The dry day and toast of life!

Ramarkalmedu - Iduki Dist, Kerala

I was taking a road trip to off-beat locations with my friend in western ghats of Kerala in this south west monsoon season. Gusty winds, monsoon torrential rains, and cold weather forced us to take a pitch stop in a small quintessential town called Thookupalam on Ramakalmedu - Thekkday-Munnar route. Being a Saturday and after a long drive, we decided to make some generous contribution to Kerala State Beverages Corporation (KSBC) to cherish our nostalgic college days and our present lives in this reunion trip. 

Bestie

To our disappointment, the KSBC outlets are closed in entire Kerala since it was a dry day. My friend started complaining about the government policies and even argued that, closing KSBC outlets is a crime on weekends. Our inner spirits never dampened; we were sooner on Plan - B to find the beverages in black. After a few hours, all our exercise went in futile. And at last we made our mind and accepted the fact, it's real dry day. 

Enroute to Thookupalam

Later we settled in a restaurant to have our dinner. Though it's small, the restaurant was well-maintained, and clean. The hotel waiter served us hot pinkish red color water which was herbal flavored in a glass. We sipped the glass of flavored colored water smiling at each other. The water is usually called, Dahamukthi, Keralities ancient practices before the invention of Aquaguards, and packaged drinking water. We ordered authentic Kerala cusines of kanji (boiled rice porridge), chammanthi (chutney), with pickles. 

The new age entrepreneur without fancy MBA degree 

The propertier of the hotel in mid-40's had a smiling face, and he was very much cordial and hospitable too. He kept on moving from each table ensuring the customers are enjoying his authentic kerala cusines and satisfied with his services. He came to our table with that jubilant smile for casual conversation. He came to know that I am vegan on Saturdays, and he took extra special care to serve many vegetarian thoorans. I thought the man would have mastered the art of hospitality from a very professional campus. To my surprise, he never crossed his high school education. The food was exceptionally tasty,  authentic, and served hot with lots of comfort and love in the monsoon nights. He even recommended the best spots for sunrise the next day. 

KEERTHI - The life changer

While about to leave; I noticed the sign board reading "KEERTHI HOTEL". I quickly recalled his name as Binu from our earlier conversation, and I felt this KEERTHI name was an unusual name for a malayalee. I was curious to dig the story behind. I asked Binu, who is Keerthi? And I went on to guess,  Is it your Mom? It was no. Is it your wife? It was no. Is it your daughter? Again it was no. Is it your first love? He laughed his lungs out, and said Nooooo. This made me even more curious, and he smiled at me and asked  do you have time to hear my story. I said, I'm all ears to listen to his story.

At the age of 12, Binu dropped out from school. His poor family background forced him to take up jobs to support his family financial needs. He moved across many cities across Kerala for better income.  Lastly he joined at a hotel in kannur as a waiter for a meager salary. The hotel was run by a professor couple. The professor was impressed by his hard work and sincerity. Sooner Binu become the part of the hotel and professor family. Meanwhile Binu learnt the hotel business acumen, operations, cooking, customer handling skills, crisis handling tactics, goods procurement, negotiation skills, teamwork and all nitty-gritty of restaurant and food industry. 

The networks in God's own country!

One fine day, Binu decided to quit his job and decided to start a hotel in his home town,  Thookupalam. The professor couple was very much happy; they blessed Binu for more prosperity in his life. Binu decided to dedicate the new venture to the professor, whose name was - KEERTHI MON. The professor initially objected to this, and he recommended Binu to have the name of God or his family members to the hotel. Binu was firm on his stance. One fine day, the KEERTHI hotel was inaugurated by KEERTHI, the professor and Binu’s life mentor. 15+ years rolled on, Binu succeeded as an entrepreneur and now employs twelve people in his hotel, serving authentic and tasty Kerala cuisines. Even today Binu and Keerthi have a special bonding visiting each other on festive occasions.  

Toast of life!

This entire story was an eye opener for me in two dimensions. 

1) Binu's highest regard for his guru from whom he learnt his valuable life lessons. Keerthi was a real inspirational common man, who touched and changed a life of an ordinary person and his family. People like Keerthi live in our society silently, enlightening and empowering people and their families.

2) Though being poor, Binu managed to live, sustain and succeed in his motherland, without having the intention and obligation of flying to Gulf countries for greener pastures like any other mindset of Keralities. 

