Coorg – Traveling Noodles

The People Who Make Coffee

Published on September 5, 2015September 5, 2015 by Anju@TravelingNoodles2 Comments

Life at a coffee plantation can be arduous, laid back, dangerous and at the same time fulfilling. I haven’t lived at a coffee plantation but we got an opportunity to glimpse at this slice of life by visiting and staying at plantations in Coorg, Chikmanglur and in Bali (Indonesia). Most coffee plantations are situated remotely with coffee shrubs interspersed by tall silver oak trees. It is not unusual for the plantation to be visited by elephants, tigers and wild boars. The coffee planter would ideally have his bungalow in the middle of the plantation with the next neighbor about 30 kms away.

But if you look carefully, a plantation is not just the coffee planter and his wife and kids its a micro community of sorts with staff at the bungalow, permanent workers at the plantation, drivers, people at the plant, migrant workers, coffee pickers, people working at processing. If it is a large enough plantation then there would also be schools, creches, co operative shops and a whole gamut of people and services that running a plantation involves.

The stories that the people whose life revolves around coffee tell is very interesting. Living at a plantation is a different experience entirely as you get to immerse yourself in their world for a short while and see the world from their eyes. You would hear stories of being scared when confronted by a lone tusker, stories of catching a majestic tiger, coffee flowers blooming early or about coffee planters awaiting spring showers.

Stories by migrant workers from Bengal who would leave after the harvesting season is over to some other part of the country where work would be available. Childhood memories of helping one’s mother at coffee picking as wages are determined by weight and then skipping off to play once snacks had been brought for the workers. About the rare bird sightings and the excitement of that conjures. Greetings from a post master from the nearby town who connects the people tucked away at the plantation to the rest of the world.

School going children who are accompanied by their parents going to work for coffee picking or any of the other tasks that forms the life line of coffee. Younger children running amok among the rows of coffee shrubs lined with tall trees with their parents on the look out for a wild boar or a herd of elephants crossing their paths. People always on the look out for each other as life is tough and a friendly greeting or a timely warning can make a big difference in an otherwise simple life.

The life at a plantation rises with the sun and sets with it and follows a lifestyle hidden to the city dweller . The conversations revolve around coffee amidst the fragrance of coffee blooms while sipping a cup of the heady brew. Visiting a plantation is great for the body and soul with the fresh mountain air, wholesome food and friendly faces and smiles that one can earn just by being present in the moment.

WP_20131225_018 — Making New friends at a Coffee Plantation in Indonesia

The Best Time to Introduce your Child to the Outdoors? It is Now!

Published on April 23, 2015July 23, 2015 by Anju@TravelingNoodlesLeave a comment

This article is part of the series I wrote on Women’s Web for Plantation Trails Tata Coffee after enjoying a rather pleasant stay at the plantation bungalow in Coorg.

A stark difference between the housing societies of a decade earlier, and the colonies of today is the number of children playing outside. One might see children going to tennis classes, dance classes and even the gym, but it is becoming a rare sight to see a kid play using his or her imagination and free will. The merits of unstructured play over structured play have been debated a number of times and there are parents in both camps, but as a new parent, I hope that more kids are encouraged to play outdoors and just be themselves.

Travel is a great way to introduce a child to the outdoors. In my experience, the earlier you introduce travel to a child, the easier journeys become as they grow older. When children travel to new places, they learn that the world is a very diverse place, and not limited to the world they see around themselves. Read further

Coorg: A Haven for the Novice Bird Watcher

Published on March 6, 2015March 6, 2015 by Anju@TravelingNoodles4 Comments

This post has been written for Tata Coffee Plantations, Coorg and has been published on womensweb.in. Staying at the plantation was a very relaxing experience and led me understand and appreciate life away from the city. This is the first article about the trip to Plantation Trails, that I am writing for Women’s Web.

I am a person who runs to the hills whenever life starts feeling too stressful for me. Coorg is one such destination that seems to have formed some sort of a bond with me which keeps beckoning me over and over again. We were invited by Plantation Trails, Tata Coffee to experience nature in its purest form at their heritage plantation bungalows. To the hills in Coorg which are clothed in coffee and peppered with other spices.

We are not avid bird watchers but when you are surrounded by nature it becomes imperative that you make an effort to learn about it. It is said that bird watching is the theatre of nature. One of the experiences you can have at Plantation Trails is their well organised bird watching tour. This tour is typically done soon after sunrise to increase the chances of spotting a greater number of birds. Coorg has a very rich bio diversity, owing to the forests as well large plantations interspersed with many trees. These have become bio-buffers and also highlights the deep relation Coorg has with nature. Out of the 2060 species of birds found in India, 25% are found in Coorg.

From Kodagu With Love

Published on August 20, 2014November 5, 2014 by Anju@TravelingNoodles1 Comment

Coorg or Kodagu lies in Karnataka nestled on the western ghats with Kerala border just next door. Coorg has been my neighboring district for ages but I knew very little about the place. A spontaneous hotel reservation led us to discover Kodagu in all it monsoon glory. We had been dying to take our new car on the road and Kodagu is where it led us. This strong mountain hold of coffee plantains, tobacco cultivation, paddy fields and pepper vines had been unconquered territory for all of history till the Kodavas (Coorgs) helped the British overthrow the last Raja of Kodagu. The isolated mountain terrain led for an interesting culture and people to be raised here. They were part warriors who loved their guns and part agrarian who loved their rice and coffee. With the small mountain town of Madikeri as the center for its administration and trade, Kodagu flourished. The river Cauvery finds its source here and runs down the mountain as a young river in quick succession of waterfalls. Armed with our trusty camera we meandered through the mountain roads.While my little one exclaimed Caaaaar Caaaaar… from the back seat almost every time a car passed by us. He seemed to be the most happy when in a traffic jam with caaaars all around him which were not many on this mountain road.

Kodagu cuisine is unique and at the same time influenced by the surrounding area and geography with pork dishes being a main component of any feast. Kodavas or Coorgs are connoisseurs of good food and stories tell us that their women would carry fresh food for th battling men during battles under great peril to their own life. We loved the Kodagu cuisine a lot and my son the noodle lover loved the string hoppers or Nool Puttu which we adults paired with chicken curry and spicy mango curry. A chance find in the library of the resort we stayed at, immersed me further into the Kodava culture . It was a book called ‘Tale of a Tiger Tail’ by C.P Belliappa, that consisted of short stories and folklores about Kodagu. Sometimes we learn more about a culture and its people by the stories they tell.