Sabi finally visits Sabarimala

Hi my name is Sabi Parikh. I am 8 years old. I am a Gujarati born in Mumbai, and I am now living in Delhi with my parents and my little 11-month-old sister, Vasuda.

When I was 4 years old, I was browsing through Amazon Prime Video for cartoons with my mom. I came across a cartoon that was about Swami Ayyappa. I admired him and watched the cartoon around 50 times. I made my grandparents (Nana and Nani) watch it around 10 times.

When I was 6, our family went on a long road trip. Throughout that trip, I sat in the car like Ayyappa with my seatbelt on. Like Swami Ayyappa, I was wearing dhotis nearly every day on that road trip. I wanted to buy a tiger and ride it to school.

Since that day, I have wanted to go to Sabarimala, and my dad promised me that he would arrange for it. Then, finally, my dad arranged for it in when I was 8 years old. He talked to his old South Indian friend Srinivas.

There was a vratha that we had to do before going to Sabarimala. In that vratha, you have to bathe with cold water, sleep on the floor, stop eating eggs, walk barefoot, and eat very simple food. We tried our best to do the vrath, but we were not able to do it fully. I stopped eating eggs. I also stopped eating outside food, like Natural’s ice cream and California Burrito.

It is very cold in Delhi in the winter season and I had a cold just a week before the trip. Hence, my mother did not want me to bathe early in the morning in cold water. Yet I did it sometimes.

When the time came for the trip, we had to pack our bags and go. This was the first trip in which I was going with my father but without my mother, so my mother and I prepared for it as much as we could.

Preparation

• Hair: My hair is extremely curly, wavy, and unmanageable. We decided to cut my hair to make it manageable and easy to comb and tie. My dad did not know how to tie and comb my hair, so I had to do it by myself. We carried all kinds of accessories like clips, comb, and scrunchies.
• Clothes: It was a tradition in Kerala that girls should wear frocks. Hence, my mother bought some frocks for me. I am not very used to dresses, so this is the first time I have had a collection of dresses! My dad bought some Lungis for himself too.
• Things that comforted me: I took my favourite blanket, whose fragrance I love.
• Entertainment:  I carried 2 books. One’s name is The Epoch Of Nanasaheb Peshwa, and the second is The Unstoppable Us volume 2. 
• Toiletries: We carried wet wipes, tissue paper, soap, and towels as the washrooms were dirty and were not at all maintained.

I was about to finish the book The Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa. To celebrate the completion of the book, my parents took me to the temple Trumbakeshwar near Nashik. Nanasaheb Peshwa built this temple, and is still there. 

We then left Nashik and travelled to Mumbai, where my Nana Nani live. We stayed at Nana Nani’s house till we had to meet up with our gang. Then when the time came to leave, we left and met with our gang.

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Day 1

From nana nani house to Chembur

I woke up at 7:00 am and started to get ready to meet the Sabarimala gang. My mom oiled up my hair and packed it with oil so that it could at least stay for a few days. Dad and I left at 8:15 a.m. Then we travelled from Nana and Nani’s house to Chembur by taxi. It took us 2 hrs to reach Chembur. 

My dad first told me to observe Mumbai. The city looked like it was a monstrous disaster! Waste was strewn everywhere, the roads were changing shape all the time, and it was as if the road was trying to make our ride horrible and uncomfortable it immediately disliked us.

At Guruswami’s House

Soon we reached Guruswami’s house.

So, who is a Guruswami? Historically, the Sabrimala pilgrimage was very dangerous. You have to walk through a dense forest. There were no roads, and wild animals like tigers could attack you. Hence, you need a Guruswami to lead the pilgrimage. I was feeling nervous because I had read that Guruswami can get angry. You “don’t ask questions to old men, just follow”.

Introducing Guruswami

I walked into our Guruswami’s home and saw an old man with white hair, a scruffy beard, and a scruffy body. He looked grumpy and sleepy. He spoke very fast Hindi, so it is hard to understand him, but he keeps making hand gestures and keeps grunting, which makes it easier to understand what he is saying.

Guruswami’s temple was very beautiful! It is covered by photos of Bhagwan on both walls. It looked like it was used every day, and it was alive and lively. I had not seen so many deities in my life!

Guruswami’s wife was cleaning flowers. I went over to her and helped her.

Guruswami gets shocked

Guruswami asked us to put our bags in a corner. Next, he asked us to wash our hands and feet. Guruswami asked us for our malas. Dad told him that Srinivas was to bring the malas. Guruswami got shocked, and he stuck his tongue out and put his hand to it. Ideally, we should have worn the malas at the start of the vratam.

