Sumanta: - There are two loudspeakers inside this bus. One is above the 3rd seat and another one is above the last seat, where we are sitting now.
Sunny: - Hmm…the quality of the loudspeakers are not so bad, but I am not liking these Tamil songs , which are getting played in the MP3 player of the bus driver’s cabin.
John: - Sir, please request the bus driver or the bus conductor to change the CD inside the MP3 player. We don’t want to hear these Tamil songs.
Angshuman: - Ha ha ha…We don’t understand Tamil, but the Tamil songs have all those peculiar musical beats. These songs will make you dance at anytime.
Debraj: - The Tamil language is very tough. Salaa Tamil er baccha gulo ki jeh keror meror boley, bojhai daaye. How these Tamil people pronounce their tough Tamil alphabets, I really wonder.
Arnab: - Actually, all the South Indian languages have evolved from Sanskrit only. That’s why; these languages are very tough to pronounce.
Angshuman: - Bengali language also evolved from Sanskrit. But, it is not so tough.
John:- No, no, basically, Bengali language came into existence after double refining the Sanskrit language, but, the Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu still have many original Sanskrit words. South Indian languages are just a form of Sanskrit language only, whereas Bengali language is the easier refinement of Sanskrit language. It is like; juices extracted from the Sugarcane are the South Indian languages and the Sugar formed in the factory is the Bengali language. That’s why; the Bengali language is easier to pronounce.
Arindam: - Hmm…there are many similarities among all the Dravidian languages, that’s why; any South Indian actor can act in any South Indian language films.
John: - No, boss, you are wrong. Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu languages have no similarities among them.
Chawla: - Thank God. Now, they are playing some Hindi movie songs in these loudspeakers.
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Vartika: - Guys, the bus has stopped here because we need to take our lunch here. This place is known as Mettupalayam. Now it is 9.30 AM. We will get down and have our lunch in the Kerala Restaurant.
Agarwal: - Ha ha ha…Vartika has become our guide now. Chalo, chalo…let us have our lunch….bahut bhookh lagaa hain humko…
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Venky: - Welcome to Kerala Restaurant, Sir. I am the Manager of this restaurant. How many people are you in number?
Debojyoti: - We are 21 in number.
Venky: - Ok, Sir, take your seats and order the food dishes. The dishes will be served within 20 minutes.
Debojyoti: - Ok, not a problem. Thank you.
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Angshuman: - Ei, tomra ki khabey? In the menu card, all the dishes are Keralian dishes. I have no idea, which dish is what?
Sunny: - Oh! Angshuman daa, don’t worry. We have John with us. He knows which Keralian dishes are good and tasty because he is a Keralian.
Koustav: - John, you are a Keralian? My goodness, you speak Bengali like a Bengali person only. I hardly had doubts that you are a non-Bengali.
John: - Ha ha ha…actually, my mom is a Bengali and my dad is a Keralian. That’s why; I have learnt both Malayalam and Bengali. Anyway, I will order some good Keralite dishes.
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Arindam: - Baah…at least these Keralian foods are not spicy, but, it has some kind of sweetness in it, that I cannot explain by words. This Keralian paratha is somewhat different. It tastes more or less like laccha paratha with a slight sweetness in it. Also, the chicken pieces of this chicken curry have been steamed first and then it has been added into the curry. Keralian dishes are like half-Indian and half-Chinese food items.
Vartika: - Ha ha ha…ei, Arindam, you don’t have to comment on Keralian dishes. You are now eating it, naah. So, just enjoy eating it.
John: - Accha, in the Bengali society, you people have a festival of ‘Makar Sankranti’ right? During that festival, my mom used to cook some ‘Peethey – Pooli’, which are the sweet dishes made by using Rice, Gur and Sugar. Now, in Kerala, you will find coconut and banana trees almost everywhere. That’s why; Keralian people use coconuts, coconut oils and bananas in preparing almost every food item. Wait, I will order another food item, which you will enjoy as it tastes like Bengali ‘Gur-Peethey’. The name of the food item is Banana Pakoda. The banana is dried first and then sugar is added to it. Then the white layer of the coconut is rubbed on a sharp knife or Bengali ‘Bhonti’ to get tiny granules of coconut. These tiny granules of coconuts are added with a half litre of milk to make coconut milk paste. Now, that dried coconut is kept immersed into this paste for 15 minutes. Now, you take out this wet dried piece of banana and mix it with wet flours. Then, just fry the banana piece. The outer portion is flour and inside it, there is the sweet dried banana. When you will bite it, you will feel as if you are eating a biscuit, but it is a fried banana piece.
