March 24, 2015
Kerala trip comes to an end after ten days, I have a few special notes about this place. I list them below.
Since my high school days, I had been taught in my Geography class that Western Ghats from Surat to Cape Comarin were plains & flatland where people lived and died for the last many millenniums. My understanding has been incorrect. Western Ghats (I do not know why the British called them Ghats) is a picturesque lowland facing the Arabian Sea, dotted with lakes, mountains, greenery and the most picturesque of all, the palm trees. Today I had a boat ride, again in the artificial picture perfect wet lands in Poovar near Tamil Nadu border. An artificial sand berm separates the Arabian Sea from this artificial fresh water wet lands, which is home to countless bird spices.
Six distinct cultures, all Hindu inhabit the Western Ghats. Starting from north, Gujaratis, Marathis, Carnatic, Goanese, Keralite and last a small portion of Tamil Nadu. None of them speak the language of the other, still, their religion, their culture, their geography, their common coast line and last of all the life giving Monsoon season binds them together. Now, the new economic interdependence is the common glue. It is a fascinating area. I have already been to the four states and plan to visit Gujarat & Karnataka in the near future. Last nine days in Kerala were fun filled. Here is some impressions of mine about Kerala - some hilarious & some serious.
Clean people of Kerala.
Kerala people are clean people. Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is a clean city. Dumping garbage right in front of their own house does not come to their mind. I am sure a regular pick up of garbage has been organized by the local municipality, because I saw no dumps on roadside. City roads are clean and less congested, but I dare say that traffic is not so well organized, although it is better than Delhi. There are no cows on the roads.
All billboards are in Malayali, hence we did not know who is selling what. Most men have overgrowth of upper lip hair, which seems to be the local style. They wear a "Lungi" and in a quick maneuver, go from full L to L/2 i.e half and tuck it around their waste. Rich, poor and in the middle, they all wear Lungi except the office and college going boys who are wearing pants. Women is a separate issue. Percentage of pretty girls/women is less. Anything more said about them could get me into trouble. So I stop here.
Communal harmony in Kerala.
There are more women supporting Burqa in Kerala than anywhere else including Delhi. Some Muslim women may not be wearing it, it is hard to tell. Young girls can be distinctly singled out with their Chaddor on their head. They all are going about their business unmindful of their body coverage or any other sign of being Muslim. Men are hard to distinguish. They all have a lungi and growth of thick mustache on their upper lip. Bearded Mullahs are rare in public. I saw some billboards with a Mullah looking politician with CPI (M) political message. I could not read as it was in Malayalam. Hindus have a distinct ash mark on their forehead. Quite a few are supporting that mark on their forehead. Familiar surnames are Nair, Nambiar, Parsanna, Kurien etc. There is no way to tell a Christian from others. A cross around his neck in a gold chain is the only tell tale sign for some They are politicians, judges, civil servants and everything else. Hindus are political force in Kerala as for two thousand years the lineage of the king stayed Hindu Rajput. Culturally, it is a Hindu culture but the whole of Kerala landscape is dotted with more churches and now with Middle Eastern money, with Mosques. But one single temple of Padamanabhaswamy takes away the cultural thunder of the other religions. There are other temples all over the place like the only temple of "Parusram Rishi" in India. Other temples like Krishana, Ganesh temple etc. are also there and I did see Durga pictures on billboards which I was unable to read, but my belief is that Durga is worshipped by people here.
Kerala's love affair with Ayurveda.
Ayurveda clinics and message centers dot every corner where tourists flock. Most tourists go for various forms of messages but a few do consult the Ayurvedic physicians. Panch-karma is a favored form of treatment. I do not know what that means. Another, Shiro- Dhara is favorite of Sushma and others in our party. It costs about $40 here (Rupees 2,200). Messages in Kerala, especially done by authentic master than a copycat in Toronto are much cheaper. The Ayurveda physicians are qualified like B.A.M. degree. Other than surgery they can treat every disease with success (I do not believe them). A few decades back CPI - M, the dominant political party here encouraged Ayurveda to get a physician in every village and helmet. They have succeeded.
There are no Unani physicians., although I would assume that with 20% Muslim base, this type of practice may be common, yet I did not see any Unani practitioner in the shopping district i have visited. In North India, Muslim adopted Unani system as form of medicine, but that does not appear to be the case here in Kerala.
Indian culture which survived intact in Kerala and elsewhere in south.
The four Afghan Muslim Sultanates - Bijapur, Ahmednagar, Berar, I forget the fourth one, ruled south India from fourteenth century onwards. These Muslim rulers picked up lesser fights with Hindu subjects, never the less they were Muslim and enforced their own laws. But Kerala escaped their dominance. When Aurangzeb led his armies south, he destroyed all the four sultanate and appointed his own governors but he never went to Kerala. This is the only state which is culturally pure in Hinduism. It's Brahmins - Namboodri, are prized priests all over India. You visit the Napier Museum to get the flavour thru paintings and sculptures. The museum has stone/metal figurines dating back to second century B.C. And then a complete progression thru various centuries until eighteenth century. You can distinctly see how sculpturing techniques evolved as time passed over ages. Also the temple building architecture evolved as centuries passed without an iota of Muslim influence. The main sanctum- sanctorum of the Padamanabhaswamy temple has no spires jutting to the sky. Everything is totally enclosed including the forty ton one piece stone Gopurum. The only architectural piece the builders borrowed from the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu is the trapezoid decorated main gate architecture. Everything else is their own evolution over ages.
The houseboat town of Alleppy.
Alleppy is the houseboat town of Kerala. I came to know later that Alleppy and other surrounding areas are just about at sea level, that means, during the rainy season it is flooded all the way to the Arabian Sea. Some time in the recent history, a Kerala king hit upon unique piece of engineering idea. He asked his engineers to prevent the rainwater from flooding the area and going waste. He wished to harness it. He got a wall, about four to six foot high built around the low points in the area roughly sixty km long and at places five km wide to contain the rainwater and store it. This prevented rainwater from flooding the tableland below. Now two crops of rice can be grown in the land saved and plentiful water remained stored in the lake for year round irrigation and drinking. We saw miles and miles of paddy fields all along this artificial lake. In addition for people like us, it has become a place for rest & recreation, where houseboats could be rented for two days for fun and frolics in a fresh water lake. We had our fun and we learnt a little bit more about the Malayalam culture. Alleppy area is also famous boat race town. You probably have watched the races in which a number of boats with eighty rowers and a few drum beat guys cheer up the rowers to win. Gods each year favor one or the other team but they do not tell in advance. They let them race. It is Kerala's most enthusiastic water sport.
It is good to be here. I must thank again Surinder for organizing this trip.
Cheers
Hari Sud
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