He led us to his temple. He took the mala hanging from the photo of Ayyappa and gave it to Dad and chanted a mantra. He repeated the same with me, but with a mala from Krishna. He had been praying to these malas for the last six months. Hence, these malas are auspicious. 

Guruswami serves us a feast for a breakfast

I thought we had to fast, as whenever Jains do religious things, they fast. But Guruswami had other plans. He served us a humongous breakfast with idlis, sambar, vada, rice, chutney, payasam, and shiro.

Guruswami asked me, “Coffee peyega?”. I replied, “nahi mein coffee nahi peeti dhanyawad”. So Guruswami said, “toh pani peyo”

Preparing for the initiation pooja

Soon, Srinivas’s sister and niece arrived. They were very nice to me. 

Together, we started preparing for the pooja. Coconuts have 3 eyes at the bottom. I knew it from building monkey masks.

Guruswami would find the one soft eye, and then he would ask us to pierce a hole in that eye and pour their water out in a bowl. We made sure no water was left and corked the hole in the coconut. 

Next, I sat with Srinivas’s niece, and we started writing Om on the irumadi bags. The Irumadi is the bag of offerings that we gave to Ayyappa. The front part is for Ayyappa, and the back is for you.

The gang arrives

Slowly, steadily, the gang arrived. First came Mr. Pranad, who was a very serious but good guy. Following him came 10-year-old Mahaksh. Mahaksh was so smart. Even though he was goofy, he was extremely intelligent. He knew everything about Pokémon and could solve an entire Rubik’s cube. Finally, Srinivas came with his daughter Pradnya. She was 6 years old. She looked adorable yet timid, like my younger sister Vasu. Looking at the gang, I knew we would have a fun time!

Along with Srinivas and my dad, two more dads came. One was Pranad’s father, Kumar. The second was Mahaksh’s dad Venkat.

The initiation pooja

By now, we were already getting late. So Guruswami grunted something, and everyone started preparing for the pooja. 

One by one, Guruswami did pooja for each person. He chanted some mantras, and then we had to pour ghee inside the coconut we had hollowed out. Then we put the cork back and put it inside our irumadi bag, pour rice inside another smaller bag, put that small bag inside the irumadi bag with 2 coconuts at the back side of the bag. 

Srinivas, Srinivas’s sister, and dad all put 3 handfuls of rice in my bag. This was usually only for family members, and they treated me like a family member. That was very nice of them. Srinivas’s family were very affectionate and kind to me and my dad.

As the pooja happened for everyone, we had to stand nearby and sing Swamiye Sharanam Ayyappa. During this time, Pradnya and I stood next to each other and held each other’s hands.

This is the mantra of the offerings that we spoke:

ashtadasham mahasaaram sasthru darshana dayakam
Vidhitham shudham utkrishtam Sannidhaanam namamyaham
Manasa karmana Vaacha Shraddhaya bhaktya Jagatguru 
uktasya deva karyaartham puraayan Kapilagrutham
Bhootanatha Sadhananda Sarva Bhutha dayabara
Raksha Raksha maha baaho Shastre tubhyam namo namaha

The Marathas make an entry

Immediately after the pooja, I took Pradnya outside and gave her the books I had bought for her. Then I showed her The Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa. I was telling her all about the Marathas. That is when Venkat came by and started chit-chatting about Marathas. He knew a lot about them, and we had a good chat.

Lunch time

It had been only a few hours since the humongous breakfast. Now it was time for food again. I was nervous, this is too much food for me! But Srinivas’ sister gave me a plate. There was curry, rice, sabzi, cucumbers, papad, and payasam. I ate it all.

Playing in the meditation hall

By now, we were getting late. So we picked up our bags and went down. There was a big meditation hall below the building. Pranad, Pradnya, Mahaksh, and I played a game of tag, ice, and water. We bonded and started having fun.

Then came a taxi. We put our bags inside. Venkat, my dad, and all the kids fit inside the cab. Kumar, Guruswami, and Srinivas decided to focus on the irumadis and come in a rickshaw. I think we got lost while going to the railway station. We kept going round and round.

My First Train Trip

The gang bonds

This was my first train journey ever. I was very excited and so was the gang. We played and bonded like we were long lost brothers and sisters. We laughed, we played, we ate, and we slept together.

