Manjolai Post Office -824

  MANJOLAI POST OFFICE CLOSING DOWN 

" MANJOLAI KILITHANO " famous song from the movie KIZHAKAY POGUM RAYIL might have vanished from the memory from almost all barring a very few  cinegoers of  the 70s or 80 s .

The place MANJOLAI which finds mention in this song is a Scenic and Picturesque place located in the Western Ghats or Pothigai Malai close to Ambai and Kallidai in Tirunelveli District of Tamilnadu .

The British were the first to establish Tea Plantations here way back in 1919 which was subsequently leased out to Bombay Burmah Trading Company for 99 Years .

Generations have toiled in these lands and been a part of this land in more ways than one .

Being deep inside the mountains , INDIA POST was the only mode of Communication for the people of these parts . Mobile phones came much later .

For better or worse these plantations are now closed and have  made way for the Wildlife Sanctuary about which I shall detail later.

THIS  POST OFFICE IS NOW CLOSED -- SAD

 

These are now days of Instant Transfer of News , Pictures or Videos . These can now be sent to all your near and dear ones across the World in no time and sometimes even as the event is taking place . People with WHOM you are just on a HELLO term get to see all your posts .

The Internet and the Mobile Phone have  Changed the way of our daily life . ZOOM , GOOGLE MEET.  EMAIL WHATSAPP, INSTAGRAM , TWITTER are Just a few terms which are very much a part of our daily life now .

Add Amazon , Flipkart and tatacliq and you need not step out of your home for any Market  purchases . All your orders  get delivered to  your doorstep .

Net Banking , Googlepay , Rupay , Phonepay , etc have made our Monetary  Transactions even more simple . The need to carry cash in your Wallet is now a thing of the past . Plastic and Chip embedded Debit and Credit Cards are the way of life now . 

Over The Top ( OTT ) Platforms like Netflix , Amazon Prime , Disney Hotstar have changed the way we watch movies and Sporting Actions anywhere across the Globe .

 IPL Match between CSK and Mumbai Indians could be watched in the comfort of your Living Room in Toronto , Canada even as it is being contested 13000 Kms away at Chennai , India . 

During our heydays as youngsters the only Social Media that we knew or made use of was the Stationary of the good old INDIAN POSTAL SERVICES . Letters to your parents , friends and oh yes ,   to your Sweethearts if you were lucky enough to have one  were ferried by these ever obliging good  samaritans who braved the Sun , Rain or Freezing cold to get these  precious Letters delivered to the right People at their right addresses .

How can one forget the POSTCARD  ,  INLAND LETTER  (Called the England letter by many ) and the COVER  . The cheapest of the lot was the POSTCARD . It tested one's ingenuity  by making you write the words in as small as possible font and in  as close proximity to each other as possible . The trick of the trade was to write a Small Book in the space available at your disposal.  This had a downside to it as well . Anyone finding it  hard to while away his or her time  could lay his or her hands on a postcard and could read in to the contents and know all the secrets or otherwise of its contents and have a jolly good time while being at it.

THIS COST A WHOPPING  FIVE NAYA PAISE IN THE YEAR 1974 . 

Just one step ahead on the ladder was the INLAND or England Letter , this served everyones needs , both space and privacy was available to you . The flipside was that one often ended up opening the letter at the wrong place .One was never sure of where to put the Scissors or your Nails to open the same . Frequent cases of YOUR SINCERELY and the SIGNATURE of the sender at the very top of the letter starring at your face did occur from time to time .

THIS COST 15 NAYA PAISE IN THE YEAR 1974 .

Last one , the COVER , though slightly costlier had everything going , space , privacy , a show of  intimacy to your beloved one  by way of a few petals of Rose or a Picture that could also be sneaked in .

THE COST OF THE SAME IN THE YEAR 1974 WAS ALL OF 25 NP

Be it Agasthiarpatty , Mumbai , London or Toronto all the above seem to  hold true .

The much awaited Money Order from your father , the much feared Telegrams  which were in 95 % of the cases , the  harbingers of news regarding some one NEW entering your family or News about someone very close to you  who has breathed his last .  The Trunk Calls to your relatives in Chennai or Mumbai which took almost half a day to get the line through might now sound as if this was in the far off Stone Age.  It might be worth noting here that this was as recent as at the turn of the Century or till the 2000 to be more exact  .

After innumerable attempts , getting a PEN FRIEND was a hobby that many might have attempted and might have  even succeeded . The long and anxious wait to get a reply may be recalled by many . Exchange of hard copies of pictures, notes were by the India  Post only . I Remember it took almost a month to get a reply from my PEN FRIEND from  Belgium . The words COURIER SERVICES were not even born then .

It might interest a few who have not had to do anything with the INDIA POST , their charges NOW  are , 

POST CARD : 50 P

INLAND LETTER : 2 Rs 50 P

POSTAL COVER : 5 Rs 

( THIS IS 10 TIMES THE PRICE OF THE SAME SOME 50 YEARS BACK   NOT BAD BY ANY STANDARD ) 

SOCIAL MEDIA NOW IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT IT WAS DURING OUR TIME . 

           MANJOLAI VISIT AND CHEETAH 

                     

Manjolai Kilithano song from the movie Kizhake Pogum Rail which got  released way back in 1978 may have revived fond memories in many old generation folks like me  .

The sprawling Manimuthar Falls on the way to Manjolai is a must see attraction .

