We had been welcomed with a spicy tea concoction at Ambady Estate when we first arrived. On inquiring about its ingredients we had been told that apart from spices like cardamom and pepper it also contained some palm jaggery. Since then we had been in search of palm jaggery - I vaguely remembered coming across a dessert recipe containing it and I was hell-bent on carrying some jaggery with me.
On our way to the sandalwood forest we had seen signs of a government-run shop and jaggery was listed among the things sold there. So after we left the forest, our driver took us there. At the entrance itself the board said Rajiv Gandhi Nature Park. Interesting! During my brief research of tourist places in and around Munnar I had come across this name but when I had asked the driver earlier he had told me that the park is in Tamilnadu. So I was very surprised to see the board here. It was difficult to gauge the area of the park. But entry fee was paltry Rs. 10 per person so we paid and entered. The park is not big.....it will take you about 15 minutes to cover the whole area on foot. There was no soul in sight apart from us. A solitary hut, found to be empty upon close inspection stood in the middle of it. I could not fathom its purpose. There are a few benches put up under a bunch of banyan trees. As we sat there for a few moments I wondered when was the last time someone might have sat on the benches and who would come next after us. Were we destined to be here or was it just a coincidence? You don't have the time to ponder over such things in the daily grind of life but when you go vacation and don't have to think about piling work and deadlines these things somehow manage to amuse you. And puzzle you.
As we got up we noticed a couple of monkeys who had perhaps come about to say their goodbyes. We inquired if the shop had palm jaggery. They didn't but they were selling sandal soaps. I was surprised when the shopkeeper told me they cost Rs. 35 a piece. I had seen them being sold at Rs. 45 elsewhere. 'This is a government shop' he said and smiled. I smiled back. Well, sometimes the government does give you a pleasant surprise.
As we drove towards the cave, at first I thought that the driver isn't sure about where we are going. He parked the car outside what looked like a government school and we started on foot. Caves? Here? We followed without a word. The school had a recess and quite a few students were roaming about - girls and boys in separate groups. From the curious expressions on their faces it was clear that not many tourists end up here.
But I couldn't see the caves. Turned out that was so because they weren't really caves. They are basically shelters put together by putting huge stone slabs together on a high slope. The slope was at the back of that school and there were about 7-8 such short structures. The driver told us that some holy men in some long-forgotten past had used them to perform their penance. He said that there were no earth-movers and cranes in those days and so the men had carried the huge stone slabs by themselves. Okay, they must have possessed superhuman strength (and some serious muscles!) to have been able to do that. Most of these caves are in a totally neglected state now as they are not on any tourist map. The view though was very commanding. I wondered how they were able to get any penance done. I would probably have spent all my time looking at that view. I must confess that I was a bit disappointed but hey, there is something about seeing something that not many people have laid eyes on, even though it is in a state of decline.
As we walked back the students were returning to their classes. Some of them used broken English to ask us where we were from. I wonder if they still talk about us anytime as we sometimes talk about them and the small village of Muniyara. If you are in Munnar and have some time do try to visit this place. It is not anything that is grand or magnificent. It is just a piece of history that is rapidly vanishing. Go there to see it before it disappears altogether. Go there to meet these children who may be from a small village but aren't shy. Go there to rest your eyes on the landscape that must have surely changed since the days the holy men looked at it. Go there to see what a village called Muniyara looks like.
The car started its journey back to Munnar and I realized that our trip was over. Tomorrow we would be flying back to the chaos, pollution and noise of Mumbai. We made our purchases in Munnar market as the fog rolled from the valley onto the road. In no time I was back in the cottage and the little garden at the back. I was greedily looking at everything I could before the sun set - the valley, the tea garden in the distance, the trees around the cottage, the grass beneath my feet. Sure, I was going to be around tomorrow morning but I wasn't going to be here tomorrow evening. And things do look different at different times of the day, don't they? I was glad I wasn't returning home on a Sunday. It would have been impossible to get into the daily routine the next day - sort of being yanked from one planet to another. As the darkness gathered around me and the cicadas started their daily orchestra I knew it in my heart that I was going to feel like a stranger in the life that I used to call my own for a long time to come.
