A short trip to Malayatoor - Son's Point Of View

It was not a worn irregular edge of silk saree, but a sleeping horizontal hill, stitching the embroidery to the clear sky as I watched it daily from my apartment balcony. After three months of heavy rain, the hill was visible from apartment. The hill with historical significance for Roman Catholic church, a sacred place associated with St. Thomas, the pilgrim centre, known as Malayatoor hill. The moment I thought about travelling there, I felt the astonishment too. It took three long years after living in the same apartment to take a decision to visit a place that was at a stone’s throw away from us. Finally, it happened on that Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM. I felt my parents were looking for excuses for not visiting a place which they have seen umpteen times during their childhood. Nevertheless, I cannot forget the lush green forest area covered on both sides of the road. Living long time in the city, my tendency to call any green area with occasional monkeys and elephants, as forest, not to be underestimated. I must say, two sides of the road appeared to be a forest area for a city boy like me. After all, there were government forest guard check posts on the way with red barricades. No need to toss a coin to decide, it is forest area.

Like most foothills in our country, a lake, a boating facility and fishing nets corner was our first stop on the way. We stopped near a monastery, another usual suspect around such hilly areas. Parents enquired about the fish price with a roadside merchant. I knew, they were not going to buy it. They were always curious about fish prices, travel any part of the world. I could also see an old man alone; using fishing hooks. From the clear water, I could see fishes were cleverer to avoid old man’s hooks. We did not wait till his successful fishing attempt. We spent thirty minutes in the church and surrounding areas. The locals call the church as ‘Thaazhathe Palli’. The old architectural style thrilled us. The olden style frills of the church buildings, reminiscence of Greek-Roman architecture was a different experience. It was a refreshing trip after a long time, though a short one. Looking back, I don’t recall anything about the return journey from the hill. It was a different night with short collection of pictures for my memory to ponder after many years.