shenbaga thoppu

A) Travel Bug—shenbaga thoppu

Srivilliputtur (SVPR) –my days in Hindu High School SVPR -1936—1946.

 Curriculum insisted on 'educational' excursions & we were taken to distant Sivakasi (12 Kms from SVPR!)to the match factory & litho printing press. We were wonder struck seeing print outs in COLOUR .But beyond that these trips were monotonous & boring because neither teachers ( who volunteered for this attracted by allowances )nor the students prepared by informing themselves of what there were to see & possibly learn. But what we enjoyed most was bi-annual trips to nearby mountains with a motly bunch of enthusiasts aged 12 to 50 yrs!.Destination was “SHENBAGA THOPPU”at the foothills of western ghats,about 10 to 12 Kms from SVPR. Mode of transport: your legs!Grocery/cooking utensils were carried on our heads .Sugar was always entrusted with 'kannan' because unlike mythical Krishna who stole butter,  Kannan of SVPR will not steal!Well, activities in the camp depended on one's age. 35& over played card games. Rare vernacular expletives were exchanged during these sessions. Younger than  35 went hiking ,often on unchartered tracks. (My daughter Suba should now know where she got the trekking bug!). More delicious food in ambience of raw nature I have not tasted. Duration was 3 to 4 days determined more by diminishing rations rather than our desire to return home. Walking back was always tiresome and invariably darkness set in before we reached SVPR.The light house giving us a lead as well assurance we were indeed close to our destination was “light.from the from the fire in the burning ghat on the outskirts of SVPR. The dead were in a way our guiding lights.