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ROAD LESS TRAVELLED
Chance encounter
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THEROOR A lesser-known avian sanctuary, writes SOMA BASU
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Photos: Soma Basu
BIRDWATCHING There are plenty to look at
Imagine getting stranded in the middle of nowhere. My car breaks down on a long narrow potholed road that winds its way through acres and acres of paddy fields. The mobile too loses its signal. Hours roll by and not a soul in sight. Grey clouds thre
aten to burst. They do sooner than I want them to. With no option left I get into the car. I curse my luck and send a silent prayer. A man drenched to the skin appears on a cycle. He quickly offers to take the driver to the nearest village. Finally the car is towed away to the garage. But here’s the exciting bit.
The good Samaritan, before leaving, suggests that I take a walk when the rain stops to catch sight of some birds.
Apprehensively, I begin the walk. After about a kilometre, a rusted board of the Forest department with faded paintings of birds takes me by surprise. The place is Theroor, known for wetland and fresh water lake where winged visitors come regularly. Varieties of storks, cormorants, water hens, cranes flock to this place leading to a demand from environmentalists to declare it a sanctuary in lowland plains.
After a few bends, the road leads to a row of kuccha-pucca houses, an old hospital and small roadside kiosks. Soon, lakes appear on either side of the road that cuts through the village and connects Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli. Coots float on the small waves like keyed up toys. At one side of the lake floating clay licks form an island which give refuge to and work as a resting place for black cormorants, darters, white cattle egrets, painted storks, common sandpipers, cotton teals, black winged stilts and many more birds.
Few steps ahead are paddy fields and coconut and plantain groves. Here I see egrets and the black beaked Oriental white ibis flocking to the fields. They look a busy lot searching for food perhaps.
Theroor is the birthplace of Tamil poet Kavimani. Legend has it that Lord Indra landed here in his chariot. Hence the name ‘Ther’ meaning chariot. Theroor lake is the biggest in Kanyakumari district catering to the town’s one-fourth needs.
Heading to Theroor? Pack your pair of binoculars. How to get there: Theroor falls in between Nagercoil and Kanyakumari. It’s about 17 km from Nagercoil. If coming from Kanyakumari, take a turn from the Highway into the bypass to Tirunelveli.
Just joking
Uphill task
Swiss mountain guides can get tired answering the same questions.
Once an English tourist was giving his guide an especially hard time with silly questions. They were walking through a mountain valley that was strewn with rocks, and the traveller asked, “How did these rocks get here?” “Sir,” said the guide, “they were brought down by a glacier.”
The tourist peered up the mountain and said, “But I don’t see any glacier.”
“Oh, really?” said the guide. “I guess it has gone back for more rocks.”
Rolls in
Before going to Europe on business, a man drives his Rolls Royce to a downtown NY City bank and goes in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer, taken aback, requests collateral. “Well, then, here are the keys to my Rolls Royce,” the man says.
The loan officer promptly has the car driven into the bank’s underground parking for safe keeping, and gives him $5,000.
Two weeks later, the man walks through the bank’s doors, and asks to settle up his loan and get his car back. “Wait sir,” the loan officer says, “I learned that you are a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow?"
The man smiles. “Where else could I park my Rolls Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and pay only $15.40?”
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