Of monsoon, love and freedom (Chapter 2)

Kaleidoscopic Kozhikode

I can bet if you’re not from southernmost India, you can’t pronounce this name correctly. I took utter caution to train my tongue to adjust to it before I myself adjusted to the city. Pertaining to simplicity, let’s address it by the anglicized version of “Calicut”.

The explorer inside me started maturing since the day we discovered a cascade while squandering outside the institute campus. My fellow rambler, Thakur was forced to sneak through someone’s private property behind me and so, that was the origination!

14^th May : Long time, finally sea! On the fourth day and first Saturday we dropped here, headed to what I assume the life and blood of this coastal city- the Kozhikode beach. As we neared, the anticipation started engulfing me as if I was finally going to meet that partner, I’ve been in a long-distance relationship with. The sea with its vastness opens up to you with outspread arms and all you wanna do is run to it and get enveloped within the roar of the waves. We spent that drizzling evening traversing the periphery of the beautiful well-maintained beach.

15^th May : OK Google! Places to visit near me

Top suggestion : Karoonji Mala viewpoint

If we were by the beach one afternoon, we had to summit the hills the following evening. The photos uploaded on Google were too alluring to miss this. Just when we had started descending after cursing Google having led us to the wrong spot, did a lad point us the right trail. Be it life or ascending a hill, the best view comes only after you follow the rugged paths.

If there was one thing we had learned being in the city for the past three days, it was the prerequisite of carrying an umbrella along with the moment you step out. And by the end, this sturdy investment turned out to be the most utilized and appeared prop in our pictures. By the time we reached atop the hill, it was already overcast and it seemed to start precipitating anytime soon.

It is ineffable for me to describe the panorama of one of the most breathtaking views my retinas have ever formed a picture of. It’s when you smell the air; and hear the chirping; taste the petrichor; and feel the absolute weightlessness that you see yourself melting away. You realize that five senses aren’t enough to gauge the depth of the moment that seizes you.

It’s now that you cannot argue when they designate this as God’s own Country. Perhaps, if there ever had to be a place god would ever love residing, it is here – Kerala (it’s me saying this who’s yet to explore Alleppey or Munnar or Wayanad)!

Unadulterated nature in her most beautiful incarnation dressed up in onliest and purest pigmentation of green. We stayed there long silently staring at the vast ocean of viridescence stretched out to the horizon below and before us. All of a sudden, I had this epiphany that if this was to be my last moment breathing, I would depart satisfactorily and peacefully.

I just want to relive that moment again and again and again. And I bother that moments as such ought to be penned down. I owe them my share of ink. “To write is to be puzzled a second time by one’s experience; it is also to savour it.”

Bus rides and Malayalam songs:

Just like the rain, bus rides were an integral part of our memories of Calicut. The institute is distanced from the city by almost 22 kms and the KSRTC run buses are the single affordable and unbelievably fast and efficient means of commute. During the rides to and fro, what went in a melodious sync with the lovely houses and tall buildings sprinting outside and opposite us were the Malayalam songs playing in the bus. Although, not a single word ever made sense to us, we immensely enjoyed the music throughout. At times, even Hindi evergreen hits would follow up in the queue to which we were overjoyed.

16^th May : Sarovaram Biopark

The very next morning, we went to this place situated in the city and swaying in serenity. So, as we made our way through a beautiful track enveloped from both sides by trees, rain started lashing heavily upon us. Moving on, we reached the dead end terminating to a gorgeous pond. The rippling waters demonstrating the completion of a natural cycle was a sight to behold. Along the far sides were three or four pairs of couples enjoying the weather. Meanwhile, we ignored them for the sake of their privacy and took turns to get some pictures clicked posing on the boardwalk.

Rain ceased by the time we reverted back the track to reach the main entrance to the park. We strolled through and across many paths; until in an attempt to find the exit way we ended up following a pathway both of us wished badly we shouldn’t have turned to! The benches lined up on both sides were occupied by pairs of love birds each turned opposite to the pathway squeezed beneath umbrellas. We felt so out of place overwhelmed by awkwardness that we started desperately rushing towards what we assumed led us towards the exit. Later on, I’d recount this incident to my friends who found the episode really hilarious.