Dunking in Kaveri

Rivers fascinate me – particularly the Kaveri!  She never fails to amaze me with her ever-changing form.  I have seen her as a baby, though with all that energy struggling to burst forth, at Talakaveri. .  I have been scared out of life at her post monsoon ferociousness at Kabini where my coracle was carried away and away from the shore. I have seen her seemingly placid, but dangerously treacherous back water form at Rangan thittu. I have been mesmerized by her majestic roar at the twin falls at Shivanasamudram. I have had a fish pedicure with her at Talakadu and I have leapt over her at Mekedattu near Bangalore.  I came close to dunking in her at Hogenekkal but the crowd put me off.   I have felt sorry for her looking at the vast but dry river bed nearing Tamilnadu. I have played in the sand in the river bed in Kumbakonam many summer evenings. And I have been transported to another world looking at her in Kaveripoombattinam or Poompuhar, where she gets ready to meet the sea. 

Though I have visited her many times over in many places, I have never really experienced her from inside.  I learnt to swim late and was never let near water when I was young.  And I have a morbid fear of crowds in many of the tourist places that the best I do is to put my hand inside or touch my feet in the river while silently admiring and getting awed.  

And I did not realize what I had missed till I dunked myself inside her at a remote village in Tamilnadu a few weeks back! 

Kaveri at Andanallur

This happened somewhere near the village of Andanallur, a sleepy hamlet near the city of Trichy. My husband’s family has roots here and we were visiting in a group as part of our get-together.  The river bed is a scene of tranquillity here.  With eyes open, you get transported to another era.  There is an odd fisherman throwing his net.  Once in a while, in late evening, group of men come to take a dip and refresh before going home. A bunch of women come for washing in late mornings.  Otherwise, you don’t come across any soul.  When our group went in, we foolishly did not carry a change of clothes assuming the water would be dirty or there would be crowd.  But we were pleasantly surprised by the clean water, with hardly any current and no soul to be seen.  We decided we were going to come back the same day and take a dip!

Some folks at the town of GA puram town near Andanallur are probably still talking about this strange group which came in a big bus to shop for some night dresses.  That is how we got hold of our ‘swimming attires’ and landed back at the river in the evening. 

Do you see a soul?  What tranquility!

Oh, what a pleasure it was.  It felt like a private beach, with a gradual increase in depth in the river giving us the comfort to venture slowly. We were a motley crowd with one adult leading a group of squealing kids.  The water was calm but cold.  Fishes were darting by with a lone crab seen once in a while.  

Can you spot the crab?

The excitement of the kids soon turned into a soothing calm and a sense of peace with the world.  I could see that this was an unusual experience for them, where time stood still and they were enjoying something never to be experienced in their city lives. One even chuckled that if they could just remain there forever ... 

We were slowly getting comfortable with the water and getting in deeper till the water came to above our waists.  Then suddenly we all started dunking ourselves inside the water and doing things we never thought we would do – getting braver by the minute and soaking it all in.  We wanted make the best of our time there knowing it may not be soon we will experience this.  We were trying to frame every second, every scene in our mind for recalling later, for experiencing that bliss.  When we stepped out, it was with a reluctant but a overjoyed heart at this unusual experience!

We rounded off the trip with a trip to Kallanai - the miracle dam that was built by the Cholas centuries back.  

A hero among the Cholas!

While leaving for this trip, there was some disgruntlement - oh, what we would do there , we dont know anybody, we cant go anywhere types!  BUT, it turned out that we had a wonderful experience which cannot be 'bought off' with any vacation!  Probably an every day ritual for locals, this was a powerful experience for us – reminding us of the joy that nature and nature only can give us at her own will!  The simple pleasure of dunking in a river with hurriedly bought night dresses at an unheard of village  :>