Mr.Robert Manjolai, a man I got acquainted through the web, made this trip
happen. As I have stated in my previous post, I was determined to drive past
Manimuthar dam for Upper Kodayar. While I was busy searching for details
regarding Manjolai and Upper Kodayar ,which falls within Kalakkad – Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve (KMTR) , hit upon this man, who had made avail his contact no., on
the net, offering all details regarding Manjolai. He was born and brought up at
Manjolai and now a legal practitioner at Madurai. Rang him up and he offered
every help that he could extent. Would you believe that, it even included a free
stay at his relative’s residence, inside Manimuthar tea estate. For the required
permission from the Forest dept., I directly contacted the Range Officer,
Ambasamudram, and he turned down my request, stating possibility of forest fire,
as a reason. Using other contacts, I had a forest dept. official from
Trivandrum, ring him up again, and now he conceded. However, the request for a
night’s stay in the guest house, within the reserve, was declined as it wasn’t
available on the day of our travel. Contacted Robert again and he connected me
with Mr. Moses, a social worker at Ambasamudram, who had roots at Nalumukku,
within the Tiger reserve. Moses offered night stay in a line house close to that
of his brother’s, who worked in Nalumukku Tea Estate. All these were done on the
previous day, of our planned date of travel. And I and Manu started off, in his
Paleo 1.3 multijet, by 7 in the morning, 8-03-09. Took the same route, I have
explained in detail in my earlier post, and reached Kallidakurichi, near
Ambasamudram, by 12 noon. Had to wait a little for Moses to arrive. Moses
confirmed the place of stay and asked us to meet one Mr.Nehru, who runs an STD
booth at Nalumukku. This booth, using a WLL phone, is the loan means of
electronic communication for the workers within KMTR. We packed our lunch,
bought some broiler for night, and went ahead for KMTR. We didn’t have much
problem at the forest check post at Manimuthar dam, as the R.O. had informed
them earlier, of our visit. Had a refreshing bath at Manimuthar falls and went
on slowly, negotiating the pot holes and keeping a close watch on the wild
beauty of KMTR. Had a small stop on the way, to have our packed lunch, taking
utmost care not to leave a single piece of plastic around. After an hours climb,
the dense woods slowly transformed to beautiful tea plantations. We were
approaching Manjolai. There is a check post here and a copy of the permission
letter is to be handed over. Manjolai is a small junction with a post office. We
proceeded further and now the reverse transform – we were again in the midst of
thick forest. Passed another pocket of plantation named Kakkachi. There was a
nature made Golf course at Kakkachi. Finally after, nearly 4 hours of drive
through splendid patches of greenery we were at Nalumukku – earlier known as
Manimuthar – by around 6 PM. Spotted Nehru’s telephone booth to find Mr.
Jakkayya , Moses’s elder brother, waiting for us for long. We knew from
Jakkayya, that view of sunset from Kuthiravetti is splendid, and now we had to
hurry, for Kuthiravetti is about 8 kms of pot holes from Nalumukku. Some how
managed to reach the view point before light faded, but the sun didn’t wait for
us. View from this point is mind blowing, with Manimuthar dam and Karayar dam
lying beneath well separated by woods. Jakkayya pointed to folds of mountains in
the backdrop naming them Kakkachi, Manjolai…., the route we had taken. There is
a watch tower here, on top of which we spent a while, listening to Jakkayya, on
how he used to climb down these cliffs up to the dams beneath in his good old
times. Jakkayya turned out to be a great narrator as he recalled his child hood
at this wonderful place. They freely hunted Sambars, mouse deers and rabbits in
those days, for their daily ‘Sambaar’. But now, he continues – “Sambars come
near and we are to smile at them, for they are reserved for leopards & tigers”.
