A night at a coffee plantation

written by: Kapil kumar, TARA HOUSE, Bhowali, Uttrakhand

Me, Tony and Kartik were standing in Mysuru and drinking BLACK CURRENT grape juice. This small shop at the entrance of Mysuru is quite essential with the youngsters there or all Mysurueans know about this place. But there was a problem- where to go. We did not want to go back to Bengaluru as we had enough time to spend in exploring Karnataka. we thought of some places but than they were too distantly located. Somehow me and Kartik both stuck at one point – COORG. Yes, this could be a great place to go. Than, I thought who could be our guide goto that place. I somehow remembered Dr Narendra Rangappa, a senior Ortho and a very respected social activist of Karnataka. I left a message for him on facebook and instantly he replied. “yes Kapil how can I help you”. I told him that we three from Delhi wanted to visit Coorg and are on the road. He said ” So I can be your host and guide to that place”.

Dr Rangappa gave us an address of a Coffee Plantation but he said there are two issues

1. The Chef is on leave
2. The caretaker Joseph understands only Kannada.

But, these two issues were too small compared to our will to go there. We had to reach Madekari which was 112 kms away and it was already afternoon. But, with Dr Rangappa’s guidance and help we started off for Coorg. Reaching Coorg was off course on our minds but as we moved ahead the road and the scenic beauty was really breathtaking. Somehow I felt that I was in Africa where you find such backwaters, coconut trees on the road, paddy fields and so many variety of birds. As guided by Dr Rangappa we stopped at Kushal Nagar to eat something and also to make sure we had something for the night as well. We googled for places and found out that Tibetan Kitchen and Trippers were travellers choice. We could not locate Tibetan Kitchen but off course Trippers was right on the highway.

So, we stopped at the Trippers and found out that the ambience and food was really up to the mark and we can also recommend to our fellow travelers to stop there and enjoy some good time. We had a good chicken biryani, pizza and some momos and each of them were value for money. The eateries of Coorg draw parallel to their counterparts in Goa. The same tropical ambience and ambundance of sea food makes you feel that it’s somehow part of Goa. Now, we wanted a cup of good South Indian or Specially brewed Coorg Coffee. We moved ahead a spotted one counter right on the highway. It was nothing more than tailormade for us.

While we were having coffee – the coffee vender said Sir it is getting dark. Do you have any place to stay tonight?

We asked Why ?

He aswered “There will be elehphants on the road if you are going to plantations so hurry up and reach before you encounter a lonely tuskar.

These words were more than a warning for us. The address Dr Rangappa gave us was not that far now…. it must be 15 kms from that coffee shop. We hurried up as it had started drizzling by now. The wiper of our Innova were making that threat of the elephants really larger than life. We took a sudden right turn into an unknown road and suddenly all traffic stopped and there were just huge trees – dense jungle- a broken road in front of us. We three of us kept talking and kept moving ahead with a frightened mind that a huge tusker could be right on the next turn. What would happen if he blocks the road or charges on us ? We had no clue – but there was no option either so we kept moving ahead tilll we finally reached the doors of the plantation. We hurriedly opened the gates and entered inside. There was noone there and we called Dr Rangappa again. Thanks the phone were working. He said blew your car’s horn and Joseph will appear. It happened in the same manner.

As told by Dr Rangappa he knew only Kannada but as an experienced lad he knew we were guests and he had to open the rooms for us. The polite chap brought the keys and opened two rooms for us. But as we got out the car we were welcomed by big toads and gigantic spiders. Joseph knew that spider scare could be worse so he killed two huge spiders just to make us comfortable. Three of us decided to sleep in one room as no one knew what the jungle night had in spare for us.

The night went suprisingly without any hiccups. There were no Ghosts or Elephants to trouble us and we slept the whole night quite comfortably. The day broke early and we also woke up with the chirping of the birds. Joseph appeared as we sat in the verandah and asked if we wanted coffee. We said Yes as if we waited for the whole night just to have this very fresh – organic COORG COFFEE right inside the plantation itself. What else one can ask for ? It was a dream a come true. The coffee of the south is really much better than any other instant coffee.

Joseph told us that in India there are two types of Coffee. One is Robusta and the other is Arabica. Robusta is hard and Arabica is mild. They are mixed together to get that rich aroma and taste of world famous Coorg Coffee. We were lucky to get this knowledge from a man who has spent a big chunk of his life in the plantation itself. Though we wanted to go inside the Big plantation but it was raining like hell. Therefore, we spotted some butterflies, enjoyed a loud sound of a howler monkey, spotted some rare birds, big trees, flowers and fruits.