CTC - SUV Trip to Kerala.

I walked into Ansar’s office and the first scene I saw was Ansar and Biju talking nonchalantly, making others around them ROFL and Mohan sleeping like a child in another corner, unmindful of anything in the world. Little did I know that I’d have a deja vu of this scene many times in the next three days. Also, little did I know that I’ll take back home bagful of memories and heartful of friendships.

We started a little late and reached our destination very late because Ansar’s car broke down in the middle of nowhere. This gave an opportunity to lie down on tarpaulin by the roadside and watch the stars at 4am on a full moon day. Bliss, I say. When no help came by, it was Scorpio towing Scorpio. And since Ansar - The Speed King was involved; even the towing had to happen at 60kmph.

We stopped at Ambur for lunch. The food was top notch. And it would stay that way throughout the trip. Ansar’s car broke down again and had to be taken to the car hospital for the second time in 12 hours. Most organizers would have called off the trip then, but not our man, Ansar. It had to continue because the-giving-up-gene is not built into CTC’s DNA.

We started off again and reached our destination by 3am. The whiff of fresh air, the sight of the first deer, the drive through the 41 hairpin bends - which from the top looked like a giant curled up python taking a siesta after a heavy meal, and the sounds of chirping crickets made all the tiredness of having slept for only a couple of hours fly away.

Day two started with a drive through what looked like a Sequoia forest. The setting was just right for a well orchestrated symphony. Vocals were by the birds and insects. BGM was by the waterfalls. Human laughter added to the effect. Music from the car speakers sounded like cacophony. We took it all in standing on the rails of our speeding Scorpios.

The Indian Niagra was up next. Truth be told, I was a little disappointed with the falls as the volume of water in the falls was a lot less than what I had expected. But that didn’t stop us from splashing around for an hour at the source of the falls. Note to self: Visit Athirampally after the rains.

To compensate for the disappointment, we had a camp fire. And boy did we have a blast. The after-party TV shoot in which John, Biju, Ansar, Rajini, Uday and others spoke to VJ Shareef about the spirit of CTC, the comradeship of sticking together during times of dire straits, and the passion involved in this brotherhood gave us goose bumps. Am sure Leo must have been very happy with this shot. After the parting we rested. No, not in a regular hotel but in a renovated clay-roofed old house. The house reminded me of my now demolished ancestral house in Kerala.

Then came the usually most hated part of the week, Monday morning. But since this wasn’t any monday morning, we spent it at Nature’s spa. The creek was about 100m from where we stayed. The strong current made sure that our tired muscles were massaged well.

The trip was almost coming to an end. We were in the slog overs. And like every good team, we made maximum use of the slog overs. Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Offroading. For people who suffer from lack-of-rush-of-blood-to-the-head, this is a recommended treatment. In a sense the offroading experience is a metaphor for life. Only the ones who strive and persevere to climb the seemingly impossible steep terrain that disguises stepping stones as obstacles, reach the top to enjoy the view. The view from the top of Nelliampathy Hills could rival the Eiffel. The strong breeze was cool. The yellow sun turned red with envy, not realizing that she was only adding beauty to an already picture perfect setting. Like in the final scenes of Stanley Kubrick movies, our trips final scene too dint need much dialogue. The visuals did the talking.

The journey back was what made friends out of the acquaintances. Everyone in our car who stayed awake shared their ‘Autograph’ stories. Stories one would share only with the closest of friends. Unable to hold our eyelids open after 4am, we fell asleep. John-The Warrior kept driving (without a Redbull :). We woke up in Chennai on Tuesday morning. It was Back to office, Back to pollution, Back to the concrete jungle, Back to the mundane world.

I enrolled myself for this trip not knowing any of the participants of this trip. But I’m glad I did, not just for of the awesome experience but also for the kind of people I met during this trip. I’d like to thank the organizers, for having spent the time and effort to plan and execute the trip. Special thanks to Leo, VJ Shareef and their crew for making a show out of our trip. We’re going to be on TV. Yayyyy :).

Photo courtesy: John, Ansar, Rajini & Javed.

Close encounters of the Four-legged kind

The pile of sand that also doubles up as bed for my acquaintance was unoccupied yesterday. My acquaintance is a cow. She acknowledges my arrival every day or every night rather, by nodding her head. Guess she thought I was a nice guy who waits for his dad when three fourth of the city is asleep. The other one fourth is made up of call center employees, she once told me. Ok, she didn’t tell me. I made it up. Something irked me when I didn’t see her yesterday. Guess I missed her. But hold on people, here comes the star of the night. She emerged from the mythical darkness into the famed Chennai Corporation Street light. She looked like Julia Roberts under the spotlight. In fact she looked a lot better than that. But something was not all right. Her gait said that there is something wrong with her hind limbs. She was limping her way to her bed. A small part of my heart went numb.

Eternity...

Does the sun really set when the sun sets? Does pregnancy last for only ten months? Does a Kodak moment last for only 1/500th of a second? Is a candle-lit-dinner all about the dinner? Is the film titanic all about the ship? Is hi only a two letter word? Is vande matram only a song? How long is a kiss? How long should your birthday be? How much time is too much time? Sometimes a three hour dream seems like a lifetime.. A half an hour bubble bath seems like a whole day.. A five minute phone call, an hour.. And true friendship – an eternity…

Little Huts

As salesman for a publishing company, I go to that small fishing hamlet once every year, to finalize the contract for school textbooks, from the only English medium school in the locality. After meeting with the school principal, I went into the teashop for a cup of tea, deeply immersed in my quotation.

‘Tea, sir’, said the tea vendor handing me a cup. I put the papers aside and started sipping the tea. A small girl entered the tea shop, steel tumbler in hand. The vendor poured some milk into her tumbler. She then walked into the hut opposite the tea shop. The one thing I have always observed about that hut is the number of kids. Two years ago, there were three kids, all within the age of five. Last year there was a new cradle. And this year, there is yet another one! ‘It looks like these people know nothing of family planning!’ I said to the tea vendor. ‘No sir, Murugayya is a friend of mine. We both had the operation done in a camp, a couple of years ago’ he replied. ‘We even received the bag of rice from the government’ he added, with a sheepish smile.

‘Oh come on! Then how do you explain the kids. They didn’t come into existence just like that huh?’ I said with a wink. ‘Oh ho, if that’s what bothering you, then don’t think too hard. Only the first three kids are his, sir. The fourth one is a tsunami survivor from our native village, Nagapattinam. She was orphaned by the killer waves. The last kid is only three months old. She was found in a dustbin nearby. Murugayya adopted her too. That’s why I didn’t charge her for the milk. It’s the only way I can help them. After all, don’t we all have a little responsibility towards our society?’

Did anyone tell you that big hearts reside in little huts?

Hello World

Hello World :)