Located about 65 kms from Kollam  Thenmala is a small village at the foothills of Western Ghats and predominantly a forest area. The famous Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary is the most important ecotourism resource of Thenmala Ecotourism. This Wildlife Sanctuary is of about 100 sq. km. and harbors large varieties of flora and fauna.

Thenmala is India's first planned eco-tourism destination, which is gaining popularity due to its unique vistas, bio-diversity and functioning.   Thenmala Eco-Tourism shares its resources with the famous Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary at the foothills of the Western Ghats. Thenmala Eco Tourism project area, divided into different zones with a particular theme, the project area currently has three major zones viz. Culture Zone, Leisure Zone and Adventure Zone.

A trip to Thenmala was in the offing as this was planned immediately after the “Gavi” trip and for this too Benny took the lead. Since all of us did not have a common date free, the trip was postponed till now and ultimately when the trip was made, it was one that really had something to write about.

The heavy overnight Friday rains had us in tenterhooks as to whether to proceed or cancel the trip and add to that the Saturday Hartal sponsored by the UDF really kept us thinking and finally news came in from Thenmala that is has not rained there and more over  not to dampen the enthusiasm of the kids we decided to make the trip. Lazar and family, Sebastian and family, Hillary and Family, myself and family and Benny the closest member of our extended family  stated at 3pm from Kollam in 4 cars. Lazar was running low on fuel but dared to make the trip hoping that some fuel stations might remain open though it was  hartal and fuel he did get  on the way. We reached Thenmala at around 4.30pm and we were welcomed to Thenmala by Mr. Stepehen, Assistant Engineer  and a close buddy of Benny. He took us for a guided tour of the Thenmala dam and described in detail about the working of the dam shutters and sluice gates of the dam. Having spent some quality time in the dam, we then made our way to the catchment  area of the dam some 4kms drive thought the dense forests. The drive though the dense forest canopy was exhilarating to say the least. Tall and heavily buttressed trees began to appear on either side, and the familiar clutter of cicadas grew louder as we drove  cautiously into the sanctuary   through the embankments in a convoy and reached the reservoir site , all dry due to the summer. Had a good look at our camping site and since it was time for the dancing fountains to dance to the music we retreated to Thenmala to view this spectacular event which was scheduled to start at 7pm. The arena was jam packed and we were going to witness one of the most spectacular events, and the open air magical dancing fountain held us in awe as riot of colours with water shooting up in spectacular formations and mist generated by the sprays  and extravagant   beats of the drum  set the tone for the evening.  An array of lights and colours in all hues and shades coupled with the synchronized rhythimic ballet of sound and light amidst the back drop of bamboo trees was  indeed a rare occurrence and hence provided a unique and authentic experience.  Half and hour later we packed our bags once again to proceed to the camping site.

By then darkness had fallen and we were once gain driving through the dense forests  to the reservoir camp site and a good 15 minutes drive through “kutcha roads” took us to the site. The waters of the dam looked refreshingly enticing and we were waiting for our cooks to set up their utensils at the camp site to dish out chicken specialties along with cooked “Cheeni”. While the ladies assisted in the cooking we along with the kids decided to take a plunge in the placid waters which was of right temperature to take a dip.  The moon shining bright, we were enjoying the waters with all kids joining the melee. Kids were enjoying the dip to the core and it was real hard to pull them back from waters.  We strained, squinted and squatted and shone our light across the banks to catch a glimpse of the bison and children squealed and shrieked in joy at the odd sighting of a bison.  At around 12.30am we called it a day and made it to the relative safety of our IB to catch some sleep and sleep was the last think in mind when we saw thousands of bugs (Chellu) in our bedrooms.  Could not sleep at all as these creatures crawled into every available space and we just had enough time to pick these out from our beds.

By morning we packed up once again, to move to Palaruvi, which was heavily occupied. Hilary guided us to a real vacant spot which sure could be mistaken for a swimming pool. Once gain we let loose ourselves and enjoyed the cool water and did some fishing as well. The tour with the kids was real enjoyable and many thanks to Benny for once again organizing such a befitting weekend get-together  and making plans for the next trip as well… Did we hear PRAMBIKULAM???..!!!!

My Life in Loyola

My life in Loyola was perhaps the best phase in my life. I still reminiscence the school life even though I was there for only 4 years that is Std.I to IV and a little of Std. V.

The sprawling campus and the play grounds coupled with the teachers leave an everlasting memory of the school in me.

I still remember the Python that was caged adjacent to the main office building. We were once taken to the cage at the time of feeding the python and a rat was released into the cage and we could see the python strangling the rat and then swallowing it. We were taken to the cinema theatre situated at the far end of the school for an occasional treat of movies and I enjoyed the same as movies were few and far between in the 75-80 period.If I remember correctly the school principal was Fr. Varkey and Vice Principal was Fr. Kuruvilla. Junior school in Charge was Ms. Muthunayagam. I still remember the way she dressed. She was a strict disciplinarian and soft at heart although I was very weak in the subject that she taught “ ARITHMETIC”. Also remember the day we had a Japanese guest and he did render some Japanese songs starting “ Kalasooooo” and so on. After leaving Loyola in 1980, I did never get a chance to be back in school. One other thing that I enjoyed the most was the school sports day and had a favorite athlete by the name of “Mohan Singh Gujjar”. The ease in which he negotiated the school ground bends was commendable. One of the teachers I liked the most was Ms. Renjini and she had a pen in those days with a curved nib and think the ink was purple. Hope Ms. Remembers the same. The trip to Kanyakumari from school with all my friends was exhilarating and in fact that was my first trip without my parents. On the way it started raining and all of sang a song Mrs. Muthunagayam taking the lead. It was something like “Katte Mazhaye vaa, Daivathe sthutipin and som on. We also visited the “Ammachi Plavu” at Marthandam. Also it would be pertinent to inform you that the pocket money allotted to me by my parents for the Kanyakumari Trip was Rs.4/- and believe me on the way back I had a quite a lot of puzzles and gizmos with me after spending some money for ice creams.

Ms. Murray was my I Std. teacher, Sr. Marceline II Std., Mrs. Fernandez- III Std, Ms. Renjini – IV and Ms. Manorama V were my class teachers and wonder where they are now.

I am not sure why Fr. Princi caned me, asked me to place my hands in the pocket, bend forward and then spank…. Spank….. which left me dumfounded and in tears.
I do remember my friends of Loyola, Rajesh, Sujit, C. Prem, Anthony Kevin, Jose Antony, Bhami, Jeevan and Aby – just to mention a few. After a gap of 28 years I met Rajesh a couple of weeks back and the camaraderie and friendship that was developed in school had not a bit waned.
I love my school.