When asked about rabbits this was the response – “No rabbits Sir, nothing
remains. We (leopards & ourselves) competed in eating them up”. Left the place
after dusk and reached back Nalumukku. We were to stay in an abandoned line
house very next to that of Jakkayya. We parked our vehicle, took our baggage,
and visited Jakkayya’s dwelling. Jakkayya lived there with his wife, a worker in
Nalumukku tea estate, and his elder daughter Gayatri. And here, we were to
discover a new dimension in hospitality, never experienced before. These people
opted to stay at the abandoned house, leaving their furnished house for us. We
found it very difficult to convince them that we were happy with the other. They
themselves cleaned up the house, brought in the blankets and rugs that they were
to use, so as to keep us comfortable. One thing that is not to be left out is a
word about the climate there. Though days are pretty hot – remember, its March –
as light fades, temperature falls dramatically. I went into sweater by 8 at
night. One Mr. Rajendran, a man from Chadayamangalm, runs a tea shop in one such
line house, allotted to his wife, who is a worker in the tea estate. We had
earlier handed over the broiler, we brought from the plains, to this man and he
had prepared a delicious curry and chappathy for us. Had food with Jakkayya, and
went to bed by around 11. If not for the blankets the Jakkayyas had offered us,
the night wouldn’t have been smooth.
9-03-09
A siren woke me up by 6 in the morning. Stepped out to find how beautiful the
line house premises were. Had a small walk around till the Jakkayyas called us
back for tea. Mrs.Jakkayya had to leave for her work, at the tea estate by 7, in
the morning. Still, she found time to make us coffee, heat up water for us and
so on. She left by 7, reminding us several times to come again with our
families. Didn’t have words in my vocabulary to thank her ; simply waved her
off. We had breakfast from Rajendran’s and set out for Upper Kodayar, by 7.30,
along with Jakkayya. Winding track through charming woods took us to the Forest
check post at Kodayar. The officials here are very much insistent, that the word
‘Kodayar’ should be mentioned in the permission letter, to let one in. I knew
this earlier from Robert and had it in the letter. Another half a kilometer and
we are at the reservoir. Penstock pipe from this reservoir, tunnels through huge
rocky mountains, emerges out at the valve house point and then drops down to the
Lower Kodayar Power station, which I have mentioned in my earlier post.
Interestingly, not all forest streams in this region, directly cater to the
Kodayar reservoir. Water from these odd sources are collected at a lower dam and
then pumped up to the Kodayar reservoir. Much more… there is another small dam
within the forest, named Kuttiyar dam, which caters to the above said lower dam,
through an underground tunnel. Got these details from Mr.Socretes, Jakkayya’s
relative, who is an employee at the EB Guest house. As Jakkayya insisted,
Socretes reluctantly agreed to come along with us to the valve house point. We
had to pass through the lower dam, where there is a police check post and
presence of an EB man with us made things easy. We were not even questioned.
Socretes first lead us to Kuttiyar dam, for which we had to deviate a little
through a forest track. It was surprising to know that even Jakkayya is visiting
this place for the first time. Took some snaps and again back on track. At a
point, Socretes asked us to park the vehicle and to follow him. A few steps up a
hill and then…… woooow what a view…There lie beneath us, directly in front, a
series of reservoirs. Socretes names them – Pechippara, Perumchanni,
Chittar….And we have on our sides Agasthya Mountains in its full glory. Slowly
mist covered the region and view blurred. Back to the vehicle and started the
the descend to valve house point. Again Socretes calls for another stop. This
man of suspense leads us along a narrow forest track, on foot. About 5 minutes
walk and we are in front of a cave. Socretes explains this as a man made one
which runs parallel to the penstock pipe that tunnels the mountain. He
continues.. its about a quarter km in length and it ends at a valve door which
opens to the penstock pipe tunneling through the mountains. For inspecting those
pipes, the valve at the reservoir is closed, pipe is cleared of water, and he
himself enters it through this valve door, in the presence of a higher official.
A photograph will be taken while he enters and the official will lock the valve
door from outside. Socretes would walk along the huge penstock up to the
reservoir, where there is another valve door for his exit. Exit will also be
photographed. Excited, we compelled Socretes to take us up to the valve door.
