Last evening, sitting on reservoir banks, we glanced at the rugged low-lying hills one last time before the sun descended beneath the horizon. A few children played a game of catch in the narrow alleyways while women discussed prices of vegetables in their courtyard. A young boy sought permission from his mother to continue playing outside. […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Dairy: Day 23"We drove all night to Valparai from Nelliyampathy till the break of dawn. With vales of jade unfurling in the mist, the hills shone bright in the lingering flames of amber. Dew drops glistened in the sun as the forest received its first rays of morning light. And, somewhere in the depths of enfolding mountains, […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 22"Arumugan’s wife Remakutty walked into the courtyard from behind the house. Head lowered, she gathered some rags into a basket while an old lady stood in silence beside us staring into the woods. Her eyes scoured for something perhaps to fill the void in her heart. With a faint hint of a smile curled on […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 21 (Final Part)"“We put in a request for electricity and asked the officials to get it done as soon as possible. I hope to see light someday,” said Arumugan with a smile. The government refuses to give the Malasar Tribe their rightful ownership of land simply because they haven’t measured the area yet nor have they conducted […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 21 (part 2)"The morning began on a somber note. We woke up to the sound of church bells tolling in a distance. Our thoughts wandered to last night’s events. We could remember Thomas’s face; that stern facial expression trying really hard to mask his fear. Eyes bloodshot and filled with concern, his body was as still as […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 21 (part 1)"We drove towards Nenmara as the sun went down. After a quick meal, we inquired for places to stay in and around town. Most of the lodges were completely booked and couldn’t accommodate us. Some of them took advantage of the weekend and were charging exorbitant rates. After driving around for a while, we gave […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 20 (Final Part)"The lorry screeched to a halt. We saw the driver and conductor run towards us. They were yelling at each other in Tamil. Fayez slammed the accelerator to the floor hoping that the jeep would shoot forward. Unfortunately, we steered ourselves deep into the muddy patch of the verge that resulted in the vehicle tilting […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 20 (Part 1)"It was quite dark and dawn hadn’t broken yet. At 5 am, two cars had already lined up at the forest checkpost. Fayez jumped at the chance and drove right behind them. He muttered a quick thank you to the man at the booth. We stopped at the entrance of the forest to rest for […]
Read more "Rest Of My Family Travel Diary: Day 19"