ROAD LESS TAKEN

A Precarious and Adventurous Journey at Kannupulimettu - Shencottai Kundaru Dam My cousin and I were on a trip to a waterfall in Kannupulimettu, a place near my home town. The place is surrounded with lush green mountains, numerous waterfalls across the rivers and a dam (Kundaru Dam) that collects the water from the hills. We have been visiting this place for the past four years, and to make this trip extraordinary we set out to look for a new waterfall in the region. Journey Through the Valley We began to climb up the streaming valley. The journey was treacherous as the path was filled with huge rocks and skewed waterways.  After passing through a kilometre, we were stopped by the barbed wire, erected across the valley. It seemed to have built to keep the perpetrators away. We stood there for a moment and starred at each other whether to cross over or return to the falls which is easily accessible down below.   We spotted a passage beside the barbed wire w...

              My cousin and I were on a trip to Tirunelveli to apply for a passport. It was summer; the scorching heat was quite unbearable. We had to wait until noon to get our work done. Hence, we had to look for a shady place to rest for a while. We seated ourselves on a cement platform, under a Neem tree, in front of a house. Of course, there were so many houses lined up in the area. After a while, a man came in a scooter and alighted to enter into his house. He gave us a sinister look as if we were there to loot his house. He disappeared into his house, locking his gate tightly behind him. I told my cousin that our land has lost its kindness and hospitality towards strangers over the years. We were sharing our nostalgia for the good old days when love-centered human life and money were only part of it.             Suddenly, I heard the gate opening from another house, and a frail old lady c...