Kerala , a state in my country India is called “God’s own country”. A little history about the phrase - God’s Own Country as a phrase was often used and popularized by New Zealand’s longest serving prime minister, Richard John Seddon. He last used it on June 10, 1906 when he sent a telegram to the Victorian premier, Thomas Bent, the day before leaving Sydney to return home to New Zealand. “Just leaving for God’s own country,” he wrote. He never made it, dying the next day on the ship Oswestry Grange.

My visit to Kerala was pretty much a last minute decision.It was prompted by a friend of mine who was studying at calicut.

IIM Kozikhode  campus is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. The travel from campus gate to the interiors of the campus was through a rocky terrain surrounded by thick forest , coconut trees , etc. Another delightful feature of the IIMK campus is that every part of the campus is connected by staircase. One can virtually walk from anyplace to anyplace. Hostels to library to academic block to mess by stairs.It looked more like Buddhist Monastery where people come to live a peaceful life , full of zest and enthusiasm for whatever they are doing. The babylon gardens in the front of the administration block was a place worth spending time.

After spending time at IIMK, we moved on to Kadau backwater resort. Our state of hunger had reached stratospheric levels when we reached kadau resort. We immediately went on a food binge, but soon were captivated by the serene lake present amidst which the resort was located. Having food surrounded by a lake which was showering a cold breeze was a beatific experience. If there is one place I would like to comeback on a holiday, it would be Kadau resort. 

The next stop from Kadau resort was Kappad beach, a place 15 Km from the city of calicut. It has a historical significance, in the sense that Vasco Da Gama landed here in 1498. Though we could not see the memorial that was built at the place, the beach was in itself worth spending time for the rest of the evening. It was getting dark but no one of us was in a mood to leave the beach. However, like all good things come to an end, we had to pack our bags from the beach and move to a hotel by name Mezban for the day’s dinner.

Next day , we decided to go on a trek to Thuzargiri, a place 60 Km from calicut. We never had any map to reach the location.In a way not knowing the way was the best thing to happen. We tried conversing with strangers in a language which was a mix of tamil, hindi, English and god knows what language ..It was a total fun experience trying to ask for directions and haggling with auto drivers, cab drivers along the way.It took about 2 hours to reach the place. We were accompanied by a guide by name Santo, a very talkative, fun loving guy who trekked the place with bathroom slippers, while we were finding it difficult to trek with shoes and all the necessary accessories. The trek is well known for the waterfalls, the thick jungles , the precarious routes where any slip can cause a pretty nasty accident, wild elephants, etc. Infact the trek taught me a lot of  lessons which would have taken me years to learn. These lessons were about my fears, attitudes, behavior, which I understood in the trek to the top. One has to trek the Thuzargiri hills to know its beauty and enchanting forests.

After a span of almost 5 years I had taken this vacation and it has really been a great time out. One thing is for sure that I would go back to trek again the thuzargiri hills in 2006.