13th February 2013

Summer Heat, Indian History, Afsal Guru, Interview Blues and the list goes on and it was taking a toll on my peace of mind. I wanted to fly away and listen to the sound of my inner soul, connect to mother nature and feel Bliss.

During my lunch i had this inner call, "Okay Happy take your Shehzaadhi, lets ride to Bonocaud".
Bonocaud...!!! Seriously?
Why am i thinking so much? Is this because of the thing called Maturity? I am or was crazy about Traveling. I never think so much on traveling to a new place and exploring.

Step-Out. Explore. Discover. That is the Mantra.

14:30 Hours
Next thing i know is Shehzaadhi and I are riding towards Boncaud via Nedumangad and Vithura.
After Vithura it was a lonely ride ahead for another 8 kilometers, just saw a few houses and people, then i reached the forest Check-post at Vazhuvanthol. From here on we start climbing the hill through hair-pin curves and Forest cover. The ride was spooky and scary as i was riding alone and the journey reminded me of the movie "The Blair witch project". I could hear the sounds of birds chirping, the rustling of leaves, the thump of my bike and My Heart-beat. From the Check-post to Bonacaud its a 10 km ride which takes around 25-30 minutes to reach. About 2 years back Karthik, Sri and I came to Vazhuvanthol waterfalls and also tried to visit Bonacaud, but because of Mist and Downpour the visibility was poor and we had to return back halfway through.

After a few minutes past 4 i reached the village named Bonacaud. I stopped by the tea-shop which is the first building welcoming us to the village. The Shop looks more or less like an antique museum with those big old fashioned glass-jars, few packets of some unknown snacks, muffins (Looks like that). I spotted a few men inside the tea-shop having idli and sambar, from their costumes i could tell that these guys had come there to trek to Agasthyakoodam. [FYI: Bonacaud is the last stop till which vehicles are allowed; from here on you have to trek all the way to Agasthyakoodam]

And i decided to have a tea, While the Tea was getting prepared i had a casual chat with the guy who was hungrily eating up the idlis as if he hasnt eaten anything for days! He told me about the Old Factory ahead, which is worth photographing. Within 2-3 minutes my tea was served and Oh God! I realized people running the Tea-Shop has no intention of making "Happy Customers". I gulped the tea and set off toward the factory.

On the way to the factory i spotted a few villagers who looked like tamilians, even the man who was running the tea-shop had a slight tamil slang in his malayalam. I also spotted the Bonacaud's very own post-office. As i rode towards the factory, i was expecting an old abandoned, spooky building. When i reached the factory it had all the elements what i had visualized in my head with lots of posters of political parties, flags, slogans. Just another victim of aggressive election campaign. Then i saw a man, in his 40s, listening to a group of people ( i guess the factory employees). I walked around the place and discovered that the Factory has a name, "Mahavir Plantations Limited". I spend a few minutes around the factory, clicked few pictures and returned back to Tea-Shop. I had to collect the balance money of the tea i gulped, later i thought i'll have one more tea. While the man was making Tea, i enquired about the place and for how long he has been running the shop

                         

Bonacaud, is a Tea-Estate established by Britishers. Tea-shop owner's grandfather was the first generation that worked in the tea-estate, the tea-shop owner is more than 60 years old now. His son had moved out in-search of better life and better opportunities. But he is still living in this place which is the only world he knows. There are around 200 people living in Bonacaud now. Most of them older folks, the third generation workers. The younger lot has moved to green leaving behind their older folks. They are still attached to something here. They dont even have basic facilities like clinic, doctor, school, or a proper shop.. By the looks of the ruined buildings, Bonacaud looks like a Ghostly town. Truly Bonacaud is a world disconnect from The world.

                          

Once i finished my second cup of Tea, it was around five and it was getting darker. And it was wise to start off early. Ride back was a pleasant one. My mind was more clear now, though filled with lot of thoughts, but it was more like a canvas with a beautiful painting.

Bonacaud is dying. Once upon a time Young Men and Women came here with dreams and Made the dreams of the Britishers into a reality. Can sense that the souls of these people are still living here embracing the past.

I bid good bye to this estate promising my return one day...

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All were eager to see the needles in their watches to reach 12:30Pm... Oh god... the tight scheduled seventh semester B.Tech exams came to a much awaited end... Phew...!!!

After a few scheduling, re-scheduling & planning we reached Kabab restaurant at pattom to take our lunch & celebrate the day. Me, Seriene, Richard, Osti , Melvin & Sandy. After the lunch we dropped Melvin at Hostel & had to pick up Noble, who was standing at the PMG Bus-stop after a big THEPP from Richard... lol...

