Cycling in God's Own Country
3 January 2016
 |
| Kerala |
I
started at 6.30 am today. I managed to cover major distance before the sun came
out hard at me. I had covered 60 kms by 12 pm and I had reached Bekal fort.
 |
| Bekal Fort |
The
Fort had parking provision for cars and bikes. To avoid removing my bags from
bicycle, I thought that I shall park it close to ticket window so that security
would be able to keep an eye on it for me. But the guy at the ticket counter
was unhelpful. Not only did he refuse to keep an eye on my bicycle, but also
asked me to take a tour of the fort if I wanted to or else to leave! But many
people were listening in to our conversation. One of them( Santosh with his
family) asked me where I had come from. And it turned out that we both were
from Mumbai! Needless to say that we immediately started chatting and had a
nice conversation!
 |
| Santosh's lil girl |
Santosh's wife hails from Mengaluru. So she
spoke to the parking guys and made arrangements for my bicycle to be secure as
I took a tour of the fort. When I returned from my Fort tour, I saw that my
bags on the bicycle were covered by a blanket. Kamaludheen and Puspha, two
people who worked in the parking lot had done it so that my bags would be
shielded from the heat of the sun! It was a wonderful gesture and I was touched
by it. I left after thanking them.
 |
| Pushpa |
I rode to Konhagad after that and had lunch
at Shalimar hotel. The Banana juice here was delicious.
Today's target for me was Kanhagad. But since
I reached there before time, I decided to ride ahead. Next stop for me was
Payyanur, for which I had to cover a distance of 34 kms. I met Police Inspector
Mr. Melvin Jose on my way to Payyanur. He assured me that if I faced any
problem in Kerala, any nearby police station would be available for help.
 |
| Kamaludheen |
I
reached Payyanur at 6.30 pm. The condition of the road wasn't great. I was not able
to get through to the person who had arranged my accommodation for the night.
So I prepared myself to spend the night in a hotel. But then it stuck me that I
had contact number of Mr. Sudharshanji from RSS. I called him and asked him if
he could help me to find accommodation. He promptly gave me address of Mr. V.
K. Janardanji. It was pretty dark by then and the house of Mr. Janardanji was
pretty far, in the heart of Payyanur. Also, I had met a guy who was going to
help me to find a hotel. Since I had already asked Sudarshanji, it would have
been wrong on my part to stay at a hotel and not going to Janardanji's place.
The unknown guy who was going to help me to find hotel came all the way till
Janardanji's place to escort me. It was totally dark and the entire stretch of
4 kms was remote. He drove his Activa while I rode on my bicycle. I have to
admit that I was apprehensive about this stranger accompanying me till
Janardanji's place and was worried about his intentions. But he took me to my
destination in time, without any hassles. I felt guilty about having negative
thoughts about such person in my mind. I realized that though there are some
bad people in this world, there are equal number of good people, like the one I
had just met!
I will be spending the night at Mr. V. K.
Janardanji's place.
Good Luck....
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