Munnar...Re-birth,desi-goats and some firangi(foreign) cows!!!

The title is not part of a jumbled-up list,no no no..thats what my 9th std. trip was, an lots more..My friend Sundeep went trekking and his account stirred up memories of this one...Munnar is a hill-station in the Western Ghats,falling in Kerala..Known for its wild beauty and lush tea-plantations,it is a must-see in the tourist map of Kerala..

The trip was a 2 or 3 day one..i dont remember..We set off from school in high spirits and it was singing and dancing in the bus right from the start...its fun dancing in a bus..the bus' swinging this way and that and very little space..50 odd guys dancing-or trying to dance, and the bus driver's heroics make it even more exciting...the lads were spirited and we sang our voices hoarse...i wonder which made more noise-the bus's air-horn or our singing?anyway we stopped for breakfast which we found had been meticulously packed by our mess-chettans(brothers)...it was bread and some gram curry..but for 70 hungry guys..twas more than enough..back on the bus we continued with our singing and our mimickry..thats right-we imitated every one of our teachers and brought up hilarious accounts ..and all of this loud and clear on a microphone..whoever thought of keeping a mike in that bus was brilliant..but wait-i havent introduced everyone in the 2 buses..my mistake..there were 2 teachers accompanying us-Mr.TM(art) and Mr.P(geography).'twud be a good idea to describe these 2 guys as they couldnt be farther apart in profile as the closer they sat in adjacent seats...TM was a young,jovial guy who was relatively new to the school..he had a penchant for art and he often had a dreamy look to him..and his class resembled that of Harry-Potter's when the pixies had finished with it in 1st year..Mr.P on the other hand was relatively old but with a young heart it seemed(someone told me he used to be a hockey player and it showed),had an everliving love-story with geography..true,I have never met a more spirited geography teacher..and he had the wisdom of age wrapped into the many wrinkles on his fore-head..why am i describing these gentlemen in detail?you will see..so it was with the old and the new and our adoloscent hearts that we headed to munnar..

We had dinner at Basil's place where his mom (bless her!) had prepared chapatti and chicken curry for all of us..so it was that in the dead of the night we reached munnar and our lodgings at Bethany Retreat Centre..there followed an exciting game with the mattresses which were provided, which was brought to a halt with a very irate fellow tourist and the lodge-keepers..I woke up very early the next morning to try my luck at the only 2 bathrooms in the dorm..and found that i wasnt the only one who thought so..the guys who came out gave repeated warnings that the water was very cold..i decided to bath anyway..and i poured the first mug of water and two or three in quick succession to beat the cold..twas only then that i stopped to feel the cold..I swear I couldnt feel many parts of my body!!The WATER WAS FREEZING COLD!!...I WONDERED WHY IT WASNT ALREADY ICE..many vital parts of my body already were..i worried for my future generation and for myself..it was the only time apart from that one time again in ooty that i had a 'near-numb bath' as i call it..After breakfast,we found out that there were 3 spots to see-the Eravikulam National Park,The Tata Tea-Estate and the Swiss Diary Farm...

We headed to Eravikulam home to the Nilgiri Tahr,which is a kind of mountain-goat,very nimble and it can climb up some of the steep rocky faces in the Western Ghats..we had to walk up the hill which is part of the park to see the goat..about halfway up was a waterfall and the road passes over a bridge with the water continuing down thr rocky slope undreneath,down below to the town of munnar....the sight is beautiful as you can stand on the bridge  and watch the water as it falls down the slope infront of you and pass below..I surfed and found a pic from a blog which am quite sure is the spot..

