[FueledbyFury]

Prologue
Life was going pretty fast. It just feels like yesterday that I joined college, bunking classes, going for road trips, cultural events, and so on. It was all coming to an end. We were a group of eight friends gone through every thin and thick during college days. Before parting ways to accomplish our goals and dreams, Alex said on the group chat "Guys, let's go for a trip!". Rewinding 6 months, there was another road trip to Kodaikanal and I couldn't join the trip due to my cousin's marriage. But that road trip didn't end well and the same idea grew on everyone's mind.

"Let's complete that Kodaikanal trip!"

Day 0
11 June 2024
Exhausted

All the exams were over by June 3rd and I joined as a summer intern at CUSAT on June 5th. This road trip was much waited by me, as there was no break in between. Even though the trip starts at night, I was bound to go to the internship at 9:00 AM. I was working on some VLSI domain-based projects and reached home around 5:30 pm. I was sitting on the sofa sipping my evening tea and watching YouTube. At that time the phone rang, it was Antony.

Antony: Let's go

Me: Give me 15 minutes.

Among the eight of us, five were from the Ernakulam side and others were at Thrissur. We, five headed earlier than planned as there was some change of plans and planned to attend perunal in Latin church koratty. We reached Erin's house at Koratty around 7:00 pm. While having some refreshments at his house, there was a car honking in front of the gate and it was Alex. Everyone loaded their bags and set the journey towards the Latin church where we planned to meet with Ben. After seeing the queue of people in the food counter area, we dropped the plan and headed to pick up Ben. Finally, everyone was in the car and headed to Mannuthy. There are a lot of street food shops under the flyover at Mannuthy. Had a good dinner and left Mannuthy straight to Kodaikanal via Kollengode (diverted from Mannuthy Bypass). Around 11:30 PM with a small fuel break, we headed towards the Princess of hills.

Day 1
12 June 2024
Sunrise to parties

Around 3:15 AM, we passed all the forest check posts and lost some amount as a bribe even though all the papers were clear from our side. Moving on we reached our customary tea shop in the hairpins of Kodaikanal and had some coffee. It's started to feel the cold. Sipping hot coffee from the shop in the early morning with a view of hills is way too good.

Later on, we headed to Sunrise Point near Vattakanal. When we reached there, it was only us. Seeing the sun rising from the horizon, rays striking the eye above the hills of Kodaikanal with the lake in the scenery. It is one of the best sunrises I have ever seen.

Moving on we have realized that we haven't booked any rooms in Kodaikanal. We headed towards Vattakanal in search of rooms. Reaching Vattakanal enquiring with the locals and found Thomson cottage at a reasonable rate. It is situated in the valley and overlooks the mountains of Kodaikanal. It was partially foggy when we reached the cottage. All of us had a good sleep and headed towards Kookal.

Backyard of the cottage


"The View"



looks like a painting

We had our breakfast at 11:30 AM at a hotel near our cottage. It was masala Dosa and tasted average. After that, we headed toward Kookal where a mixed turn of events started.

It was a misty morning, after having a cup of tea looking at the valley beneath we started our trip to Kookal. It was all good for the first 20km and Alex who was driving the car felt something wrong with the brakes. To avoid overheating he used engine breaking when we were going downhill along with the valley in Kodaikanal. After some moments, we were going downhill and a Force traveler was coming opposite to us and the road was too narrow. We need to stop the car to let pass the traveler. Alex applied breaks and heard a clattering sound from the front side of the car. Yes, it was the breakpad. It was worn out and it had broken. We didn't feel panicky, as these little mishaps have their place on every trip we have gone. We maneuvered it towards a side and parked it there.

The next thing was to call out for help. Seeing our situation one of the bikers who was on the way to Kookal stopped and enquired about it. He was kind enough to give us his number and once he reaches Kookal if there is a workshop he will connect with us. As we all know there is only a mere possibility of having a workshop at Kookal, we have planned to search for other options.

While we are standing desperately on the road, there comes an Innova. we sought help. Immediately they stopped their car and it was a group of friends returning from Kookal. They talked about the harsh reality of having a workshop at Kookal. Abhiram, one of them was a cameraman by profession and a mechanic by passion. He checked out the vehicle and monitored the brake pads. Initially, we thought it was a brake pad from the back right corner. But to our harsh reality, it was front-right. Foreseeing the trouble of driving without a front brake pad through the hills of Kodaikanal Alex sought help and requested to accompany us on the return journey that they agreed in the next second.

From their own, we started our journey towards Kodaikanal town in search of assistance. If they were not there, we wouldn't have the confidence to drive the vehicle to a nearby workshop through the hairpins of Kodaikanal. They were giving guidance to us, maintaining traffic and avoiding bumper-to-bumper traffic. After a while, the brake fluid was leaking in a greater aspect. Abhiram told us to pull the vehicle over and he took over. There after we went around 7 km and he said that it's better to call the mechanic as moving forward is not safe for us. With the help of local people, we have contacted the local mechanic in Kodaikanal town. It was hours and hours of waiting. During that time Abhiram checked and ensured that there was only issue with the breakpad.

We all chatted and connected with everyone during that time. Telling our college stories, and sharing experiences, we all connected pretty fast. They were a group of friends near their homes, and one of them was getting married. So it was a bachelor party type of trip. It was around 3:30 PM, there was a primary school down the valley, and the students came in a line to board the bus. It was a good moment watching those kinds. Really thought of being a kid back again!

Abhiram checking for any other potential damages

Finally, the mechanic and the assistant came in a bike after 2 hours. It was a job for 30 minutes for him. We changed both the breakpads from the front. Without the assistance of those guys, we might have ended in serious trouble though. So we planned to host a party in the evening and they agreed. The night was a blast. And around midnight we said goodbyes to each other going back to our cottages. The next day around 10 AM, we started our way back home and this is a tale I want to share with my kids one day.

"Brothers for Life"

Highway chai's

We with a so-called name "Marapp"

[Aditya]

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