Arnab: - Wow, really, this banana pakoda has a good taste. I have also heard that in Kerala, people eat banana chips instead of potato chips.
John: - Yeah, you are right. But, you may not like banana chips because it is fried in coconut oil only. Hey, let us eat these banana pakodas as early as possible because Sir is calling us to get inside the bus.
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Pandey: - Now, we are entering Ooty. After Mettupalayam, there is a hilly range, which is the Nilgiri range.
Debolina: - Ei, look at both sides of the road. Everywhere, I can see big eucalyptus trees and pine trees with small bunglows inside those woods.
Deepti: - Eucalyptus oil of Ooty is famous worldwide. I will surely buy a bottle of eucalyptus oil after reaching Ooty.
Vartika: - Not only eucalyptus oil, but the chocolates of Ooty are also famous. My uncle visited Ooty last year. He gave me one packet of chocolates after going back to Kolkata. Believe me, the taste of those chocolates were too good. It was far better than a Dairy Milk chocolate bar.
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Himangshu: - We have done a blunder. We should have brought a camera with us. The greenish sceneries of Ooty are just fabulous.
Deepak: - I have heard that Nilgiri range is famous for Coffee, but, in this hilly range, I am seeing tea gardens everywhere. Look there, all the poor women workers are plucking the tea leaves. They are having a big basket at their back. They are plucking the leaves and keeping it there.
Angshuman: - Arrey, Deepak, look at that hilly range. Can you see a big factory? That factory is a tea factory. Don’t think that plucking the tea leaves only is sufficient. There are many processes involved inside a tea factory. Blending is done. Different flavors are added. There are Tea-testers, who will taste the tea and will then recommend it for the next stage.
Sumanta: - Oi toh! I have a spotted a Coffee garden. Look at the left side of our bus. It is a coffee garden. Coffee tree leaves are just useless. You need to take out those coffee beans only, which are the fruits of a coffee tree.
Debarjun: - Accha, where are we basically going? Our bus is going up through this hilly range in second gear for around 6 Km. Where is the main Ooty?
Sumanta: - Ha ha ha…We have entered Ooty 5 minutes ago. Look there! That is the Ooty Lake, just behind the Ooty bus terminus. Now, our bus will take that southward road to go to the Fern Hill. The Sterling Resort is on the Fern Hill only.
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Kedia: - Now, we are going upwards towards the Fern Hill. Hey, I can see a village on that hilly range. There are at least 10 -12 houses in that village. All the farming has been done by using Terrace cultivation procedure. That is, they have cut the sloping part of the hilly region in the form of a plain terrace. Then they will clog the waters inside that terrace to do the rice cultivation.
Rathi: - Our Bus has reached Sterling Resort. Wow! Can you imagine a big 5- Star Hotel on the top of a hill? Great, boss. Let us get down from the bus.
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Debojyoti: - Accha, listen to me. All the SAP trainees will stay in a bunglow and the SAP Officers and the SAP Managers have to stay inside the main hotel premises. The bunglows are just at half a kilometer distance from the main building of the hotel. For IBS Kolkata SAP Trainees, they have allotted 3 bunglows. Each bunglow has two floors. In each floor, there is a kitchen, washroom and two bedrooms with two double beds. Therefore, in each bunglow, at least 6 people can stay easily. In our group, there are 17 SAP trainees including Deepak of IBS Bhubaneswar. Therefore, just move towards your respective bunglows. The three bunglow numbers are B-10, D-13 and F -14. These B, D and F are the block names. Sterling Resort has block numbers from A to G with 10 bunglows in each block. Just freshen up. I will meet you people at 1 PM in B-10 bunglow to discuss about the presentations and other activities of the Conference.
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