Monsoon Magic at Nelliyampathi
Ever heard of ‘Godliness meter’? They have placed one such thing at the border where the train from Kerala crosses into Tamilnadu. Many Keralites have left for greener pastures over the last century; if the exodus was to the Far East in the beginning, it changed course to the West - especially the US of A – and then to the Middle East.
Yet, the meter showed abysmally low readings. Or so it seems. The moment I left that beautiful place of my birth, the meter reading leaped like long jumper Anju Bobby George and the state government went ahead and declared it ‘God’s Own Country’. Probably that explains why I landed up in the ‘livestock-belt’ (no offence, I’m a ‘Dil/Dilliwala now) instead of New York or Dubai.
Tourism was centered around Kovalam, Thekkady and Cochin then. Huge boats propelled using long bamboo poles, carried loads of paddy, coconut and other products. Kumarakom was still a small hamlet where the attraction was a bunglow from the Raj era with thatched roof (the original ‘punkha’ intact) overlooking a beautiful water-lily pond in front and the backwaters just beyond….. how many times did my friend and I – in our late teens - walk those lonely paths alongside the vast expanse of water, looking for water birds and enjoying the dark green little jungle on the other side…
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