Then we headed towards EASTFORT in Ostinato's very own wagon(My car). Reached EASTFORT & parked the car inside GANDHI-PARK & as we were heading towards the bus-stop... Seriene, Sandy & Richard ran on seeing the Low-floor bus...

Yeah the Newly introduced KSRTC's lowfloor bus, riding on it was our "PLAN OF THE DAY". Those guys ran like small kids running behind ice-cream vans...!!! By the time we managed to reach the bus-stop, there were two buses one going towards Technopark-Kanniyapuram & Other towards kowdiar, even though i wanted to take Kowdiar bus, others insisted to take the other bus. So without much arguments we entered the bus.

Bought tickets to Kanniyapuram, the last stop, for 38 bucks...!!! Me, Noble, Sandy & Osti stick to sit at front section(the low floor section) & Richard & Seriene moved to back seat(The upper section). On the way Mobin boarded from University, even though it was not a stop the conductor stopped the bus for us.

The Bus's worth 80 lakhs for that you can buy a Benz S-class, but you never expect such head-turning. Everybody's eyes are on the bus, from the small kiddies, ladies, motorists, old people each & everyone on the road cant take eyes out of the bus. Yeah the bus has "THE ENVY" factor, no wonder a KSRTC bus tried to hit the bus intentionally(FOR more details read METRO MANORAMA) .

The bus drove through university, GH junction, detoured from pallimukku towards Kannanmoola, through Medical college, ulloor, sreekaryam, Technopark & Finally reached kanniyapuram.

On the way at ulloor, the bus had a narrow escape from getting scratched, but an alto car had to face that brutal faith...!!!

We the reliable engineers on-board were closely examining & evaluating this engineering marvel from VOLVO. Starting from Driver's dashboard, it has almost all the controls of the bus. A camera at the rear, at the entrance, the clarity of the video is simply awesome. Infact it has the features of a luxury car on the dashboard. The seats are very comfortable, audio system, display panel etc... Should give 10/10 for the accessories in the bus. The conductor & bus driver were also friendly, they were sharing their experience in the new bus & was talking about the bus fares & all. For hospitality also 10/10.

From kanniyapuram we bought tickets back to EASTFORT. The bus started after a 10 minutes halt. The return journey was so romantic as it was raining outside. You can feel as if you are traveling in a SUV. The journey from kanniyapuram to Eastfort was 1 hour long. As per the conductor there are enough commuters in the bus all the time & 25% of people are like us who board to experience this new journey. As the bus is air-conditioned you wont feel tired even after a 2 & half hour journey...!!!

Better catch a seat infront, its like the business class with regard to comfort.

USP: Redefining city bus travel...

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A pleasant evening, a slight drizzle & lots of traffic along the By-pass road. We, the 11 roadies were heading to Aazhimaala beach, 7kms from Kovalam. By the time we reached the beach, the Sun had cleared the dark clouds from the sky. We climbed over the rocks & were searching for a nice beach to jump into the sea. After moving for about half a km, we found a nice beach.

Then there was no snailing around, everyone threw their dresses on to the beach & ran towards the sea. At first everyone were bit hesitant to venture deep & also the sea water was cold. As time flew people were hesitant to come closer to shore. Had a gala time playing in the waters. We encountered many big tides that came without any prior notice.

I got tired after playing in the waters for about a hour. I Was drying myself, then i saw Paul & Harikri digging the sand searching something. After drying, i walked towards them to know what they were searching. To my surprise they were making sand castle, then without any thinking i also joined them. But i thought of making my own castle. All others were still playing in the waters. I went for some what different structure than the usual conical castles. I decorated them with the sea-shells & about 30 mins later construction of my castle was over.
By this time all others were on the shore & were judging & commenting about our works. After giving a final touch, i stood up & had a look from a distance.

Some kind of feeling suddenly plagued into my mind. Some questions arouse in my mind: When was the last time i made a sand castle??? I think its been long!!! Oh my god!!! When i was child, i used to go to beach very ofter with my family & cousins and we used to have a great time. When was the last time i enjoyed the seas??? But now...!!!

Now the readers reaction to the above para will be: Gone are those days.

I would say a BIG NO. Its we who control our happiness & emotions. If you want to play like a 4 year old kid, just do it. Dont bother about what others would think about you. Its our life...
After all life is everything between a BREATHE-In & BREATHE-Out.

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