by our hosts. We had a whole day in the train before we reached home, but the memories as well as the iddlies lasted us till we reached home.

The Red Dragon

When my manager asked me if I were interested in going to Beijing for a meeting, I did not have to think twice before saying yes. I have been fascinated by China and India's relations with that country. Having read a lot about the "Hindi-Cheeni Bhai Bhai" era and the infamous war between the two countries, I have been curious about China and its people. My interest in political China was first aroused by the Tiananmen Square episode, which I remember reading about in my school days. Then came the days of great economic progress in China and I was amazed and even jealous at how they could manage all that with such a huge population. In short, I began to look forward to the trip.

I started from Trivandrum on 23rd of January on board the Silk Air flight to Singapore. I had bothered to check the weather in Beijing only the day before the trip and had been amazed to find that the highest temperature in Beijing during the day was 2 degrees Celsius. So I had decided to take along my big jacket, but because it was too heavy to carry and Trivandrum being too hot for me to wear it, I decided to check it in. This was a decision that I would lament the moment I landed in Beijing. The aircraft could not get an aerobridge in a very busy Beijing airport and we were forced to stand on the tarmac waiting for a bus to arrive to carry us to the arrival lounge. The temperature was just one degree above the freezing point.

Our first contact with the local Chinese made us aware how difficult communication was going to be. Conversation with the taxi driver was very difficult and we hoped that he was taking us to the correct hotel. The airport express highway on which we were traveling looked like any other expressway in a western country. The trees bordering the highway has shed their leaves in order to battle the bitter cold they were in.

There were all kinds of cars on the roads; American, Japanese, European. The row of shops along the side of the road contained all the familiar international brand names. There were no signs of communism on the roads; no flags, no posters. The city is certainly gearing up for the upcoming Olympics. It surprised me that there were almost no motorbikes on the road, so peculiar when you consider a country so populous. There were many bicycles, but they were obediently plying through the sides of the roads specifically marked for them. There were pedestrian over bridges every half a kilometer or so on the highways. And everybody seemed to be following the rules. The Chinese were obviously a very disciplined people compared to Indians.

On both days following our arrival in Beijing, the meetings with our clients went well. They could read and write English, but had trouble understanding our accent and in talking in English. There was only Chinese tea available during the breaks and this was a milk-less drink that contained herbs and looked more like water than tea to us Indians. During the lunch time, we were taken to their dining hall from where everybody in the building seemed to be taking food, whatever be his/her designation. It was a buffet with chicken, beef, pork and veg dishes. There were noodles and plain white rice. Chop sticks were placed by the side of these dishes; there was no spoon and fork available. The meal was a tough exercise since we had to battle with the food using the chop sticks. But it was good food and I even liked it on the second day in spite of the labor in eating it.

In Beijing, they take their dinner early and our hosts took us out to dinner on the first night at 5:30. We were taken to a Chinese restaurant and this time we got spoon and fork to eat with. The food served included many veg and non-veg dishes and some of these were really hot even to us Indians. The main course was fish served in a big bowl immersed in some plain liquid complete with its head and its eyes staring at us.
A feature of Beijing are the high chilling winds. These winds originate from Mangolia up north and sweep right across Beijing. It is said that the one of the reasons for building the great wall was to act as protection from these winds. The wall is close to 3 hours drive from Beijing and it is said to be very very cold out there during this season. We neither had the time nor will to attempt such a trip. Our guide dissuaded us from even going and walking in the Tiananmen Square because of these chilling winds. Most of the interesting places in Beijing like the Forbidden City where the film "The Last Emperor" was shot were closed by 5:00 in the evening. It was a disappointment that we did not have a spare day in Beijing to go and visit these places.

On my second night in Beijing, my class mate and friend Rajeev came to visit us in the Hotel. He has been in Beijing for close to 5 months. Rajeev goes around with a book in which his home and office addresses are written in Chinese and English. He goes around the city showing these pages to Taxi drivers. He gave us a lot of information on Beijing and the Chinese countryside which he visits once in a while on business. He said that the Chinese countryside was similar to the its Indian counterpart with its poor inhabitants and roads filled with potholes. But after seeing Beijing, it was very difficult to believe. We went for a walk in the cold night visiting local stores and buying some stuff. It was great to find someone familiar in a completely unfamiliar surroundings.

We said bye to Beijing early on the 27th morning. Everyone was eager to get back home after a tiring short trip. If there is a next time, I hope it would be during summer when I can dare to go out and see a couple of more places.