An exploration into the recesses

Of TamilNadu.....a mission carried forward to honour my buddy’s new year resolution to travel to different spot close to Chennai for day trips...one is too lethargic to make resolution but it is exciting to help others execute theirs....so after cribbing all night to myself about the hazards of waking up early....but still excited at the prospects of tomorrow...so i was surprised when i woke up fresh after an irritating alarm-call from my friend...poor thing ...doomed is the person who wakes kumbakarna from his...in my case her sleep.....so with an empty stomach and constipated system we started our exploratory journey into the horizon....literally so cause we hardly knew the direction.....so between long stretches and winding roads we stopped at tea shops, pan shops, petrol bunks to ask for direction....my stomach growled for attention but vt’s eyes were set on the goal...reach pulicat/puzhaverkadu
Pulicat is a remote little town...as we entered it premises...we were met with the bustle of everyday activities...my heart sank...there were no signs of a lively tourism nor where there signs of breakfast....Christ!!...well the redeemer did meet us at the banks of the lake in the form of a calm fisherman...devout Christian...whose third query was “so are you Christians too” i kept my silence...like a pretence of lack of knowledge of local languages while my company answered in the negative....after packing some breakfast (which we later realised were scrumptious bits) we left on a boat to the redeemers little hut....introspective and eager not to offend the sentiments of this large hearted fisherman....we silently ate our breakfast in his one roomed hut...listening to the boisterous cackling of the radio....and wondering how on earth these people had sex? (forgot to mention they had a grown daughter, puzzling)...the urban dwellers puzzled and affixed to our notions of sex....we tried to fix a modern rendering of kamasutra in that cramped hut.....attention diversion...the 15/- biriyani had shrimps in them!!! Where on earth did they get these rates from...oooh the brackish waters of the lagoon must be a treasure trove of these crustaceans....so after breakfast and a quick leak in open air...we ventured towards the boat.....

Calm and tending towards boredom...maybe panicking a bit about it...we continued our ride to the pine forested islands....all the while the fisherman explaining to us the routine of his life and the speciality of this place...there are a lot of “bats here” he said...huh....you know bards...huh....it took a while for the urban-diction-oriented-idiot to get the implication towards migratory birds in the region.....so like kids excited at seeing the sea again but ruminating simultaneously at the difference in perspective between a fisherman who dealt with the sea everyday and between tourists who got excited at the waves lashing at them....we slowly gave in to the rough sea....with every wave sighing...that’s wet too!!!i wish i could have taken pictures of my paranoid friend running with the camera held high with every mischievous wave...as expected i was drenched and enjoying...i m funny...i love playing in water but fear the idea of drowning so much so that if a wave lashes against my nose or pushed me off balance i would howl like a kid!!! At this point we missed our large crowd, with whom we travelled last weekend, for one last time .....and we continued thrashing the waves....splendid as always....it never gets old for me...from there on i learned a lot...to row a boat...like a gauche but row all the same...while my friend balanced himself on the edge clicking snaps of “bads”....having spotted the point of continuity betwixt the sea and the lake...oops forgot to mention this place is known for its lagoon....and natural salt lake.... we headed out through the thin entrance into the bouncing sea....all woes were forgotten...ride had become bumpy again...it was bumpy enough untillater that day i rode back on the bumpy road studded with lorries.....wooie, no life jackets!!!...suddenly both of us felt powerful and dangerous...here we were standing erect with locked hands facing the rising waves..facing it like seasoned sailors.....thanks to our redeemer we stopped mid-sea....chatted about life and fishes....saw schools of fish...translated tamil to Malayalam...and tanned under the beaming noon sun....he was particular that we went to the beach which was friendlier and so after much mid-sea excitement we headed for the calm shores to play another two hours in the sea....we amused ourselves by pulling each others legs....and trying to overgrow my fear of drowning....it was later and thanks to our redeemer constant cleanliness drive....he definitely had a OCD for clean sandless boat...i was forced to dipped myself in 2 feet water....there started my swimming lessons.....shared between my friend and the redeemer....i dipped...i opened my eyes....i floated....i let go of my pals hands....i lashed my feet...i moved my hands...then i tried coordinating.....ka-booom...i had learned to swim...punch line...i came, i saw, i conquered.....sheer excitement...directionless swimming....frustrated outpours at lack of movements....body ache....hunger...ravishing biriyani...drying in the afternoon sun....after visiting his hut for a last leak we headed out for the bumpiest, sleepiest ride ever!!.....surprised i didn’t fall off...pissed i lost my cell....happy i was returning to my nest...pleased i made this trip...cheers to the roads ahead!!