I was reading Amitabh Bachchan's blog last night and in it he mentioned that he was at an award function in Cochin, Kerala. That set me thinking about my own experiences with Kerala.
I was born and raised in Mumbai but my parents are from Kerala. Every summer vacation we would make a trip to Kerala since my grandparents lived there. Sadly, as a child, I never appreciated those trips as much as I should have. The question to my parents always was...Why do we have to go there every summer vacation? And now, years later when I am here in the US and look forward eagerly to summer holidays so I can make a trip to India to see my parents...I have the answer to that question.
I truly started appreciating the beauty of Kerala when I had the opportunity to visit the place with my best friend and her mom just months before I got married. I consider myself very lucky to have made that trip....as that trip was an eye-opener. As the train rolled into Kerala, I sat up and noticed how beautiful the place was. Greenery as far as you could see...the green of the trees, the green of the fields, the green landscape...Beautiful!
During that trip, we visited several places in Kerala...the Kovalam beach (the first time in my life that I had seen a beach with water as blue as that), many sightseeing places in Ernakulam (each more beautiful than the other), some villages there (so simple yet so beautiful). And I realized just how much I had missed out on appreciating the beauty of Kerala during all the visits I had made there as a child.
After my marriage, we were able to visit Kerala only twice. Both the times, as we stepped out of the airport at Cochin, we could not stop admiring the greenery around us. During both the visits we spent 3-4 days at resorts in Kerala.
The first resort was at Cherai Beach. That was a wonderful experience. In the morning, we took long walks on the beach....In the afternoon, we indulged in the mouth-watering fish dishes prepared by the cooks at the resort...In the evening we played on the beach with our son...As nighttime approached, we enjoyed the sunset at the beach....And all day long, we simply feasted our eyes at the greenery around us.
The second resort was at Athirapally waterfalls (Yes, also the location for Mani Ratnam's movie 'Raavan'...in fact, they were shooting for the movie nearby while we were at the resort). The scenic beauty of this place cannot be described in words. As we sat outside our room, we could see tall mountains, the lush green forest and the river flowing by. So peaceful!
I have seen many places in India and US which have a lot of greenery. But for me the color GREEN will always mean Kerala...the place where I spent many a summer holidays, the place teeming with tall coconut trees, the place famous for its backwaters, the place where my parents spent their childhood, the place aptly called 'God's own country'.
Signing off thinking about the natural beauty of Kerala and this passing thought..
'Did you know that the National Geographic Society described Kerala as one of the 50 must see destinations of a lifetime?'
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