(Written between 31.1.12 - 4.2.12 and posted today - an insight into my modus operandi)
Now obviously I should be writing about my sisters wedding which took place on Monday but I’d rather write about that when I have the photos to upload which won’t be till i reach Delhi. Meanwhile, Vishal and I are in Munnar for two days before proceeding to Cochin for the All India Ophthalmic Society annual meet. We are staying at the Club Mahindra, Munnar which is a rather cool five star-ish place. We have a semi detached cottage to ourself, the views and the buffet meals are fantastic all adding up to a great mini break. The only issue I have is that the walls are paper thin. I woke up with a start this afternoon when my neighbours phone rang, I am not even going to think about what he can hear. ( Afternoon naps – benchmark of any holiday )
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| Towels arranged as kissing swans on bed. Barf ! |
We’ve mostly been lazing around in the resort but set off to visit the Kolukkumalai tea factory this morning. This tea factory was established by the British in 1936 and is situated on top of a mountain accessible only by jeep. I need to mention that the road leading to the factory is a mud track strewn with boulders which makes for an extremely bumpy ride lasting 8 km or around half hour. However the views are great with multiple tea garden photo-ops on the way. The tea garden itself was quaint, they still process tea partially by hand and with the original, century old machines. The place had a sleepy, forgotten and mildly sad air about it with the few women working and the men wandering around already drunk at noon. A far cry from the briskly efficient Warren tea factories I have seen in Tinsukhia.
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| "Enclosed by tea leaves" photo taken by our jeep driver. In reality we are standing by the road side behind one scrawny tea bush. DIY trick photography. |
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| Aforementioned instrument of torture |
I was supposed to have posted that two days back but didn’t. The day after the jeep ride I woke up with every muscle in my torso and back stretched and sore. So if you are loosely jointed with poorly toned musculature, I would advise giving the trip a miss.
We next reached Cochin by road. Due to usual hospital inefficiency, we didn’t have any accommodation booked but I’d asked my father to book us a room at the Railway rest house. This turned out to be right next to Ernakulam Junction so we ended up wandering on to the station to buy newspapers and coffee. All for 32 Rs a day. Made me rather nostalgic for the good old Indian Govt parasite days.
It was great meeting all our friends again, face it, AIOS is definitely more about socializing than higher intellectual pursuit. No small amount of Ethanol has traversed my system in the past week. First, Roshnis cocktail party, then at Munnar ( Its a tea plantation hill station, the ghosts of the erstwhile planters expect you to get mildly pickled after sundown ) and then all the reunion dinners. Vishal is continuing the party at an alumni dinner on a ferry with all the usual suspects.
I last visited Cochin almost 10 years back and I have a residual memory of Chinese fishing nets against the sunset and a lazy backwater cruise winding slowly between sleepy villages. Kids ran along the boat on the banks while the firangs tanned on the decks. On this visit, the city seemed a lot more grubby with more touts and dreadlocked Israeli tourists. The food in the Fort Cochin Goa-esque shacks were nothing much to write about either. I really couldn’t understand the appeal of the city to all the tourists either, unless they use it as a base for short trips to Allepey or Munnar.
Oh, my talks went off well. As well as can be expected with an audience of ten people in a hall with a capacity of three hundred . The lethal combination of paediatric ophthalmology and community ophthalmology helped to exponentially decrease the level of popularity of the course and keep the audience at bay. It didn’t help matters that the AIOS quiz was taking place simultaneously. Oh well.
I am in Cochin airport waiting for my flight back to Delhi. For the first time, I’ve really missed Vihaan over the last couple couple of days and am looking forward to cuddling up with him tonight. A world with soft cheeks , curly hair and that indefinably sweet baby smell is a good place to be in.
