Ajith Nair

A weekend is too short or long depending on whether you’re in office or not. A fortnight back, wife n I decided on a quick exile to the hilly confines of Yercaud (220 km from Bangalore). Hopes of simple living, high thinking led us to the TTDC resort (Tamilnadu Resort), more like last resort in retrospect. Our room supposedly a super deluxe cottage had heritage bathrooms and lots of fauna to boot. The ‘heritage bathroom’, we discovered, was heritage because it hadn’t been cleaned since Rajaraja Chola rode that way many a century ago. It was dimly lit; almost as if it wanted to go unnoticed, in shame. Hot water was confined to within the large sized geyser and didn’t quite manage to find its way out of the tap. Cold water was full of self doubt and made sporadic appearances, making bathing a dry and wet affair. The room had flowery curtains which made you wonder if someone in the vicinity had been relieved of their worn out clothes. Fauna included snails, spiders, grasshoppers and some...

Kerala never fails to enchant, same case this time. This trip was special, and didn’t disappoint. A honeymoon in Kerala conjures up exciting images for most. Fed by scenes of coconut trees, boat races, backwaters, kathakali and karimeen, Incredible India is initiated in these popular iridescent images. For me, this trip was a homecoming of sorts. Born a Malayali, and a true one at heart, it was time to shed the Mumbaikar sheen and smell the land. We did four destinations and each sparkled in its own glory, juxtaposing different facets of the same Gods creation to exhibit different flavours of God’s own country. We saw a silent backwater holding its own against a roaring sea front at Poovar. We saw nature at peace with itself, disturbed only by humans at Kumarakom. We were closest to the heavens in Munnar, sometimes within touching distance. And at Cherai, we signed off an idyllic end to a trip of alifetime. As we touched down in Mumbai, a rather bumpy one in the state airline, it was a...