103/100
#100sareepact
Kerala !!!
Breathes there the man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said
This is my own
My native land
I set foot in God’s own country and unbeknown to me these lines somehow echo in my mind .
When people ask me where i am from I usually say I work and live in Bombay . Which is not really fair for I breathe I exist I am because of Bombay .
Then I think of Delhi which has my soul in its grip . I grew up in Delhi , went to school and college in Delhi and every time I go there I am lost and never want to leave.
Then I come to Kerala and be it Trivandrum , where I was born ; in my mother’s parents’ home or Trichur were my father grew up or Cochin where my uncles have lived for years or Calicut where I am today on work and where my brother in law’s home is and my husband studied , then my heart does a flip flop and the very air sings in my ears and the coconut palms sway to an intoxicating beat and the power of the pull of the spirits of generations of my ancestors is tough to resist . Phew ! Too many prepositions say Wren and Martin but it’s ok , you get my drift right ?
The minute I walk out of Arrivals in Calicut , no , let me say the sweet sounding Kozhikode, which no one beyond the banks of the Periyar can even attempt to pronounce the magic hits me . Nestled amidst coconut palm covered hills the airport itself is so beautiful as you land in it . ( sad memories of a plane that overshot the runway and crashed) .
The men in their spotless white veshtis and shirts , one end of the starched veshti held up with oh so much panache , the sound of mellifluous Malayalam and the sea breeze even up there .
My volunteers are here to pick me up and the day is planned . A day off in the midst of everything . I ask them how come they all managed to get the day off and they exclaim in chorus Amma its Sunday !!!
I have been spinning and truly have no idea of the days .
They whisk me off to Wayanad , that beautiful place up in the Western Ghats that borders with the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu and the Coorg district of Karnataka . I am given only time to change into my saree .
It is pure coincidence that yesterday’s Navaratri colour was Orange . This vermillion with yellow horizontal pin stripes with a narrow little border with yellow thread is another old well worn handloom from Amethyst in Madras . The guys , delighted I changed from jeans to saree would not believe it was not new . They have been following my saree pact posts regularly and were eager pact photographers today ensuring all the scenic views were captured to showcase the Saree , their Amma and their Naadu.
Getting to the top was what all the fun was about and it gave me time to catch up with each of them and how they’ve been doing over many stops to eat , shoot and pose 🙂