Marayoor

I happen to go to this place called Marayoor during my stay in India. This is by no means a tourist place, but a small town in Kerala, and Tamil Nadu border. I haven't heard of this town before. It so happened that we got an opportunity to stay at a friends house which was empty. The friend who reside in the US bought that small house there on a whim and praised and talked so high about the location. When we all, the kids, me and my siblings family left from Chennai, we did not have a slightest idea about the place. All we knew was that there was a house we can stay and the town is nice and peaceful. But it proved to be a complete stress buster with its lush, very lush green surroundings and trees. Its hilly region but not too high altitude though. The Jackfruit trees and wild vines and bushes were present where ever you turn your head. Other than that its just a small town with a central place for small shops , few hotels and a bank and some grocery and roadside fruit vendors. There were narrow foot paths around the house leading to the neighbors houses and a there was a trail surrounded by big trees that sometimes you will miss seeing the path, which lead to a small waterfall. Probably the people who live there were so much used to this waterfall that they don't go up every day. So when we reached the falls it was just us. Only us and the falls and the flowing river and the trees. Imagine how the kids would've felt. Of course I don't have words to describe it. They totally had a blast. We were soaking in the water from morning till noon and went down ate a nice kerala meal and then went up again to soak up the sun and water until we saw dark clouds gathering. We started to run back down and reached the house just in time when the monsoon rains started to pour. Came to know that such heavy rains are common everyday scene there during June-July season. The rain just poured non-stop for an hour, a typical monsoon rain which was a welcome amidst the afternoon heat unlike the cold chilly drizzles that is called rain here where I live. It was just lovely , I'm sure that the kids, nephews and nieces would savor this memory for a long time to come..me too..

Trip

Why is it that a trip to India always results in more home sickness? This time I was able to take 3 weeks off to be there. Invariably I was playing with the idea of postponement but eventually left on the day I was supposed to leave. Too many things to do too many people to meet at least satisfied that I was able to complete half the things I planned. Just staying indoors chatting with my mother and arguing with my father sitting in the front porch during evening times with a warm breeze which includes the flying mosquitoes and late night chat with my brother is all I wanted for a perfect vacation getaway.

M is now in India and will be returning soon with Sandhya and Divya who we had left there to spend more time with the 2 sets of grand parents. They seem to like their stay so far sans the minor discomforts namely the mosquitoes and squat type toilets in some places they visit. Soon, I will be once again settling down in to the routine grind ...drop off, pickup..day care...school... work...packing lunches..swim classes..music classes...

surprisingly I'm looking forward to it after nearly a 2 month break from them, like the excitement and the anticipation we have towards the first day of school after summer holidays...hmmm, I know it sounds too cliched..the truth is I will be yearning for another vacation exactly 1 week after it starts.