May 14th it was never coming to end... After having travelled from marriage to engagement to family visit I had a very tired body to carry back from Thrissur to Ernakulam... Anyways the old passenger of the GEC days came to mine and Pipu's relief... And on the platform we did meet Shameel Kumar... "Kundham the spear" SKCL fame... Reached Ekm arnd 8.30 pm.
At this point I was almost burnt out... 2 days of hectic travelling... phew. And this was only the beginning & Binu had lot more to go through and is going through as I am writing this from Coimbatore... At ernakulam spent an almost sleepless night
awaiting my 1st ship journey...
Over the days I have realised that I am more crazier abt travelling than I had ever thought myself to be....
15th Monday morning Rushed to the office & uploaded whatever I could on my Thrissur league of my journey & by the time I
got completed I was asked to fall in... Arnd 9 am I boraded MV Tipu Sultan.... The long wait to the unknows started, I was unsure of my body conditions... how it would react to the journey ahead, I was more thrilled abt the journey as it was my first venture where my eyes would be deprived of the sight of land... for the first time I would be
floating with many a time my height of
water underneath... We waited for the rest of the gang to board... the heavier luggages were pulled up along the side of the ship dangling on ropes... we took the que from the islanders... thats the only way up... And arnd 1.30 pm the long wait came to an end... By that time I was almost feeling dizzy... Thought sea sickness would take its toll on me... Many a time I had
to fight back that "VALL" sensation...
We set sail & in abt half an hour fort kochi was a distant dream and any land could only be seen after the next day break... Small & big oil tankers/dredgers and one rig later we were in the deep blue sea... By the time all this happened I got used with the pitching & rolling of the ship... The best thing u can do is keep on walking outside on the decks or getting involved with whatever activities that can keep ur mind elsewhere... During the eve we enjoyed small programs... I even managed to win Rs 150/- from Thampolla & missed the bumper prize by 2 numbers... We played cards 28 and well I tried to capture the sunset from sea... But the monsoon clouds which had already set sail for the mainland hampered any such ideas...
Being a bachelor: Is both being a boon & a bane... I will come that a bit later... Anyways during the self intro I did manage emm to show my 'family'... Well I had my arms arnd her shoulder... But SHE!!! After the dinner I stood enjoying the breeze & the waves and the darkness that contained the unknown... we were just floating through... During the night I slept on the top deck on the floor... Thats the best place to sleep on that ship, with the wind sometimes trying to blow u over into the sea... the wind, the waves and the dark unknown seemed to conspire
against the ship which was battling all alone... Anyways this was only a small battle as far as the ship was concerned but for the first timers!!!
Woke up at arnd 3.15 am... Had a great nights sleep, I thought sunrise was arnd but it was only the moon... Again enjoyed the sea breeze... counted the stars & the innumerable dark monsoon clouds that were rushing towards the mainland... Sunrise was only arnd 6.30 am IST.
At arnd 9 am we spotted land for the 1st time... Kavaraty light house was visible as lonely pawn on the chessboard... Then slowly slowly as the ship idled through the waves the distant piers (under construction), other towers, light house etc became clearer atop a green belt of cocunut palms... Again we waited sometime to board another boat that we had to jump into
from the ship... That was a bit more bumpy drive... Alas arnd 11 am we reached Kavaraty island... By that time even the land seemed to shake... After abt 26 hrs on floating bodies which pitched & rolled with every bump... I was unsure on solid land... With no time to waste we hit the sea... Did whatever we could... Initially we played with apples until we got hungry, the
apples tasted good with a lill' sea water for taste...then differnet ball games.. then when people started moving arnd in fiber boats we managed to sink a few of emm... life in water is really crazy... We went into the lagoon in a glass bottom boat & viewed the corals wchih came in many shades & shapes...Then later climbed up the
lighthouse to have a view of the complete island... on one side there r innumerous cocunut trees & the other side... water water and more water.. in all shades of green & blue. Evening had tea with fish samosa... then somethin called kilanji & cocunut milk...
That night was a grand one... We did have amny events at college but I dont remember much abt myself dancing... this was a different occasion & I realised that I could aswell do some steps... arnd 2 hrs of continous dancing... Life was really beautifulll... We had arranged a ganamella there at our exchange premises... For the night all the families were alotted rooms & the bachelors or the singles got a dorm which had 2 beds... We already had decided just to use the room for safekeeping of assets & the night we slept on the beach.. the climate was just perfect. In the morning when I woke up the sea was not to be seen... low tide had forced the water to recede faar... after a bit of confusion if to hit the water or not I later decided to enter in grand style... a summersault from a small reef... that was enuff... during breakfast time we played volleyball & later football.. and my left knee gave way... And the rest of the trip I was in some pain and the mood that can be associated with the same... anyways had a very long breakfast.... By then a few ppl left for seeing the museum and others started playing cricket... Pinne njan join chaiyathe irrikko... Pain can wait till I reach mainland...
Suddenly the climate changed... From a calm & cool sky to... thunder... storm... lightning & rain... Even 2 coconut trees near the beach got uprooted... All hell broke loose... & we hit the water once again... for hrs together it was rain from the top & sea underneath... the oll' diving catches... water volleyball... etc... Then again all good things have to come to an end... Abt 3.30 pm we boarded a heavily crowded boat which was swaying cause of the climate... & climbing back into the MV Minicoi was well... The 1st lady who tried boarding hung in mid air... Anyways for me the boat rose far enuff that I had to jump down into the ship!!!
For the 1st time I understood a different angle of life... for the Dweep population the ships r the only means of transport to the mainland... & they consider it there right... they just board the ships at will and take the seats... anyways u cant throw anyone out in the sea right... So when all of us boarded the ship with valid tickets... it took sometime to make many of emm realise that such things can happen... They were telling how can the authorities issue tickets and stuff... Anyways we all adjusted with what we had....
The weather had clreared up to ensure a very smooth journey and on the 18th morning arnd 9.30 am we saw our mainland... Fort Kochi and Vypeen.
One of the best tours if not the best tour I had ever embarked on... I have a few more coming up my sleeve for me each tour ends into a new one... Will keep u posted from time to time... This was the 1st time I left the Indian mainland... it took
26 years... Earlier in the year I did think abt a Singapore visit... Well I reached lakshadweep...
Let me try to figure out what more life has in store for me... Anyways for the next few more days its all about IN at Coimbatore...
lill one... I haven't seen children so interested in the stuff called water... The moment she sees the sea say from the ship or the land she says... 'vellam'... 'vellam'... A few boats took her in as insurance cover for most boats where being chased and drowned at the beach!!!