Socretes declined our request, for its pitch dark inside the cave. Suddenly I
recalled that I have a Britelite in my baggage. Manu ran back and collected it
within minutes. And thus we started our walk through the cave towards the valve
door. A few steps inside and we found that it’s a bat house. Agitated, they
started flying against us. We crossed our hands at the face and moved on. Here
and there water drips from the cave ceiling and that’s the lone sound we here.
Now we hear a faint roar of water through the penstock and we are at the valve
door. The thought, of water gushing with immense pressure along the other side
of the door, was itself frightening, and we got out soon. Back to the vehicle
and the descent continued. The track soon changed to be astonishingly scenic. We
were driving along, almost the centre of a huge peak, with half the mountain on
one side, and depth of same order on the other side. The road ends at the valve
house which itself is another view point. The employees there told us that the
meadow that lies below is frequented by Tahr and Bison, and the very recent
forest fire in this region has kept them away. The penstock pipe emerges out of
the mountains at this point and steeply runs down to the lower power plant. The
power station is not visible from this point. The winch track, used to transport
inspection staff, too runs along. Surprisingly, my mobile rings. We were out of
coverage since yesterday afternoon. Attended the call and quickly searched for
tower information. Yooo… I wasn’t roaming and found to be served by ‘Mundela’
tower. The ‘Mundela’ I know, is a place near Vellanad, pretty close to our city
of Trivandrum. And I’m aware that the place were I’m now, is some where above
the Tamil Nadu town of Kulasekharam. And how could signals from Mundela reach
me; god knows. Spent a while over there ringing up home & friends. Returned
along the same path, not to mention, for there is no other path. Dropped
Socretes at Kodayar. He asked us to revisit the place after booking suits at the
EB guest house, and he promised that he would then take us to ‘Muthukuli’, an
earlier tribal settlement, evacuated and left to tigers. Drove back to Nalumukku
by around 11.45 AM. There’s still time for lunch, and we planned to visit
Varakkattai, another view point. The track to Varakkattaai is through ‘Oothu’
organic tea estate. A word about Oothu organic tea – It’s not sold in India, but
entirely exported. Famous for its medicinal value, it seems. Cost is
approximately around Rs.3500 per kilogram. An officer belonging to the estate
stopped our vehicle and denied permission to travel through the estate. Two
reasons – Wild elephants are roaming in the region from morning itself and
estate workers are busy plucking leaves in the Varakkattai region. Jakkayya
steps out, the field officer who stopped us happens to be his old classmate, and
there we go. Had a keen lookout for elephants, but none came across. Bumpy
drive, for another 20 minutes, through beautifully maintained organic tea
plantations and we were at Varakkatai. Another view point like Kuthiravetti, but
from here, the Karayar dam is more clear and close. There is a wooden fencing at
the edge and two benches built on logs. A supervisor of the estate was resting
on one of these benches after lunch. Had a small chat with him and returned to
Nalumukku by 1’O clock. The idea of having a wash up before the lunch came up
and Jakkayya took us for a walk. After a short walk of about 20 minutes we
reached a forest stream. The water was clear and too cold for this hour of the
day. Returned to Rajendran’s for our pre ordered lunch and ate to our content.
And it’s time to leave. Jakkayya and Gayathri , his daughter, insisted that we
come back again by April, with family, for their festival in the nearby temple.
We promised that we would return, and waved bye. Unlike all other trips, this
time we didn’t feel like leaving these people and of course this beautiful
place. On the way back, it rained and thick mist covered the area forcing us to
descent at snail’s pace. Met Moses at Ambasamudram, had tea with him and back to
Trivandrum along the same route. Back at home by 10.30 PM. The Jakkayyas,
Socretes, Moses and, above all, Robert Manjolai will be thankfully remembered,
when ever the memories of this beautiful place wake.
