Friday, July 01, 2005

My Weekend Trip !!

Sorry for the delay guys , this post did take some time coming. It can be partly attributed to the fact that I had gone to my native place, Cochin, last weekend. Yes, that is exactly what this post is going to be about ! :) I am a malayalee but I was born and brought up in chennai. Thus we always made it a point to visit our native place atleast once every year. Most of my cousins and their families, are settled in Kerala. I have attached some pics that I took on my phone when i was there. The kids in the second snap, they are my cousins.. Absolutely adorable!!

Kerala is one of the most breath-taking places in our country, no doubt! Everything you see there, is so natural. The place where we stay in kerala, my cousin's house, is in a remote part of town, a typical village. But its fun all the same. Life is so different in those parts. Every house would be separated from its neighbour, by atleast 300 metres ! In chennai, u can expect atleast 3-4 buildings within this area! Each house is surrounded by paddy fields, small canals with 'always on the move' water, lots of trees etc etc. You wont believe, most of the houses grow their own vegetables, and hence rarely do these people goto the markets!


The Lifestyle there is so different from what we are used to, in the cities. By around 8pm, all shops are closed and life almost comes to a halt! Houses are no longer lit up, streetlights are also switched off!! All of a sudden, the whole place just goes silent. Believe me, a walk on the 'roads' at this time can seriously send a few shivers down your spine. But when I say 'quiet', its only the sounds of human habitation that are missing. This is the time when all the insects, frogs, snakes, etc etc in kerala come to life! They are all very much alive and they make it known to every passerby, that they are alive!! Spotting a snake crawling along the road side, is no rare sight in Kerala. People there are pretty used to it, and the snakes are jus allowed to carry on :) Pretty scary isnt it! The very sight of snakes and i'm off like a rocket :) According to the people there, unless you stamp on them unknowingly, they will not bother you. I guess its very true but then, this is not the time for experiments!!


In short, I spent a lovely 3 days at Cochin and it was a much needed break from my daily work routine! If anyone is looking for a holiday spot, to spend quality time, make a trip to Kerala. You'll realise why its called "God's Own Country!". By the way, I do not have any tie-up with the Kerala tourism board or somethin like that!!! :-)

19 comments:

ioiio said...

I wish i had a house like that

Ram Subramanian said...

looks good!! are those your cousins in the pics ??

karma said...

Kerala..hmmmm..my native is tenkasi which the other side of western ghats. My aunt vouches that it takes only 4 hours to trivandrum from there. Anyway, I do know the greenary..it should have been awesome..enjoy!

johnny boy said...

ioiio -> True, thats a really nice house. Its my cousin brother's house. Its got a very traditional look with all modern facilities!

rama -> Yeah da, They are my niece and nephews actually. They were making faces at me, when i clicked the snap :-) itz come out cute!

johnny boy said...

aravind -> Yes i did have a nice time! You should definitely make a trip across the ghats when u get an opportunity. You'll love it...

divyasurendiran said...

Beautiful house, John.
I have been to kerala a few times and i enjoy looking at the scenery .The houses , trees - everything looks nice.And i really like the way malayalam sounds :)

johnny boy said...

:) @ Divya

ada-paavi!!!! said...

kerala, super place, lots of forest cover, i miss tat in chennai, chennaiilla only place close to tat is IIT and theosophical society,

monu said...

i have been to kerala and loved it..loved the villages more....
:)

johnny boy said...

@vatsan -> Very true, kerala is green, whichever direction you look in! I agree with you, I really miss that natural scenary in Chennai. Cant complain tho, with this climate even humans are findin it difficult to survive, leave alone trees :-)

johnny boy said...

@monu -> Then you'll love the place where we stay in Kerala :-) Its a very remote part of the state, but really breathtaking.. Its very nice for a change, but if u live there, after being in the city for 20yrs, you might not like it that much. For a change, it is perfect! :-)

ioiio said...

I have never been to any part of kerala daa.. I dunno whether I would be able to go anytime soon..

johnny boy said...

Sathya, next time you come down to India, make a trip to Kerala. Don worry daa , angey thaan irrukkum, odi pogadhu :-) But seriously plan a visit sometime!

யாத்ரீகன் said...

just cant resist thinkin about the 3 months spend in Trivandrum and the hell lot of trips we made to many places in Kerala....

Kalaar,Thenmazha,Cochin,...... wonderful place...

and not to mention the Oonam celebs and the Oonam spl food we had in a traditional mallu house ;-)

krishna said...

nice snaps dude..

do keep 'em comming in ur upcomming posts..

johnny boy said...

@Senthil -> Could not agree with you more.. The places u mentioned, are really nice, nature at its best! Adding on to some hot spots in kerala -> Alleppey, Munnar, Thekkadi, Idukki, Kodanaad... And the list goes on :)
Onammm, now don remind me!! Yummm :)

johnny boy said...

@krishna -> Thanx mate... Yeah i'll definitely add more snaps on my upcoming posts!! :)

Anonymous said...

gr8 house.....and kidullam cousins....i totally agree with u on kerala.......gr8 place..though not much happenning.....

johnny boy said...

Thanks Greeshma... Yeah its a lovely place no doubt. There is nothin 'happening' about the place, which in a way adds to the beauty :-)
Life is so serene and one gets to live life in the midst of nature's own splendor!