Though it was dry day, Binu's story was a reason to say cheers and raise the toast of life for me!

Osho City!

End of March 2018. The sun had started its power play in southern India. Mahaveer Jeyanthi & Good Friday fetched long weekend holidays across the country. This is one of the advantages of living in a secular country. As usual, I made a last minute plan to hit the road. My bestie, Athul hailing from God’s own country, who is an aspiring singer/actor and also acquires the knowledge of drug formulations and interactions for various diseases joined me in this trip. 

DSP with Athul.

Confused with three destinations on the mind, my inner compass pointed towards Pune, the city of the young population often referred to as Oxford of the East. A couch surfer from the city accepted to host us in his apartment. A host in a metropolitan city is a blessing for these reasons 

1) No need to spend much time checking the hotel reviews in make my trip, tripadvisor, trivago

2) A Well-wisher in an unknown place with similar interest in traveling

3) A chance to explore the city like a person from the place itself 

4) Lastly, save your time in swiping ATM cards in POS machines. (Hope you got what I mean to convey)

Typical Adda in Pune

Christopher, my couch surfing host had a spacious flat in Salunke Vihar road. He received us warmly in his apartment. Being in the event management profession, Chris was busy most of the times. The flat was located amidst green spaces in a residential area with some commercial establishments. I liked the small-joint eateries and cafes in Pune serving Chai, Coffee, and snacks. These joints are flocked by youngsters, and adults sneaking in for a cup of chai, conversations and cigar dose. Chris took us to one of his regular adda for brunch. We spent a couple of hours in the adda, ordering a few cups of masala chai every 15 minutes. We hadn’t done homework regarding the trip to Pune. I was thinking of having a very leisurely time in Pune. Athul was on his heels to hit the road soon. Chris helped us to hire a bike in Koregon Park, one of the most affluent locality in Pune. Soon, we are on the road towards Sinhagad fort sneaking the Pune traffic. 

Backwaters of Khadakwasla

We took a small break in the backwaters of Khadakwasla dam entroute Sinhagad. The dam was built in river mose, with backwaters spreading across 20kms. The dam was almost full to its storage capacity. Weekenders on bike and car were playing with waters. It was evening already, realizing the gates to the Sinhagad fort would be closed sooner, we left from the backwaters. The Marathi hamlets were picturesque with typical agrarian touches. As expected, the forest guard in the foothills of fort stopped us mentioning the visitor’s time has been closed for the day.  We were not disappointed though, as we already knew how to manage the situation. I produced my para-military dependent identity card from my wallet to the gentlemen. After a few minutes of conversation, the guard let us go inside the sayadhri ghats. 

Valley view from Sahyadri!

The roads leading to the fort was completely deserted. We reached the Darwaza of the fort, we found the steps leading to the main fort was very much steep, and the villagers were closing their shacks. Standing on the imposing fort perched on Sahyadri mountain ranges, we watched the sun in its twilight diffusing in the west as usual with golden red and orange shades. It was pitch dark, by the end of the  day, we completed exploring the fort, its bastions, ammunition storage complex, military horse stables, memorial of Tanaji Malsure, the great warrior and military leader in the army of Shivaji Maharaj. 

Roads in Rajmachi ghats

Next day, we started our trip in the Pune-Mumbai expressway towards Lonavala-Khandala. Driving through the expressway was an adrenalin filled experience, as superbikes and luxury cars ply between Mumbai and Pune frequently. After roaming around Lonavala & Khandala scenic ghats, we drove towards Rajmachi fort. The road was smooth for a  few kilometers. The roads disappeared as we entered the thick forest. I was flabbergasted on seeing the colossal luxury bungalows with boulevards, grape yards, and Bollywood movie studios in the middle of the jungle where there were no proper roads. Athul was driving crazily in the wilderness, as I was checking the GPS to reach the fort. We crossed military Jungle Warfare training camp approach road and went further deep into the jungle for more than an hour. A strange feeling gripped us, we sensed that we are lost in the trail. With no GPS signal, we parked our bike to seek any human intervention.  With no hopes of seeing anyone around, we gathered all our guts to proceed further. Finally, we reached a tribal village in the middle of nowhere with thatched mud houses. To our surprise, all the houses were locked, a few kids were playing on the mud. 

