DIVINE EXPERIENCE IN COORG   

Sharing my reminiscences in Coorg with the optimism to travel again to such fascinating places once the pandemic is over.

The melodious song of the Malabar whistling thrush, breaking the early morning stillness, is a surreal experience. The same elongated symphony heard every day at the same time becomes a pleasing alarm, to wake up refreshed after a long trek in the hills. In the resort’s jungle like accommodation, living amongst nature brings calm and harmony. The cool breeze around the heritage setup surrounded by the aromatic coffee plants make you sit back, close your eyes and live through the charmed morning.

The promise kept to a unit officer ages ago to visit his estate made the Coorg trip a possibility. Moving from the hustle and bustle of Bangalore and steadily towards the smaller city of Mysore to the thick jungles of teak, bamboos, sandalwood, mahogany and coffee plantations of the famous Coorg, is a memorable experience. One feels as if time is slowing down to essential and deliberate movement of Medikeri in Coorg. It is almost like meditation, the clatter of the city leading to the calmness of the green jungle. It is no wonder that it is not linked to rail or air. The only link is through the road. Coorg’s misty cool mountains earned the name of ‘The Scotland of India’ by the British.  

Coorg known for its rich history, pictorial scenery, rare birds, waterfalls, coffee and foliage is rightly a paradise for any nature lover. The clean and fresh air of the plantations is interspersed by the sweet aroma of coffee flower with the whiff of black pepper. The aesthetically built houses have gardens full of vibrant flowers and plants of the region. Every few meters there are shops selling local spices and homemade chocolates.

Understanding the history and culture of a place is important to appreciate it fully. Coorgis are assumed to be the direct descendants of the armed forces of Alexander the Great, who stayed back and settled down in India.  Kodavas or the Coorgis live on the eastern slopes of the Western Ghats. They were the earliest agriculturists in Kodagu, having lived there for centuries, so says Wikipedia. As warriors, they carried arms during times of war and had their own chieftains. The martial race of Coorgis has given India many brave soldiers and the two exceptional generals; Gen K S  Thimayya and Field Marshal K M Cariappa.

The Coorgis have discernible protected culture. They are known to worship nature, river Kaveri and weapons. It is no wonder that their festivals; Kailpoldu (Festival of arms) Kaveri Sankramana (worship of the  Kaveri) and Puttari (harvest festival) are so based. They are proud of their culture and follow it with élan. It varies from their unique dresses, Kodava folk songs and the traditional dances.

The trip to Coorg, trekking amid the jungles with alluring waterfalls, is not complete without the visit to one of the coffee estates. Walking among the coffee plantations interspersed with exotic flowers feels heavenly. Watching the workers collecting, sorting, drying and grinding the coffee beans and then quintessential coffee tasting are lifetime experiences.

A dirt road leads to a magnificent villa, set amongst the jungle like coffee plantations. The officer and his wife living amongst the jungles are definitely much healthier, happier than the people living in the concrete jungles. They are growing lots of fruits along with coffee, vanilla and pepper. They were showing us the estate and introducing the plants and trees like their children. When asked about the management of water and nutrition for the trees and the plantations with a handful staff, the reply touched my heart. Every morning as the gentleman walks amongst the estate, he talk to the plants and trees and they tell him about the need of water or nutrition. The lady, a botanical scientist, has a huge collection of rare plants which are again taken care like small babies. Their newly constructed bungalow, next to a four hundred year old tree with numerous varieties of nesting birds, is an ideal place. The bungalow itself is a marvel in architecture where old and new mingles so well. The furniture and the doors built from the fallen and seasoned trees on the estate look divine with the artifacts collected all over the country during their sojourns in the army life.  

My long cherished dream,   to sit and sip home grown coffee in the company of this beautiful hostess with some homemade biscuits and sandwiches, has come true. Fresh air and the aroma of the coffee are uplifting for the whole being. We leave our Fauji family with the most precious organic gifts of vanilla pods, cardamom and pepper and most of all their love and care. This in turn gives us hope to visit them in the future which is some consolation to the city bound nature lover in me. I carry a dream to live there someday. With this hope we leave the plantations for our lives in the milling urban jungles ahead.

On our trip back, the rain soaked Madikeri plantations with the fragrant air of coffee flowers, was exhilarating. Misty fragrant rain soaked coffee plantations are a nature’s indication to visit again. It was a nonpareil experience of being in the wilderness and yet amidst civilization.

Travel is indeed a transformation. You come back as a novel person with an unsullied outlook of life.