Kerala
Just after my first semester ended, we
joined with our good friends the Seiperts and made an adults-only getaway to
southern India’s paradise-on-earth known as Kerala. We booked a trip on a
large rice boat for five days and four nights on the Keralan backwaters – an
awesome experience in yet another totally different sub-culture of India.
We flew to Cochin and stayed in Old Cochin (a Portuguese port city and
Princely State capitol from before independence) the first and last days of
our trip. We enjoyed seeing the laid-back yet efficiently farmed rice
fields of Kerala as we cruised the canals and lakes near the coastline of
the Arabian Sea. We stopped at various points each day to see the old
Christian Churches and shrines in the area, as well as see such cultural
sights as snake boats (no races running while we were there), Hindu temples,
and monuments to famous local leaders and government officials. In the Old
City of Cochin we visited some old Dutch cemeteries and saw an old Jewish
Synagogue, and enjoyed an evening watching Kathakali dancing, the ancient
Hindu storytelling dance form with vibrant costumes, makeup, and
expressions. We enjoyed some great beef (a rarity in India!) at the local
restaurants and watched the bustling port activity with large ships coming
and going.
Kerala was quite different from the
India we had known so far up North. Not only is it a tropical paradise in
climate, but the people were generally more friendly and the public
functions and spaces better run. There was still squalor, poverty, and
unsanitary conditions, but to a lesser degree than what we were used to. We
saw signs of improving economic conditions (especially in Cochin and
Ernakulam), thriving under the administration of the leading communist party
– elected to power consistently for over 40 years! This is a great example
of a seemingly contradictory phenomenon that is no contradiction in India.
The diversity of culture was also more evident here, with a larger
percentage of Christians and Muslims mixed in with Hindus. It was my first
experience within India were I did not speak the language (Malayalam), and
that was somewhat frustrating. I tried to use my Hindi, but found it
largely useless. Our rice boat experience was great, but we would probably
only spend three days aboard the boat (instead of five) and spend more time
exploring inland among the tea plantations in the hills. Despite this, if
we ever get the chance to return to Kerala, we are there!
