Chapter 34......A Trip to Kodai

Mar-April 1995

Our trip is a "Go". Unfortunately, and unlike our senior batch who went to Ooty, we will be escorted by a Physio Assistant Professor. She is very mild mannered though, so even if her presence threatens to cramp our style in theoretical terms,practically it won't make a difference.
That's the theory anyway.

There is Moa, our resident guitarist complete with guitar. Vinay, Condom, Chakma and of course the others like Ash, Naru, Monkey, Bhatla and Reddy. Then there is a whole gang of girls whom we don't care too much about and the Day Scholar gang, who are thrilled to leave the confines of home and step out into the big, bad world of Kodaikanal.

Kodai is a fair distance away and will take about 9-10 hours of a bus ride to get there. The last 2 hours, I'm told, is in the Nilgiri mountains with just flat plains in the 1st part.
We assemble on the road outside Lister House and get into our bus. There are about 60 of us, most of whom have no intention of making it a peaceful, comfortable journey.

The bus ride is fine. Flat roads do not lend themselves well to excitement so we make our own. Songs are sung, mostly badly. Guitars are played, mostly awesomely. Random gossip is exchanged. Pharm Test results are bandies about, something I stay away from. Condom still mumbles about his "Moon".
Some formed "pairs" sit together, glad to get some "together time".
Mostly it's a noisy, raucous blend of nonsense and sense. Like any College bus trip.

Trundling along, the Sun rises somewhere and I learn that we will stop in Trichy for breakfast and some important loo issues.
Things get interesting here.
We stop at a local place for our quota of coffee, idlis, dosas etc. Vinay, Condom, Moa and I are sitting munching away, when someone, either Condom or Vinay (I forget who) get into a fight and Condom ends up throwing a glass of water on Vinay
That is it.
They stop talking. Totally. And I'm in the middle of a cold war again.

There is no thawing on the bus inspite of an increasingly hot morning. Around 7 or so, we start the ascent into Kodai.
The scenery changes dramatically. The Nilgiris are not particularly high especially compared to the Himalayas next to my bedroom window at home but the hills are carpeted in green, the shade varying with the rolling mist coming from above. There are cascading waterfalls to see, cool, fresh air to feel (Non A/C bus) and the promise of a promised land to step into.

About 30 mins from Kodai and my stomach starts rumbling. Just a small warning rumble, but a rumble nevertheless. The constant turns and gear changing jerky movements of the bus are not helping. We arrive into Kodai where I spot a loo, make the driver stop and run into a loo at a petrol station.
It's the filthiest loo in the world, but when a man's gotta go, he's gotta go man.

Our sleeping digs are in a Convent which has been duly emptied of it''s regular occupants. It's really cold here and temperatures can dip down into single digits at night. Luckily, we have alcohol and clothes to warm us up. We are put up in a big hall where we put our sheets and pillows. The loos are outside, involving a brisk 1 minute walk in freezing temperatures to get anything done.
The view is lovely, rolling hills and meadows, flowers and trees. Birds chirping, monkeys roaming (Not really, the monkey bit).

Kodai is a small town. A very small town. There is an International school here, KIS, and so to cater the international crowd, there is good international cuisine to be found. The main road is short and narrow and leads to the lake which is massive...
The lake is surrounded by green hills and there is a road circling it, about 6 kms in total. On the first day, after settling in, we head off to town, stopping by the side of a Golf Course to take a few photos. (In the Photos page). Some of us dive in for an English Breakfast and others head off in scattered directions. Our escort from Physio is good enough to say that she will not interfere in what we do as long as we stay out of trouble and that is fine with us.

The lake is perfect for boating. The only problem is though, it's a row boat and until today, the only boats I'd been on had motors. Moa takes the lead. Boy, can he row.
Rowing is very tough. I find out first hand. There is Vinod, Moa, me and Vinay and we are nearly stranded in the middle of the lake because no one except Moa can row. On the other hand, it's sheer bliss lazing on a boat being rowed by someone else, with a warm sun gently beating down. With sheer green hills on all sides.

Soon after, we hire bicycles in the hope of circumnavigating the lake road. For some reason, I find it very difficult to ride mine and the damn thing will hardly move.
2 kms of frantic effort later, I discover my cycle has a puncture.
Dragging a punctured cycle 2 kms is just not fun.

In the evening, we chill out on the lakefront. It's close to dark and very peaceful.. (More Photo on the photo page).

The next day, we hear of something called "Guna Caves" and "Devil's Pillars" which sounds exciting and so we go.
The Devil's Pillars are massive rock formations but their relationship to the Devil are unclear. The whole class makes the trip and at the end it involves a bit of scrambling down some rocks and mud with a sheer drop not far away. I have altitude phobia and this makes me slow and really careful.
Right next to the pillars are some caves where I am told Kamalhasan did some film shooting recently.
Already slightly tachycardic from my high altitude adventures, I give this one a miss but a number of other guys go in exploring some caves, none venturing too far inside.

The day ends as usual..with dinner somewhere followed by a small party in the Convent at night.

Our last day is a trip to a waterfall and some "jungle" trekking which takes us to a lovely spot at the base of a hill. Time in waterfalls is spent as it should be, and we trek back, stopping for tea, beer and photos. (See photo page).

Too soon, it's time to leave. Our bus will leave at 4 AM which means that we need to go to the loo a few feet outside at 3 AM, the coldes part of the day. The bathing rooms gave large tubs with water ice-cold (no geyser) and so after nakinbg this dash, we spend 5 freezing minutes waiting and 30 freezing seconds getting drenched with cold water.
And then we are off........

Funny how trips from holidays are nowhere near as exciting as the trip going to one.

10 hours later, we are back. Sigh.

PS: I found later that this trip became the seed for many a class relationship........Trips with benefits.

(And please check out the photos of the trip on the photo page if you like)..