Travel Writing...

After I put my daughter Tishya to Medical School last year, I took a train from Mangalore to Chennai. Trains still hold out lots of fun and eagerness to me! I was travelling alone, so I had many random thoughts that crossed my mind at the speed of light...not after a while when the train was chugging through the dense greenness of Kerala...if any one asked me if I ever saw God....I wouldnt lie that I didnt! So my keyboard started typing, words that flowed from what I saw..

whose country is better? man’s or God’s?
 

God’s own country….whoever has coined it, was no ordinary mortal! Every time I cross this God’s land, amazement and awe never failed to bewilder me. The ‘Green’ shock is too hard to resist! The greenery everywhere in Kerala sounds such a cliché that one shudders to remark, for the fear of sounding repetitive. But how do I help the situation. I should borrow a line or two from Dan Brown to describe this God’s own country. Which God? Muslim, Christian or Hindu? The beauty of the place is, all the Prophet’s followers, Christ’s followers and Ayyappan’s followers have a central theme…Green Kerala.  Period. Here the God is one, for all! Green Kerala, without exception.

Most of Indian sub continent, the concrete stands taller than the greenery. In these concrete jungles a tree is more of an ornamental piece, a sop for the crying ecologist, that we see around! The tree is so chosen, that which matches the concrete around, that which can grow fast, that which should be more like synthetic, that which doesn’t host caterpillars, mosquitoes and other irritants. These ‘incidental’ trees are the green patch we have around us in urban ‘developed’ parts of the country. These are the ‘trees’ that we have to show to our Nursery and Kindergarten children, the inheritors of our planet. 

God preserved His land  (Kerala)of all his trees and greenery….His followers built their dwellings leaving those green guardians taller! As we drive through, we see foliage so tall and mighty, and between the gaps of leaves and branches, one can see sloping red tiles of houses. His followers built their INOX theatres, malls, Central Stores and roads without unduly disturbing the tree cover. Rarely you find craze for synthetic parks and artificial landscaping. In fact, today’s architects need to take an aerial view of God’s country to set miniature landscapes in their ventures amidst concrete, a copy no one has patented so far! 



 

Why is that God’s country never complained of insufficient rainfall when, for the rest of the country, it is left to the gamble of the Weatherman! 

Highest in literacy, richest temple in the world, highest tourist footfall, lowest child mortality ratio, higher number of women than men in census…the list is endless to show Kerala is far ahead in many fields. What else describes a progressive state? Concrete structures? Crisscrossing flyovers?

In terms of culture preservation, Kerala stands tall. It goes without saying that one who lives with the Nature, naturally, is endowed and awakened to Nature’s best gifts, including our sacred culture. Sanskrit, Ayurveda et al find a respectable place in this world of the God! On the contrary where the Nature has been plundered, where the culture has been given a ‘progressive’ front, there is suffering and Nature’s wrath is unforgiving and evident.

This screed has no beginning, no end, no purpose and no future! It is driven by inspiration…A few words that flowed through my keyboard on to the screen….as I pass through in train….