A Gulmohar getaway

Nestled in the midst of the bustling Thrissur city, is a beautiful escapade for reminiscing one’s colourful, youthful days-GEC Thrissur. Synonymous with the brilliant minds it has churned out for India, GEC is not your regular monotonous college. It’s a place where architecture symphonies with nature.

The first thing that fields your vision would be the epitomic towering main building- an embodiment of the architecture of the 50s era. With the layered sunroofs creating a mirage of innumerous windows, one cannot help but feel a sense of majestic splendour at the mere sight of it. The red tainted arch at the dead centre of it all, just adds a beautiful bow to this wholesome package. The beautifully maintained garden at the front is another scenic illusion because it might seem like any other garden at first sight, but as you go in, you see a small pond with a Jamun tree wielding branches on to the pond, just like out of a tranquil scenic picture. As you walk past the vast corridors with the towering colonnades it brings with it a sense of inescapable nostalgia.

The colossal ground wielding the gallery is a sight to withhold, for sitting amidst those steps you will always have the omnipresent cool breeze for company. The branches of the Gulmohar trees stretching out onto the gallery steps, swaying in the wind, showering its red and yellow shimmering petals onto the ground, the sunlight escaping the branches sparkling down on you and the calm serene atmosphere are the little beautiful things nature here has put together for you. Nothing can beat the feeling of watching the darkened skies with the setting sun, painting orange strokes over the skyline. Walking along the gallery, the canopy of trees bend over from both sides in welcome, filling up the roads with their humbled yellowing leaves. The winding walkways lead to buildings spread over 120 acres of lush green grounds. And for wanderers, the abandoned "Makkan Kotta",enclosed in a clearing in the midst of trees will prove to be mysteriously foreboding but at the same time equally fascinating. It’s a site that stands out from the rest of the buildings like a sore thumb.

The plunging road leads down to an array of buildings and ends in a diverging road. And if you take the road less travelled, the short stubbed shrubs would give way to tall trees and muddy ways. The small cleared way ends up with the sounds of falling water and you’d find yourself in the path of a brook flowing down happily hither and thither. The place itself is surprisingly mesmerising for the serene surroundings like it had been tucked away from all human contact whatsoever. 

The enchanting beauty of GEC is beyond words because no words can fill you in with the feeling of nostalgia more than being here in body and soul. GEC beckons to you for a walk down the memory lane and once here it will be hard to part with this Gulmohar marred landscape.