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Susmita Das

Munnar is situated in the midst of the Nilgiris and is surrounded by tea estates and clouds. It is placed outside heaven's door, though it is in the hot, southern state of Kerala.

We went to Munnar in winter, cool and refreshing, and so green. We reached Munnar after a 12 hour bus journey from Trivandrum and we thought that as soon as we reached, we'd crash; no energy left whatsoever.

We were three of us – Lina, Trish and me. And we put up at the Hotel Hill View. For a moment, when I looked out of my hotel window, I thought I had been transported to Switzerland. The landscape in front of me looked like a painting. The rolling green hills, little streams, fat healthy cows grazing and clean, white tufts of clouds sailing in the crisp, blue sky. Instinctively, I took a deep breath... and inhaled a lot of the room freshener air of our air conditioned room.

"Hey guys, let's go look around this place," called Trish, her camera already slung around her neck.

"Wait for me." Lina and I hurriedly picked, up our sketch, pads and raced to the door.

The fresh air hits you like a welcome slap in your face. It invigorates you. Coming from a polluted city, we felt that the air was like a drug. No more of that tired feeling. Oh no, we were ready to hit the place.

In Munnar, you do not use use vehicles to go around. You walk, because there is no concept of time. Just walk around, drink in the pureness of the place, clean and lush and very peaceful.

Peaceful, did I say? Oh, I missed out one minor detail – it was election time, so from six in the morning to midnight, we were forced to listen to the hit song of Kerala at that time – Muquabla, Muquabla. Just one song. Again and again, for three days, nonstop. But I guess it added flavour to our stay in Munnar.

We strolled down to the market place. A tiny, bustling market, with its distinctive smell of spices, flowers and coconut oil. We looked out, clicking pictures and sketching, and generally smiling at the curious natives.

By lunchtime we were famished. Probably that's what cool, crisp air did to us.

Lunch? The only place we could think of… of course... Woodlands. A tiny Udipi restaurant at the beginning of the marketplace. It was the real thing… a real Udipi joint.

We ordered the best of South Indian cuisine – dosas, medhu vadas with spicy sambhar and mouth watering chutney. Amazing taste. Washed down, of course, with endless tumblers of filter coffee.

The coffee out there deserved a special mention. Steaming hot, brewed in its own special way, it tasted like no other coffee ever can. And the way the waiter presented it to you was quite a ceremony. He would pour it from one tumbler to another, at lightning speed without a drop being spilt. Very impressive.

The best part about the lunch? All that food and coffee for the three of us –- just Rs 25. This was surely not reality.

We slept soundly that night, in our cozy, warm room. It even had a fireplace, for the winter months. We had a busy day ahead of us the next day. The next morning we were up even before the sun. Well, that's good. Because we had to get someplace before sunrise.

We hurried, with our cameras and paints, up the long, winding road, up the hill to a lonely church, to watch the sunrise from there. The air smelt so pure, dew drops on every leaf and petal, the sky a blushing pink... the sound of Muquabla... in the distance -– almost perfect, right?

We tested the old church door. It creaked open. It was dark inside. But not menacing. We walked in and knelt down in the pews. The stained glass windows were beautiful. As we bowed down and prayed, the sun came up behind the hills slowly. The entire church came to life, with the sunlight streaming through the stained glass windows. Sun rays of every possible colour red, blue, green streamed in and the light rested softly on our heads, as if we were blessed, directly, by God's own hands. A very inspiring dawn, indeed.

We sat and we painted the entire morning and then we went off to visit the Tata Tea Estate. Informative, exciting and aah… the delightful fragrance of tea leaves was wonderful.

I'm afraid our three days at Munnar just flew by. Thanks to Lina's penchant for shooting pictures of fat cows, we have plenty of those to remember Munnar by.

And when we absently but almost involuntarily hum Muquabla while on the train to Nariman Point, we wonder, is this all we could carry back from Munnar? That place situated on a cloud right on heaven's door.

Munnar Guide

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