From Chenganacheri to Gurvayur.

The day dawned [26.3.12] with a koel cooing,storks stalking the fallow ground below and birds calling each other.
Today's destination was Guruvayur,150 kms away further northwards and to halt there for the day and night and visit the famous Krishna temple as well as two other divyadesams .

No sooner did we leave the govt hotel ,[as well maintained as all the hotels, we were put up in here]we came upon green water canals running parallel to the highway .There were several small dwellings [huts at last!] on their banks which the cabby said was nothing but sheer encroachments.People were bathing etc.

A few kms away my eyes drank in thirstily the green rolling fields of paddy.Open space at last! Alas it was a short reprieve for my claustrophobia.A few metres later the same old story .Houses houses everywhere ,half hidden under lush canopies but not an acre of vacant plot or fields to see and stare.

A snow white church with a gold plated flag staff similar to the dwajastambham of temples emerged.The difference ,there was a cross on top.I mistook several such dwajastambhams that came on the way for temples.
An mosque as white and enticing as Tajmahal shimmered in the early morning sun,a little further on.

Our driver was an excellent emissary for Kerala tourism.I only had to stare at anything of interest and that would be immediately noticed by him who would then enquire solicitously"Amma do you want to stop , see and photograph"?
On noticing my interest in the house boat floating down the back waters he took a detour and went into Aleppey town to show where they were all docked.The asking rate of the boats are Rs .25000 per day ! In off season8000.

Two young western women slipped out on a small row boat .The popular way to explore the backwaters cheaply .

Allepey is like a poor cousin to all the glitzy towns i passed by.It looks drab and old.The Bharat i am used to seeing in my travels unlike the dazzling glare of new rich India that nearly blinded my poor old eyes.

The driver commented that it remained thus since it was bogged down in politics.
The buses were a shade more old and rickety than elsewhere .There were factories ,but very few and looked bleak and forlorn unlike the huge factories with their manicured lawns and ornamental palms ,bustling with activity in and around Sri Perumbudur.

An open van passed us ,its occupant an placid elephant! This sight nonplussed me but to all those on the street it was apart of the scenery ,they hardly gave it a glance,so like the camel drawn carts near Somnath!

The much loved temple elephant Kesavan [that pased away recently] looked at us from road side bilboards along with the ads of a smirking Sharuk khan and grimacing Mohanlal , the only 3 celebrities that accompanied us all the way through.

An statue of Indira ghandhi waved at us at Aleppey and thence forward it was statues of Jesus either bleeding or blessing or ministering or wearing a gold crown or encased in a glass case. Further on these statues became scarce and looked unkempt like those old houses that were popping up regularily now.

Ernakulam rose dazzlingly with spanking new high rises and shops .For the first time toll was collected making me laugh at the irony .The 4 lanes were within the city for a short distance .The toll was collected for the city and not for highways !An reverse to the practise in Tnadu or at Gujarat.
From Ernakullam the houses were mostly old and huge with few of those unstoppable glitzy homes thrown in .Came upon a bridge and saw those Chinese fishing nets.

Entered Guruvayur that has to a certain extent retained its Bharat ways .We also entered the Malabar area that was once famous for spearheading the freedom movement in Kerala but now infamous for being the entry point of counterfeit notes from Pakistan,so the locals say.

Photo: Back waters