“One and half years had passed
since I had stepped into Kerala and I had barely explored anyplace around”-
This sudden realization led to a hasty plan to go on a trth October 2014.It was my
journey on a local train after quite a long time and I was all set to make the
most of it. The view outside the window itself made the journey worthwhile. The
train rumbled through lush landscapes populated by coconut trees and banana
fields. Rivers and water bodies peeped through the green canopy every now and
then. A hut here, a farm there – Kerala seemed pristine, untouched by the
harshness of industrialization and mechanization. The beauty increased manifold
when it began to rain. The landscape looked magical through the hazy glass
window as raindrops left a trail on their way down. One and half hours later we
got down at Kannur.
We walked out and hailed an auto to
go to the nearby St. Angelo’s Fort. Originally constructed by the Portuguese
and later captured by the Dutch, St Angelo’s fort has its customary watch
tower,chapel,cannons,grave stones et all . A climb along the steps took us to
the top and the view there would leave anyone breathless. The blue of the sea
mixed with the blue of the sky to form a continuous canvas. Here and there the
land jutted into the sea as if to delay their separation for a little while and
the coconut trees seemed to lean and reach out to the skies in celebration. It
took us two hours to explore the place.
Our next destination was Arakkal Palace.
It has a museum dedicated to the Arakkal family, the only Muslim royal family in Kerala, south
India. It is in fact still owned by the Arakkal family and they get a token
amount of money yearly for it even now. A noticeboard inside elaborated on the
history and customs of the family. The family had a custom of the eldest member
of the family being the ruler irrespective of gender which seemed very fair to
me and I was amazed to notice such openness of mind 200 years ago. This just makes
you wonder if it is so called modernization that takes us backward instead of
forward in terms of biases and discrimination. The museum housed an array of items from vessels to court equipment and weapons to lamps from the Arakkal
family.
When we emerged out of Arakkal
Palace, it was lunchtime and all the walking and posing had made us extremely
hungry. An auto ride to the nearest restaurant and we were slurping down our
smoothies like thirsty travelers in a desert. One hour later we were stuffed
and barely in any mood to move a muscle when one of us remembered that there is
a beautiful church in Kannur. Hence 15minutes later we were a bunch of lazy grumpy
ladies slouching our way to the nearest auto stand.
What followed was even more hilarious.None of the auto drivers seemed to know what a church was. So all our questions
were returned with cold glares .Asking around helped to fathom that people
there recognize churches to be Christian temples and that was the term we were
expected to use.One part of the puzzle was solved but what awaited us was a
maze ahead. When we asked people, we found that there were at least a dozen
churches and none knew which the famous church is. A Google search on our
mobile phones yielded nothing useful. Hence we asked in a few shops and finally
one man guided us to a cathedral near “Baby Beach”[I am not kidding you about
the name of the beach!!].He called an auto and gave the directions so that we
could go to the church. In half an hour we landed in front of Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The decorations inside left us awestruck. The church alter was decorated with
paintings made of tiny tiles. The detailing and the perfection would leave you
wondering about the dedication of those who did it. The glass paintings along
the ceiling narrated the stories of Bible and the interplay of colors on the
church floor reflected by these glass panes made their own pretty picture. The
peace and quiet inside would make you wonder for a moment if the humdrum of the
city had made us forget to listen to our inner voices. After the church we
walked to the nearby beach and the sparkling waters and the dainty houses on
the beach made a picture worth a thousand words.
Then we hailed an auto back to the
station. There we sat 5 tired ladies on the station bench waiting for the train
that would take us back to the familiarity of the mundane. We felt very happy
and satisfied , yet we longed for the regular and could not wait to be back on
campus. That only makes you think if the joy of the uncommon is more derived
from the regularity of the mundane rather than anything else. Maybe it is time
we started appreciating the journey instead of waiting for the destination.
