The Journey...and Back

There are 2 things that I have noticed whenever I am in Kerala which happen without fail:

1) My digestive system becomes superhuman and I can eat huge amount of food (all showered with kindness by my dear relatives) without the risk of an overnight stay in the loo.

2) Delhi becomes a far off place and the people and activities associated with Delhi become specks in my mind. I am unable to bring up any coherent thoughts with anything related to Delhi or any of the day-to-day activities I engaged in/will engage in for the rest of the 50 weeks of the year.

That said here is what I liked and disliked about Kerala:

I liked the comparativitely neater railway stations.[ Hazrat Nizamuddin is positively ugh...]

I disliked the rather high porter/taxi/auto charges.

I liked the fact that a mall has come to Kozhikode, finally.

I disliked the fact that half of the roads in the city have been dug up for a Drinking Water Project.

I liked the serene atmosphere near my ancestral house.

I disliked the hard, sharp pebbles that prick your feet when you walk in the soil barefoot. Ouch!

I liked the temple pond, full of water and no algae this time round.

I disliked a bunch of coconuts for falling off a jutting tree, missing my head by a few seconds while I swam.

I liked the trip to Sabarimala. It ws a spiritually eventful and mentally invigorating experience.

I disliked Pamba, near the foothills of Sabarimala, for the general lack of civic sense among humans there.

I liked some of the Malayalam movies I saw.

I disliked Mohanlal for acting in movies giving attention to quantity rather than quality.

I liked the temples I visited in Kerala.

I disliked the sad fact that a large section of Hindus in Kerala prefer to be atheists and Communists and refuse to see the beauty of their heritage.

I liked travelling from Kozhikode to Sabarimala to Kozhikode-again to Malappuram to Kozhikode-again to Thrissur to Guruvayur to Thrissur-again to Ponnani to Kozhikode-again and finally to Kochi.

I disliked the fact that some of the times the travelling was quite hectic.

I liked the Barber who could hold his own on doctoral topics such as the intricacies of language and why people are unable to grasp languages other than a lingua-franca

I disliked the Labour Unions that barbers, and all other labourers have here, for they are instrumental in bringing the state to a standstill.

I liked not being online.[The nearest cyber cafe was 5 km away and I am a lazy guy]

I disliked not being online.

I liked the clean and neat airport at Kochi, so unlike IGI.

I disliked nothing about the airport.

And so with a weary stomach and a wearier heart, I am back in Delhi. And the trip to Kerala becomes what the 'Daffodils' were to William Wordsworth.