PLEASURE TOUR AND TRAVELS ,THE ELIXIR OF LIFE
The early two decades of my youth in Indian Air Force bestowed me the opportunity to be in all the states of India except the north eastern states like, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura, Manipur and Sikkim. All the spectacular places nearby my Airforce hospitals would be seen with in six months of my temporary or permanent stay over there. Mostly, the sight seeing's were free of cost in pre arranged Airforce coach ,carrying sumptuous food prepared in Airforce mess. That was an advantage of Airforce life.
At times, long tour and sight seeing's may be tiring and tedious. But it is a fixed investment for your mind to amuse you through out life. The Bhakra Nangal dam, the 17th century Pinjore Gardens in Haryana, the Royal palaces of Jaipur and Bikaner and the wide spread deserts of Rajasthan, which I had seen in 1972, reflects in my mind as if I had seen them yesterday. The snow covered Himalayas and Mount Everest ,seen from a distance from Kathmandu are bliss of my solitude.
Visit To Thanjavur temples of 11th century Chola dynasty, Madurai Meenakshy temple, 8th century temples of Kanjipuram etc. are spectacular views of antiquity. There are tours which causes goosebumps even now like visit to Vrindavan Gardens, Mysore Palace, Krishnarajasagar dam, Nandi hills, Lalbagh botanical garden etc. in 1970 in my Shakespeare's third and forth stages of human life, the romantic recollections of which haunt me even in my present pantaloon stage.
Taj mahal, Fatehpur sikri etc. in Agra and Old Delhi as a whole describe Mughal dynasty. My stay in New Delhi provided a complete picture of present governmental machinery of India and the big mansions related to it. My visit to Banaras Hindu University became the dawn of long precious connections with many literary stalwarts later on. It was my fortune and fulfilment of long cherished aspiration to be in Ardh Kumbhmela in 1980 in Allahabad.
My visit to the United Kingdom and thirteen European countries in 30 days may be a separate long episode later. I had been seeing the west and western life only with my inward eye for 60 years. The west and western life could be seen with my physical eyes just a couple of years ago.
Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala nurtured and nourished me for thirty five years when I chose it as my domicile in 1987 and made my third pasture land for livelihood. Till then I only heard about the evergreen city of India , Thiruvananthapuram, which is distinguished by its colonial architecture, many art galleries, ancient temples , beaches and Western Ghats tracts of Ponmudi and Agastya mala.
My inherent quest for sight seeing forced me to see almost all proximal spectacular places in the first one year of my stay over there. There was an intermission of all my sight seeing's for twenty years owing to my busy schedule of enterprising life. The national conferences of All India Association of Physiotherapists in various states provided opportunity for seeing many places in Indian union.
The recent tour with our Pensioner's Forum members to Ponnumthuruthu ( Golden island) was a source of enchantment in the geographic panorama of Thiruvananthapuram. The itinerary contained many historical and amusing places like Muthalappozhi Eastuary, Anchuthengu Fort and Light house, Kayikkara Asan Smarakam, Kaveri Elephant Park, Golden Island boating , Thiruvampadi beach etc.
The Anchuthengu Fort was the first post of East India Company on the Malar Coast. In November 1693 John Brabourne was sent by British East India Company (EIC) to Attingal, where he obtained from Rani Ashure, a grant of site for a Fort on the sandy spit if Anchuthengu (then known as Anjengo) together with the monopoly of the pepper trade of Attingal. Muthalappozhi, in Trivandrum is an area where back waters merge with the sea is indeed very picturesque.
The famous Malayalam poet Kumaranasan took birth in Kayikkara and there is the Kayikkara Asan Smarakam and the school where he studied is maintained in memory of him. Nobody ,who studied Malayalam literature can get rid of poems of Kumaranasan, the poet laureate.
The visit to Kaveri Elephant Park and boating to Golden Island where there is no human inhabitant other than flora and fauna, are everlasting memories.
In the dusk of my life I just want to enjoy the sunrise , listen to the chirping birds, admire nature and glorify God for his amazing creation of the universe. The dusk of life is for recalling the past experiences and images of splendid things you have in your inward fixed deposit .
For those who spent an active life retirement and progressing age brings feelings of uselessness and despair. In your dusk of life when you recall those moments of amusement, I am sure ,you would never regret and would think those are the moments when you actually lived life rather than living like a' Kupa manduka' (frog in a well).
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