And the word of the day is spontaneity.
It was spontaneous- the trip.
Around eight in the morning, seven people (one of whom we had to kidnap from her house) crammed into a white innova and headed to Trivandrum’s famed hill station: Ponmudi. The twisty turns, sharp bends and harrowing hairpins were not a good combination if you hadn’t had breakfast. Some of us were starting to feel woozy so we stopped at a local restaurant. Who knew you could get porotta so early in the morning?
With satisfied stomachs, a bag full of oranges and a lemon to pass around, we started again. Out of the seven, two of us were Ponmudi virgins and were appropriately schooled on everything that was and wasn’t Ponmudi.
The no. 1 question on everybody’s mind as we made our way to the top was: whose bright idea was to come at noon when the sun was so obviously not on our side? Ponmudi experts. Pfft. Yea, right.
We were stopped near the "Welcome to Ponmudi" sign and vehicle-searched to make sure we weren't bringing in unsavory items. Eyeing the sun warily, we decided to waste some time at the little brook situated nearby. There, we stumbled upon a shoot of sorts. A very romantic shoot. Ignoring it, we ventured further. We climbed tree branches, tried to swing from vines and generally played Tarzan. As some rested on boulders, two casually slipped away toward the shoot. One made friends with the make up artist and the other shyly watched from the distance.
Da, Nammale Cinemayil Eduthu or The day we became backup dancers for what appeared to be a questionable movie.
"If you didn't take a picture, it didn't happen" or so said the old proverb. We found the perfect place for a picture- an unstable wooden log propped up by nature on two big rocks. As six of us slowly eased ourselves onto the log, we were spotted by the director.
"Wow... Super. Fantastic. Beautiful. Excellent."
And suddenly, we were the hero and heroine's classmates. The scenario: we're on a college outing. Camera rolling. Music. Actioooooooooon! Wait, we have to dance? While sitting on this unstable wooden log? Where the hell was our agent? Spotted next to the dance master, our makeshift agent was smirking like anything.
Feets dangling, we rocked back and forth, moving our arms in sync with the beat. Giggling overtook us. We weren't sure if it was because of the incredulous situation we were in or fear for our lives. Trying to suppress that was even more hilarious. After two perfect takes, the hero and heroine were positioned next to us, on a rock.
And then, we saw first hand what it is like to be a heroine from a different state. We heard her being verbally abused in a tongue which was foreign to her. Quickly, the mood dampened. We didn't want to play anymore. It wasn't fun. Each whispered their dissent to the person next to them yet did nothing. Two more takes and it was finished.
We all dragged our feet as we made our way back to the innova, ranting about the horrible director. Our makeshift agent questioned why we didn't speak up then. We looked down at our sneakers in shame. He then proceeded to explain that this was normal. They often bring actors from different regions and later on set, they make a big fuss of how horrible she acts in efforts to bring production cost down.
Retaining the good and shaking off the bad, we decided to take a picture at the Welcome to Ponmudi sign.
Note: You are allowed to pose next to it and not on it as we quickly learned.
Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.
Why do Indian filmmakers go to foreign locales to shoot song sequences when there are so many beautiful backdrops right at home? Ponmudi is one of them. Brisk winds. Golden-green rolling hills for miles. It was like we stepped into some fantastical story.
Our experts fear the sun. "Karathu pokum". Ah, the legacy of imperialism. We trudged a little down to a tea shop nestled between the hills. The air there was a pleasureful mixture of warm and cold. Sipping tea, gulping down sprite (certain parishkaaris of the group) and munching on nuts coated with masala, we could have stayed there forever.
However, if we wanted to see Ponmudi, we had to start off asap. We ran a few feet to get our hearts racing and in the process scared a few tourists. Squinting at the the big hill in front of us, we began to rethink our strategy. The sun was merciless, and to us, right then, the hill could have easily been Mount Kilanmanjaro. We diverted our track to a little oasis to the side- a small hideaway which most would not even notice.
Da, ithu puli vanna sthalama or how many people lied about watching Rathinirvedham (you liars!)
And in the sweltering heat, we found relief yet again: a fully air-conditioned hangout courtesy of Mother Nature herself. Surrounded by trees with big rocks to perch on and a little pool of water, this was something we would have overlooked if we had come in the morning or evening. Of course, some of the experts were none too thrilled at the prospect of going in further. Tales of tigers inhabiting these parts were told every five seconds.
In the end, we each settled on a rock, forming an ill-shaped circle. Dipping our feet into the cool water, we blasted classics from a mobile speaker, passed pop rocks like guys would weed and simply talked. Conversation kept on switching from life, work and the future to movies and back again. Our voices and laughter filled the entire area... This was something we clearly needed and we hoped the creatures of the woods would forgive us this once.
Life's a climb, literally
Since we took a detour to the oasis, we had to go up the round about way. It felt like we were warriors at the border of the country. Armed with only our mobile cameras, we started the climb to the top, slowly, painstakingly, with the sun burning into our skins. It was tough. We pretended we weren't thirsty since we had finished our last bottle of water down at the bottom. The dirt was slippery and we were struggling. Still, our instagrammers managed to take some awesome pictures along the way.
Midway, we stopped partly from exhaustion and partly because of the view. It was definitely a showstopper. So of course, a photo session had to be held. And very quickly, we found out who all had a fear of heights.
Our dry throats cried when we saw a little boy drinking Fanta. We tried calling him over secretly (we were that thirsty) but he ignored us. It was then one of us found a lemon from before. The poor lemon was desecrated in under five seconds. To us, that was the sweetest bitter taste in the world.
Why this Kolaveri di or hunger pangs
With growling stomachs, we took the last few pictures and headed back down. We bought a few bottles of water and quenched our thirst. And then started the typical road trip singalong. The poor driver. Realizing the dilemma before him, he quickly started scouting restaurants. None of the places the experts suggested had food. It was long after lunchtime. Finally, we found one when our hunger pangs had somewhat died. Meals with fish was the lunch of the day and we happily agreed. I bet we would've agreed to anything at that point. Stuffed,we spent rest of the ride asleep. Like babies.
And that's how friends can turn a poorly put together trip into a memorable one.