Top berth Top berth

The moment we climbed onto the train, we were looking for a way to get up to the top berth. We found a ladder that led to the berth. We wanted to climb it now, however, we had not found our seats yet, so we could not do so as it was not respectful to mess up somebody else’s seat.

Arm wrestling

We were getting bored with looking out of the window, as we had not yet found our seats, so we could not climb to the upper berth. So we decided to play an arm wrestling competition.

I won against Mahaksh and Pradnya. Mahaksh won over Pradnya. Wise, old Srinivas advised Mahaksh, “Never fight against a girl. If you win, then there is no credit because you won against a girl, and if you lose, well, you lost against a girl.” 

Who knew younger siblings could be goofy

Pranad and Mahaksh were brothers. Mahaksh kept annoying Mr. Pranad. He would climb over Pranad, speak in his ear, and slap him on the face. Mahaksh is 5 years younger than Pranad, both are a classic case of brothers. My dad cracked a joke, saying, ” This is your future with Vasu.”

The Fort Wars

We finally found our cabins and started climbing our berths to build forts and play war. We built our forts with blankets, pillows, and bedcovers. The whole day went by in this, and we had adequate play. 

The gang makes a plan

I jumped over to Goofy Mahaksh’s fort and told him to come to our fort. He did so. I told him and Pradnya, “Listen, guys, why don’t we do the war and talk at night? For this, we must practice moving around quietly, as we could be caught. We must stuff as many pillows and bed sheet bags as we can and act as if we are sleeping, but we are awake! But we have to wait till our dads are asleep.”

Everyone agreed to the plan.

We got to work. We stuffed empty bags of bed covers underneath our blankets. We hid our bags underneath our pillows. We wanted to make a fort and that to a good one. The whole point of this is to play for 2 hours, stay up late, and have lots of fun without anyone telling us anything, and there were none to disturb us.

Did it fail?

But when it was time to sleep, our dads took away all of the stuff needed to make the forts. To make up for it, I asked for an empty bag, but my dad said no me.  Pradnya asked her father, Srinivas, said no to her. So I climbed down, acted as if I was looking outside the window, quietly picked up one bag, and then climbed back to my fort. Mahaksh managed to save one bag too. We got ready for our plan to work after that.

But then goofy Mahaksh almost gave away the plan. He said that he was very sleepy to the dads. But it was obvious that he was not sleepy. I quickly rushed to his fort to tell him that he was giving away our plan. Instead, he should just wait for the dads to naturally fall asleep. After hearing me, Mahaksh said loudly, “Actually, I am not sleepy at all.” I told him not to say anything about sleep, the grown-ups would understand.

Nighty night

We went to bed at 8 pm and started to whisper in each other’s ears, and acted as if to sleep.

The plan in action

As soon as the clock turned 9 o’clock, I think my dad fell asleep. One down. Two more dads to go. But Srinivas and Venkat stayed up quite late till almost 11 o’clock. Then they slept.

Sneakily, Makaksh, Pradnya, and I got up and grinned, looking at each other. We got to work. First, we needed more bags, so I slipped down the fort and softly landed on my feet. I crept down and managed to get 4 bags. I first went to Mahaksh and gave him two, and then climbed up my berth.

For 2 hours, we were playing and going up and down.

I kept a check of the time when I crept to my dad’s berth and peered into his phone. My dad opened his eyes and shouted, “Chucky, go to sleep.” Oh no. I was caught. But luckily, Dad slept again.

The excuse

When it was 1:30 am, Srinivas woke up and caught us playing. He asked us why we were awake. We told him that we were feeling hot, so he went to fix the AC. Meanwhile, Mahaksh climbed over to our { Pradnyas and my fort } and we started to talk.

Then one of the daddies was waking up. It was my dad. He looked at us, made a face, and then went to sleep again. Then at 1:45, we went back to sleep. Mahaksh was feeling cold, so we got him down to Srinivas’ bed, and Srinivas went to Mahaksh’s bed.

We then slept.

The accident that almost happened

At 2 am, I woke up to see that Pradnya was at the edge of the bed. I came down and put my hand up to make sure that Pradnya does not fall. I slept. 

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Day 2

The Train Fun Continues

I woke up at 6 am, and so did Pradnya. I pushed her in and sat up to see that the pillow was about to fall on Guruswami. That’s a problem. So I snatched the pillow and put it on the side.  Srinivas woke up and told me to push Pradnya in, so I did so, but then Pradnya woke up and rolled to the edge. I told her to roll back, so she did so.

