அன்பு சென்னை நட்சத்திரங்களே,
I want to start off my blog post by apologizing in advance for my ஏக்கம் for the தாய்நாடு because it makes me sad but I want to share it with all of you anyway. Those of you who live abroad perhaps may relate to this and maybe those of you at home could also perhaps relate to this feeling. When I was at home I took a lot for granted, one of them being the beauty of our country. It took me several programs in Discovery channel and the few travels that I have made to the beautiful parts of our தாய்நாடு to realize this. I was teaching an introductory course in biology here at the university and we had students do presentations on destruction of forests in the world. Deforestation of tropical forests of course was one of the popular topics and it made me realize that several parts of our home was considered a biodiversity hot spot. Kodaikanal and ooty and some of the mudhumalai sanctuaries were featured in this presentation. When the student was presenting this I realized - here it is in my backyard at home and I have never seen it or appreciated it. I am not sure what I can personally do to prevent deforestation either than sign petitions but I can at least visit some of these places and appreciate them in my life time. So every time I visit India now I make it a point to see these places, not necessarily the tourist spots but check out the real natural beauty that is not polluted by humans. One of the treks I want to do is the trail from Kodaikanal to Munnar - apparently it is a 5 day guided hike. I believe that the Forestry department has to give permission for this because they don't want everyone hiking around these places and polluting the area. The forestry officials are very protective about the environment and so were the people. I have to say that I was very impressed about how conscious our society is starting to become, for instance in Kodaikanal at least the spots that I visited (the non touristy regions) they were conscious about recycling, not using plastic, using only newspaper bags. I think the Western society can learn a lot from them. I believe it is the same in some of the hillstations in the North from what GFK was stating from her travels.
Another area I want to visit after talking to GFK is Manjolai. Perhaps folks who have been there before can tell me about it. The information I read on the web was that - once again it is protected and one has to obtain special permission to visit these areas. To think that this was in my Nellai and I never once knew it until 18 years after I have been in this country. Moreover I have realized how much more credit needs to be given to the villagers who are very protective of their area instead of allowing people to pollute their ஊர்கள்.
In addition to realizing how beautiful our country is I am also learning that it has advanced far ahead of me in various ways. I suppose this is felt by every generation about the next but nevertheless it is a change that we all percieve. The biggest shock for me was - I have become far more conservative than my parents! I suppose for all practical purposes I am still stuck in India of 1992 which will never exist again. But even though I know that I have to get over it, I still miss that. Perhaps it is up to us to raise our children with those same values and appreciation for all things good that our parents instilled in us and let go and let live..
Gujili
Gujili;
பதிலளிநீக்குi was thinking god willing next time in India we should coordinate our stay and spend a week together alone and maybe take in a hike like this. now that neal is grown up we can spend some alone time.
GFK
GFK
பதிலளிநீக்குwhy dont you take some of us also in the hiking. It is true many beautiful places in Tamilnadu(forget about india) are still unexplored by many of us. I had been to Top Slip and Valparai, many places near valparai are yet to be polluted and the locals are well informed on protecting their eco system.Also there is one place I think (the name i am not sure) Silent Valley near Palghat( i was told that many places in this forest have not been invaded by human beings so far), they still preserve the forests and guarded to prevent invasion by humans.
While entering TopSlip forests, the officials thoroughly search our vehicles to prevent taking any plastic articles and liquor.
karaiyan.
Hello GFK, Karaiyan and whoever else is interested in exploring - yeah you are welcome to hike. Please bring along samsarams and children if they can also walk for miles without any health issues. I have never heard of Topslip is it close to valparai? BTW - is the silent valley the same as the one near kodai? If so yes that is true in terms of no invasion of these years. If only we could educate our city dwellers too - Chennai uses a lot more plastic than other cities in Tamilnadu. One thing I noticed on my road trips was - big content of trash was plastic bags which was not the case even 5 yrs ago.
பதிலளிநீக்குDear Gujili,
பதிலளிநீக்குMay be i can bring Gayathri with me for hiking. Top slip is near Pollachi and Valparai. It is true we use lot of plastic in chennai, even those selling flowers use plastic bags, before they used to wrap the flower in banana leaves or some other leaves. The valley i mentioned is near Mannarkadu(near palghat) in Kerala, kannan was asking me to join him for a trip there, but i could not do it. Hopefully i shall do it in near future.
karaiyan.
Karayan,
பதிலளிநீக்குDon't you have pictures of that Topslip tour via my home,with your co-br's family?
BHAI.
Karayan, GFK and others who want to join - regarding the hike yes we can plan ahead for summer 2012 which is when God willing I plan to be home. I can try and get permits for visits from one of my uncles who happens to be the director of TTDC. I don't think he retires until 2013. If you do get a chance post those pictures.
பதிலளிநீக்கு