There is a river near Thiruvananthapuram called Kallar. There are a lot of rocks on its bed. Maybe that’s why the name “Kallar,” literally, ‘the river of rocks’. Such Kallars exist in many places. Facilities are available to do trekking at Kallar in Thiruvananthapuram. One day we decided to trek to the Meenmutty waterfalls close by. The Kallar here is a bit notorious because when it rains in the forests, a flash flood occurs. People bathing in the waters will be caught unawares. But the water level rises quickly. As the torrent gushes in, the bathers are carried away and they drown.
The first billboard we see at Kallar announces that around 26 lives have perished there, and warns people to be careful. We went for a trek here. Along with me, were my wife, her brother and one of my cousins. None of us had any idea about the place. So I requested help from a friend, Rajashekharan, who frequently visits forests. He came along, bringing a guide named Shahjahan.
In many parts of the forest all over Kerala there are several waterfalls called Meenmutty. I’m told such places where meen, or fish, mutty, or get stuck, are called meenmutty. So there are many meenmuttys in Kerala! At the time of our trekking to this particular Meenmutty, my daughter, aged three or four, was suffering from severe cough and cold. After walking through the forest for an hour and a half, we reached the waterfall. All, except I, jumped into the river. My feverish child also went in. I was a little anxious that her illness might worsen.
After a while, Shahjahan said that the water level was rising and we had to leave immediately as it is not safe to linger there anymore. We slowly walked into the forest. In five minutes, rain started. Water started gushing in the river. We didn’t have any umbrellas. All of us were getting drenched. After reaching home, we changed our clothes and slept off. The next morning I woke up expecting a nightmare. But my child’s illness had completely vanished. She had no flu, no throat ache, and no fever. It is my belief, then and now, that her cure was due to the medicinal properties of the water of the forest. Ayurveda says Jagathyevanamaushadham. There is no plant that is not medicinal. But we don’t know what it is. We should find it.
Probably the water that dripped from the leaves of all the trees on my child’s head cured her instead of causing any illness. Since then, I have never held an umbrella in a forest. I allow myself to get drenched in rain as much as possible. In fact, getting drenched in forest-rain is one of my main hobbies!