Kerala Revisit, Results, Routine..

​It’s Friday morning and I’m dreading getting into ‘The routine’. You’ll soon know what I mean by it.

Only last night I returned from a quick two day trip to Kerala with Pratik.

What could have been a trip of celebrations turned kaput only because ICAI didn’t think I deserved it yet.

Of course, thanks to Pratik, I did enjoy the trip!

Day One:

I was hyperventilating at the hotel room in Guruvayur, frantically trying to open the CA result site. You’d expect the site to open up instantly, given all students would be ‘passing’ out in tension, BUT NO. The bloody site did not. After refreshing the site for over a hundred times with no luck, a friend of mine sent me a gazetted list of students who had passed.
I was muttering all the prayers I knew and scrolling down the list to my roll no. I could’ve done a direct search for it but Murphy didn’t let me. So scrolled from 800000 to 883554. Wow, that was fun! Scrolled and scrolled only to reach the end of the list. Found 883561 but 883554 was nowhere in the list. Period…

My poor mom was, at her end, trying her best to get the site to open. I called and told her about the list. Told her to stop trying because a FAIL was a fail. In CA, marks didn’t matter.

I was devoid of emotion. How was I to react? Pratik, a darling, knew exactly how to deal with a wrecked me. Eventually I slept off with a broken heart, blocked nose and a hope that I’d wake up to realise it was all a nightmare.

I woke up two hours later. Ta-da!!! Guess what!!!??? It was no nightmare! I had failed with 189 marks, having passed all the 4 subjects individually. So basically, I had lost out on aggregate.

Day Two:

We arranged for a car and set out on a full day tour. Our first stop was ‘Athirapally waterfalls.’ I’d been there on an earlier visit but had missed out on a certain section of it owing to a tight schedule. That section involved a bit of trekking so I was happy to be doing it with Pratik instead of my folks!
Well, the good part and the bad part of sight-seeing in Kerala is that all the spots are far from each other. So, the drive is a pleasure because of all the greenery around but you also end up spending major time in the car!

A small walk later we reached the base from where the falls can be seen at a distance. The Athirapally falls, for reasons more than one, is a must see in Kerala. Unfortunately there wasn’t much water in the base area because of a poor rainy season and January – May isn’t the most ideal time to visit.

Nevertheless, it was beautiful and I was glad it wasn’t over crowded. Just what I needed; Peace. We sat with our feet in the water and munching the pokodams my mom had packed for our journey. Oh, the pokodams were so yummy they found their way into the fish’s tummy! Mom wasn’t too happy with her son-in-law feeding the fishies her pokodams, but at least all this kept my mind away from the results.

The trek path took us down to a place from where we saw the falls at an eye level. It was hardly a 20 minutes trek but I was out of breath toward the end because it was unbearably hot!

The Choco Bars we picked up on our way to the car had to be tossed to the pesky monkey! Damn!

On our drive back from the falls we stopped at a Toddy shop for Pratik. He’s the type that likes to experience all local stuff at every place he visits! With my Mallu speaking skills to his aid, Pratik enjoyed ‘Naadan’ kallu, meenu, kozhi! A satisfying trip all in all! 😀 😛

Day three:

We checked out from Guruvayur and took the same car to Cochin. Oh when I say ‘we took the car’, I mean we had a driver. Not our usual Pandiyan uncle but someone I got through the Information Desk at Guruvayur.
Around that area, there are two famous beaches; Chavakkad and Snehatheeram. We chose the second one since it was on our way to Cochin, NOT because of the name! 😛

After the falls, the beach was another beauty. You can always rely on nature to cheer you up! There was hardly anyone in the section of the shore we visited! 1 point scored!

Next, the water was blue. Another point! Obviously not the blue you’ll find in the Caribbean but this blue was equally pretty!

Third, there was no trash on the beach. Bombay needs to see this and learn but then again some people won’t change their ways! Sad..
After another local lunch, we headed to Lulu mall, apparently the largest in India. I honestly didn’t find the Food Court too appealing 😛

We arrived an hour earlier at the airport only to learn that the flight was delayed by an hour! To make up for it, the pilot decided to fly like an ST bus driver!!! We arrived in Mumbai earlier than expected! 😀

Friday morning:

The routine: Time to get those horrible huge books out of the closet. Time to start losing whatever little hair is left on my head. Time to tell people I’m ‘studying’ for the nth time.

The other day a friend called me a ‘Military Lady’ because of my clothing. If ICAI continues to deal this way, he’ll soon call me that for my actions.

Cheers!