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dr anand naregal!

Tu hi re...... Romancing Bekal fort.........! !

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As our ight approached Manglore airport my heart beat quickened. Though this happens every time I descend towards the runway from air, this time around the apprehension was much higher. While seeing the cliffs and deep gorges out of the window, I remembered the air india crash of 2010 at this very airport, in which Serbian pilot had overshot the touch down zone on a runway and than couldn't break in time resulting the plane overshooting the runway & the sand barrier and skidded down 300 feet below the cliff resulting in death of 158 pax. I tried to look around the for the reaction of other passenger , only a few looked as tense as me. Probably other smiling passenger were poor with their general knowledge or they were trying mass sucide ! Name of our chief pilot today was Sanjay chhede. I felt like telling him " bhai aaje jara chhedo sachvi leje." Anyway after the tense but successful touchdown rest of the process remained smooth. Soon we plonked ourselves in two gleaming new brand innovas. In a general chit chat I conrmed that our drivers were not 'new' and had good driving experience. After a quick but a sumptuous south indian breakfast (always high on agenda while visiting south) Soon we were on our way to Bekal . Costal road to Kasargod district was nothing worth mentioning. but it gave some some sense of pride to see Malyali billboards having Narendra Modi's pictures at every nook & corner, (well how many of us even know the name of chief minister of

Kerala) !!.The roads in certain ares were so bad that if you want to call them 'roads', roads in Gujarat have to be called 'Runways'! . Because of this condition of the roads one must calculate distance in terms of actual time taken rather than kms. For eg. It took us 5 hours to cover the 130 km. one of my friend was already cribbing that we had lost 2 hours ( we checked in at 4 pm instead of 2) of precious resort time on roads! . ! Mr Khanna general manager of Taj Bekal is a friend of one Mr Bishwas, who happens to be general manager at gateway Taj and a patient of one of us. I didnot realize that this small fact was going to give us tremendous advantages in next two days. Whole team of Mr Khanna and his team were at the porch to welcome us with garlands and sweets. When one pretty girl with 1000 watt smile garlanded me , for a brief second I time traveled and got transported two decades back into one very important event in my life! !

Slim and t Ganapati at the entrance of the resort

Vivanta by Taj at Bekal in north Kerala is kind of well guarded secret in taj basket. .the property is vast with a meandering river on one side and sea on other. it has also got a direct access to a secluded clean beach which is minutes away. the villas are made in Balinese style and has interiors inspired by Kerala house boat kettuvellam, they have Chitra Pothi art on the walls. Our villa had a private courtyard with a plunge pool, outside rain shower and soak tub. One unique thing was a balcony with swing bed which looks over the well manicured gardens and back waters. Only unwanted thing in the room was at screen TV with hundreds of Channels showing programs in various South Indian languages! !

After relaxing shower all of us got distributed ourselves depending on our interest. Ladies went for a stroll on the beach while we enjoyed drinks at hotels beach shack known as 'by the bay', and kids got busy with table tennis. !

Next day morning I some how got up early. (It happens every time, When I want to sleep till late and i end up getting up real early! ) So than I went to attend Yoga session at poolside, it was very refreshing experience. it was also nice to see so many foreigners listening and following instruction meticulously from the instructor. Than we decided to go for cycling. The cycles were not in good Innity pool overlooking ! shape , nor were the roads, so cycling backwaters and sea expedition was terminated prematurely In near by the market . Large gathering outside a shop drew my attention, on enquiring little bit I came to know that it was the only licensed liqueur shop in town and whole bhid was to get their daily quota! My driver told me that only other place you will nd such crowd is on ticket window when Thaliva's ( Rajanikant) new movie is released. ! Late afternoon we went to see the Ananthapura temple, which is very ancient shrine and considered as moolsthana of anathapadmnabhna of trivendrum. It is also the only lake temple in Kerala and has a only known vegetarian crocodile (Babia) in the world who feeds on prasada from head priest! As it turned out it was too shy to come Lake temple with vegetarian! out during our visit. Males were asked to remove Crocodile their tops while entering the temple but strangely this rule was not applicable to fairer sex. We were really impressed with architecture of the temple, its cleanliness and surrounding serenity and greenery. !

Back to hotel, we were late for lunch but we had this invisible tag called "guests of manager Sharma", so we were taken to special sit down Kerala lunch called Sadya thali. And I must say eating this multi course lunch was one unforgettable experience. We ate as the locals do, with our hands; instead of a plate, our meal was served on a banana leaf. Its a special treat so you have to set it up in advance and the menu goes like this: sambaram, inji puli, kadu mango pickle, lime pickle, banana chips, sharkkara pratti,

vellirikkai, kitchidi, pineapple pachadi, kerala rice, parripu curry, ghee, avial, sambhar, mixed vegetable thoran, chicken ularthiyathu, tawa fried sh, mooru, ada pradaman, banana rasakadalai, papadam, fried chili. I know thats a lot of food and you probably dont know what any of it is but I can tell you it was delicious!! In spite of feeling little drowsy after that sumptuous meals we gathered ourselves for the highlight of the tour and that was visit to the Bekal fort.! Ever since I saw movie "Bombay" in 1995. I fell in love with the song Tu Hi re sung by Hariharan ( I think his best) and enacted by Arvind swami & Manisha koirala at this very location. This is one of those locations that only someone

like Mani Rathnam with his zest for showing unexplored regions/ areas/ monuments in India on the silver screen, can zero in on. The Uyire Uyire/ Tu Hi Re song in the movie Bombay was the rst movie sequence that was shot in this location. Who can ever forget the gushing waves that were slamming the fort as Manisha ran down into the outstretched arms of Aravind Swamy, A . R . R a h m a n s mesmerizing score, the lush green areas surrounding the fort, all of which made the song & the location one of the most memorable song picturizations by the master lm-maker. As we walked down the ramparts

of the fort my friend's son who was given the task of giving us history and more information about the place , started rattling from his recently acquired Wikipedia knowledge.! "Bekal is about 16 km from Kasargod in the northern tip of Kerala. Bekal Fort is the largest and best preserved fort in Kerala. The fort offers a mesmerizing view of the Arabian Sea from its bastions. The Bekal Fort was built in 1650 by Sivappa Nayaka of Bednore.! Abutting the sea, the waves lash the walls of the fort giving it the appearance of a marine fort. The fort is a major attraction for history buffs for its unique design.! This is where Arvind swamy waits for Bekal Fort: The forts entrance is Manisha in 'Bombay' guarded by trenches to prevent enemies from rushing in.! The fort is spread over forty acres and its important features are the water tank with its ight of steps. A tunnel in the fort which opens towards the south, armoury and the broad wide steps leading to the bastions are worth seeing.! The bastions rise to a great height and offers clear views of nearby places like Pallikare, Kanhagad, Kottikulam, Uduma and others. The fort was built solely for defence purposes, unlike other Indian forts which also had the residence of the royalty. Holes in the walls and on the bastions helped keep the enemy at bay.! A Hanuman temple and a mosque near the fort stands testimony to the ageold harmony among Hindus and Muslims. Early mornings and evenings are best time to visit the fort. Due to its historic relevance,the fort is well maintained by Archeological Survey Of India. fort.Summers would be really hot here and best time to visit is from September to December. "!

After taking this detailed history lesson we roamed around this very well maintained and preserved fort and reached my favorite spot in the ring where Arvind swami waits for Manisha with his outstretched arms. Here we all sat and listened the whole downloaded song 'tu hi re....' on the I pad. Suddenly as if understanding our moods weather gods also took a turn and it became cloudy and windy with occasional thunders, as if to recreate scene from the movie. We also took some pictures and returned to hotel for a cultural evening organized by hotel management as Diwali celebrations. There were

no re crackers as most of the resort structure were made from coir and chance of re was clear danger. ! Next day was the day to check out. In the morning I went to their signature spa 'Jiva grande' for a massage experience. And I must say that this 27000 sq feet spa is one of the best and the biggest I have visited. They treat you like a royalty and really make you feel 'Jiva grande' really grand spa , ! very special. One has to somehow Jewel in the crown keep the thought " how much I have spend for this one hour" far away and than one can really enjoy this session! ! So we left the place with very satisfying heart, mind and stomach. The food in the resort- absolutely authentic, service- absolutely charming, beach right there, one of those holidays where you do not need forced incentives to relax !!

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Next we in the group of ten , were off to coorg for a very unique experience of staying at Tamara, rated as the most romantic destination in India for 2013. I donot want to write about this place or put pictures, as none of them will be able to do any justice to this place. Only way you can experience this place is by being there. But in any case if you want to have just a Glimpse of what is in store for you. Just click the link below. !

http://123andhrazones.blogspot.in/2013/09/indias-most-romantic-resorttamara.html!

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