I got up and started climbing up and down the fort. Pradnya too woke up and did the same. Pradnya even learned how to get off the berth by herself. Srinivas cracked a joke, saying that the daughters rose before the sun rose. 

I started telling Pradnya some stories about the Marathas.

The fight for forts continues

Mahaksh woke up very late.

Boosted by last night’s fun, we were ready to start the new day. This time, we decided to keep a valuable thing in each fort. In our fort, Pradnya and I kept my book, The Epoch of Nanasaheb Peshwa, and my bindi packet. In his fort, Mahaksh put his Rubik’s cube. The goal was to snatch the valuable thing from each other’s fort.

In the 1st round, I lost, and in the next 2 rounds, Pradnya and I won. In the 4th round, I got pushed down the top berth, and I landed on my feet. I ran up yet again to continue the game. But a break was announced by Kumar. This was a very nice game and we all enjoyed it.

Breakfast

After that, we had some milk and we had idlis for breakfast.

The fight for forts gives way to a sword fight

We all gathered in one top berth and started sword fighting. We rolled up the blanket bags into swords and used pillows as shields. Throughout, Mr serious Pranad was focusing on his video game. 
In this time, I also tried a Rubik’s cube. It was hard to solve it. Mahaksh was much better than me; he solved it in two seconds.

We started playing a game called Climber Tag. In that, we climbed up and down in the berth, crossing from berth to berth from the top and playing tag. There’s one person who catches you. Pradnya, because she was tired, was not able to play that game. She sat down and started to cry. We asked her what happened. “Are you alright?” She said, “Yeah, I am,” in a very timid voice.

Lunch

We had rice, sambar, curd, payasam, some spiced veggies, and channa. This was a very heavy meal. We even had a fried banana. Its texture was grainy as the sugars had come out while frying and steaming it. We even had some pineapple shiro, which was extremely sweet and was made out of maida.

The lack of sleep catches up

When it was half past three, Pradnya’s father, Srinivas, told us that anyone who wanted to get some sleep could have a good night’s sleep because all three of us stayed up at night. Pradnya liked that idea, but she wanted someone with her. She wanted to think, “Oh, everybody’s sleeping, so I will also sleep.” Because if all the kids were awake, then she wouldn’t sleep; she’d just get cranky. The day after tomorrow, we will have a trek.

Then I made her sleep; she slept for ten to fifteen minutes and woke up energized. This is called a power nap. After the power nap, we quickly packed up, played another game of tag on the berths.

View from the train

The view from the train was very beautiful and green. Kerala is a very fertile state. There was greenery everywhere. Between every house, there was a green patch. The BACKWATERS ARE MAJESTIC bodies of water that we viewed everywhere from the train. The terrain was full of coconuts. We had reached Kerala, but we had not reached the station where we needed to, which was Kottayam. We would reach at 04:00, and it was 01:00 right now. Pradnya and I started to cool down and went up and down the stairs the same way.

The Jokey Conversation

Venkat told me, ” See, the trees are running! ” I said NO, they are not, we are moving very fast, that’s why it appears like that. He said, but how do I know that we are moving? If we were not moving, and the trees were running, then wouldn’t it look the same? I said yeah, but the train is rumbling and sound is coming from it moving so that is why we are moving. He said, but that still doesn’t prove it.

Alighting from the train

After reaching Kottayam station, we stepped off the train. We put all the luggage right outside the railway station. Then, once the bus arrived, Pradnya and I picked the first seat. This seat had the best view. My father asked us to put on our seat belts. We agreed. 

Dharmashala

I thought we would be going on a long drive, but we arrived at our first destination in 10 minutes. We reached Kottayam Brahmana Samooham. This was basically like a dharmashala but for Brahmins. The last time I stayed at a dharmashala was in a Jain dharmashala at Palitana. 

The dharmashala was big and cosy, and it had room to fit tons of people. It was easy to go from one room to another.  You could see the roads and shops from it. There was even a small temple inside it, a dining hall, and medicated water which was pink in colour.

Getting ready

After resting and bathing, we wore new clothes. I wore my new frock. My dad was struggling to wear his lungi,{as usual.} Srinivas guided him. Then we went to Guruswami’s room where he did a small pooja of Swami Ayyappa. He gave us shiro as prasad to eat.

Thirunakkara Temple

Temple visit

A quick walk from the dharmashala, we reached our first temple. This temple is called Thirunakkara Temple. It is 500 years old.

I did not have photos of the temple. So I took photos from the Internet.

This temple was very big and beautiful, I tell you. Its red and gold beauty was shining like anything.

