Apr 10, 2009 08:40 AM
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(Updated Apr 10, 2009 08:46 AM)
CLUB MAHINDRA TUSKER TRAILS, THEKKADY, KERALA STATE
My wife and I were in the U.S. when we learnt that Club Mahindra had opened a new resort in Thekkady in September 2008. We immediately booked accommodation for a holiday in the month of March 2009. Returning to India in the beginning of March 2009, we began making preparations for our holiday.
Our journey began from Mysore, our hometown on the morning of 28th March 2009. Mr. Shyju Varghese, Senior Executive, Front Office at Club Mahindra, Thekkady gave us a road route that commenced our five hundred kilometer trip spanning three states. Luckily for us four hundred of these kilometers fell in Tamilnadu and as everybody knows, Tamilnadu roads are excellent. Even the difficult Dimbum ghat road with 32 hairpin bends near Sathyamangalm was smooth as silk which made driving a pleasure.
We reached Tusker Trails, Thekkady by 6 P.M. as the light was fading. Mr. Shyju personally welcomed us and escorted us to our room(it is named BLUEJAY). All the rooms are named after birds and the rooms look like big nests from outside with thatched mats on the roofs. These keep the rooms very cool during the day and night.
Mr. Shyju told us that the Club was observing SAVE THE EARTH DAY on that day and therefore power supply would be shut off for one hour from 8.30 P.M. However we were told that a Kathakali performance had been arranged in the Resort premises for the guests as they ate their supper by candlelight out in the open.
My wife had never seen a Kathakali performance before and I was watching one after more than four decades. Like in those good olden days in Kerala when electricity was unheard of, the performance was lighted two petromax gas lights. The performance by
members of MUDRA KATHAKALI CENTRE, THEKKADY was superb by any standards and very professional. The male performer, the female performer, the narrator and the drummers were Kalakendram Harish, Natya Kala Mahesh, Sargashetram Jens and Kalamandalam Jinnu respectively. The abhinaya and expressions were very good and spoke of the high standards of the troupe. The Club Mahindra authorities especially Mr. Silju Joseph, Resort Operation Manager and Mr. Shyju Varghese, Senior Executive have to be congratulated for their foresightedness in presenting this slice of Kerala’s cultural heritage to the guests.
The Resort is small and has about 32 rooms for guests. It is a new Resort bought from the Taj group just recently and in this short span of a few months the Club authorities and the dynamic and dedicated staff we found in Thekkady have brought it up to the best of Club Mahindra standards. Of course it is not at par with Munnar, Goa and Madikeri properties which are all RCI Gold Crown Winners, but we know that both Mr. Silju Joseph and Mr. Shyju Varghese and the ladies and gentlemen working there will definitely do all within their resources to further improve the Resort. Mr. Shyju and Mr. Silju were always available at the Resort and easily contactable as they had given us their cell phone numbers to contact them at any time of the day and night(as they said). I admire their dynamism and they give the impression that no task is difficult or wearisome to them. They made our stay at the Resort very comfortable. We shall always carry fragrant memories of our stay there because of them. They are the visible face of Club Mahindra that we saw and they have done a lot to preserve and perpetuate the good traditions of the Club over the years.
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