OF ROCKS, BEACHES AND THE UNWED GODDESS

Friday the 24^th of October, 3:45 AM. The time when our cellphones whined out simultaneously and made us whimper out of the bed, our minds all the while begging for some more time under the snug blanket. It was my hubby Sanket’s decision to start as early in the morning so as to avoid maximum traffic. The decision paid off as we zoomed past Salem before 8 AM, aided ably by the powerful Mercedes-Benz C 220 CDI with 170 BHP of sheer power. Satiating our tummies a little after Namakkal, we first headed towards Madurai, which was supposed to be the first pit-stop of our trip.

Madurai, as all know, is famous for the Meenakshi temple. What all may not know, is that Madurai also offers amazing food, especially non vegetarian. We reached at the Meenakshi temple around 12:30 PM, just few minutes after closing time; and thus missed the visit to the temple. We also ran out of luck with Amma mess, an eating joint popular amongst local non vegetarians. This one was closed for Diwali. Anyhow, we found Hotel Saravana (no, not the Saravana Bhavan, but a spin-off) which more than made up for what we had missed, but in a pure vegetarian palate.

Promising to ourselves to keep our rendezvous with Meenakshi Amman the next time, we now started for Kanyakumari. Mind you, the road is devoid of any potholes, but full of toll booths! We have spent over 1500 rupees on toll, being “greeted” by them at every 100kms or so. Barring them, the road to Kanyakumari is scenic; with flowering shrubs planted all along the divider and the final 200kms dotted with wind mills, banana plantations, coconut plantations and hills touching the clouds. And with a car like the one we had, it’s not hard to fall in love with the journey.

We arrived at our destination and 5.30 PM, exactly 12 hours since we had started. Dumping our bags in the hotel room, we headed out to explore the town. Kanyakumari is a place for the early risers and early sleepers, as all tourist spots close for the day by sunset, which is 6:30 PM there. The bazaar and eating joints too close down by 10 PM. We found ourselves in an eating joint by 7.30 PM, early by any standards; and were done with dinner by 9 PM. Did I forget to mention the place? It’s the Ocean Restaurant, which has a sea-facing dining area and specializes in sea food delicacies. It is also on the costlier side, so be prepared to shell out a generous amount for the scrumptious fare.

The next day, we headed out for the topmost attraction of Kanyakumari; which is the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. Ferry is the only way to reach there, unless you are a fan of swimming in rocky waters. Hence we found ourselves standing in a loooooooooooooooooong (I mean it!) queue to take the ferry. Luckily we noticed an express ticket counter where we had to give Rs.170 per head to skip the line (the normal ticket costs Rs.34) and hopped our way to the ferry. The same ferry takes one to the Thiruvalluvar statue, which is basically next to the memorial. Ferry services to the statue were halted due to low tide, but it really did not make much of a difference as the statue is clearly visible from the memorial, and also from the shore. A little backstory: Thiruvalluvar is considered the greatest poet of Tamil language, and hence the statue.

The Vivekananda Rock Memorial is a tranquil place, on the lines of the Belur Math in Kolkata. The rock on which the memorial stands now is the last piece of land in India. This is where he had meditated for 3 consecutive days and achieved all his knowledge. We were struck by the simplistic nature of the structure. Wandering around the memorial we also came across a rainwater harvesting tank full of fish. Sanket got busy clicking pictures of the memorial and the sea around it and the fish too. As the Thiruvalluvar statue is situated next to the memorial, we also got a superb view of the statue.

Post lunch we headed for the Sanguthurai beach, 17kms from Kanyakumari. I have just two words for this beach: Hidden Gem. The beach looks like a painting come to life. Just the way a painter would paint an idyllic beach. The bluest of blue waters, the golden white sand, the horizon dotted with green coconut palms. And oh, the absence of litter. The water has a strong current, so splashing around in your swimming costume may not be a good idea. A better thing to do may be lazing around, with the waves lapping at your feet and watching the sunset. Or having a gala time clicking away at the surroundings. Apart from us, there were a group of local youths engrossed in a game of kabaddi and one more family enjoying their time out just like us. Only after sundown were we able to tear ourselves away from the place.

We started a bit early the next day to visit the reigning deity of Kanyakumari: Goddess Kanyakumari. Legend has that the Goddess was to marry Lord Shiva, but he failed to turn up at the wedding day and hence the Goddess remained unwed, or a Kanya. She is worshipped as a child goddess rather than a betrothed lady. And hence the name of the place. The sand here is naturally multi colored, which we bought in little packets as souvenirs.

Our tummies were now growling with hunger. We rushed to the nearest tiffin joint, which was coincidentally another “Hotel Saravana”. A quick breakfast and a quick check out helped us depart in time, since the drive back to Bangalore was a long one, with only a quick stopover for lunch at Café Coffee Day just before Madurai. We were back in the city after struggling with the traffic for at least 2 hours by 10PM, ready to face the Monday Morning Blues and get into the daily grind.

 Monday the 27^th of October, 6:45AM. The time when our cellphones whined out simultaneously and made us whimper out of the bed, our minds all the while begging for some more time under the snug blanket.