Rajmachi fort

On seeing us, an old man approached near our bike. I asked him, the directions to reach Rajmachi fort. He replied in Marathi making hand gestures to another mountaintop adjacent to the village.  I was stunned completely and started chuckling.  Nevertheless, we didn't give up. We continued our mud trail towards the adjacent hill. We spotted a huge grey langur more than five feet sitting in the middle of the road. I was scared for a second while Athul was driving confidently ahead. As we drew closer to it, the langur jumped into the deep valley holding the barks of a huge tree. Our hearts skipped beating for a second. We drove back till the jungle warfare camp, crossed many rivulets and streams, and braved many boulders to reach the base of Rajmachi fort. It was mid-day already and it was scorching hot.    We quenched our thirst from a water spring under a shady rock. I refilled the bottle with natural spring water for rest of the day. We finally made it to Rajmachi peak in March, an unusual season, skipping the much-recommended monsoon. We didn't care about the weather, the season, the tough terrains, the mud roads, the scorching sun, the lost GPS, the lost direction, and the huge langur. The determination and our exploring spirits made us reach the destination peak of Rajmachi against all these hurdles. Of course, some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost.  We reached Pune by evening after exploring Bushi dam, Lions point, Tigers point, and Amby Valley. 

High in Social!

Exploring nightlife in Pune was one of our trip agenda. Our host Chris, arranged our tickets for BAR HOP at Phoenix Market city in Viman Nagar road that night. Hopping seven affluent bars, ten drinks, two bar bites, live music performance by Yasa music band for just Rs. 699/- was a jackpot. After many dress trails, style-conscious Athul settled in a dark blue shirt and denim for the night. The band was slow for a Saturday night. Next, we hit the Social pub. The ambiance was perfect for the night, jam-packed crowd, with high decibel music and dance floor. Pune’s social ambiance resonates with college campus theme with a lecture gallery style seating, pages from discarded college notebooks adoring the walls, and the city of Pune map on the floor. With Margarita and Trip on the drip shots, we hit the dance floor. As time evaded, the crowd went high on drinks and dance. The tables went high to the ceiling with the help of suspended strings; making more space to dance.  Few hours of unwinding is social, second day came to an end. 

City & Sex

We woke up to a mild hangover of tequilas shots. We took some time to explore the local Pune city and Shaniwarwada palace, fortification of Peshwas of Maratha empire. The palace was built using stones, lime minerals, and teak wood. The palace was featured in Bollywood film "Bajirao Mastani" starring Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, and PC.  Osho Garden in Koregaon park was our next stop to explore. 

Osho in Garden!

My Pune trip would not be complete without stepping in any of the Osho affiliation centers. Osho Garden is a beautiful 12-acre park created on a wasteland closer to Osho Ashram. The sewage water is treated systematically by filtering the solid garbage waste using iron grills. The slightly filtered water is made to course over the land for maximum oxygenation of water with water hyacinths. Fish like Gambusia and Silver carps in the water get nourished by the pollutants and mosquito larvae in the filtered oxygenated water. Then the water passes through the sand filter, making the water almost pure for irrigation. This water flows in the park as a small natural stream on the rocks. The sun rays reflect on these waters passing through the dense foliage. The park was silent and serene for a relaxed stroll and meditation.  Osho sculptures adore the park for inspiration and peace.  

Enlightened Osho in Pune!

I was longing to visit Osho Ashram for many years. But I am waiting for the right time to step into the world of Osho to experience the blissfulness.  Since my adolescent days, Rajneesh always induced an ultra-sense sexual curiosity in me. He was portrayed badly as a sex cult; people reading and following him are seen contrarily. I was attracted to his appealing doped eyes. Moreover speaking about Rajneesh was considered offensive in my high school days. This offensiveness aroused a curiosity in me; started reading about him in secret whenever I get the opportunity. I was amazed at reading his book titled, The Ultimate Alchemy, and he writes - So really it happens that the more sexual a person is, the more inventive he can be. The more sexual a person is, the more intelligent. With less sex energy, less intelligence exists; with more sexual energy, more intelligence, because sex is a deep search to uncover, not only bodies, not only the opposite sex body but everything that is hidden. Since then I have to conclude sex makes you intelligent, more sex makes you more intelligent. 

With mindfulness of Osho, I continue to search the hidden trails in all my journeys. 

P.S : Those who expected something sleaziest content in my article after reading the title, I have to remind them once again, "Dont judge the book by its cover"

Special thanks to 

Couch Surfer - Mr Christopher for hosting me in Pune

Toast Master - Mr Balaji Ramasamy, Bangalore for editing my article