Adventures of Athirapally
Finding courage in Kerala’s magic
Kerala, God’s Own Country as they call it had an honest whiff to its air from the moment I stepped there. All my life, I’d wanted to come here. To kayak in its backwaters. To live on a boat. To breathe in its serenity.
Little did I know my first experience of Kerala would be so far off from everything I’d anticipated from this land.
Of Waterfalls
Kerala, I’ve heard houses the most scenic lands of the country. And yet, an early morning flight and a lovely hour long drive from Kochi’s airport later, I was left longing for a power-nap from the comfort of a real bed. So of course, when we reached Rainforest Athirapally for the 2 days I was to spend there, I hoped head straight to bed.
erala, I’d heard housed the most scenic lands of the country. And yet, an early morning flight and a lovely hour long drive from Kochi’s airport later, I was left longing for a power-nap from the comfort of a real bed. So of course, when we reached Rainforest Athirapally for the 2 days I was to spend there, I hoped to walk straight to a bed.
But instead, my feet were carrying me right across Foliage (Rainforest’s restaurant), straight towards the railing of the garden. I stood there staring straight into it: the proud and exceptionally majestic Athirapally waterfall, torn by the thought of if it was the waterfall itself, or my surprise at how much grander it was than in the photographs and videos that had me so dazed.
In hindsight, the waterfall definitely trumped.
Of Treehouses
Having grown up with my grandmum, I’d heard a gold-mine of fables and stories romaniticizing nature and its lands. She spoke highly of forests, rivers and trees–old & wise, and painted my imagination with wonderful mysteries of the Indian sub-continent in folklores.
With every step up the tree-house, the smell of wet wood made it a little more real. The gate of the house opened itself to the open balcony through which I saw a place that I’d never want to leave.
Inside, lay a double bed. its neat, white bedsheet and a mosquito net adding to the decor of the polished furnishing carved straight from the tree. Even the bathroom hid itself behind a camouflaged wooden door. The room was adorned with white curtains that fell in quaint pleats when tied to the pillars leading to the open balcony. And no matter where you placed yourself in that surprisingly spacious room,
you could see the white of the waterfall, the light blue of the sky, the green of the forests and the dark brown of the house mingle with each other creating an unbelievably overwhelming view.
Little did I know that was only the start to the adventure and magic that Kerala had in store for me. (Video)
This video was an attempt to take you there with me. And despite capturing my adventures, what you wouldn’t see in it is what I felt witnessing this grand yet grounded experience of seeing this massive waterfall snuggled with love in a dense rainforest.
Of gratefulness
Here I was, in this land of magic. I wasn’t living close to the wild, I was living in the wild. Of course I was busy living life with my adventurous antics. But how undeniably fortunate was I to be waking up to the sight and sound of this majestic waterfall right from my bed? To have danced with a hundred flickering fireflies in the middle of the night? To have lost and then found?
I’d never experienced a proximity to nature so intense to have felt a part of it as much as I did in that tree-house.
I learnt about acceptance. To let the wild animals that once crossed my path and would never reveal themselves again go.
About believing. From the downstream of the waterfall that lovingly handed me my phone back.
And about me. In reflections of wildly different people and lives but with the same stories of love, dreams and sorrow.
In hindsight, I know I found more than my phone in Kerala. I found courage for the things I wouldn’t anticipate and would occur anyway.
If there’s anything I can give back to Kerala, it’s all my love and goodwill towards its speediest recovery.
If you want to help Kerala, explore Kerala
If you’d like to give anything to Kerala, give yourself. Any tourism adds to Kerala’s recovery. I stayed at Rainforest Athirapally–an experiential boutique resort in Kochi, Kerala. It’s one of my most intimate experiences with nature.
If you’re planning a vacation, use the code ‘EXPLORE’ exclusively on Rainforest Athirapally’s website to get a 15% off on your stay there.
