IN DAD'S OWN COUNTRY....GOD'S TOO :)

A trip through Kerala....to Malabar, my dad's land and a stop by in Triprayar...my mother's little dot on the map...seen through my Kodak lens.. Just testing my camera.... first pointed towards the sky...then downwards... The hyacinths floating across the river....painting even the river green, they hurry along with the currents but the glide is oh- so- beautiful....and when the purple flowers make an appearance, its prettier... You know you have reached Triprayar when you cross 'This little bridge over our own little Kwai' and across you see the majestic Triprayar temple....I sat on the steps of the temple, feeding the fishes....its called Meen oottu...one of my favourite rituals unique to the temple here.

When I was a child, I had fond memories of fishes... that came to nibble on the rice being dropped....Tiny little squiggles they were then...then you could stand on the lowest step and feel the fishes nibble on your feet as you dropped the little bits of rice...Now they are huge fat little monsters and there is even a little bar that prevents you from walking till the last steps....I couldn't capture the fishes but see the rumble of the waters as they flap their fins... And then I got distracted by the view across the river.....My dad dreams of building a little house by the river here...Now so do I...nestled among the coconut groves...with the gentle breeze and sunny skies...And the break over....our car chugs on....destination: Arakkuparambu in Perinthalmanna in the picturesque and forest covered Malappuram district of Kerala..Along the way...at all the temples visited, I once again saw an art, they say is dying...typically Kerala - the temple art is practised by trained local artists who used only vegetable dyes to produce this....in most temples, the centuries old art lies mold ridden and ruined...neglected..unfortunately photography is not allowed inside the sanctum sanctorum where I have seen some of the best works... The journey continues, northwards....Malabar is a blur as we speed along...But the greens change hue...its deeper, the contrasts starker...the terrain gets hilly...and as we climb up one and go down the others, I realise why this is God's favourite nook in the whole universe...his own land....

The Sunlight streams through foliage, painting some green, yet others greener..while the thickets embrace darkness.... Thats a little abode created for snake gods...another kerala touch...the sarpakkavu at Dad's tharavadu temple.. Behind the sarppakavu are rubber trees....where little drops of white rubber go drip drip into little coconut shells all year long... The little green lane...off the oft trodden track.. Anywhere you turn and press the shutter, you find a frame... Red bricks....the little building blocks of memories for any true blue Mallu... after incessant rains, the ground had turned slippery....the green of the moss in stark contrast to the weather-stained red bricks... And just as I turned the corner...there far below, nearly half a hill down lay a pond...Even as my feet tickled to dip my feet into it, came my father's nostalgic description....'When I was a child these steps used to lead to the coldest pond in the whole universe...' That little child is now 63 years old, but the enthusiasm in his voice - ageless. It was my first trip to dad's land....discovering a little patch of the soil...lush, steeped in history..