Munnar is a hillstation actually, stands atop of Keralas' sacred heart, Here starts the everlasting greenary which plays a crucial role in the beautiful making of Munnar as it is seen today as a famous tourist destination. As its name suggests its a meeting point of three rivers, " three rivers "( Muthirapuzhayar, Kuttiyar and Nallathannyar) I would say as its word for word translation. Munnars' history starts with the arrival of the British from a tiny island set in the silver sea. They set their feet on these hills in the last decades of eighteenth century. So there starts its journey.
British people came here ,to explore Munnar as it is , so still today it continues...Apparently there is no stop to the coming of British world to see Munnars' Beauty.
So how about some twenty first century visits...
Part 1- A Walk to remember
"You know onething,? Mad Dogs and Englishmen Go Out in the Midday Sun, so you need not to say sorry for this. Its not your fault but it's we who delayed the walk." she laughed loudly as she made her point. Other three joined her humorous comment with all laugh. By then the darkness loomed all over and I turned on my phone's light for the ladies.
"yes ? Madam ..? what did you say , uh.. mad... ? I didn't get you actually " I raised my eyebrows with all curiosity.
" Mm ...it's ..Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the Midday Sun .. do you know what it means ? it means we all British likes to do all the crazy things..but not the Americans.." When she said "Americans" I could see her face gone a little disgusted expression.
"Oh I see ..then it's okay.." I smiled and joined their humorous conversations.Then why not Americans?...I thought and got the answer instantly. Why ...? Ok let it be..... I walked gently with them.
" I don't know what my Manager is going to say on this late evening , Its 7.00 P..M. sir " I was all in a dilemma but I couldn't resist my smile. It was always there sometimes it came spontaneously.
" Nope its was a nice experience..don't worry " Her husband assured me with his glamorous smiles. He looked like an English actor and he even came to the reception and in front of the Manager he shook my hand saying ..."it's good ..we enjoyed it".
I felt so proud for his kindness and unconditional concern.
Thankfully everything ended in a happy note.....
After, I googled the phrase , said by that gorgeous lady and it was a song written by Noel Coward..it goes like...
'Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun/
The Japanese don't care to, the Chinese wouldn't dare to/
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve to one/
But Englishmen detest a siesta/
In the Philippines there are lovely screens/
to protect you from the glare/
In the Malay states there are hats like plates/
which the Britishers won't wear/
At twelve noon the natives swoon/
and no further work is done.
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.'
Part 2
Another day with Peter
"If You Are Not a Liberal at 25, You Have No Heart. If You Are Not a Conservative at 35 You Have No Brain" Is that it sir ? I googled it yesterday and I got it " I was all in curious as I said it to Peter today.
"Oh Brilliant ..!! oh its exactly what it is, perfect .." Peter was surprised at it cause he tried a lot yesterday to find the exact one but he couldn't.
The other couple, Allasop family, joined our conversations with all curiosity and when they asked us why , Peter explained everything that had happened yesterday evening.
"Sir actually do you know Lord Levy ? , Michael Lord Levy ? I asked them to help them to get to the actual point. Otherwise they would think something of me cause I suddenly drawn them to the topic of Labour and conservative from the naturalist stuffs.
"Oh We know " the other guest said abruptly and continued " you should have done something in his curry ? " Everyone laughed at this joke and I joined them but actually I didn't get him first . May be they support conservative doctrines.
He was all political yesterday and althrough the walk we exchanged our countries' political systems that seemed so ridiculous even to us when we see it from a different perspective.
"You know what actually conservative and Labour parties in England. if not I will tell you " Peter started to be very critical and I was all ears then.
" You know in England Labour partys' mode of dealings with people is not that much great. They do all the good things like funding people to be independent , give bonus and all other liberal concessions to people. That's ..uh..for a mother after giving birth to a child , Labour government gives the provision free wage and such kind of free provisions are plenty there ..and from my point of view , as a result of it people become LAZY...LAZY.."
He then started stressing on the word LAZY and it continued althrough the conversations.
"I am not against their liberal leftist socialist policies but we got to forsee things before it gets worse. But here what's happening is , on account of some liberal concessions Labour party is pushing the country into debt"
"so ..frankly I am not supporting Labour policies.But you know ...in the case of conservative party they do not give such free gifts but help others to be independent."
Peter's face became so dramatic cause he was using his body movements and gestures to make me understand the situations. I was all ears to him
Part 3- Jonathan and American Lady
I was busy searching Jonathon Patric on Facebook to be friend with him ...Incredibly he and his family appeared at the reception entrance from nowhere. I stood up suddenly and his colleague said..
" nothing ..just came to see it"
"okay sir " I smiled. Two ladies accompanied him, probably one will be his wife, with all gorgeous smiles. Suddenly Jonathan appeared from behind and he gave me a thumbs up sign ..saying..
" are you ok " ?
I wondered cause the computer moniter also showed his smiling photo with his passport details. I'd been searching with it before his unexpected arrival, to ensure his right spelling.
"yes sir ..I'm fine .."
I replayed him with all smiles. He was the only guest for today's evening walk. He was also there for the last days evening walks and while walking we talked all about my literature dreams and my humble thoughts over the literature world.
" only me... "? he raised his eyebrows and decided to quit the plan but at my insistence he admitted to come along.
"Oh..at least you can get some fresh air out there, ok let's go and I can also hear your literature dreams anyway , can't I ?"
He laughed tapping his hands on my shoulders. Yesterday on the way to the Dolmens cemetery, with that huge group, he showed up from the group to talk to me and we discussed about the beautiful world of literature.....