There was even a garden for the snakes and an enclosure for an elephant, with a real elephant inside. We learnt many things from the temple visit. For example, we learnt that the tall pillar inside the mandir complex was a way for the god to connect with it; this pillar also shines light on the murti.

When we reached the temple, we did a quick darshan of Shiva. We did the same to the guardian deities. When walking around the temple, we could not cross the guardians.

Srinivas told us stories

Right outside the temple was a majestic big tree. Sitting on the steps, Srinivas told us a story. There are seven chakras in your body. A Devi is sleeping underneath, and Shiva is up. This Devi needs to be awakened to reach Shiva and get her full powers. After that, you will get powerful. But you must have a strong mind and a strong body to achieve that. If you have those powers and awaken the Devi before you have a strong mind and body, then you can do destructive things. We listened to the story and carefully understood its meaning.

One of his stories was on mental strength. Once a man was in a forest. He sat next to a tree that could grant wishes. He wished for food, and food appeared. He wished for rest, and a bed appeared. He wished to settle down there, and a house appeared. Worried, he feared that if there were ghosts here, and ghosts appear. Scared, he thought, what if ghosts ate him, and the ghosts ate him. Srinivas concluded his story that to connect with Devi, we need to build mental strength and control what we think.

Krishna temple

We crossed the road and entered a Krishna temple. The mood here was more jolly and fun. Drums were playing. We had Krishna’s favourite prasad, which was rice balls with coconut mixed inside.

Returning to the Dharmashala :

When we returned to the Dharmshala, we had a heavy dinner. For dinner, we ate prasad, sambar, rice, and curd. This is the first time I’ve had the pink medicated water. 

We got ready to sleep, did masti with Mahaksh, and then slept.

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Day 3

This time, I woke up at 8:00, just the kind of time we were not supposed to wake up at. The day started with us quickly hushing and bathing so that we could move out of the dharmshala. Dad got into a fit with his dhoti. He was struggling to wear it; the dhoti was winning, and Dad was losing. Srinivas helped him, and he figured it out. To spend time, I wore one of Dad’s dhotis around myself like my mom’s sari. It is shown in the picture below. 

Morning pooja

We went to Guruswami’s room. I saw that Ayyappa’s photo was beautifully covered with flowers. After praying, we got bananas as prasad. 

We went to our rooms, packed our bags, and put them in the entrance hall. Pradnya and I stood down with the bags. We were guarding them. All the bags were moved down. We put them in the bus.

We split our bags into three groups. Bags that would stay in the bus. Bags that would be carried by us on the Sabarimala mountain. Bags that would be carried to the top by porters.

Breakfast

Like last time, Pradnya and I sat in the first seats. We had made a rule that if last time I was sitting on the window seat in the next drive, Pradnya would sit. There was great demand for that seat. Pradnya wanted to play a game, but I told her that I was looking outside and we would play later on. 

After a long drive, we went to a restaurant. There, I realized that all the restaurants in Kerala have medicated red hot water. I nearly burnt my tongue and throat when I had that water in one big gulp. Wise old Srinivas recommended that we eat Naivedyam dosa. These dosas are made from ghee instead of oil. This protects us from dosas cooked in bad-quality oil. We then continued to the Dharmashastra temple in Erumely.

Erumely

The Drive to Erumely

Kerala looks like an extremely green Delhi. With lots of green hills and forests. The shops look old-fashioned, but the view is full of coconut and banana trees. The blue sky looked like it was about to rain. It was getting dark very soon, even though it was only 11 or 12 o’clock. The houses were simple and elegant. I imagined that there would be a nice courtyard inside these houses. Some houses were also built with 2 or 3 floors. I noticed there were many churches and mosques too.  

The Dharmshashtha Temple

We first reached the Dharmshashtha temple. There we did darshan of Ayyappa. The river Pamba was there too, but this was a small Pamba; the main one is near Sabarimala. So we did not bathe here.

The Petta Sree Dharmshastha Temple

Next, we dressed up like tribals by putting colours on our foreheads and cheeks. We even put a mask on our heads.  We walked from Dharmshastha to Petta Sree Dharmshastha. At Peth Shree Dharmshastra, we saw Ayyappa’s weapons. We did darshan. The fun of dancing while our feet burned on the hot ground was a joyful experience, representing Lord Ayappa’s tribal friends.

The Vavar Mosque

Right opposite the Petta Sree Dharmshastha Temple was the Vavar Mosque. It was bigger than the temple. The student’s mosque was bigger than the god’s temple. I chose not to go there. 

