Palakkad
PALAKKAD
Time stands still. You are on a rewind when you visit even after 35 years, like what happened to me. Nothing much has changed and the locations bring back your childhood. This place will not disappoint you, if you are the nostalgic kind.
Soft Carnatic music in the air from young girls learning in the typical brahmin agraharams in grahmams like Kalpathy, Sekaripuram, and Tarekkad. Young men sitting on the Tinnai , eyeing girls going for bath in the puzha( river) in Kalpathy. Sweet sound of temple bells as pooja is in progress. Old women with wet clothes after bath in the river, circumbulating the temple with mantrams on their lips. Govt.Victoria college with its overgrown grass and the hugh tree in the college ground underwhich many a young men have watched exciting cricket matches after cutting classes. Call of barbets. White wings of herons as they fly and settle in fields with the mountain background. Views of hills with mist covering the tops, as Mangalore Mail passes old Olavakkod junction. Vendors selling green and red coloured halwa, banana chips, pazha bajji.
You have to be a Palakkadan to appreciate these. There are no dearth of them. Many of them, living all over the world have expressed these sentiments, be it Mr.Gangadharan in Mumbai, or Mr. Vasudevan in Newyork. They would give their right arm to spend a week in Palakkad to enjoy these scenes, sounds and nostalgia. Why Kerala tourism Dept is not tapping this potential for a good cultural tour ?
K.Jayaraman( Jay)
Time stands still. You are on a rewind when you visit even after 35 years, like what happened to me. Nothing much has changed and the locations bring back your childhood. This place will not disappoint you, if you are the nostalgic kind.
Soft Carnatic music in the air from young girls learning in the typical brahmin agraharams in grahmams like Kalpathy, Sekaripuram, and Tarekkad. Young men sitting on the Tinnai , eyeing girls going for bath in the puzha( river) in Kalpathy. Sweet sound of temple bells as pooja is in progress. Old women with wet clothes after bath in the river, circumbulating the temple with mantrams on their lips. Govt.Victoria college with its overgrown grass and the hugh tree in the college ground underwhich many a young men have watched exciting cricket matches after cutting classes. Call of barbets. White wings of herons as they fly and settle in fields with the mountain background. Views of hills with mist covering the tops, as Mangalore Mail passes old Olavakkod junction. Vendors selling green and red coloured halwa, banana chips, pazha bajji.
You have to be a Palakkadan to appreciate these. There are no dearth of them. Many of them, living all over the world have expressed these sentiments, be it Mr.Gangadharan in Mumbai, or Mr. Vasudevan in Newyork. They would give their right arm to spend a week in Palakkad to enjoy these scenes, sounds and nostalgia. Why Kerala tourism Dept is not tapping this potential for a good cultural tour ?
K.Jayaraman( Jay)
posted by Jayaraman @ 10:24 PM
2 Comments:
At 9:42 PM,
Jay said…
Excellent narrative, Jay. Reading it, I was transported to Palakkad for a while.
Thank you!
At 7:09 AM,
Jayaraman said…
Palakkadan is always a Palakkadan
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