A morning walk in Manjeri, Kerala.

Air was still and the weather was cool in Manjeri when I took off for a walk at around 6:00 today morning. As I was about to turn towards bypass road from Pandikkad road, very enthusiastic and excited pack of stray dogs emerged and started advancing towards me. The leader of the pack, a muscular powerhouse on the move, returned my gaze as if to sarcastically scrutinising me. My survival tactic involved confidently crossing the road and joining a few terrified looking bystanders. As the pack passed us by, one of the bystanders whispered to my ear, 'you are lucky to be alive.' And he nodded in a solemn air of someone who has experience in survival techniques. 

So with the energy and spirit lifted and to get the circulation going I resumed walking. The by-pass road that connects Pandikkad road to Nilambur road is a short stretch dedicated for parking buses on both sides. I don’t quite understand why they are permitted to do this since nothing more obviously ruins the road. While cleaning the buses they leave the litter on the road. The by-pass should really be called Manjeri Bin Storage Areas since nearly every bus owner has removed any trace of attractiveness from the green on both sides of the road.

A view from bye-pass road.
As you trudge on to the bypass road that runs from Nilambur road toKozhikode Road and to the bypass that joins Kozhikode Road to Malappuram Road, you feel like stepping into a national geographic page. The scene on either of the road were untended and rather wild overgrown shrubs, and I was all the more agreeable for that.  Anonymous-looking unpaved roads disappearing into bushes, small but prosperous-looking houses hiding behind discarded wild trees.

The untended wild on the side of the road

The further I walked, the more isolated things felt. At one point it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen anybody for about half an hour, couldn’t hear traffic, had no idea where I would be when I next saw civilisation. It was nature at its best. People have never had a more beautiful place to be lost.

As clean and green as we get.

As I made it to Kacheripadi and discovered that Manjeri is slowly waking up. I could hear the hustle and bustle of the town. As I opened the gate of our house I checked my Google fit app to learn that I covered 6.2 km in 74 min. When I closed the gate silencing the noise outside, I could hear a bird singing. Perfect!

Beautiful view which is invisible to loacalites