Sneha became a household name after she effortlessly essayed many noteworthy roles on small screen, including Mandodhari in the popular sitcom Marimayam, which is being aired on Mazhavil Manorama.
Sneha, who has an M Phil in performing arts, is very passionate about acting and travelling comes a close second in the pecking order. And the only factor that is stopping the busy actress from embarking on frequent jaunts is the paucity of time.
Sneha's husband Sreekumar, who has made a mark with his distinctive acting style in films and TV, too loves to hit the road quite often. After their recent marriage, the couple couldn't go on a trip due to a hectic work schedule. A trip that was planned beforehand had to be shelved due to the COVID-19 induced travel restrictions.
"I was quite upset over the fact that we had to cancel the planned trip," admits Sneha. The actress, who is into travelling right from childhood, is also a reliable and efficient travel guide. And here, Sneha gets candid with Onmanorama about her favourite journeys.
“We were planning to go on a six-day Singapore-Malaysia cruise from May 29. We were very much looking forward to that voyage, but the COVID-19 pandemic poured cold water on our plans. I was very upset as we couldn’t go for a journey together after marriage due to a busy work schedule. I even went for shooting the very next day after our marriage,” says Sneha.
“Sree (Sreekumar) is very particular that work shouldn’t suffer and the ongoing projects should be completed on time. Though I was disappointed when the planned cruise trip was cancelled, later I realized that a healthy life was more important than travel under the prevailing conditions,” notes the actress.
The surprise gift from Lichy
Sneha’s best friend actress Anna Rajan, aka Lichy, gave a surprise wedding gift to the couple, a stay at Vythiri resort in Wayanad to usher in the New Year, and the drive to this wonderful resort was their first journey together after wedding. The Vythiri resort is a green tourist center in the midst of rain forests of the Nilgiri mountains, and the stay was an opportunity to enjoy nature's beauty, she adds.
'I am indeed lucky'
As Sneha is an artiste and entertainer, she was fortunate to travel to many places, including foreign countries, and has been to all 14 districts in Kerala. The actress, who started learning Ottan Thuttal, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali from a young age with scholarship from the Ministry of Culture, had also travelled to many cities in India.
The central ministry's scholarship took Sneha and her mother to Delhi many a time and had visited number of tourist spots there. She has visited Rameshwaram and Dhanuskodi in Tamil Nadu, and also other travel destinations in India. The actress, who loves desert safari, has also toured most of the Gulf countries.
"I was very nervous during desert safari out of fear that the vehicle may turn turtle. But we used to crack jokes to do away with the tension and the trip was thrilling," she reminisces.
Best-loved journey
During childhood, Sneha used to travel with her father and the best place she visited along with him was Mookambika temple and Kudagadri. "My love for Mookambika is akin to my affection towards my father. My father is no more, but I love visiting Mookambika as it is one of my favourite places. I visit Moookambika every year," she notes. Moreover, Vineeth Sreenivasan-starrer ‘Aravindante Adhikal’ was canned at Mookambika and Sneha says that she was lucky enough to be part of that film.
Unforgettable first flight
"I first travelled in an airplane to Mexico to participate in a workshop along with my guru Nirmala teacher. I was both anxious and excited about my first air travel. First we reached Mumbai from Kochi, and from Mumbai it was 12-hour long haul flight to Paris. The connecting flight to Mexico took off from Paris after five hours and it was another 12-hour flight to Mexico. In short, the 24-hour air travel was tedious," says Sneha.
But she remembers an interesting incident onboard the plane.
"I am a vegetarian but a foreigner next to me ordered a non-vegetarian combo which had lot of dishes. I started eyeing the delicacies but couldn't ask him for food because of the language barrier. Sensing that I was hungry, he gave me some fruits. On that journey I realized that language is never a barrier to know the pangs of hunger," she adds.
Sneha wishes to travel with her husband after the dust relating to the COVID-19 pandemic settles.
