Pulkit Vasudha

Pulkit Vasudha

A rustic fishermen’s hamlet speckled with cashew shrubs, palm trees fringing the horizon, brown sands  dotted with seagulls, and a blue sea yet undiscovered by weekend beach seekers.

“Near Chennai? Impossible,” I said, when told about it. The adventure tour company assured me it  wasn’t a marketing gimmick.

It wasn’t. Katupalli Islands, 40 kilometres north of Chennai, turned out to be just that — serene, smogless, and surrounded by blue seas. The islands are connected to the mainland by Buckingham Canal and a road that runs parallel to it.

I decided to take the train to Pudunagar, the nearest railway station, and then a shared auto to the secluded islands. The auto deposited me at a roadless spot on the islands. “Kattupalli that way, one kilometre,” the driver gestured vaguely. “No road.” Fortunately, we found an agreeable tractor driver who was willing to give us a ride.

Katupalli approached us with a strange, sublime fragrance. Perhaps it was the sea breeze. The tractor driver corrected me, “It is the cashewnut flower blooming in spring.”

In the charming fishing hamlet, the rich landlord whose tractor had been our messiah, welcomed me to an overwhelming lunch of prawns, fish, beans, eggs, sambar, chutney, appalam, rice and curd.

Katupalli, the largest of twelve fishing villages on the island, is a life-infusing respite from the heat and humidity of Chennai. Flanked by the Bay of Bengal, Pulicat Lake, Buckingham Canal and Ennore  backwaters, its topography is amazingly varied. I made a path for myself, parting bushes, climbing 40-foot-high sand dunes and wading in shallow streams.

The village paths faded into the sand as I walked farther towards the sea. Casuarinas made drooping archways and natural springs nestled in green shrubs were the perfect place for a picnic.

Even from a distance, the blueness of the sea was evident, so different from the murky, grey waters of Marina and Elliot Beach in Chennai.

Mesmerised by the shimmering sand and the vastness of the sea, I lazed on the beach, writing in the sand, swimming in the clear waters. Apart from the brooding seagulls swarming the beach, I was enveloped in perfect solitude.

Katupalli is a private paradise; sans hotels and tourist guides — the perfect day-long retreat for city bustlers. Unfortunately though, there are no facilities for overnight stays. Unless you are equipped with camping tents, food and water, it is best to return to Chennai for the night.

As the sunlight dimmed, it was time to head back to the inhabited mainland. I watched the sunset across the endless fields. It was the perfect weekend getaway, an adventure for any traveler worth his salt. “I shall be back soon,” I promised the village kids who waved goodbye.

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Source: Deccan Chronicle

(For the unedited version (which was eventually chopped down to this, go to my blog)

This entry was posted Friday, May 28th, 2010 at 12:00 am and is filed under Deccan Chronicle, Travel. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.