The 18th Step

I got back home a couple of weeks back after a three day long trip to various temples across kerala which ended with the ascent of Sabarimala.I had been fasting for 16 days prior to the trip which meant no Non veg,No shaving etc etc!Lost a couple of kilos in the process and the no shaving part took away some of the “Handsomeness”(lol ya rite who am I kiddin?).Speaking of shaving that brought back a memory from class 8.My class teacher Padmanaban(Popularily known as Paddu) had this weird style of teaching.He used to take a sum ,sit and dream for ten minutes while we would be chattering away to glory and then all of a sudden as if he woke up from a bad dream he would start the next sum!Pretty funny to watch!Apparently he used to leave his tution class to go for driving classes while the students wrote the tests!(Mullti tasking at its finest one must say!).Anyways one day in the middle of all his dreaming someone started whistling in class and it sounded like a mobile ringing and Paddu suddenly came to life and decided that someone had brought a mobile to class and started an inspection of everyones bag!Poor guy got the shock of his life when he opened Tiju’s(Myclassmate) bag –the contents came out one by one –a Gillete mach 3 razor,Shaving cream,After Shave lotion and Perfume.The look on Paddus face said it all .Poor old Paddu –he had to deal with worse situations throughout the 8th grade!

Anyways back to Sabarimala Trip which started with the filling of the Keta Nara(if anyone who has made the trip sabrimala reading this please do pardon me if a make any error when it comes to the details especially since the time is 1 10 am!):P…which is the bag that u carry on your head on the way up.This was done in the temple near my Grandparents place.Oh and ya btw the people who were making the trip include my bro,cousin,a couple of uncles and 2 kids!!.So after the small ceremonial filling of the coconut with ghee [Symbolically, the ‘ghee’ in the coconut represents the ‘soul.’ And the human body is represented by the coconut!-(googled it :P)..] we were off in a rented qualis which isn’t the most comfortable vehicle specially when you have to sit in the back and the driver insisted on driving like an idiot(I’m actually being unfair ..he kept us alive after driving more than 600kms on Kerala roads-which is a big achievement!Trust me).Our first stop was the Kadampuzha temple in Kottaickal (the spellings got weirder as the journey progressed)where it started raining cats and dogs the moment we got out of our vehicles .The temple was fantastic though amazingly constructed and beautifully decorated all of which I would enjoyed more had it not been for the fact I needed to take a leak (the rain had to do something with it I guess ).So I got all wet in the rain to “water the roadside plants”(we did stop at a public toilet and I’ve never run faster out off room-the place still gives me the nightmares) and then we were off again on our way to Guruvayoor along with the rains.

Guruvayoor is a place that I’ve visited so many times.Every time we came on vacations from Sharjah my parents would make it a point to pray there and we would spend the night in a hotel there.And I used to love going to shop in those shops by the temple (Wrestling cards mainly ..lolz).This time around I didn’t get to buy them though(lol).We did visit the temple three times in all including the early morning puja which meant I had to get up by 3 30.Really pretty sight the temple with all it’s lamps lit up.After the morning puja we were off again on our way to the next temple which we reached at 6 (I forgot the name of temple though …hope my uncle isn’t reading this he made me memorise all the names and places)Having said that temple is on the banks of the backwaters and it was so picturesque with a cute bridge and this place where you get to feed huge fishes rice(I wonder how they grew so big with just rice-watever it was its definitely not fish curry (tat was a intentional vallip just in case u thought otherwise buhaha!).After that we made our way to Aryaas Kochin for breakfast!After which we visited the Chotanikkara temple there in Kochin which was kinda eerie cause they had this tree with nails stuck to it which apparently is hammered by “people haunted by evil spirits using their heads”.Gross na!.And it wasn’t jus t the one tree 3,4 of them with nails all over…gave me the creeps!!.Anways after that on the way to our next temple I was in the back of the qualis and had me eyes closed and was sitting and thinking about the 8th grade cause that was supposed to be my next blog.And boy did I come a across a memory I dint wanna remember.It was one fine day in the 8th grade .I was busy standing next to some guy in class and talking when suddenly I felt someone moving quickly behind me and the class suddenly went quiet and burst out into laughter.I fake laughed too (you know the laugh where you don’t know wats really happening),after which I looked down to see my pants were below my knees,One of my classmates had pulled it down from behind.Everyone except me found it very funny (hmmmph.. I started wearing a belt everyday from the that day forth :P ).Good thing it was a boy’s only school I studied in till the 10th.I distinctly remember opening my eyes suddenly in the back of car cause of this memory(or was it cause of the driver-the guy must have a been an ex motocross rally champion or something the way he jumped over the speed breakers).Anyways 4 temples later(which brings the total count to nine)we were finally on our way to Sabarimala.The car took us up the bigger hill until we reached the bottom of the smaller hill atop which lies Sabarimala and we had to start the arduous trek up the hill which started at the Pampa river (not the cleanest by any strech of imagination).And we were off .5 mins later we stopped!.Boy was it hard to climb the hill or what.Sharp rocks,Rain ,Wind and the steep hill not the greatest combination when you plan to go climbing especially when you have no shoes on!!.Numerous breaks followed but slowly we were making our way up surrounded by the forests and shops that sold everything from Rain coats and Glucose to pirated Cd’s and bed sheets!!(weird I wonder how the carry everything up there).Two peaks later(Neelima and Apachimedu(my spellings are way off I’m sure))it was the final stretch of flat ,muddy terrain and finally after almost 2 hours we had made to the top!.The place wasn’t crowded (it wasn’t the peak season when we went) so we were easily able to make it to the main temple which is accessible through a set of steps- 18 gold plated steps to be precise and atop those steps was Lord Ayaippan behind closed doors when we made it there.And after a wait of around 15 to 20 mins the doors opened and there I was standing right in front of the idol and I don’t know if it was the climb,the rain or the hundreds of devotees around me but when that door opened and you are standing right there the feeling is well how do you put it (hmm google says awe is good word)so awe it is!Was it a religious feeling or maybe a spiritual one I don’t know.But whatever it was it was worth visiting the tenth temple(original choice for blog title).And after a nights stay in Sabarimala and 4 visits more to the temple we were on our way back down the hill which actually was as difficult if not more than the climb up.Me and my bro made our way back to kochin on the way back in bus!And at a temple there we had the chains around our necks removed and that was that !I had visited Sabarimala!A trip I’ll remember for years to come!

Btw I kinda lost interest in the whole blogging thing for a while.I’m back now!(like Arnold in terminator 4 which I had to watch in tamil today(Don’t ask me why I’m pissed off as it is ).And also I would like to wish my Parents a very Happy 25th wedding anniversary.Luv you both.Its 2:02 am.Goodnight and Goodluck™