My Visits To South India As Noted By My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans

My Visits To South India As Noted By My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans

With a view to gain tranquil surroundings I would hit on visiting trail as and when the opportunity came. I can still recall my visit to Rameswaram and beyond in Tamil Nadu State in India in September 2010. That was my first foray to Rameswaram having heard a lot about grandeur and guest acceptance of the holy place. I took a flight from Delhi to Chennai and from Chennai Airport reached Koyambedu bus stand. Here in the bus bound for Madurai I came across a boy who had returned from a marriage function and told the august gathering that on offer were different dishes with unlimited rice. That unlimited rice is the flavour of the season in and around South India. The bus left some time after 10 pm and reached Madurai five in the morning. From Mattuthvani's bus stand in Madurai I boarded another bus bound for Rameswaram. It was well after 10.30 am I reached Rameswaram. The solo phone contact I had with My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans was in Delhi Airport with the phone booth coming handy.

The first task on hand was to locate a place of stay. Hotel Tamil Nadu (TTDC) about which I had heard in detail in Baba Kharak Singh Marg in New Delhi initially showed its inability to spare room a while later with a rider that I could make the man at reception desk speak to my parents in Delhi. My father was on the line and after brief interval the man at the desk agreed to spare room and that too for a day. That proposition I was not comfortable with and I again set out in search of a room. By Grace of Lord Ramanathaswamy the reigning deity in Rameswaram I was able to get a room near Agniteertham and I stayed in Rameswaram for CLEAR SIX TO SEVEN days. I can recall that I visited Dhanuskodi about 16 kms from Rameswaram (RMM) and later reached RMM in the evening. Those days I did not keep mobile and kept contact with my father through phone booths traceable in holy town. Are there phone booths in existence at present in RMM little is known about that. 

My Father appeared gratified that I was staying in holy town and putting in a prayer to The Lord. On occasions My Father could get unnerved by my occasional visits to different places in India but no sooner than later he assured himself that these visits were meant to receive in plenty the Lord and Goddess blessings.  Enamoured by the fact that my outings to South India were a journey long and tiresome it was my father's blessings that led me to undertake different treks and with enough dollops of confidence. It was during this stay I visited Nagercoil as well on more than one occasion and was witness to a political party rally in the month of September. Mind you Ooty (Udhagamandalam) is 485 kms and Kodaikanal 285 kms from RMM. The sight of Pamban Bridge which is expansive and takes enough load each passing hour is something to cherish. From RMM I visited Kanniyakumari and all along these trips I was infatuated by the vibrancy of these places with conversations across broad spectrum on my attempts to gain insights of South India and South India alone. I am an ardent admirer of South India and have taken trips to RMM even after 2010. In 2012 I stayed in Ramanajaneya Chatram taking meals from Royal Park and in 2016 taking meals from S S Grand restaurant. The famed S S Grand Restaurant is known for delectable Idly. On occasions My Father would not approve of my outings which were more than once in a month but after my return from my sojourn he accepted my proposition that these visits were in the larger interest of family and nation and would bear fruitful results. 

I often pen thoughts with insights provided by My Father Gouri Shankar Rajhans

Show gratitude to a nation that host you

Show gratitude to fellow citizens that enthuse you

We are amidst climes that host confident enthusiasts

It is time the nation woke up to notion of nationalism that is abundant splash

My Father has been a guide and friend and radiated hope in odd circumstances as well. It is his inspiration that has let me to pen thoughts on South India odyssey.