As we were watching one among us who was from a hilly region decided that he wanted to climb up the slopes.Before anyone had any time to react he was clambering up..then it was monkey-syndrome and everyone was climbing..all this while Mr.P full of wisdom was unaware of the situation and by the time he noticed the commotion,it was too late..on the other hand TM lover of art and full of youth didnt see anything dangerous in our exhuberance...I could see all the wisdom pouring out of  Mr.P's wrinkles and him asking us to get down but to no avail..TM meanwhile was still drinking in the scenery..I dont wish to blame either one of them in the slightest for what happened;it all happened so fast..Meanwhile I having seen the boys in action on the slippery slope had hung back..but heck who misses out on a chance to create history..these guys were probably going to conquer the water-fall and i was not one to miss out on the action..So I, taking leave of my good senses, started climbing up the rocks..It was only then i realised, that the rocks were wet and slippery to the nth degree..years of water flowing over them and the moss on them had left very few and dangerous foot-holds..why so dangerous?'cos the water flows under the bridge and down the rocky face to the town of munnar way,way below...and we were all climbing up in such a manner that we had to catch each other to keep ourselves from slipping very often..and one imbalance could have sent not only me but several others around me all the way down with not a thing to hold on to..the damn bridge also didnt have a centre pillar..it was small anyway..by now a guide had arrived on the scene and was shouting his lungs out at us.."its damn dangerous what you are doing and also this is the water which the wholle town drinks!!"We had conquered the waterfall all of us and hurrahed in unison on our 'achievement'.All this while I had felt my B.P grow as i kept moving my arms to maintain my balance..the veins on Mr.P's temple had grown to bursting point and he was asking us repeatedly to get down..TM too had woken up from his siesta and he was gesturing wildly to us..I started praying,pleading to God to save me..and my mind made a collective request to all the saints I knew..I looked down and saw the whole town beneath and imagined the after-life..We started the descent ..more horror..i discovered that Newton's Gravitational force which till now had helped me to stay on Mother Earth was now doing its max to take me away from her..I still remember the terror in my mind with every step that i took and the near-slips and the slips,how i hung on to anything in reach-human or rock..and the frequency of my prayers?Iam just happy that God's network doesnt get jammed like the insti's site when results are announced or online tatkal booking at 8am..Let me repeat-'its damn harder to climb down a slippery slope than climbing up'.When i got back down I felt God had given me a second life..in continuation with the first one that is...I felt like Gautham Budhha and Mahavira on enlightment day minus the extra knowledge..so happy to be still there..that was REBIRTH...Meanwhile Mr.P and TM looked highly relieved that they could hang a photo of us all at graduation day and not one with a garland on it when they got back home..

am sorry that this has to be such a long post,but this story is best told in one sitting..we reached the top of the hillock and the people there told us that we had just missed the goats by about 10 min..and that they had moved onto the other face of the neighbouring hillock...disappointment crept into the ranks..but the very same guy who was the villian in the waterfall episode was not to be undone by this news..apparently crashing through thick bushes and creepers and what-not was second nature to him..so off he went and we followed for all of us knew that it was the only way we could see this elusive creature..this wonder of wonders which climbs up steep rocky faces with no ropes..i wondered what could possibly go wrong here,after all there werent any slippery rocks here..so off i went ..and lo an behold there lay a group of goats on the neighbouring slope..beautiful,sturdy creatures they were..i tell you the way we greeted those goats people would have thought celebs were parajumping on the opposite slope..we were so glad we could see them after the long trek up the hill..we got bacck and that was when the trouble began..almost all of us had leeches sucking in our shoes,pants..and there ensued a mini-panic trying to get them off...and few of us yours truly were anxious 'cos we couldnt find any on our person..so it is not enough that you are not bitten by leeches but now we had to be absolutely sure they werent hiding and sucking our blood!!but all in all if it was not for that jungli amidst us i wouldnt have experienced rebirth,nor seen the GOATS..guess we hav to thank you Rupesh and gang from wayanad..

Now a final word-even though munnar is in India,the weather is from U.K..more often than not its wet and cold..with a perennial drizzle..so it was that by the time we reached the Swiss Farm at Matupetty(called so because the cows and not the people there, are from Switzerland),we were wet from the rain..and rushed indoors to the cow-shed..twas all the same except the FIRANGI COWS were fatter than our normal Indian ones and apparently gave more milk too..there is a system in place to clean the cow-sheds and the cows and to feed them...but cmon they are cows and who can blame them if they feel like peeing all the time,with the weather urging them on?so it was that the place reeked and we were happy to rush through the place and i noted that they had given the cows their original firangi names and kind of nice names too..

We enjoyed the bus-ride on our way back to school.And we went our seperate ways a lot later,but the memories of that trip and other incidents in my school-life will remain with me forever...