When
we finally got the vacation we had fought vehemently for the
procastrination virus infected some of us. After much of it,
unavailable train tickets and the releasing of an Emergency Quota I
got on the Howrah Yaswanthpur Duronto. At Bangalore I met Ash, an on
line friend and spent some lovely time with him and his wife Lady M.
Caught a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus to Kozhikode,
my home town, my home.
Kerala
State Road Transport Corporation buses (KSRTC) have always been a
crazy nostalgia. I love everything about them. Well, almost
everything. It's bad for women, as usual. I remember quite a few
fights I have had to put up with gropers and thieves.
What
I like the best about travelling from Bangalore to Kozhikode (Calicut
to those uninitiated into the crazy mallu tongue twisters) is the
Wayanad ghat (mountain pass) aka Wayanad churam. Kuthiravattam Pappu, a renowned
actor and comedian, also from Kozhikode had made it famous through a
hilarious scene in a movie called Vellaanakalude Naadu (The Land of
the White Elephants). He calls it Thamarassery Churam
The
winding path is a nightmare for people with fear of heights. Even for
others it's an uneasy ride if they are not used to it. You sometimes
feel you are going to fall into the bottomless ravine and die. Well, I
now know why I like it so much.
The
movie Queen was playing on the tv in the bus. It started raining as
soon as we crossed the Kerala border. I have noticed that while
Kerala buses seldom stop in the downward ride through the wayanad
churam Karnataka buses always do. The conductor gets down and sees if
everything is okay. The driver often makes mistakes in steering the
vehicle and goes on reverse gear to get it right. They show a little
more respect to the lives of the people inside, may be. Or I can say
that in mallu land we know our churam like the back of our hand. I
love the churam and everything about it. Pain in the ears, the
mountains, nausea for some, the occasional springs and all the
people who are moving up and down the churam thinking of death at
least once. Here is a little something from the journey.
