An Enchanting Tale Of Our Tour Of South India-Part 16 Of 20

OUR SOUTH INDIA TOUR IN 1975 (Episode 16 of 20)

 

How mother nature helped in retrieving a gold ornament that we had given up for lost.

 

From Trivandrum, we took a bus for Kanyakumari, as in 1975, there was no rail link to Kanyakumari. 

 

Kanniyakumari is a popular tourist destination and pilgrimage centre in India. Notable tourist spots include its unique sunrise and sunset points and Vivekananda Rock Memorial off the coast.

 

We reached Kanyakumari late in the afternoon. We planned to catch the sight of the sunset that day itself because we were scheduled to depart the next day afternoon towards Trivandrum to catch the evening train from there to Sanakaran Koil. So, if we miss the sunset that day, we will not have another chance on this trip. 

 

 After dumping our luggage in the hotel room, we went to the sunset point. We were in luck. We were just in time to witness the glorious sunset. It is one of the rare places where one gets to see both sunrise and sunset in one place. It also has the wonderful confluence of three water bodies the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean.

 

After the satisfactory sunset view, we visited the 3,000-year-old Bhagavathy Amman Temple located on the shoreline.

 

The next morning, we rose early and rushed to the shoreline to witness the sunrise. We were again lucky to witness a glorious sunrise. 

 

Then we went for a dip in the sea. There were boulders in the sea, and it was fun to see waves crashing into them. The spray from the waves was like a natural shower. The administration had fixed chains across the boulders as a safety net for the bathers so as to avoid somebody getting pulled away into the deep ocean. 

 

We took a dip in knee-deep water near the shoreline. The water rose to waist height when the waves came in through the gaps in the boulders. The effect of ebbing and receding water was fun. 

 

My sister took a full dip when a big wave came in, and when she got up, my mother noticed that the gold earring from one of her ears was missing. The clasp must have been loose, and it must have been washed away by the sea when she dipped her head in the swell.

 

My sister was quite upset as it was a gift from our paternal aunt, who loved us very much. We looked for it, but we knew it was useless. We had to console ourselves that it was lost forever. Tears started welling up in my sister’s eyes, and my parents consoled her. Then my mother noticed a glitter on the top of a boulder that was about ten feet to our right and pointed out in excitement. But I thought it must be the reflection of the sun on the protective chain attached to the boulder. My father, however, waded through the water up to the boulder to see what it was. And voila, on the boulder, was my sister’s lost earring resting snugly. The receding wave must have left it there. Just as he picked the earring, a big wave came crashing on the boulder. It was a good fortune that my mother noticed it in time, and my father took quick action in retrieving it. Otherwise, it would have been lost forever. Thus, Mother Nature helped us to retrieve a valuable gift. 

 

My sister’s earring thus was saved once by my mother’s alertness and then by Mother Nature’s grace. 

 

When we narrated this episode to our paternal aunt in Madurai, she was in tears.

 

Thus was our tour at the southernmost tip of mainland India. 

 

In the next episode, I will share the story of meeting a gentle elderly priest and other stories.