God's own country is housefull.

Left Trivandram 8 in the morning for the next leg of the journey ,northwards to Chenganachery 150 kms away .It has 6 Divyadesam temples around it popularly known as Pancha pandava Kshetrams.

As we waited at an intersection at theTrivandram city that has a lot of construction works going on ,mainly high rises and hotels, for the signals to change a serene statue invited my look.It was of Lal Bahaur shastri!On a turning next, an bust of a fierce looking Karl Marx with shaggy hair and beard and eyes glowering with inner anger arrested my terrified attention. .

The National highways are good ,the state highways even better ,but the lack of 4 lanes reduced the speed of our journey, unlike at Tamilnadu or at Gujarat.Those wanting to save money at the expense of speed and smooth journey ,will be highly satiated.There are no toll plaza's.

The entire route was flanked by huge mansions,with grand mosques and trees covered with yellow flowers in full bloom ,swaying like lanterns.

The cabby said that the blossoming of the flowers signalled the arrival of 'Visu' or the Newyear,which is celebrated with these flowers adorning the deities.

I scanned the road side for a jot of open space, an expanse of green fields or even just plain space.But was sorely disappointed,There were trees every where but houses ,huge and grand nestled below them.

There wasn't a single rustic on the road and no agricultural produce was carted.
On enquiry the cabby said that most fields were closed and houses funded by NRI's have sprung up ,each grander than the next,with hi tech gadgets like using remotes to open gates to name just a few!But most of them are locked since their owners reside abroad.He then rued the diasappearance of tree climbers that has led to the chopping of coconut trees ,the luxurious spread of which one always associated with Kerala.

The glossy house , glitzy stores mainly selling fancy furniture's,latest sanitary wares and vehicles and the decoration of the temples with 100's of lighted oil wicks reminded me of the poetic description of Lanka in sundaragandam of Ramayana.

One thing that was archaic amidst this opulence and uninhibited show of wealth earned from gulf etc,was that the govt schools en route ,with their rundown and dilapidated conditions looked like a poor cousin and more like scarecrows to ward of evil eyes.

I didn't see a single hut or shanty [ i travelled nearly 1000 kms criss crossing the state and yet never came upon even a single hut!]

'In kerala there are no villages' stated softly but firmly by the cab driver scotched any hopes of seeing one as i normally do in my travels in Tamilnadu and feast my eyes on lush green rolling paddy and sugarcane fields with small clusters of huts or small dwellings,and made us break into astonished laughter.

The brilliant colours of the houses with tinted glasses and shining sloping red roof's that is so popular here be it a house or a temple ,blinded my eyes so,that i had to shut it and it was Jesudas silken voice singing devotional songs on Ayyapan and Hari that was flowing soothingly from the cars audio ,that helped me find my way back.

Kerala state seems like one huge never ending city!