The Menons at Coorg

Amidst 35000 acres of coffee plantation, greenery, beauty, peace and tranquillity the Menon family galloped on their 2 horses (I mean cars) and headed straight into the very picturesque and quaint estate house of Tata Plantations Trail at Pollibetta, Coorg. The target was to spend a leisurely weekend eating, chatting, playing cards, selective sightseeing and overall spending some real quality time as an extended family – V’s parents, bro and wife, me and the 2 devils– aged 6 and 1.5 years.

A jeep tour of the coffee plantation (we are a lazy family!!), an adventurous trip to the Irupu Falls (with rain, muck, umbrellas, baby tantrums all included), loads of hot tea (yeah ....coffee is mostly exported so one doesn’t get to taste good quality coffee here) and onion pakoras, fresh sweet lime juice on the breakfast table, cards session which the senior Menons and their 2 lil sons enjoyed thoroughly while D and I managed the devils and bitched about life in general – all inclusive it was a lovely time spent with the family. The last leg of our journey included a peek at the Namdroling Monastry - a patch of land in the heart of Coorg where one sees hundreds of Lamas in their traditional maroon and yellow garb.

PS: Lest I should forget 1 acre = 43,000 sqft so one can imagine how painfully large is 35,000 acres and what a logistical nightmare would it be to run an estate of this size. As a comparision my apartment is 1250 sqft of BLISS!!