Pamba Nadi

It was very hot. The dance made us all tired. So we had some lemon juice. We got on the bus. This time, Dad sat next to the driver. Finally, we were heading to Pamba Nadi.

The police stopped our bus

Once we had almost reached Pamba, the police stopped our bus. So Venkat went to the police station. Venkat spent a lot of time convincing the police. Finally, Venkat got us permission to take our bus inside. Venkat is very street smart and resourceful. He got us in the pamba with our tempo.

Once we reached Pamba, it was raining heavily already. We rushed out of the bus with our bags and entered a restaurant. Immediately, my eyes fell on the red Kerele banana. My dad bought a few bananas for Pradnya and me. Their texture was more chewy than the robusta bananas. I enjoyed them.

Swimming in the Pamba

Next, Srinivas and my dad took Pradnya and me to the Pamba River. For days, I was excited to swim in the Pamba. But when I reached the river, I froze out of fear. I love water, but I am also scared of it. My dad could see worry on my face. My dad asked me what happened. Even Srinivas asked the same question and asked if I did not want to take a doobkie. If not, I could just wash my face, but still I was feeling worried, and I thought in some way I like water, and in another way I don’t. Then, my dad encouraged me. 

Soon, our Guruswami, a 85-year-old man, held my hand and got me inside and comfortable. He even played around in the water by taking dips. It was almost as if he were doing squats. My fear vanished, and I was happy again. 

While we were swimming in the Pamba, the fish were biting us. This is called fish pedicure. Their bites did not hurt. It felt as if my sister Vasuda was trying to bite without teeth.

When we came out of the river, our feet were extremely clean. With this massage we were ready for the trek.

Trekking up Sabarimala

We returned to the restaurant. We wore our Irumadi’s on our heads and started the trek. We started in the evening, around 4:00 PM, and reached the top of Sabarimala around 8:00 or 9:00 PM.

During the trek, there were stones on the road that poked our legs. It was painful, but I endured. Srinivas explained that life is like trekking up Sabarimala, and those stones are like troubles. You have to endure it.

Inspired by this, I saw that there were two paths: the easy-peasy Steps, and the tough road was painful. I chose the tough path. While the stones were poking us we climbed very slowly. I imagined baby Ayyappa running up the mountain and looking back at his mother and saying ‘ Quickly come up!”

While we were all chit-chatting and climbing, Mr. Serious Pranad was extremely focused on his climb. He was not talking to anyone. He was enduring the pain of stones very well. I was extremely inspired by looking at him. So I decided to copy him.

There was a lot of interesting food during the trek. I especially enjoyed eating the watermelon.

Halfway through, Srinivas stopped us and bought rice balls and asked us to throw them as an offering to the forest deities.

The path was surrounded by a dense forest with trees and creepers all about. We saw many trees. Some of those trees seemed like hundreds of years old.

Meanwhile, Mahaksh groaned to Srinivas that he was so unlucky that he had to climb this mountain while the old people could sit in palanquins. Srinivas told Mahaksh that instead of them being lucky, he was lucky that he was getting to climb this mountain. These were interesting thoughts.

Luckily for us, throughout the climb it was raining. It was a blessing that it was raining; without the rain, we would have been drenched in sweat instead of water that cooled us down. Halfway through, we almost walked through a cloud. The air became moist and foggy! I felt energetic.

Me V/S coconut

My mom says that I have a tough head and whenever it used to hit my mom’s head, blood would come out. Now my head, which is like a coconut, hit another coconut. The real coconut won, and it formed a lump on my head, which is still there to date.

The Sabarimala Temple

When we reached the top, we walked over to the Sabarimala Temple. First came the 18 golden steps. We touched our hands to each step before walking up. Once we climbed up the 18 golden steps, we saw a big golden pillar with Ayyappa’s flag flying in the air. We were blessed to see Ayyappa. We saw all the Devas along with Ayyappa, like Malika Puram, Ganapati, and Nagaraja. There were many trees around Sabarimala, and we loved the place. It was a blessing to be there, especially as it was close to Ayyapa’s birthday

We went to our dharmashala called Kailash Inn. There, we changed out of our wet clothes and wore fresh ones. Then we started goofing around.

We got ready for another darshan. We wore our clothes for pooja and went out. However, we could not do darshan.  One guy even told us that “The temple is closing, better move out fast or else. ” However, we did not heed his advice and got stuck in a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong line. If we had heeded his advice, it would have been better.

