Lowly Deception ..

They say I pester with my blogging updates. They say, I write pretty nonsensical stuff. Well, I don't want to get into denial mode, but some of these claims could be true :) Though I'd not want to prove these so called critics right, I sure am giving them ammunition for the future.

Once upon a time, a young man walked into a garment shop to buy a jeans pant for himself. He was badly in need of one, to adorn his handsome self to impress the supposedly available pretty young things. His need was so bad, he was keener on the attributes of the pant. And of course the waist size. Once the requirements were met, he went about altering the length, to suit his supposedly diminutive physique. Which he till date insists is not the case.

Once the length was altered, he was good to go and try it on. Which he did after a few days, when he was ready to impress some pretty young things. While the objective of impressions was still far away, what he did oversee was the trial he never had while purchasing the pant. When he realised the pant had a caveat of not sticking around for long, the realisation dawned that the jeans is supposed to drop off if left without any support whatsoever. A belt seemed to be the need of the hour to hide the blushes from the possibility of a dropping disorder !

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Periyar - Profusely Nature's

Thekday was calling loud and clear on the Ugadi weekend. I reached Kumily, which is the town nearest to Thekady by bus from Bangalore on the morning of 28th March. It is at the Tamil Nadu/Kerala border and very close to Kodaikanal and Munnar. The plan was for the old Reflections (a collegiate magazine team of ours during Engg college days) to meet and have a look around. Sujith, Rahul and Thomas ettan apart from me were the participants for this trip. Sujith had booked an Inspection Bungalow (IB) at Kumily, which is where the stay for the next 2 days had been planned for. Kumily being just 4 kms away from Thekady, this was the perfect place to halt.

After the gang arrived, we told the IB caretaker of the previous DFO being Sujith's close acquaintance, and enquired about the availability of a room or 2 at Edapalayam Island's Forest Guest House. This is an island within the Periyar Lake in Thekady, amidst all the flora and fauna of the Periyar Tiger Reserve. Fortunately, there were no bookings, and we changed our plans and decided to stay at the island instead. It is difficult to get accommodation here, and one needs someone higher in Forest Division circles to get accommodation. If one gets it, it is well worth at 1300 for a double bedroom.

A boat ride took us to the Edapalayam island in Thekady, and we were awestruck by the beauty of the surroundings. Though end of March is not peak season, the beauty of the island, encompassed by the lake was mesmerising to say the least. There was still lot of greenery, and the lake was still and reflective of the tranquility surrounding the island. Gaurs and Barking deers came out of the wilderness on the other side of the lake, to munch on the green pastures. During December time period, the surroundings would look much greener and prettier.

The 4 of us got talking and taking pictures, and were discussing how privileged and lucky we were to just get a glimpse of the Periyar Tiger Reserve at close quarters. We did not realise how time just flew by, and had requested the forest guest house staff to prepare dinner for us for the day. The dinner was awesome, and so was the calmness of the island. The Lake Palace at the island is just beside this guest house and they charge a whopping 28000 INR per day for availing its facilities. But we were more than happy with our accommodation and enjoying it every bit.

The next day morning, one of the staff took us for a nature walk, and was narrating incidents of Tigers and elephants during his stint at the Reserve, and in and around the island. We were hoping against hope to atleast sight some elephants. But alas, that was never the case, and we returned back from the island before noon, having witnessed what nature truly beholds.

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