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Ha Ha so blogging has become my interest for now, I never know for how long but this is cool…. Instead of just wasting time chatting and having fun, this is good. And now that many have started to read and have given me both praises and criticisms, I feel all the more encouraged to write frequently. Yesterday I was discussing with few authorities about my educational blog in which I can have my class notes and teaching lectures published. So that’s nice for some who can easily access the net. I thought I shouldn’t confuse that with this and I am preparing for that also. Don’t know really when it will go online but definitely in the near future.

Home on the Ranges:

The following if you read are few episodes in the hills of Munnar and life in these vast areas of tea estates some years back. Any body who sojourned before say fifteen years would definitely agree to the fact that there has been a tremendous, cyclonic change in the recent past. And my childhood was especially special in this hill locked area of High Ranges. (The Munnar photos that are used here are without the permission of the owner because I didnot know who clicked these; Sorry and Thanks. They are beautifully clicked)
Since my father served as a field officer in the Tatas, I have spent the major part of my childhood days in these ranges. Chunduvarrai, where I was born is where my memory has faded about. But we lived in the PR division- PR stands for Paradise region and my mother says our house was on top of a hill and the clouds passed just below out feet. It was very scarcely populated and still it is the same and even today, only few have heard about this spectacular place. When I was young I remember my dad used to toil day and night because the company was building its first innovative Tea factory there- called Super Factory. I had to come down four kilometers to board my School bus early in the morning to take me to Kinder Garden in High Range School – The only English School at that time.
Then my father got transferred to Letchmi Estate where it would rain cats and dogs all the time. My house was entirely surrounded by tea bushes and behind my house there was a big rock which was our (my sister’s and mine) play area. There was no cable connection and none of us had a television. There were no telephone lines and no proper postal and transport services also. You wouldn’t believe if I said that we used to walk to Munnar or Sevenmally to get a transport. We got to know about my Grandmother’s death after a week she died.  And hospital facilities were even more pathetic those days.
About Vagavurrai I remember most of it because it was total fun and I had very less time ti study but play. We had to travel about 2 hours in the morning and evening to go to school and the journey made us very tired that we did not really feel like studying. So whenever we had time we went for a walk, fishing in the nearby river or picnicked to the vast areas beautified with Gulmohur and Jacaranda trees in the tea fields. I would like to add a poem that I had written in Vagavurrai when we went to the Turner’s valley before summer (here the summer is long and spring is short) and the hanging bridge in side the forests of Vagavurrai. The place is so fantastic and untouched by mankind. It is a dangerous trek though and trudge is so very steep that each step has to be a cautious one. But once you get to the top, it is an awesome view.
(Ahhh.. I should have scanned some of my old snaps that were clicked at that time… I‘ll do that soon and add them so that you can get a glimpse of the place).




In the Vicinity of summer:
The yellow sunrise falls afresh
On the tender grass lands gird
The dawn is lit and the spring is set
As the song of birds are heard

So there is a strong Aroma
Of creepers, leaves and buds,
There’s also gatherings far and near
Of butterflies, bees and birds

Lakes and ponds seem nearer now
For every eye that beholds
Water runs like silver flowing
Before it cools and moulds

The tarry tale of new born beetles
Is heard in every corner
The sound is clear as we move nigh
They are red and green in color

White and pink are mountain lilies
Blooming all the way
Bright as light, their faces smile
As they bend themselves in array

The mountain moor is seen from afar
The sunset’s seen, the glimpse is green
As the falling rays are rays of hope
They spread like sheets serene.

Silent Valley…
It is not the Silent Valley in the district of Palakkad but the one next to Guderale Estate. We lived there for four years – four long years in my teens which were so very silent but yet romantic, so very cold but not calm, just like a life in the counties of England. The winter was bitter all the years and the river next to my house had even frozen. Spring was pleasant and enjoyed one of the best climates in the world during spring. Literally there was no summer due to the heavy growth of the vegetation and thick Forests. Fishing, Cycling and playing on the bank was real fun as we had some good friends from the near by hills to visit us often. I would always compare it with Thrush Cross Grange in the “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte’.
Then we live in Mattupatty very next to the dam itself. Every morning I would rise up to see the silver stream leading to a large silver pool – The dam. We had a variety of flowering plants those days and the rose garden was the best we ever had. Elephants frequented my house and European and Siberian Birds nested below my house. Because of the marshy atmosphere animal life was predominant and the environment was always noisy. But we enjoyed every bit of it. All through the years in the ranges our life was very simple and with very less technology but we felt that we did not miss out anything in life
For each of our need we had to come to Munnar town and we had to wait for hours to get a jeep or any mode of transport for that matter. But still it was easy and never boring because every thing around us was so very natural and happening.