Last Day walk ...some notes:
( The last day evening walk story ended in a gloomy note though cause in the last minute as we were about to return, an American couple showed their interest in visiting the biggest dolmen monument out there. It was a little farther from the down hill so we three climbed the hill for it.
Other people seemed so impatient for the long waiting and I begged them my apologies.
Again I found Mr. Jonathon there, as hearing my millions of apologies he said...
" not a problem ..anyway it's an evening walk, no ? he smiled.
It didn't end there cause the prolonged impatience reflected in their brisk walks.They were far gone by the time when I reached hotel with my American couple. That Americans were so nice and flexible compared to those busy UK world and on the way that American lady talked about here place MONTANA....
"Montana?...Oh Mam ..I read a novel based on Montana ....oh God ....It's in the tip of my tounge ...I think...it's Women In Montana or something.."
"I see ..." she seemed so interested in my novel explanations....
" Yes mam it's about a strong lady Jovlin masters or something I don't remember her name exactly. she is a strong lady who goes through some severe trails of life."
As I was explaining her I Googled the novel and finally I found its real name. It was "Montana Women" by Rosanna Bittner.
When I showed them the story their face expression seemed , they had never been in to that....
"Oh I see" When I asked her about England she asked me in return about my favourite American city. I said its Newyork.
"Newyork ..! the big city , you know one thing in Montana during the winter every hills will be covered with snow."
She pointed at an electric post and said,
" see that post ,and see something written on it ? with that height "
"I see, okay Mam..then how do you protect your vegetation from the snow ? do you provide them any green house ?...
" mm.yes we often do that and for some we cover them with dry leaves , in this height" she gestured the height with her hands " so thats how we protect our small plants.
so the talk ended after sometime ,we all part for our worlds leaving her smiles with her for good.
..............
So the walk with Jonathon went on up to the dolmens' hill. Cool breeze invited us with all coolest musings
"beautiful, yeah its nice ...." Jonathon was really enjoying the entire journey. I saw him taking deep breaths ,closing his eyes ,with all deepest feelings. His all embracing smile was very touching.
"you know something its only ten miles to reach Lord Byrons' home from ours' "
''oh I see" I was answering all his questions like a robot .
"Sir we had a guest from Stratford last week and he told us about Shakespeare."
"Aha...We often go to the Globe to see his plays. At Stratford we went to the theatre and saw his plays."
"Stratford ?...it's a countryside right sir ? "
"Yes , Its a beautiful place on the banks of river Avon .Now a days its a tourist destination only just because of Shakespeare"
After Shakespeare I started explaining him about my challenges in becoming a lecture but his soothing words still echo in my ears ...
"Be confident " the last words of Jonathon and we depart for good.
Part 4- An American Couple
Today I got two American guests for the morning walk and it was a splendid walk anyway.We talked everything under the sun, deviating from the naturalist's thoughts that I was supposed to think with them, in that time.
At first I thought they were English but actually they were Americans. Cause we usually have English guests but rarely Americans "What a nice looking couples they were, especially American Couples " I thought as we were climbing down the Spice tree hills...He had a moustache which is a common matter for all the South Indian men. Anyway that one gave him a proud look and a special charm kind manliness. He was very quiet from the beginning but later he was there in all our heated conversations. We humbly discussed about , Feminism , American Politics , Trumb , Everlasting Winter season in America ,their stay in Rajastan and much more.
" To be frank ...I wouldn't say this to you ..but..we are actually fed up with Indian food...in Rajastan we had all gravy kind food ...uh...every time ...oh dear...it was terrible.." He said as we waited for the vehicle.
" How about here at Spice tree sir ?.."
" wow , Its so good and last night we had some roasted food items ..vegetables and much more. "
" okay.." I smiled as I turned towaïrd the road to check the cabs' arrival. I was actually puzzled at this rare kind names that's given by the hotel authorities to some food items. Chicken Tikka ...Bhatura...and so on. Actually such things were there but it was all new to me.
At the Labours' cottage ,we talked about the party union back up for the needy in every adverse situatuons and the talk lead to the American Political affairs. Though I was not good in Political affairs, but out of some curiosity, I decided to ask some questions on American life.
"How could you do such thing to Hilary Clinton ? Actually what happened sir ? ...during that time we all thought that she would win ..even the exit poll kind things sang the song along the same lines...media too...but in the end everything turned upside down."
"Oh that was true but at the same time she didn't work well ...I mean the campaign. She thought she would win and no need of any biggy campaigns but it costed her a lot" Lynn , the American lady asserted.
" I see " I smiled at her and turned toward John Meyer
" Actually sir ....here all the local and national newspapers reported that it's all about patriarchal domination and that reflected there." I said .
" uhh....that's not true actually" Lynn was all in defensive mood, favouring Trump.
" What did he say " John asked Lynn .Sometimes my feeble sound wasn't loud enough for John and at all times he saught help from Lynn.
" He says it was the anti women attitude that we Americans went for Trump"
" Oh , " John continued " Actually it was somewhat right but not really but her husband was like Obama , comes and say some thing but She was not a good politician though."
"She had some e mail controversies " Lynn said.
"Okay ..so do you support feminism madam...."
"I do....cause it's all matters there...but in a positive way" She smiled gently
"You know something..in our home she is the head and I am second sex there" John laughed loudly as he made this point ,tapping on my shoulders. Anyway he cut jokes although the way and next laughing was all about the Yoga stuffs.
"This morning" John continued " while we were attending the Yoga session , some yelled loudly as the Yoga mastèr helped them for better stretch and ....it's like ...Ahhh...Yoo...
oh dear it's very funny." We laughed together without any limits .....