Esraan Malai | mountain, hill

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• 
  raj, avadi,chennai (guest)

  GREAT JOB AGAIN RAGHU

  18 years ago | reply | hide comment
• 
  Raghu (guest)

  Hi Raju (and Raj from Avadi), I'm Raghu, from Vandranthangal village. I know Esraan malai the same way as you know it(this reply is for Raj from Karsamangalam)! I mean, it is a hillock very near our native villages! Actually, we own some fields, roughly about 1 km east from the tip of Esraan malai, as the crow flies (in a straight line drawn on the map, I mean). As a child, I used to sit at an elevated place within our fields, and gaze at Esraan malai with a kind of wonder that a child alone can feel! I have watched many a sunset with the Esraan malai in the foreground! I also remember the first time I climbed the hill, when I was about 5-6 years old I think. My friend and I had gone to the annual festival that takes place there every summer even now, at the foothills of Esraan malai (on the south side of the hillock) known as 'Malai sutthi thirunal'. Filled with a sense of curosity and adventure, my friend, I, and another boy of the same age group who we met at the festival, started climbing it from the east side. About two-thirds up, there was no way to climb further! We knew that there must be a way to the top, because there was a big iron lamp on a vertical stand (of 4-5 feet in height) at the topmost point. I used to always gaze at this lamp and the stand from our fields (this lamp is still there I think). So we started going sideways to see if there was any approach to the top from elsewhere. As luck would have it, we moved right, till we were exactly on the north side of the top (about 90 degrees in plan). There is an approach to the top from here that led us to the top. After reaching the top, we stood there for some time ( a few minutes I guess), looking at the scene below: the people at the festival, our villages, maybe our fields, etc. Remember, it was the first time in life that a 5-6 year old kid that I was then was looking at something from such height! The same sense of wonder that I felt while looking at the top of the Esraan malai from our fields filled me now. The only difference was, I was looking from the top, down below now! We two kids at the top sensed that something was wrong about all this. It just was not supposed to be like this: two kids, alone, so far away from our adults... Plus, we were possibly aware that the sun had set, and it was getting dark... So we started going down the same way that we had climbed up. We were joined by the third kid who could not make it to the top, who had given up climbing with us for some reason that I cannot remember now. Perhaps he was not strong enough? Probably. All three of us climbed down as fast as we could, which was as well. Because, by the time we joined the people at the festival, we noticed that it was quite dark (may be 7.00 pm on a summer day?). Guiltily, I neared my mother, with whom I had come to the festival. Luckily, to my relief, she did not say anything or ask where I had been all this time I was not by her side(wonder why?). Later on in life, whenever I read about Tensing and Hillary's conquest of Mt. Everest, I always used to remember my own adventure! It was not only Tensing and Hillary who could have the satisfaction of having conquered some summit! Do you remember that who among the two - Tensing or Hillary - was the first to set foot on the top was always a secret between them, that was not revealed for some forty years or so? Same way, who was the third kid who could not make it to the top was my little secret! So when did all this happen? Some 36-37 years back, in 1971 or 1972! Can you imagine 5-6 year old kids having that kind of freedom today? At least I can't! The moment my 5 year old daughter (now in UKG) is out of sight for a few minutes, we get anxious and call out to her, thinking, 'where is our baby?'! To think that I climbed this hill at the age my daughter is today (today's date is 15 Dec. 2007)fills me with a sense of wonder! Perhaps I can never give my daughter the kind of freedom I enjoyed at her age. Those were innocent times, parents were not aware... * Here is a question to test your understanding of the above story: can you explain why I have said, '...As luck would have it, we moved right, till we were...'? What would have happened if we had moved left instead of right? * Can contact me at nathraghu[at]yahoo[dot]com

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment