Arun Rajagopal

Monday, 25 Dec 2006: Santa visits Kodaikanal January 12, 2007

Merry Christmas! I donned the Santa cap, for the big day. Took a walk around the lake before proceeding on our tour of Kodaikanal. Had vadas for breakfast at Sami’s stall, posed for pics with him and the ‘amma’ (mother) selling pan parag next shop. Went chasing a herd of goats, one of them took a fancy for me, and was soon rubbing its head on my leg. May be it was just getting ready to butt me! Got into our tour bus, our tour guide was an engineering student named, of all the people, Saddam. Saddam was joined by Prince and Karthi (Karthik). We set out exploring the sights of Kodaikanal. We first went visiting Silver Falls at Kodaikanal. Met a group of Engineering students from Shastra Engg. College in Trichy. I slipped and fell twice at the falls. Was drenched, but thanked my stars that nothing untoward happened. Wondered about the time I slipped and fell while descending the hills on my trek to Job’s Well in Salalah almost a decade ago. Went on an amazing trek in the hilly forests enveloped in fog and mist.

Posed for pics with the world-renowned Strobilanthus or kurunji flowers which bloom only once every 12 years. Saw Dolphin’s Nose, got the gang of engineering dudes to pose for a monkey train on a nearby cliff. Asked them who their favourite Tamil heroine was. The unanimous reply was – Asin, though somebody described Nayantara as ‘luscious’; a term commonly used to describe ripe mangoes. Ate bread fried in omelette from a ‘shack like restaurant’ on our way. Loved the way it was prepared. Fell in love with a mutt that hung around the bench I was sitting. We covered other famous sightseeing spots before taking a round around the Kodai Lake.

My friend got me a keychain with my name inscribed on a single grain of rice. Gawked at people (read babes), while munching corn on cob. Watched a drunken 4WD driver plunge his Scorpio into a Honda City, then a shop selling curios made of seashells, and then a Toyota Qualis, before running over someone’s feet – all in less than 30 seconds, creating mayhem in the crowded Lake street. Went to the Kodaikanal Boat & Rowing Club and took a shikara ride in Kodai Lake. Saw Santa row a shikara. Learnt that his name was Murugan. Waved to him… Our Shikara-man, who name is akin to a famous American president, stopped the boat in the middle of the lake, and hiked his fare. Justifying his hike, he took our snaps in the shikara in various poses… all of which turned out to be… bad… 😦

To view more snaps from Kodaikanal, click on http://new.photos.yahoo.com/schmoozeby/
Type ‘Kodaikanal’ in the ‘search tags’ field in the top right corner and click ‘Go’.