Thirivananthapuram to Maldives
Saturday, September 17, 2005
I remember I was in 5th Class (or 5th grade - American). Summer vacation ... where'd you like to go ?? I was in Kerala - God's own land .. those days ( yes I did spent about 3 yrs of my childhood there). How does Maldives sound like ? Well it sounds alright .. Dad was working out there and we had decided to go enjoy the vacation in Male' (in short) ..
I remember we having a long discussion, whether to go this year or next?? We did finally. Took off from Tiruvananthapuram 1 hour flight not more than that .. boy!! Flight journey was fun ... 1st time on a flight... though I don't remember much apart from ... landing in Male' - the airport covers a whole Island and there's nothing else out there .... how 'bout that ?
The scenic beauty of the chain of islands neednt' be described out here, I wont be doing justice if I did so; as you gotta see to believe it .. a shot boat-trip through Indian ocean took us to the Main island and then a 15 min drive to the apt .. We had a colony out there... Dad was working with the new Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital (IGMH) being built in Male' ....
Spent some good time out on there the beaches, swimming leasons,the innumerable islands and the party at night .. boy !! I was out there at a wrong age. Those days we didnt have those electronic gadgets back in India .. Tourism had prospered in Male' and it was filled with tourists (as it stands now ) and brought money flowing into the market (Currency - Rufiyaa is stronger than Indian Rupee) ...
Some shopping and visit to the Indian embassy .. all was with the package !! It was fun spending the vacation away from home and on an Island was like a dream come true.. Though the whole capital was so small that you could run through the perimeter in about a couple of hours ..
We did decide to pay another visit the next year and the next .. each time I enjoyed as much as , or should I say more than, the previous visit. Happened to see a few dignitaries - PMs and others the following year and was out there during the Rajiv Gandhi incident 1991. We saw a huge Indian community gathered at the embassy and it was then that I realised we had a small India blooming out there....
Remembrances
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:47 PM; PERMALINK,