Turns out, it was Ayyappa’s birthday

There were many devotees, as it was Ayyappa’s birthday the next day. So they closed the temple early. A massive elephant came. Ayyappa’s essence was transferred from the idol in the temple to another idol, and that was put on the elephant. Ayyappa went to the forest for a hunt. 

We went to get prasadam, which was aravana. 

Dinner

By now, we were extremely tired. We went to a restaurant. We had Puttu and chana + paratha and chana. After dinner, we walked back to the dharmshala. We were getting ready to sleep.

We goofed around and cracked jokes, and then we lay down some mattresses to sleep on. Just when we were about to sleep, Mahaksh heard crickets. So Venkat started searching for crickets. Venkat warned us that crickets can get into your ears. But Dad and I were very tired. We decided to take the risk and sleep.

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Day 4

Dad woke me up early. We quickly bathed with cold water and got ready. Later, we were setting out kumkum, chandan, bhasma, and haldi, separating them. While listening to Guru Swami, I accidentally poured some bhasma into the chandan. Srinivas assured me, saying, “Oh, don’t worry. It’s fine. It will be mixed up.” He mixed it, and everything was okay, but I felt really bad about my mistake. Note to self: Remember, you shouldn’t feel bad. Always think and not fear

Next, Dad and I did namaskar to Guruswami and gave him dakshina. This is a sign of gratitude that we give to the Gurus. 

Darshan failure again

Once all the material was ready, Guruswami got all the kids ready and asked us to follow him for another darshan.

Guruswami already knew so many people. He took us to the office of the head priest. The head priest took our offerings and gave them to Ayyappa. But today too, the police were not letting us take the next darshan.

Soon, we realized the reason. It was Ayyappa’s birthday, and Ayyappa was supposed to descend the mountain on an elephant and take a bath in the Pamba nadi. Hence, the darshan was closed.

So we went to a spot where we had to break the coconuts. With all our might, we threw the two coconuts from the irumadi.

The descent

After that, Guruswami and Kumar went down via palanquins. We had decided to wait for Mahaksh and Venkat at the coconut breaking spot, but we decided to start the descent and wait there.

We saw a black monkey swinging along the branches.

Some of us get lost

Somehow, Mahaksh and Venkat went ahead, and we lost touch with them.

But at least we were together. We were wise old Srinivas, adorable Pradnya, Mister Serious Pranad, my dad, and I. But then, suddenly, mister serious Pranad disappeared. 

We asked Srinivas whether Pranad had a phone or not. Srinivas said yes, but he was not sure whether Pranad was carrying it or not. Dad cracked a joke. What if we ring that number, and what if Pranad’s mother picks up? Srinivas  said, “That would not be advisable as she would scold me, she is my big sister.” I made a mental note. Elder sisters do scare younger siblings. Vasu, look out.

We kept looking for Pranad but could not find him.

When we reached the foot of the mountain, Srinivas spotted Pranad with his younger brother Mahaksh. The story was revealed,  Pranad had met with his younger brother Mahaksh, who asked him to race with the palanquin of his father. Pranad did so, and he came first at the foot of the mountain. My dad cracked a joke, he said, “From now on, your nickname is  BULLET IYER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The treacherous descent?

The descent was harder than the ascent. Because it was raining in the ascent while it was hot hot hot in the descent and gravity was pulling us down, so we were going fast and due to that the stones were pricking us harder. We had to make sure that gravity does not pull us down so hard that we slip and roll down the rest of the mountain. Throughout the descent, Dad’s leg was aching horribly. He would limp and walk like 85-year-old Guruswami. 

Once we were almost at the bottom, my foot started aching. Despite Dad’s pain, he picked me up and walked down. 

Ayaapaa came down for a bath

Once we were down, we saw that Ayyappa too had come down on his elephant. 

Uh oh

We walked to the Pamba. Once we reached the Pamba, my dad set me down. We went to have a refreshing drink of orange juice.

I made a mistake; some of the orange juice spilled when I was given it, and it fell on Pradnya. She started crying as she was afraid the juice had spilled on her dress. She was feeling sticky. I felt very bad. We went down to the Pamba and cleaned her up with a cloth.

Here we come!

We went on our way to a petrol pump station where everybody was to meet. We were just in time. Our fellow group of devotees was going to start the car. We quickly got in, and off we went to the place where the buses were parked. I noticed that one of our fellow devotees’ hair had become pink!

