Thrissur
Pooram :
Probably
the most hyped festival of South India would be the Pooram of Thrissur, which
takes place on the grounds of Vadakunnathan temple in Thrissur on Pooram day of
every summer. I heard about the festival through Harry who hails from that
place. I forgot at what occasion he told me, but I could imagine him speaking
to me about the festival in his own peculiar tone and energy. For he has used
that excitement in his voice to talk about his hometown.
Our
friends at HCL and our British Clients fondly call him as Harry not because its
difficult for us to pronounce Harikrishnan Mullakal Aravindababu but for the
particular accent he puts up when he speaks English. Keep speaking to him in
English and you will be convinced that he is someone from Yorkshire who is
ready to die for Arsenal . So particular was his accent that it never ceases to
go off your minds.
It is
with this accent that he must have told me about the pooram festival. I long
forgot his reference to the festival until I managed to see the movie Charlie.
[One of the few fictional characters other that Harry Potter whose life I would
trade for mine].
I started
learning about the festival through Internet after the movie and the desire to
witness the same grew stronger. I was dying for a break from my usual work life
during my birthday month last year and I decided to go on a trip of sorts to
unknown cities. Ofcourse attending Pooram topped the list until I learned that
I had missed it by couple of months. I had to reshuffle my list then.
My
affinity towards the God's own country had grown multifold by then, thanks to
the advertising of Harry and my crush who happens to live there. So after
scrutinising through the places I had listed down, I finally settled for a
trekking expedition on my birthday week that year (travelogue for which is
still on hold ( I know it’s going to be a year but yes it’s still on hold)) It
was then that I decided to attend Pooram the next year no matter what.
I was
conscious enough to wait for the summer and ask Harry about the dates for
Pooram. Before I could spell it out, harry himself offered to arrange stay for
me if I was willing to attend. (willing, I was dying to attend ).
After
confirming that this would be a solo trip too, I managed to start preparing for
my trip (all my travel expeditions has been a solo one).
Pooram – the adventure :
Harry
spoke to me a week later confirming the dates of the festival (25,26th
of April) and gave me guidelines on preparing itinerary for the trip. (although
I sketched out the route map that I would be travelling by, I never did prepare
anything seriously other than that).
My most
expected trip started right after packing my bags. I dint have the tickets nor
had I any idea of the number of buses that I will be changing on my route.
After
Salem :
It was
only after reaching Salem did I realise the amount of time I was running late
by. Harry had asked me to be at his house on the evening of 24th
which would give me ample time to rest the night before I plunge into the
Pooram crowd the next morning. My amateur plans were done according to his idea
too. But I overestimated the quality of the state run buses in Tamil Nadu and
the frequency of buses after 10 PM in the state of Kerala. Both proved
detrimental to my plan, that was not there in the first place. I had expected a
10 hour journey on the whole but what turned out was a whooping 14 hour
journey.
From my
rough calculations I was expecting to reach Thrissur by 10 PM in the evening as
I had started well before 9 am in the morning. But when I started I couldn’t find
a direct bus to Coimbatore which would have made the whole travel a lot easier.
Thrissur is a 3 hour ride from Coimbatore (CBE). I had to settle for a 6 -8
hour trip to Salem from where the buses to Coimbatore would be very frequent.
I did
find a bus to CBE once I reached Salem but it seems that even the fastest bus
in the shortest route would still take more than 3 hrs to reach CBE from Salem
(a fact that I learned only then). So contrary to my calculations I reached CBE
by the time I was expected to reach Thrissur.
Harry
called again to check on me and he advised me to explain the delay to his
brother who was waiting to pick me up from Thrissur had I reached there on
time.
I
calculated the said 3 hrs of travel time that was remaining and I explained
Sandeep Chettan (Harrys brother) that it would be only after 12 that I would
reach Thrissur. He then said something sweet. He said he was at the pooram
grounds (probably enjoying the regursal of the festival that was scheduled for
the next day) and it wouldn’t be a problem for him to pick me up by the time I reach
there (which also means that I wouldn’t be disturbing him in sleep if I had to
call him after I reach).
Again my
calculations went wrong as there were no buses to Thrissur from CBE by then and
I had to go to Palakkad to go to Thrissur. So from CBE – Thrissur became CBE –
Palakkad – Thrissur. I dint think this would be a problem again as I knew
somehow that both buses wouldn’t take more than 1.5 hours of travel time on
road. Little did I know then that the problem was not with the travel time but
with the time I had to wait for the particular buses to arrive at every bus
station.
All the
Kerala buses plying from CBE to Palakkad and Thrissur had gone long before I reached
CBE and I had to wait for the last TNSTC bus that will not start until all the
seats have filled up. I forgot the time it took for the seats to get filled but
I knew I had had 3 chais ,2 coffees and 1 sukku coffee by then.
The
situation was the same in Palakkad too where I had to wait for almost an hour
for the KSRTC bus to start. (I had 3 chais by then, yes so do the math)
Although I
have met Sandeep chettan once in Harry’s marriage it was difficult for me to
identify the younger version of Harry in the bus stand in Thrissur. The poor
soul had waited a long time for me. Before I hit the comfortable bed that was
waiting for me at his place, I asked him the plans for the next day and decided
to stick by it. But his reply came as a shocker as he said, “No matter what
time you get up, Pooram will be there for you. Take rest.” From what I read in
the internet, Pooram is bound to start from sunrise on the day of the main
pooram and the celebrations are supposed to go on for the next couple of days.
After
making sure that all my gadgets are charged up, I dozed off to sleep. Little
did I know about the adventure that was awaiting me the next day.
The day started
at 9 in the morning when I woke up. I realised the festive atmosphere at Harry’s
home too and I wasted no time in getting ready. I joined the rest of the family
for breakfast who were already drenched in the festive mood, thanks to the live
relay of Pooram from the local TV channels. The Pooram grounds were barely 3 or
4 kilometres away from the house.
Me,
Sandeep and Ishana formed a team of three and left for the grounds to witness
the much awaited festival . Ettan warned me that RE could take us only half the
distance and we were to walk with the crowd for some distance to reach the
place. I told him that I was game for anything.
