God, Kerala and my Family

Guests in ‘Gods Own Country’, Kerala, India

(Click here to read the abridged version on about.com or just scroll down for the more detailed one..)

View of Kovalam beach from my hotel room

So says the promotional punch-line of the tourism department. The last time I was in Kerala was way back in 1991 when I was a bachelor boy brimming with dreams and making the most of a new found job. This time I decided to take my family there for a vacation. But it wasn’t me who had proposed a visit; it was this advertisement that had done the trick on my kids and wife. And as usual, I had just given in. Well, actually not really given in, but agreed instantly to revisit the place I had loved so much as a reckless guy in his early twenties. Let me share how it all started just the next day of our landing at the capital city Trivendrum, after a four and half hours single hop (Kochi) flight from Delhi.

The God or the Beach? Or Both?

Certainly only the beach… For, the beach is so scenic that it successfully shoves God out of the frame. It is my first morning and I am by the sea some15 kilometers south of the city at a beach called Kovalam. And I am thinking aloud: It is difficult to be at a good beach and think about the work you could not complete back at office. It is rather easier to let your soul get drenched wet instead, without having to lift your feet from under the swaying coconut tree you are sitting right under. It is even easier to let the beer silently bubbling in the glass by your side do the drenching from inside out.

A sea-side is the most perfect place to let the past drift away and to find the future perfect in a new found nearness. Having a family around adds to the fun as you end up chasing the kids on the sand long enough, fully aware all the time that you would lose. And when you get back, thirsty and heavy footed, the beer too is gone. You frantically, first look at your wife, who shrugs, and then at her glass which is empty too. You jump happily and order another round. Life is always so good near a beach on a holiday. As I look at it now my Kerala trip was along the predictable lines. Well, almost…

The God’s surprise

God always throws up surprises. So, he didn’t forget this one too. Kolavam, at first sight I must say was disappointing. Sitting along the crescent shaped cove hanging like an earlobe from the Arabian Sea; it’s the colour of the sand that surprises you first. It is a dull grey, almost black. Then you see unusually laid back trucks (yes!) and workers busy in rehabilitating the damage caused by the Tsunami five years ago. ( More informed people, though insisted that it is the construction of an artificial coral reef just about a meter deep from the surface, some 50 meters further out into the sea from the beach, that is the real reason for the beach resembling a construction site).

Leela Kempinski – God’s own five star resort?

Leela is one of the oldest five star properties on the Kovalam beach and as expected, quite pricey. But with my children summer holidays always falling in the middle of the off season, the recession too timing its ghostly presence about now and the rather ambitious overdrive of the hotel to cut its prices to woo customers, I was able to decide to take a 2 night package for just under 12000. Though food wasn’t a part of the deal and given the fact that we were more committed to eat out during our outings than at the hotel, in the end it didn’t actually work that way. The place at this cost is sure a steal. Not that alone made it likeable for us; the location, the food, the services, all is too good to ignore. I loved staying at the Leela. With the coveted 2009 award for excellence from the American Academy of Hospitality sciences under its belt, a private beach, efficient service and good food, our stay was as effervescent as it promised right from the start, if not that economical. Leela is coming up in a big way in many other cites as well, I understand and with the attitude on display that I witnessed, I think they will come out well.

The God’s house and the Palace Museum

Though only 20 rooms of the place of the erstwhile ruler of Travancore, Maharaja Swathi Thirunal Balarama Varma, have been opened for public viewing in 1995, after being locked for almost two centuries, 60 others are in a state of disarray and therefore, obviously, closed. The palace has a narrow door from one of the rooms that took the king to the Padmanabhaswamy temple of Lord Vishnu. Even today, the time from 0700 to 0730 in the morning is reserved for the 100 odd family members and descendents who stay at Trivendrum. The place and the temple both are an architectural marvel. The temple can only be visited by wearing a mundu (Indian loin cloth) for men and a sari for women. I opted out while my family hired a piece each for 15 bucks and had merriment with God in his own house. Though I don’t believe in God but let me guess, if he is anywhere around, Kerala will sure be a good choice for him to stay.

The palace is spread over an area of about 22 acres and has in its rooms a dazzling display of Belgian crystals, Italian mirrors (with silver backs, not mercury, we were told by the guide) and Chinese gifts. The palace has a frieze of 122 wooden horses on its exterior and is therefore also called as the ‘palace of horses’. Inside, its floor is still original. Smooth and cold under the feet it was made more than 200 years ago using charcoal, limestone and egg white. The ceilings are mostly wood using teak or rosewood only. There are beautiful mirrors and paintings using vegetable dyes that still look as good as new. The king who completed it and got 200 workers to toil for four years could live only for one year in it and died at the age of only 33. The dance rooms, the conference halls, the meeting rooms, the puja (prayer) rooms are now all quiet but bear the testimony to the organized threshold of a king who was understandingly loved as much by all.