After the car ride, we sat in the tempo and then went off to Nilekal and Pala. Once at Pala, we stopped again at Ambadi restaurant, had banana flower sabji, mango curry, payasam, and curd. The banana flower sabzi was a little bitter and spicy, and the mango curry was sweet and peppery. South Indian food is not just about idlis, dosas, and vadas. It is also about curries, sabzis, rice, and medicated water. We then went off to Kochi.

Kochi 

When our bus stopped there, we—Srinivas, my father, Pradnya, and I—all four sat in a rickshaw and went to the metro station. At the metro station, we boarded the metro and set off to MG Road in Kochi. 

This was my first metro train ride. Both Pradnya and I were constantly looking at the view of the city from the metro. It was so high that we could get a good view.

Once we reached there, we took another rickshaw to a hotel. Venkat had found us a nice hotel which is only a small walk away from Kochi port. We could see the port nicely. 

The Marine Inn

In the hotel, Pradnya and I played a small game of tag and then went up to our rooms in a lift. We played around and saw that there were sheets of paper in the room. We immediately started to draw Ayyappa.

At the beachfront

We set out to explore Kochi. We went to Bharat Coffee House first. We had a gheeroast, a paper roast, and some coffee.

Next, we went to the Kochi Port, saw the sea, and observed how deep it was. Pradnya and I were hoping

that there would be a beach where we could collect some shells. However, that was not possible as the waters here were deep, and it was a port.

My dad explained the difference between a port and a beach: A port is where sailors anchor their ships. A beach is where there is sand and water on top of the sand, so if sailors try to anchor their ships on a beach, they would get jammed.

We got some ice cream and started eating it with the salty breeze caressing our faces. My dad got 3 boxes of grapes and was chilling with his favourite fruit. The grapes were there till the morning when he finished it up.

Dad asked me, ” Do you want me to throw you down in the water so that you can check how deep it is?” I said,” No way!”

Spices

We went to a shop that was selling spices. We tried cinnamon and lots of different peppers. green. white. black. Dad bought some. The cinnamon smelled sweet. The pepper was nutty and slightly spicy. It made mini explosions in my mouth. We even bought papad of different flavours like guava, mango, and raw mango.

Gratitude

On our walk back, wise old Srinivas told us a story about gratitude. We learned that we should always be grateful for what we have; only then will we get whatever we want.

My dad told me that I should have been grateful for what I had, that ice cream, instead of asking for some chewing gum. I agreed and said yes.

Back at the hotel

After that, we went back to our room. At the hotel, we realized that Dad’s foot was aching because there was a thorn inside. Srinivas removed a thorn from my dad’s foot, but my dad’s foot was still aching. Dad dozed off.

To spend time, Srinivas taught me a memory game. He taught me how to memorize some lists and how to remember things like buying a brush, toothpaste, or a cup.

Pradnya and I had a slumber party. We were drawing and phoned for more paper and got some from reception. After that, I showed Pragnya how to draw a house. Pragnya was drawing while I was writing some notes from the memory game. When we noticed that it was 11:35, we realized we had started at 10:00. Then we agreed that it was time to sleep.

I quickly put on another T-shirt of my dad’s as I was feeling cold. We switched off the light and tucked into bed. That night, I got a kick from Pradnya. That kick went right into my stomach, and I woke up thinking, “Wait. Who did that?” I saw that Pradnya was sleeping. I don’t know, she was moving around a lot; then she turned to the opposite side of the bed. Meanwhile, both of our dads were crouched in the corners while we were taking up extra space. After that, I slept.

Srinivas said that the tiger in my drawing was bowing down to Ayyappa, or in other words, doing a Namaskaram.

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Day 5

I woke in the morning, got ready, and had breakfast. Then, while the daddas were packing up, I picked up my book and started to read. Dad tied my hair in a new hairstyle.

My dad went to the doctor to take out a thorn from his foot. He came back with an injection and a bandage.

Throughout the trip, Dad tried his best, but the jackfruit kept playing hide and seek with us. We do not get jackfruit in Delhi. I was sad. We went to a fruit shop and bought a bunch of Kerala long bananas. We ate the bananas. 

We reached the airport. Because my dad’s leg was injured, we went through a fast security line. Then we had more bananas, and then Pradnya played tag with me. We boarded the plane and said bye to Srinivas and Pradnya. 

We reached Nana’s house in Mumbai. My mother had bought jackfruit. I was grateful.

Then my nana nani asked me what I learned from this trip, so I told them that I will go to Delhi, home, and write my travel blog. Hence, I wrote this travel blog.