On our way to the sandalwood forest we had seen signs of a government-run shop and jaggery was listed among the things sold there. So after we left the forest, our driver took us there. At the entrance itself the board said Rajiv Gandhi Nature Park. Interesting! During my brief research of tourist places in and around Munnar I had come across this name but when I had asked the driver earlier he had told me that the park is in Tamilnadu. So I was very surprised to see the board here. It was difficult to gauge the area of the park. But entry fee was paltry Rs. 10 per person so we paid and entered. The park is not big.....it will take you about 15 minutes to cover the whole area on foot. There was no soul in sight apart from us. A solitary hut, found to be empty upon close inspection stood in the middle of it. I could not fathom its purpose. There are a few benches put up under a bunch of banyan trees. As we sat there for a few moments I wondered when was the last time someone might have sat on the benches and who would come next after us. Were we destined to be here or was it just a coincidence? You don't have the time to ponder over such things in the daily grind of life but when you go vacation and don't have to think about piling work and deadlines these things somehow manage to amuse you. And puzzle you.
As we got up we noticed a couple of monkeys who had perhaps come about to say their goodbyes. We inquired if the shop had palm jaggery. They didn't but they were selling sandal soaps. I was surprised when the shopkeeper told me they cost Rs. 35 a piece. I had seen them being sold at Rs. 45 elsewhere. 'This is a government shop' he said and smiled. I smiled back. Well, sometimes the government does give you a pleasant surprise.
As we drove towards the cave, at first I thought that the driver isn't sure about where we are going. He parked the car outside what looked like a government school and we started on foot. Caves? Here? We followed without a word. The school had a recess and quite a few students were roaming about - girls and boys in separate groups. From the curious expressions on their faces it was clear that not many tourists end up here.
But I couldn't see the caves. Turned out that was so because they weren't really caves. They are basically shelters put together by putting huge stone slabs together on a high slope. The slope was at the back of that school and there were about 7-8 such short structures. The driver told us that some holy men in some long-forgotten past had used them to perform their penance. He said that there were no earth-movers and cranes in those days and so the men had carried the huge stone slabs by themselves. Okay, they must have possessed superhuman strength (and some serious muscles!) to have been able to do that. Most of these caves are in a totally neglected state now as they are not on any tourist map. The view though was very commanding. I wondered how they were able to get any penance done. I would probably have spent all my time looking at that view. I must confess that I was a bit disappointed but hey, there is something about seeing something that not many people have laid eyes on, even though it is in a state of decline.
As we walked back the students were returning to their classes. Some of them used broken English to ask us where we were from. I wonder if they still talk about us anytime as we sometimes talk about them and the small village of Muniyara. If you are in Munnar and have some time do try to visit this place. It is not anything that is grand or magnificent. It is just a piece of history that is rapidly vanishing. Go there to see it before it disappears altogether. Go there to meet these children who may be from a small village but aren't shy. Go there to rest your eyes on the landscape that must have surely changed since the days the holy men looked at it. Go there to see what a village called Muniyara looks like.
The car started its journey back to Munnar and I realized that our trip was over. Tomorrow we would be flying back to the chaos, pollution and noise of Mumbai. We made our purchases in Munnar market as the fog rolled from the valley onto the road. In no time I was back in the cottage and the little garden at the back. I was greedily looking at everything I could before the sun set - the valley, the tea garden in the distance, the trees around the cottage, the grass beneath my feet. Sure, I was going to be around tomorrow morning but I wasn't going to be here tomorrow evening. And things do look different at different times of the day, don't they? I was glad I wasn't returning home on a Sunday. It would have been impossible to get into the daily routine the next day - sort of being yanked from one planet to another. As the darkness gathered around me and the cicadas started their daily orchestra I knew it in my heart that I was going to feel like a stranger in the life that I used to call my own for a long time to come.
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