Conversations with Malnadati – The Soul of Western Ghats

 Conversations with Malnadati – The Soul of Western Ghats

AI Generated

Straight roads. Never-ending lines. My car cruised past 100 km/h, slicing through the dry plains like a hot knife through butter.

But the rhythm broke.

The wheels began to slow. The road curved. Then curved again. And again.

Right. Left. Left. Right. A hypnotic zig-zag of bends—welcome to the gates of the Western Ghats. The artificial chill of my car’s AC suddenly felt out of place.

Kushalnagara. The place where the plains end and the soul of the Ghat begins.

I rolled down the windows. The crisp fragrance of blooming coffee flowers filled the air. A scent so rare, you wish you could bottle it forever. As the landscape turned into a green sea of coffee plantations, pepper creepers, and tall trees dancing in the mist, I felt something surreal.

A gentle voice beside me. A woman sat there—mid-aged, serene, her eyes as old as the hills.

"Who are you?" I asked, heart thudding.

She smiled.
“You were thinking of the Western Ghats. I am her. I am Malnadati.”
“Call me Sahyadri, Nilgiri, Anaimalai… I have many names. But across 1,600 kilometers, I am one spirit.”

"Where do you live?"

Malnadati: “From the southern tip of Kerala in Agasthyamalai Hills, I rise like a spine through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and end in the green hills of Gujarat’s Dangs. I’m home to millions—people, trees, rivers, animals, and stories.”

AI Generated

"You give birth to rivers?"

She nodded. “I am the mother of rivers. My tears become life for millions—east and west.”

• West-flowing Rivers:

  • Kerala: Periyar, Chaliyar, Pamba

  • Karnataka: Sharavathi, Netravathi, Kali

  • Goa: Mandovi, Zuari

  • Maharashtra: Vaitarna, Ulhas, Savitri

• East-flowing Rivers:

  • Tamil Nadu & Karnataka: Kaveri – “I hold her like a lifeline.”

  • Tamil Nadu: Bhavani, Vaigai

  • Karnataka: Tungabhadra, Hemavathi, Arkavathi

  • Maharashtra: Krishna, Godavari

Kaveri is sacred. “She flows from Talakaveri in my Kodagu hills, nourishing Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. She's not just a river. She’s emotional. She’s survival.”

AI Generated

"You seem vast. How do you stay connected?"

“I’m woven by Ghats. My folds connect east and west, forest to city.”

• Agasthyamalai, Thenmala, Ponmudi (Kerala)

• Palakkad Gap – a crucial ecological bridge

• Nilgiris – Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri

• Bisle, Shiradi, Sampaje, Bababudangiri, Agumbe, Charmadi (Karnataka)

• Amboli, Tamhini, Lonavala (Maharashtra)

• Chorla, Anmod (Goa)

• Saputara, Barda Hills, Dangs (Gujarat)

AI Generated

"What about the towns and hill stations we visit?"

“They’re part of me too.”

• Romantic escapes: Munnar, Kodaikanal, Wayanad, Ooty

• Coffee cradles: Chikmagalur, Coorg

• Cool getaways: Mahabaleshwar, Matheran, Saputara

“These places stabilize climate, attract rain, and offer refuge for flora and fauna. They’re my crown jewels. But they’re fragile.”

AI Generated

"Are you hurting?"

She looked away for a moment.

“They cut my trees for roads and real estate. They build resorts. They call it development, but it chokes me. Deforestation, commercial farming, mining, and tourism without ethics—they’re all wounds.”

“I see fewer hornbills. Fewer elephants. Even the monsoon doesn’t dance like it used to.”

AI Generated

"Why should people care beyond just nostalgia?"

Her gaze turned sharp.

“Because I am not just your past. I am your future.”

• I am one of only eight ‘hottest hotspots of biodiversity’ in the world.

• I shelter over 7,400 species, many found nowhere else.

• I anchor the monsoon, regulate rainfall, and protect coastal aquifers.

• I store carbon, purify air, and keep your rivers alive.

“If I fall… so will you.”

• No forests = no rain

• No roots = dead rivers

• No trees = barren soil

• No hills = urban floods

“What Himalayas are to the north, I am to the south.”

AI Generated

"So, what can we do?"

“Don’t just visit me—understand me. Defend me. Respect me.”

• Support sustainable tourism.

• Say no to illegal land grabbing.

• Plant native trees, not ornamental.

• Oppose destructive highways and monoculture farming.

• Speak up. Stay informed.

As I turned back to the road, she vanished. But her scent lingered—coffee, monsoon, wild ginger.

Every bend on that road was her whisper.
Every drop of rain—her song.
And her voice? It lives in every river. Every forest. Every sigh of wind that runs through the hills.

Will you listen to Malnadati before her voice is lost?