India, Aug. 19 -- On the afternoon of August 8, the GoAir aircraft from New Delhi would have reached Kochi on time. The pilot had even announced the expected time of landing. It landed about one hour late. The reason was poor visibility because of heavy rains. As the aircraft hovered over Kochi, I feared that it might be diverted to another airport in which case we passengers would have suffered a lot.
The taxi driver who had come from Kayamkulam to pick me up told me that even on the ground, the visibility was poor. Such was the intensity of the downpour. I learnt later that our flight was the last to land at Kochi before the airport was shut down till August 11.
While crossing the Periyar on the way to Kayamkulam, I saw the Shiva temple...