God’s creatures and their creative instincts

At the Trivendrum zoo

The former are plentiful in the zoo which erupted in my agenda due to the fact that my children discovered that there is one such. I crisscrossed the zombie zoo-lovers conducted pathways and smiled at the animals sitting unashamedly naked in captivity while my kids screamed in joy. But the latter was sheer delight for me while my kids moved rooms after rooms in the Chitra art gallery not-so-excited. The awe inspiring works of the Raja Ravi Verma are on display here. His paintings for those of you who know have unique vastness – from portraits to theme to common pictures depicting the life of the times he lived in, he has indeed given us a huge treasure of jaw dropping works. The ornaments and gold inlay work in cloth on his subjects are so vivid that it might put the real ones to shame. Then there are Dr. Svetoslav Roerich’s (Cine star Devika Rani’s Russian husband) paintings inspired by his surroundings in Manali where he stayed for a long time. Also there are a number of Chinese paintings and a few others by Indian artistes.

Kochi – The historic gateway to India

In the background are the Chinese fishing nets

It was at Kochi that Vasco Da Gama first landed in 1498. In fact his body was laid at rest at the St Francis church for about fifteen years after which it was transported back to his native Portugal. The Chinese came here too, to trade spices. The tradesmen of Kublai Khan taught the locals a new and innovative way to fish. Called today the Chinese fishing nets bang at the mouth of the Kochi channel these are in use even today. Next arrived the Jews who stayed on for centuries. There is a Jewish Synagogue in the city and a street by the side of it called the Jew Street. It today has neat rows of shops manned by friendly faces who sell mostly antique furniture and spices. I bought white pepper, cardamom, vanilla pods, star anise, cashew nuts and sambhar masala.

Backwaters in the Vembanad lake and its Godly labyrinth

The traditional Kerala lunch abroad the hired houseboat

We had to travel about 70 kilometers south of Kochi to a place called Allepey (Alapuzzha) to board the house boat we had earlier hired for our family. After an hour and half drive by road we arrived at the starting point of the traditional Kerala race (Vallam Kali or the snake boat race) that takes place every year during August looking at a wooden boat that was berthed alongside many others. Inside it had two cabins and a forward covered enclosure ahead of the superstructure that was going to be our sitting out deck area. The only catwalk (passage) that ran from forward to back, alongside our two cabins, had a wash basin in the middle and a kitchen at the far end. Poorer by five and half grand, we were left by the owner (one Mr. Biju Thomas) in the hands of a three crew for a day and night floating about in the backwaters, a must-do on every travelers agenda who comes to holiday in Kerala. It seemed fun at the beginning. We took pictures, watched the locals washing their clothes in the narrow waterways through which we were steered, ate a just about okay local lunch. But soon thereafter the heat caught on to us. The Air-conditioning, we were told was only for the night. So the excitement began to grow thin on us after a few hours. At about six, we were brought back to the same place at about six and told to relax until the wee hours on the next day, when the boat will set sail again for breakfast at sea. There were mosquitoes outside but we had no choice as sitting in the cabins without cooling was next to impossible. Fanning ourselves with newspapers and smashing mosquitoes in-between, we watched a Shahrukh Khan starrer on a 14 inch television on the deck. Finally at nine in the night when the Air conditioning also refused to start, we realized it was enough and headed back to the cool interiors of our room in Kochi. So here is the lesson learnt: Do not go backwaters cruise in any of the ten hot months. December and January would definitely be better fun. And yes, don’t forget to take a guide along. The boat crew doesn’t understand either Hindi or English.

Cruising the backwaters

In Kochi, I figured out more on the Vembanad Lake, the longest lake in India. Spread over 1500 kilometers its wetlands weave an intricate labyrinth of channels and waterways that sustains the unique flora and fauna making the locals depend on this confluence of fresh water from the lake and the salt water from the Arabian sea. One can see numerous waterfowls ducking and emerging every now and then around the boar looking for their daily meal. Over 20000 are expected to be in the lake which is about 14 kilometers wide at its widest point.

The Real Banana Country

The colours of Bananas

Bananas come in many colours. Shades of green and yellow have been a familiar enough sight, but to see a banana that is red in colour was indeed a surprise. Called Kappa, it comes at eight bucks a piece as against two for all other shades. I bought a few. With the pulp pretty in light pink, it tastes quite like a banana – silly, we had all exclaimed, for a banana is expected to taste like a banana – but leaves the sampler with an instant feeling of fullness and gratification. I boarded the flight back for Delhi the day after the poll results were announced. Like me most Indians saw sense and reason in the result. No banana country this, I thought all the while cruising some 30000 feet above the peninsular India on my way to Delhi. It was the closest I could get to God, but perhaps not as close as the Gods own country, Kerala, got to him. My family joins me in authenticating that Kerala is indeed God’s own.