The occasion was the engagement of my classmate Guntur Koushik with Deepa and I started off on a skeptical note to Coimbatore on 3rd of October. The reason for my skepticism was that I was travelling to Coimbatore during a long weekend and I had not got a return ticket back to my base. But I still undertook the journey for the sheer pleasure of meeting Koushik and his better half and also the fact that it presented me with a good opportunity to pull Koushik's legs.
A word or two must be said about this guy who happens to be my classmate during my post-graduation days at Vellore. Koushik and me have a lot of things in common. Similar stature, thoughts (especially about the fairer sex!). Here was a guy who voted for me to be the "Best fresher" at college even when not having interacted with me (It made me think as to what led him to do that). His one vote caused me to be selected as the "Best fresher" which caused me to be donned with a "Fresher king" crown and made me look even more of a duffer than what I really am.
Our friendship started out from there. One of the best things I like about Koushik is his sense of humour and the ability with which he speaks the Madras slang of Tamizh. A guy with a severely short temper and one who can fly to rage at the most obscure reason, although it must be said that over the years, he has mellowed down. Now that he has lost his "Bachelor's" degree and having been confined to a role of a "rubber stamp" authority, he surely would become a changed person. I pray for his long life and hope that he will settle down with his wife in a never ending marital bliss
The train which I was supposed to board on 3rd of October to Coimbatore arrived on time to Bangalore City from Kurla. My thoughts about a prompt arrival at Coimbatore were derailed when it reached Coimbatore, the next day morning three hours behind schedule. Having rued the lost hours, I camped at another of my classmate's house for the morning. Being Ayudha pooja day, I was treated by my hostess's family with a sumptuous South Indian meal. My other reason to visit Coimbatore in connection with Koushik's engagement was a visit to Avinashilingeshwarar temple in Avinashi.
My body unwilling (especially after the sumptuous meal) but with my mind egging me to go, I left for Avinashi to seek divine blessings from his holiness at Avinashi. Avinashi is a small town which means literally "one that is not destructible", enroute to Tiruppur which has carved a niche for itself in the Knitting industry. After a pleasant journey of 40 minutes by bus, I reached Avinashi. The temple is a stone throw away from the bus stand. The first things that you notice about the temple are the sculptures on the gopuram above the sanctum sanctorum. Legend has that it is a place where the tamil saint Sundaramoorthy nayanar, with the help of the divine Nataraja, resurrected a child from his death. Also said is that you gain half the benefit of a visit to Kashi by visiting Avinashi. The temple was well taken care of by the Tamil kingdoms of Chera, Cholas and Pandiyas. Once during a famine in Avinashi area, the kings built huge tanks and served Kanji (rice gurel) to the people. One can see the Tamil inscriptions of this incident even now.
The temple has sannidhis for Avinashilingeshwarar, his consort Parvathi, Lord Shanmuga and Lord Ganesha. There is a special sannidhi for Lord Sani apart from the Navagraha sannidhi which we find in all South Indian temples. Being ashtami day of Navrathri, there was a huge crowd at the Parvathi sannidi. Avinashappar's temple is a protected monument under the Archeological Survey of India. Few kilometers from Avinashi enroute to Tiruppur is Thirumuruganpoondi. Here too there are two temples of Shiva and Lord Karthikeya. But the place is famous for the "Kethu" sannidhi which attracts huge devotees. I reached a tad late only to find the "Kethu" sannidhi of Madhvaneshwar closed. The other temples are similar in architecture with the Avinashilingeshwarar temple at Avinashi.
The next day dawned a bit late for me as I took my own time to get out of bed. Being a sunday and as the weather was extremely pleasant, I enjoyed the mild sun with a hot cup of steaming coffee and watching the crows learn their acrobatic flying. The engagement was in the afternoon and I reached well in time to "kalaichify" (make fun of in Madras Tamizh slang) Koushik.
He was there no doubt, but with a stoic face in deep thought. Poor guy must have been going through all the complexities and pitfalls of a marriage and trying to figure out ways to avoid them. His cousins were there to team up with me in pulling Koushik's legs and the function went on to finish in grand style.
Once the function got over, I went through a bit of an ordeal of trying ot grab a seat in any of the available transports (leaving behing cycles and bullock carts) to get back to Bangalore. At last there was a travel agent who offered me a seat in a Swaraj Mazda van, which he called to be a "luxury bus". There was little to differentiate between an old WWII vintage and this "luxury bus". But as that was the only available transport back, I readily picked up the ticket. The "bus" took the unusual route of travelling to Sathyamangalam, Bannari, Chamrajpet and Mysore to reach Bangalore.
Here I was in a rickety old van hurtling down through our own "Bandit King" Veerappan's territory. Veerappan a former poacher was born nearby Thimbam in the Sathyamangalam forests. Thimbam is a remote hamlet and also is the last post before you cross over from TamilNadu to Karnataka. Notorious for his killing of elephants, Veerappan shot into fame when he switched from poaching to sandalwood smuggling. It is a tough terrain with thick tropical forests having Sandalwood, Honne, Mathi, Teak and Sal trees with only Veerappan and his band of poachers knowing the territory like the palm of their hands. One would imagine a cluster of checkposts, all manned by STF men with Sten guns. But all along the way in the posts, I found only minimal sentries armed with only .303 rifles who will be easily outclassed by Veerappan. No wonder he eludes the cops even to this day. The route passes through Periyar wildlife sanctuary and the route is lined with signboards warning of wild animals. I thought they should have kept a board saying "Beaware of Veerappan". True to the sign boards, we could see spotted deer and wild foxes at some places, their eyes glowing like hot, while coals in the van's headlights. It was a great pity that only the driver and me were witness to the majestic spotted deers and the wild foxes.
Some of the sentries are also supporters of Veerappan if one could go by their huge mustaches. The 27 hairpin bends of the Thimbam ghats are also a test for the driver's skills especially with the heavy vehicles being driven with impunity. But thanks to my stars and the fact that I was constantly encouraging the driver, we managed to cross the strech without any hitch. Once you cross over to Karnataka, the situation really changes. The sleeping co-passengers were awakened by the extremely bad roads, which resembled the lunar surface. There was little to choose from one pot hole to another and the only thing one has in mind while driving through that stretch is a small prayer that the wheels don't come off or the axles do not break.
The trail then leaves Veerappan territory and becomes more civilised as you enter Chamrajnagar and Mysore. Work is now on for the four lane express way between Mysore and Bangalore and soon one could cover the distance without many hassles. The only hitch in the ride back was the death of the dog, which was hit by our van, whose last howl would haunt me for weeks to come.
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