Attappadi revisited
Scene 1 The Coimbatore-Palakkad bypass road at 3 AM on a Sunday morning It was the end of a drudgerous bus journey from Bangalore to Coimbatore and respite came to me in the form of three big smiles. I have to confess that I checked my phone again to confirm the time. I am not used to being friendly this early in the morning. Before I knew it my bags were taken from me and we all huddled in to the waiting car for a close to 1.5 hour drive to Attappadi. Driving in to the gates of the current KILA (Kerala Institute of Local Administration) in Attappadi, previously known AHADS (Attappadi Hills Area Development Society), passing the familiar sights from just a year back felt more refreshing than a steaming hot cuppa that would have otherwise done the job. I was looking forward to the new memories that I was here to make. We quietly let ourselves in to the KILA guest quarters and I sneaked a couple of hours of solid shut-eye before waking up to the lively ch...