#TRAVEL DIARY #EXPERIENCE #CHERISHABLE BREAKFAST# NEAR TIRUCHY ,TAMILNADU

 

There was an old saying  ‘Maduraikku vazhi vayila’ in Tamil,-  and the translation is ’The way to Madurai  is in your tongue ‘and it  means that ’ if you want to go to Madurai you ask for it and people will direct you” , well!  What was asked to do with the tongue, then is done by the fingers now - through the GPS   . I would say ,  The arrival of GPS is a renascence in travel ; it literally washed away the use of physical  maps  , it opened up a totally a new way of travel  to explore the unexplored , and to travel the untraveled ,  it minimized   the traveller's  interactions with strangers  seeking routes  or direction ,  it had helped in unearthing  so many hidden temples , caves , sea fronts and other places of interest in the distant interior villages in the country   .

And this day ,it was one of my official trip to Trichy and I decided to use  the surplus time   to explore an old Vishnu temple  called ‘Appakudathan temple’ as a part of my 108 Divya Desam visit ... i happened to read  about this temple in an  article and I Googled and Wikipeadiaed  and found out  more about this . Supposed to be  700 to 800 years old  and , located on the banks of the river Cauvey ,25 kms from Trichy  along the old road to Tanjore .

And hence I started following the GPS and thus happened to be on this road .

 When highways are established, the old roads  loose its  charm and  that is the reality . Obviously there is low traffic and the low traffic will take away all  commercial establishments and the livelyness will go away  and the same is the situation for this road also . Not much of traffic and only the people in the nearby villages who wanted to carry out their day to day works use this road . No big trucks or buses ply on this road except for some occational tourist cars and vans .

 In India, despite the vastness of its history and its variety of still unexplored places  of interest  ,  there are  relatively few takers to tour, to explore  . That too to visit these non popular  old temples, there are very little crowd to count on, may be its history is not showcased properly or may be this is a problem of plenty.  Despite its oldness, massiveness and aesthetically and sculpturally marvellous, some temples remains very passive, people rarely visit these temples and it is ignored by the government also. People go and pray only in popular temples; people   go to temples where they   get something in return on an immediate basis, instant Darsan! , immediate Prasad! or low turnaround benefits . That instant satisfaction will make people to turn to their choice of   temples -temples which adapt to changes and the spiritual gurus who give instant solutions.

Back on road, started following the GPS lines and the associated motherly voice of the alien lady from Philadelphia!or Munich! or may be a robotic voice ! god knows ...who ?  Finally that interpreted the meaning of the old proverb ‘maduaraikku vazhi vaayilla’. I was driving in  auto pilot mode , turning the steering  blindly following the GPS.....but , conscious of my  objective of watching  what the road offers and the environment offers .

It was 7 in the morning and the sun rays were jus piercing thru the misty February morning and trying to expose the paddy fields and the plantain gardens . But the paddy field were already active telling the Sun Shine-  “you are late!”. It was  active with farmers doing their daily routine of maintaining   the paddy field ....I was  driving , enjoying the music from the regional FM channel  and the circumstantial visual offers of the paddy field , farmers , river bank and trees,  and the golden  sun rays ...

Its a typical village atmosphere throughout ... it has got all the features and ingredients of the countryside, .... and that was when I spotted this joint a ‘HUT’ a little bigger hut ,  on the road side  and a old lady  cooking something in the open foreground . I thought its a captive cooking and gave a miss , after driving for  300 to 400 meters I reversed back to take a chance to check out  ..

.. I stopped the car, the old lady was so receiving and invited me with a traditional welcome smile. It was an old Hut ,To describe the interiros there was a bench supported by a brick on one leg, two or three worned out and turned out vessels , dillapated unplastered walls and  to my  abosolute astonishment  I spotted  'Google' written on the wall in white chalkpiece.  The front of the house was freshley cleaned, watered and traditionally rangolied . 

 I enquired whether is  it an eatable joint ? Restaurant or something ?,

 she said  “‘no..... but I can offer you  some idlyies, if you like ” , she made an offer.”

I happily took the offer. She served hot idlyies from the oven with thick chutney. Had a good round of hot ,Wood cooked , soft idlyies with freshly made chutney from the stone grinder.... so thrilled with this exciting start in the morning I started an excited conversation  with her.

 we talked about regional politics, agricultural output , regional commerce etc . Astonished to find that at she was a knowledgeable lady ...at least she was aware of the developments around here like the new road, new schemes, Covid protocols . She said she is cooking these idlyies for the breakfast for   a function and  she makes her living by catering to small  functions in the nearby villages,  as running a restaurant is not viable as the traffic in this road is very limited .

“You want some tea?”

“Yes “bumper offer for me

She offered me tea, again wood heated  tea, spent some time  , sitting there enjoying the warmth of the morning misty sun shine sipping the tea , cherishing the taste of the  breakfast  , chitchatting  with the old lady, relishing the breeze from the nearby paddy field traversing the rivers  Cauvery and Collidam as this road is sandwitched between them . When I started , I asked her how much is the bill?

 she said ‘give whatever you feel like ?’ with a smile .

I really wanted to pay the whole earth for that gratification and the pleasant experience. With the same spirit and speed , I opened by wallet , but  to my annoyance  I didn’t find anything in my wallet  but for  a  10 Rs note , I rooted  my pockets ,  wanted to check whether I left any change in the car , but in vain,These are the results of overconfidence with the Digital world.  

I cut a sorry figure and I felt so ashamed and thought its too much to  ask whether she accepts credit card !and politely asked if  there an ATM nearby? . 

 “money dispensing machine? ...6 to 7 kms away  this way” she showed the direction.

but she was cool ...” it's okay! .. whenever you come back you pay me !”.

 I felt so obliqued  and my consciousness was at its peak ;  so I asked her to wait till I get back with the money from the ATM , by that time the old lady called someone from the next house and a young lady in caual nighty turned up , and understood my problem ....

".Do you have Googlepay anna?" .....

 I was awstruck  with the excitement and surpirse, wondered how villages have changed! and the how people in rural areas  have adopted to the digital world ! .Whether tourists reach out this area or not GOOGLE has reached ...With that , I happily transferred Rs. 500/- and asked her to check her account ....but before she reacts for too much money being paid , I  rushed back to the car before she calls me back to give the change .

Well!...These are some momentary surprises you get while travelling .... the  unexpected food joint  !, the innocent old lady !, the simpler and  healthy country food ! ,  the gratifying  experience ! and of all  learning the changes in the world. 

These small  experiences are   priceless , people spent so much of money , time and energy to entertain and please  their soul going to distant places ....Ignoring the small thing what they get it near them at an  affordable price  ......!

 - experienced it on 4th of February 2022 - near Appakudathan Temple 25 kms from Tiruchy , Tamilnadu , India