God’s Own Country

Kerala – one of the most beautiful states in India. This has always been one of my favorite states in India.

Even before the advent of Swacch Bharat, the Keralite had and still has the highest level of personal hygiene in this country and this state had the cleanest public facilities, my litmus test of a civilization, in general TN and (South) Karnataka too have some decent facilities but Kerala is tops.

Women in Kerala have had a 100% literacy when the advanced civilizations in the north were still debating over allowing women out of the purdah/burqah. Though the burqah is definitely back in fashion in Kerala.

Kerala is beautiful, all of it, whether it is the beaches the back waters or the hills.

Keralites are a different breed, fiercely united, bound together by the love of language and the state. Kerala has always been a gracious host to all, it has been home to one of the oldest sect of Christianity – Syrian Christians while the Roman Empire was still throwing the Christians to the lions – home to the Jews, representative of the only nation (India) in the world that has not discriminated against or persecuted the Jews. While they are very conscious of their right to personal freedom, they have the privilege of having been the first Indian state to bring the Communist party to power. In a continuing paradox, they have either voted for the retrograde communists or the dynastic congress.

Adding other dimensions to the kaleidiscope that Kerala is, Kerala is the birthplace of  Shri Shankracharya and the origin of the resurgence of Hinduism, the “Vatican” of the Indian Marxists, it is also allegedly the ground of maximum recruitment for the ISIS, and while it produces maximum priests and nuns for the Catholic Church in India, it has also given the nation an army of nurses and teachers.

Though Ayurvedic Medicine and treatment, are known and practised all over India, it is Kerala that has taken this ancient science to a different level and converted it into a contemporary medical discipline and taken this beyond the borders of the state and nation.

Fiercely argumentative, the Keralite is the nation’s “Devils Advocate”, don’t be too surprised if you find a Keralite arguing on either side of a topic on different days. That is what makes a Keralite adorable, he is not arguing to prove you wrong, he is just trying to prove himself right.

We slunk into Munnar, in the middle of the night to escape what we thought were the after-effects of the demise of Shri Karunanidhi. We were still unaware of the havoc that the rain Gods were wreaking all over the state and having landed at Club Mahindra a day ahead with no reservation, we would have been up **** creek without a paddle if we could not find accommodation for the night.

The staff Club Mahindra were magnificient as usual, even at that time, Santosh at the reception was friendly courteous and somehow managed to squeeze us in.

We had driven through the night, in TN good roads but tense atmosphere, later in Kerala relatively tension-free but bad roads and off the highway terribly bad roads.

We woke up late after a good night’s sleep, and woke to a fabulous sight. a scenic view of the valley, with tea gardens (Tata Tea) starting at the edge of the CM property and the lake at the bottom of the valley.

The roads to Munnar town were blocked during the day for repairs due to the incessant rain and landslides. We had an inkling of things to come, as CM advised us not take any trips or tours due to the condition of the roads.

We took this opportunity, to take a break enjoy the scenery, enjoy the facilities at the resort including practising putting (golf).

Surprising that we found most of the staff to be non-Keralites, they were mainly from Bihar and Orissa, the explanation “No Keralite works in Kerala, we work outside Kerala”.

We bid goodbye to Munnar on 11th August, driving through torrential rains and miserable roads untill we crossed into TN, where we only had to contend with the rains till we came down the hills.

Our biggest regret, we missed visiting the valley where the Kurunji Flowers (purple colored flowers) bloom once every 12 years in the month of August, this was the year, now we have to return in 2030 to witness the miracle of seeing a “purple valley”.

The drive down from Club Mahindra, was the most scenic drive of the trip, we did run across clusters of purple colored flowers, and as for the purple colored valley, we let our imagination run riot. Munnar is definitely a must visit again spot.