Feasting your eyes on His creation
By Gopal Bhatia

HAVE you ever been to the hills in winter when it is already biting cold in Delhi? And then have you ever been brave enough to travel to the hills in the South, skipping a closer Himalaya destination? And above all, did you ever take a three-day two-night rail journey to reach a hill station for a holiday? We did it and went to Munnar in Kerala.

As for taking a train to Cochin, the railhead for Munnar, we were excited to take it as it passed through Goa and covered the newly laid Konkan route. We were told the train would pass through technical marvels of many short and long tunnels, go over hundreds of fabulous bridges and heave up to a climb greater than Qutab Minar’s on its way. All this we heard but could see nothing from the hazy windows limiting our vision.

It was early morning and still quite dark when the driver sent by Mahindra Holidays picked us up to take us to their Lake View Resort, 150 km away from Cochin and 20 km from Munnar. At day break, we had left the plains behind and were already negotiating the climbing road. We were amazed at the abundant plant life in varying shades of green. The road twisted and turned overlooking the valleys of whispering palms standing as a proud sentinel against an azure sky. Down below the palms were swaying bananas celebrating their humble existence.

The bright morning sunrays fell lazily on the low-lying clouds and filtered through to land softly on the delicate greenery below. The dangling dews dived for cover. The warmth woke up the valley from its cold slumber. The leaves stretched themselves with warmth. On the way, gurgling tiny waterfalls disappeared under the road like snakes slithering in for cover.

The peaceful sideway churches seemed to be quietly waiting for Sunday to greet their devout. Hindu temples, like always, wore a festive look and a lot of ding-dong went on inside to wake up their gods. From the minaret of an occasional mosque, Azaan blared out a wake-up call for their nimazees. Like a submarine under the choppy sea, a tiny white church was striving hard to keep its cross floating above the sea of tea waves. After four hours drive, we reached Munnar situated on the confluence of three mountain streams. We pushed on after taking a brief tea break. We were passing through the sprawling territory full of rolling tea gardens. These gardens covered the undulating terrain as far up as the peak of the majestic mountains and as far away as the misty horizon. Tata Limited had an unlimited area under tea cultivation.

The air was full of fragrances all the way. The savoury smell bounced in through every city polluted pore. The tea bushes were more than 500 years old and still strong enough to last for another 500 years. What a tiny existence humans have on the nature’s time scale, we thought sadly.

We arrived at Mahindra’s Lake View Resort perched atop a hill.

In the morning we peeped out of the large windows of our luxuriously furnished cottage. The setting was breathtaking. The curvacious lake, shimmering in front, was simply a nature’s way of strip-teasing. The sun rose hesitatingly from behind the misty mountains to look at the liquid beauty and got caught in its bottom. The surrounding tea plants were simply green with envy and tiny droplets hanging over the leaves trembled in awe.

Our shaking and aching limbs needed some tuning. We found the ayurvedic centre within the resort inviting and soon trooped in to face the dos and don’ts. "Males will only be attended by males" was a bit disappointing for my young companion. As there was no choice, we surrendered to the swarthy man who promptly folded up his lungi well above his knees to zero in on us. The odour of herbal oil hung heavy in the air. On one side was a cup-board full of bottles with herbal liquids. In the middle of the room was an oil-soaked wooden trough. I was helped to mount on its slippery surface. He sprayed some half-boiled fragranted concoction on my torso — rubbed me, rolled me and folded me up till I felt like a brown crisp dosa. The physician stressed upon the importance of planning one’s life and looking at the human being as a three dimensional figure — well balanced body, a pleasant mind and a clear soul.

As food is essential for life’s sustenance, so is a restaurant in the hotel for its existence. The strategically placed restaurant had panoramic windows. Your eyes could feast on the scene outside while you feasted inside. This is the first Indian restaurant serving authentic Indian food for vegetarians. My non-vegetarian companion had taste buds of a connoisseur and ate anything which ever floated, flew or floundered on earth. His eating was always a celebration of life going into life. You could feel from his expressive face that he liked the food tremendously.

It was at the end of our stay that Vijay Mohan, manning the fort, warned us to carry some salt for the leeches if walking through tea gardens. The second warning was more menacing. Fall, flow, jump, skid or run for your life if you happen to meet a lone elephant on the way.

Soon our holiday was over. We had picked up enough Malayalam to say "Poyittu Varatae" meaning we go now but shall come back — come back soon to God’s own country.

And hope to find the God still resting and watching enviously his own creation!