Last October I had been to Coorg on a long weekend, or I must say the first long weekend because October had been a month where long weekends came in abundance.
Coorg was just about okay. Nothing great about the place but the company I was in was as always very enjoyable. We had a good time as usual. A couple of things are there to add.
There is this place called TalCauvery supposed to be the beginning point or as some purists would like to call it, the origin, of the Cauvery River. And I have had visions of a beautiful hill from which a small spring or whatever of water starting and all that sort of thing until I really saw that place. And what do I get to see? All I get to see is a water tank with water the color of mud and shaven heads wading from one end of it, to the other eager to be splashed with a mug of water by the priest sitting on the other end collecting some money for the blessings he is bestowing on those sinners. Appalling is the word that comes to my mind.
Then there is this place called Abbey falls which ought to be renamed more appropriately or aptly as Abbey Zoo. And the animals the zoo presents; none other than us Humans the most loved creation of God. It is surprising to hear someone say that Man is nature's last word. Hooliganism at it peak is what you can see at the falls. And hooliganism as it generally is the perception is a word we associate with men; but all this changes for the one who sees women at the falls. The sight of the trip which shall remain in my memory for long years to come is the one where a woman in her 40s clad in a sari submerged mostly in water is bouncing herself up and down with the water entering the sari and ballooning it up. And the kicks the woman was getting out of this repulsive act of hers put the last nail in the coffin, if nails are what your put in a coffin. And the boisterous way half naked men were behaving fails words. Add to it the stench of shit and urine and one starts feeling a kind of revolting sensation in the tummy. I actually happened to chance upon 10 Kgs of shit when trying to do a small climb and instantly abandoned all the ideas of an adventurous trek and ran for my life. The falls itself is really beautiful but the people mar the entire effect.
There was an elephant camp which was the real high point of the whole trip and the climb at TalCauvery where you get the beautiful views of the hills around is another saving grace. The trip to the elephant camp includes an enjoyable boat ride and picturesque surroundings. The Buddhist monastery wholly run by Tibetans who were refugees of a certain war that happened long years ago transports one into an entirely different land leaving no semblance of India. So much for the Coorg trip.
