Hidden Jewel | Munnar, Idukki District | Kerala, India

On September 30th,  2013 yes it was another amazing traveling on a pouring day, rushing through those roads from Thrissur to Munnar. Though we reached our destination it took 16 hours as such, I wouldn’t have made it without my besties Manohar and Bharath. We pushed ourselves with a little hesitation to reach Hotel Hill view which was 3 km away from Munnar City. After a short nap, we went out to explore the street market nearby city that evening. The temperature dipped for a few and it was truly an awesome moment hanging around those wet streets of Munnar. Yet indeed, we had a hard time to search a better comfortable place where we could stay settled; as we felt the previous place was quiet expensive. Huff, atlast we found a less expensive hotel named Hot Kitchen near KSRTC bus depot. Though it was a tiresome day, we alarmed ourselves to get up early the next morning to explore nearby routes to reach the hill top of Kannan Devan. The moment we reached, an extreme excitement within us; looking at those floating clouds hiding behind those green mountains was simply a pleasant view. Of course every common man would wish to stay there as it was a zero pollution zone; why not my camera to capture some true exquisite shots. Meanwhile all of a sudden it started drizzling and that rhythmic sound no wonder was pleasing our ears. On the other side of the hill we noticed a colored streak over the mountains, oh yeah it was a rainbow. That refreshing morning gave us nostalgic moments that we came back with heartfelt satisfaction with a good number of shots. Our foot wasn’t resting, we visited Mattupatty dam, eco point, and top station as well. Pretty good shots were captured after halting in many places. A view of Kolugu Malai with those tangling clouds was an eye capturing moment for my camera. Since it was too cold we dragged ourselves to a nearby tea stall to sip some hot tea and make ourselves a bit warm. That night, we discussed on those shots and we planned to visit Pothamedu the next day to click few shots of those mountains, which was 4 km away from our place. So we dozed off early after having supper. I did not get sleep may be because of the excitement. Time went on slow and when the clock reached 4:30am. I packed my gear and kept myself ready with my friend Bharath. Climate was too cold and the temperature was less than 10 degrees Celcius. After few minutes, twilight peeked out which paved us a way to walk in those mist covered roads. The scene which we viewed was far better than the imaginary one that I’ve ever dreamed off; that still reminds me of my childhood days spent on those swings reaching the sky.  We walked a long way but still haven’t reached the destiny, walked further for hours. we reached an unidentified spot where it was fully covered with thick bushes.  For a moment, we did not realize that we had reached the right destination because of those improper sign boards kept. After few seconds, golden rays had permeated the clouds which were closing those mountains slowly start opening and this was the right time for us to frame the cherishing moments. A lot of beautiful frames were recorded in my memory cards which minimized my stress and made me mentally relaxed as well. We explored wonders of small creatures through the macro lens while returning from the viewpoint. We rushed to our place to have breakfast after five hours of exploring the landscape. We didn’t get enough time to review our pictures as we had to rush to the station. Got into the hired cab to reach the angamale railway station, though we knew it was getting late we paused in few places to capture some good landscape views.

Whenever I look at those collections I would never regret for the hard times that I’ve faced. I can truly say “satisfaction and happiness does not only when you receive something, but also when you give out your work at its best, Am sure am giving such a pleasure through my photography and I will still give”. Thank you…