The mainly TEA and a few Coffee Estates of the BBTC OR BOMBAY BURMAH TRADING CORPORATION  give a green cover to almost the entire area between Manjolai and Kutharaivetti . The highest point at this picturesque locale is 1200 mts . The clouds rubbing shoulders with you, the mist all around , eucalyptus trees measuring in excess of 350 feet , the gurgling of streams which  cascade down the mountain slopes at innumerable places and thus creating a sweet  music of it's own makes this POOR MAN'S OOTY a must visit place . The 46 km ride after passing across 7 Hills from Agasthiarpatty traverses through Kallidaikurichy , Manimuthar Dam and Check Post , Manimuthar Falls , Manjolai Estate , kakkachy , Naalumukku , Oothu and Kutharaivetty and  is a sure delight to anyone visiting the area .

The entire area , being under the preserve of the KALAKKAD MUNDANTHURAI TIGER AND WILDLIFE RESERVE , the chance sighting of many species of wild animals which include the Elephant is always a possibility if one is lucky . I refer only to the Sighting and nothing more serious than that .

My Sambandhis who are visiting us now and myself included had been yearning to visit this place for quite sometime now . My last visit was  with my nephew Harishankar upto Manjolai  on a Jawa Motorbike some 20 years back , give or take a few and more recently which itself is some 8 years back with my SASMIRA Classmates from Mumbai and that too only upto the Manimuthar Waterfalls .

All the attractions mentioned above set us on a plan to visit the place . Permission had to be obtained from the Forest Department at Ambasamudram to let us  into the reserve .  Copy of my Aadhar card  , the Vehicle RC , The vehicle Insurance details were all required to be presented to the Authorities . Selvam Cabs Driver Essaky who goes through this process almost on a regular basis was a great help and got this done in advance . Essaky had contacts with all the right people  at the right places . He was more of a Tourist Guide with all relevant information than the Driver of our Tata Sumo.Van .

We set out from Agasthiarpatty at 7.45 AM and got our permit ratified at the Manimuthar Dam Check post after paying a fees of Rs 1300 /- for the 6 occupants of the Sumo Vehicle driven by Essaky .

The first stop was the Manimuthar Falls which we reached by 8.30 AM , The waterfalls as can be seen was in full flow from one end to the other . Packed breakfast partaken , we were on our way to Manjolai . The recently laid road was of help only for a short distance . The travel after this was bumpy to put it only mildly , nevertheless the weather , breeze and clouds started to make the travel on the bumpy road less of a bother .

Tea at MANJOLAI HOTEL was a welcome relief as was the feeding of the PEACOCK FROM ONE'S HAND by the ladies in the group .

 

The next stop was the absolutely green topped Golf Course at Kakkachy . This being the place where The British Managers of the Estates and later the Indian Managers played Golf . We however enjoyed the greenery all around with snacks and  under the shroud of the misty clouds overhead .

From here on the roads began to get only  worse and the travel even more tedious . 

Naalumukku had women estate workers from the Northeast of India plucking the Tea Leaves . The women in our group also tried their hand at it . How well they did it is for you to judge from the pictures .

Naalumukku to Oothu was also on similar lines . Oothu is the last place upto which the twice in a day State Transport Buses operate . This Estate has a Post Office , A school and a Basic Medical Health Center.  There is also a small lake which takes care of the Drinking Water needs  of the area .

The drive from Oothu to Kutharaivetty , a distance of Eight Kilometers is sans any sort of road and the ride is extremely bumpy and painful .  There is a Fully Furnished  Forest  Guest House here and Online booking for  a stay here  can be made at Prescribed Rates over the Net . Apart from the repeater station for communication only BSNL has a functioning network connection here . There is an Elevated Forest View Point from which one can view the plain land , the Karayar , Servalar and Manimuthar Dams . One can also see the face of the 7 Hills that we need to traverse from Manimuthar to Kutharaivetty  to reach this place .  We had our homemade lunch here at the viewpoint and embarked upon  our return journey at 2.00 PM

We were almost 5 kms away from Manimuthar Falls on our return journey when we SIGHTED A FULL GROWN  CHEETAH crossing the road right in front of us. 

Imagine being just a few feet away from an absolute predator whose God given sleek and  Aerodynamic body enables it to chase a prey at close to 100 kms an hour . That we were confined inside an open car made it even more scary. 

We were among the very few  to be a part of this split second sighting of the CHEETAH even as it made it's way into the absolutely dense forest . This  had us all in shivers as we had left  all the windows open to enjoy the scenery outside . It took us a while  for us to get ourselves into some sort of a  normal mode. 

All in All an extremely memorable and adventurous trip and well worth the trouble taken .

TAILPIECE  : The British were the first to establish the Tea Plantations in the year 1913 . Singampatty Zamin who owned  the entire stretch of the land leased it to the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation for 99 years in 1929 .  Nusli Wadia established the Tea Estate in and around this place .

Kalakkad Mundanthurai Wildlife Reserve came to be established here later  and the entire Tea Estate Plantation  Area come under this heading .  A conflict of interest ensued and the court has given its ruling in favor of the Wild Life Reserve. This has left the BBTC with hardly any other option .  Alll the establishments so far nurtured has to be closed by 2027 - 2028 . They are slowly winding up operations on all fronts  . Roads are not being repaired and no care taken to maintain any semblance of normalcy . It is slowly but surely facing a very slow death . Not many years are left for this Beautiful OOTY OF THE POOR  to meet its unfortunate end .

THE SAVING GRACE IS THE LAND USURPED BY US IS FINDING SPACE BY ITS  RIGHTFUL OWNERS INSIDE THE WILD  FORESTS .