I remember going on vacations with the family and we used to pack our days, sight seeing places that are recommended; or those we think we should see. This was a vacation where we wanted to see a few places, but were equally particular that we wanted time to just relax too. Growing up or growing old? 🙂

Quite strangely and not consciously, most of the places that we opted to visit were water bodies.

The first one was called Pookode lake. We thought it meant ‘poo koodai’ which meant flower basket in Tamil. Malayalam as a language has some words that are similar to Tamil, and hence we thought that this would mean the same in Malayalam also. My imagination went on an overdrive and I actually thought it was a lake with colourful flowers all around.

The parking spot for cars is a good 1 km away and one needs to walk it up to the lake. “This is a lovely arrangement as the entrance will not be crowded with cars”, I thought. It was a pleasant weather and walking hence was a pleasure. When we reached the entrance of the lake, we saw jeeps dropping off people and cars being parked beyond that point 🙁 Happiness is certainly short lived at times :-). When we reached the ticket counter at 4.30, we were told that boating was closed for the day and the information we had was that boating is till 5.30. The consolation was being allowed to go inside and walk around, of course for a fee 🙂

When we went in and I looked at the lake, I did not feel that I have missed anything by not going boating. The water near the banks of the lake (if it could be called that) looked as though it was algae filled water. A little further ahead where people were seen boating, the water seemed relatively less messier. There is something about water that brings in calmness to me – waterfall, lake, pond, beach, sea et al.

When you are lost admiring something, a noise just jolts you.. As I was lost looking at the water, there came this screaming from a group of college going students, who had perhaps come for an excursion. There were people pedaling in their boats, who literally jumped in their seats at the sudden screaming. Having fun while on a trip with friends is understandable but at what cost and at whose price??

As we walked back the same 1 km stretch to the car, we saw many monkeys, in different ages and sizes. This species certainly is one big draw for me. Suddenly I saw this sight and I could NOT but stop to watch them; and fortunately for me, they were in that pose till I took a picture.. Look at that!!!

The next stop was Lakkidi View Point. Frankly I had no clue what this point was all about. All I thought was that this will offer a view from the top, and I was looking forward to this huge structure from which we we could look down. Little did I realise, that this was a view that one will have from the ghat road, to down below. This was another beautiful scenic spot and it was difficult to wrench myself away from here. Here again it appeared as though there were ranges one behind the other; and it also seemed that there was no beginning and no end to the ranges.. They just seemed to go on and on and on..Though there were many a tourist around, it seemed like it was just me and this spot. Looking ahead at the mountain range and the clouds passing through it, it gave the image of an animal (everytime I looked at this picture I saw a different animal) with its mouth wide open :-). The winding roads and the way they have drawn electric wires from the top to right below, is truly amazing. As I saw these wires, the question that kept running in my mind was, “How did they manage to take these wires down and connect it?” 

Nature just stuns you with the beauty it offers and the questions it raises!!

This was the final stop for us in the list of places we wanted to sight see – Banasura Sagar Dam. The second largest dam in Asia and the largest earthen dam in India. The dam is made using rocks and boulders and perhaps soil too.  The visit to this spot was a mix of two emotions.

The first one was that of a disappointment. Speed boating was the draw here at the reservoir. When we reached the ticket counter at the dam spot (at 1215 pm), there was a cardboard sheet that said that the ticket counter was closed from 12 noon to 230 pm. This was indeed a shocker, as the fact that the speed boating facility will be closed for lunch was put nowhere in this place. There was the strong feeling in me, that the tourists and their time was being taken for granted. I ranted and raved for a while, till I saw that we could actually go near the water in the reservoir.

To me, a reservoir meant a closed place with concretised walls all around. The beauty of the reservoir and the area around it, had me lost for words which was the second emotion I had – one of awe. The one question that popped up was, “There is so much in India that looks so beautiful. Why don’t we talk about it and make sure people around the world know about it?”

When I went down to the point where one could board the speed boats, one could sit in the boulders that were on the shore. I wanted to feel the water. So I had kept one foot on a small rock and one on the sand, or should I say soil? Am I thankful for this!!! The moment I kept my foot on the sand (or soil), it went whooooosh into it. That was when I knew what it perhaps could be like to have one’s feet in quick sand!! Since I had one foot on the small rock, it was a feat to delicately balance and draw the other foot out of the soil (there was a time when I thought I would fall into that mudddddy soil). I moved a few steps to an area where I tried washing the mud off my foot. Well, instead of getting cleaner, it just got muddier.

In all this melee, I suddenly saw this awesome sight and could not resist taking a picture. There is a point where the muddy water meets the blue waters or is it vice versa? Neither invades the others’ space, both stay within their boundaries and neither do they influence the other to become like them. Ah, wish we humans could be the same way!!! Wishes sometime are so idealistic, aren’t they?

Seeing and experiencing all this, just got all the frustrations of not going speed boating out of the window. Amazing what nature can do to bring in so much calmness!!

As we got on the road to drive back, we saw the gates of the dam. These gates actually contain the flow of water? What happens if the water flows so ferociously out of the dam? Will the gates be broken open? I would love to see it when the dam gates are opened to let the flow of water happen.

I remember reading about this in my geography lessons and have always wondered how they would do it? Would I be able to go to the place where this tree is grown, to see this? Guess I actually went 🙂 When I first saw the tree and the plastic cover over one small area of the tree, I thought they had covered the jackfruit to ensure that animals don’t eat it. A close look revealed that there was a bowl that they had covered with a plastic sheet. It was so uniformly done that it made me curious to get out of the car, and go near the trees to take a look. Wonder what I am talking about? Collection of latex from the rubber trees.

It was time to be back to the resort and some hours of relaxation before we packed and left back for home, the next day. This was a trip that was so different and one that will remain ‘evergreen’ (pun intended) :-). A trip that intensified the desire to travel across India and understand more about people and their culture..