From Deepa's Desk

  Read The Previous Blog Here   I thought my travelogue would end with Guruvayur. But something extraordinary and funny happened on the last day of the trip and deserves a blog of its own.  The morning after, we had breakfast and visited Maamiyur temple.  Some of our group had already visited the temple and got Darshan of Lord Shiva. But when I, my son, my sister, cousin and aunt went to the temple, the sanctum sanctorum was closed due to some renovation and repair work. We spent some time inside the temple and decided to visit ISKCON Guruvayur that I had checked on the internet.  My sister, my son, my nieces and I hired an auto which dropped us off into a remote location where a tall building bearing the name of ISKCON stood proudly. Since there were no other vehicles (or people) to be seen there, we requested the auto driver to wait for a while. He obliged.  We entered the building and removed our chappals, only to be informed that it was the guest house ...

Read The Previous Blog Here On 6th May, Kerala Restaurant And Hotel Association declared a strike to protest against the LPG crisis. That was the day we left for Guruvayur.  Luckily we could still have our breakfast at the resort in Munnar but we had no idea about how we were going to manage the other meals. There were three children in the group and four senior citizens too.  Help came in the form of Brahmana Samooham Community in Guruvayur. My father called up the community and requested for lunch arrangements for our group of 12 people. The community members told us that lunch would be served until 2.30 and if we could make it on time, our lunch would be ready.  Our driver drove as if possessed. That there were no tea/coffee stalls open enroute only made the journey faster, otherwise we would have stopped for breaks.  We reached Guruvayur at 1.30 and rushed to the community hall, just in time for a fresh batch of food being served. We are with gratitude and relief...

Read The Previous Blog Here All the plans of leaving for Munnar 'latest by 8.30' flew out of the window as we found ourselves in an impromptu photo session in Palakkad at 9.30. It was around 10 when we finally left. So much for leaving early! The route, for a while, was pretty uneventful as we drove through the beautiful lanes and roads of Palakkad. The first moment of excitement arrived when we passed by Kaladi, the place where you can still feel the auspicious presence of Shri Adi Shankara, and where my son had his Upanayanam done. We passed by the town searching for familiar roads and reminiscing about our very brief stay here in 2020.  The route started getting interesting and adventurous as we passed through Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary and drove through Marayoor, a forest abounding in sandalwood trees. We opened the windows and let in the aroma of sandalwood that wafted around. As we kept driving up, the temperature kept dipping. It was a major relief to experience cool wea...

Read The Previous Blog Here Before I begin about Munnar, I would like to share some awesome moments from my stay in Palakkad. Obviously the epic stand-off between the peacocks and crows merits mention. Like we always do, my husband and I had stepped out for our morning walk. My sister had joined us too. That morning we decided to take a route hitherto unexplored by us. It was a narrow lane with houses bordering the edges. As we walked, we came across a majestic peacock strutting over the road. Now, peacocks are no strangers to the village. They often roam the streets, perch on the trees surrounding houses and search for food and water amidst the foliage that is an integral part of the village. But that particular day, we didn't see just one peacock. Even as we watched, one more joined the one standing on the road. Another came, yet another and before we knew it, NINE peacocks had suddenly appeared on the road. Nine!! I have uploaded a video of the same below.  While we watched in s...

Mike Mansfield specializes in finding lost people. Not just lost people, but those on whom the whole society has already given up as dead. He is approached by David Bruni who wants to find his daughter who had disappeared four years ago. David would go to any extent to find his daughter, and that would mean creating a supercomputer that could collate pictures circulating all over the world to create a timeline of events. Through coalition of pictures David and his team keep searching for the last place that his daughter must have visited. What starts as a simple investigation turns into something deadly as Mike finds himself always one step behind an invisible enemy who doesn't want him to solve the case.  The story is fast-paced and keeps the reader engaged. The characters have played their part well. I especially liked how Mike is portrayed differently - not your regular good-looking and sturdy dude but someone in his mid-fifties with a hairline and a physique to show it. Mike re...

Read The Previous Blog Here My cousin's train was supposed to arrive at Palakkad Junction at 5 am. My husband and I were planning to leave by 4.30. Accordingly I had set the alarm for 4 that morning.  Needless to say, I would have woken up even without the alarm. At dawn, the birds in the area broke out into a melodious cacophony, the likes of which I am yet to hear anywhere. Sharp, clear, melodious and rhythmic songs filled the dawn with sheer magic. The three days that I stayed in Palakkad, I woke up to this music every morning.  As I write this from my city, I can't help wondering what did we do with the birds, for there are very few here. Our auto arrived sharply at 4.30 and we left for the station. I was amazed to see many stalls already open enroute. Most of the shops were selling tea and coffee. I recorded a very short video of the ride but it was both exhilarating and peaceful to drive in the early morning on the lanes of Palakkad and watching the village slowly wake u...