Sunday Tales –A Road Trip — 18
This was a special week; truly a week to reflect and savor the awesome travel with my family on a road trip from Bangalore to Trivandrum. When the week started we were perturbed and disturbed by the natural calamities happening across Kerala, but luckily things cleared up as we set forth our travel across Tamilnadu towards the evergreen city of Trivandrum.
We started our journey on Thursday, with a surprisingly sunny morning greeting Bangalore; setting the tone for this trip. Soon we crossed Hosur in the national highway as we motored down to Salem. One distinct change from all the previous trips was that we had the choice of food to choose from Saravana bhavan to Murugan idli kadai or Café Coffee day to McDonalds, so no stress for the lady of the house to prepare, pack and of course feed everyone.
One of the things we have taken for granted now a day is the quality of vehicles and the magnificent roads. I remember of my earlier travels across many notorious parts of India where even 50 kilometers travel had taken more than three hours! Truly we are blessed to have these lovely roads making travel a true bliss. To be honest roads all across Tamilnadu takes the cherry in the cake, with the NH44 running parallel to all cities, ensuring unhindered travel to reach your destination.
This road trip brought a lot of memories of travel with my family in the late seventies; one of the memories is starting the car in the morning! I can always remember the joy in my dad’s face if the car starts with the first try in the morning, as in most days it required a solid push to start. Batteries of those days used to discharge in the night making starting the engine a difficult proposition.
Another distinct re-collection during any long trip of those days was the punctured tyre or a flat tyre. This was a routine affair as many a time I remember helping my dad in setting up the jack under the car or tightening those wheel bolts while change of tyres.
Another amusing episode in earlier generation cars was the fumes emanating from the bonnet like a steam engine as the radiator gets heated up. With great difficulty we used to open the bonnet and the radiator cap, while boiling water & steam splashes upwards. Once it cools down, fresh water or distilled water was used to refill before we re-start the car again. Distilled water was an important ingredient in the car (inside the “Diki” the terminology I remember for boot/trunk) in long travels as it was used to refill the radiator as well as car batteries periodically.
Most wondrous memory from those days was how the families took these breakdowns, no complaints or tantrums as everyone would get down from the car, stretch their legs or explore the remote location. Also we used to get some Good Samaritan helping during stoppages. Many a time fellow car traveler’s used to stop and check as a matter of courtesy. In total, the car travel was a pleasurable adventure with all above taken as routine affair.
In comparison to the yesteryears, ours was a smooth trip with occasional stops to fill our stomach, but the best part of the journey was the degree coffee-The Kumbakonam Degree coffee (KKDC) outlets stretched across the highway, giving a much needed break to relax with a steaming coffee in hand.
The roads were absolute marvel as we reached Nagerkoil late night for our night stay. As the morning sun rose we were off to Gods own country crossing Kaliyakavalai. Even though it was fun to drive to Trivandrum, the road from Nagerkoil to Trivandrum was an absolute shocker as it took three hours to cover this 69 km stretch, Once we reached the outskirts of Trivandrum the roads improved as did the scenery.
Next day we drove to Kovalam, to a breathtaking KTDC resort “Samudra” for a family wedding in that premises. It was mind boggling picturesque setting with marriage happening with sea and beach as the back drop. Every moment we spent was surreal with the extended family shooting zillions of selfies as we simply enjoyed the place personifying “God’s own country” in every moment of our stay.
After the destination wedding it was time to say our pranams to the Lord of Abode “God Padmanabha”. Before we started our return journey we bid safe tidings with a prayer to “Pazhavangadi Ganapathy”. The six days at Trivandrum were a whirlwind affair that will stay in our memory for ever.
Next day we drove all the way from Trivandrum to Trichy to spend some quality time with my dear mom, after a two hour break we reached Salem for the night cap. Early morning we drove back to Bangalore to complete the saying “All good things have to come to an end”.
Overall this was a fantastic road trip as we absolutely enjoyed the scenic fair across the Dravidian plains with even rain gods relenting and taking a break for a week! This was absolute trip for my family memorabilia as I end this week with famous words from Robert Frost
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I– I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference”