Kerala Sightseeing - Alleppey Boat ride

I was determined to take pictures of God's Own Country before the disastrous scam filled 2008 ended. It was fueled more because I had shot lots of pictures from rest of the world and had very few from Kerala. This was decidedly unjust to a Kerala loving mallu like me. So there I went, taking precious time off my stay with my parents in a sweet little village near Edappal, Malappuram District, Kerala.

I took the morning Guruvayoor Ekm Push Pull train at 6:50 AM towards Ernakulam. The train was filled with office goers who were on season ticket. The one way fare of 17 rupees for a distance of 100km was a definite attraction for people to get on the train to ernakulam.

After reaching ekm at 9:30 and a trip to the bank, I set out on a bus to Kottayam.

At Kottayam bus stand, took an auto to Boat Jetty.

This was my ride

The boat was scheduled for departure at 3:30 PM.

The ticket fare was 11 Rupees for the full Kottayam Alleppey stretch. The journey takes you through the middle of the highly scenic kuttanad, the rice bowl of kerala, for a full 3 hours. I decided it was the best deal for my money. Besides, you get to go through the same transportation the locals use to get from one place to another.

As the boat left promptly at 3:30 PM, it was clear the journey was going to be fun. There were some 6-10 tourists from europe on the boat, all headed to alleppey. The tourists and me had cameras ready, all set to click at the drop of a hat! :)

The initial part of the journey goes through the inland canals, roughly 70m wide... you can clearly see the life on both sides. It passes through rice fields, houses, churches and other paraphrenalia of rural kerala. The villagers actively help the boat pass by the canal by lifting the "bridge" across the canal. Once the boat passes, the bridge is put back into place so that people can cross from one side to another. See it here:

Sometimes you feel almost like a peeping tom, passing by village huts and houses from a distance of max 20-30 m with nothing else in the neighbourhood.... a few dogs, women washing clothes in the river etc are routine sights....

It is this sheer touch with life that makes this boat ride so extra ordinary. Nothing tourist like in this ride - its so natural, in touch with the reality of day to day existence of the local people...

This is a bunch of INTUC workers in a boat. If you notice carefully you will see that the boat is motorised and it contains some stones too!


The best part of the ride is shots like this:

As you enter the main backwaters, the shore gets more distant but still very clearly within view... this is about midway along the ride.... See this church on the banks - almost picture perfect.

Once you enter the main backwaters, you get to see a flurry of "tourist boats", all of them coming from Alleppey. Remember, National Geographic had once rated Alleppey as one of the top 10 (yea, ten!! its not a typo) destinations in the world. Alleppey is commonly known as venice of the east due to the very extensive network of canals and water transport - exactly the same ones that we have been travelling on till now.

Look into the distance and you see a hell lot of "house boats". Now you have an idea of the number of tourists here....

A typical houseboat looks like this:

Notice the air cooler and the generator set on the boat. It is horribly hot on these house boats in summer, especially if you are out at noon time. Some have full fledged airconditioning, restrooms and all. Very comfortable...!!

Boats and more boats!!

Here is one of those bigger "house boats" crossing us.... these cost money, serious money!

 By now, one will find how appropriately Kerala Tourism board coined that catch-phrase "gods own country" for this wonderful land. 

The sheer joy and beauty of this ride is to be had to be believed. The best part is how low cost it is - 11 rs for a 3 hour ride through heaven, in a boat! wow.

You also get to see fishermen at work....

Caution: (fisher) MEN AT WORK

The final destination of the boat is very close to the KSRTC bus stand in Alleppey. Its just a few minutes walk. I took one of those "superfasts" bound for Calicut and reached my home town! :)

Strongly urge you to take these kind of trips if you are keen on exploring the rustic beauty of Malluland.
WELCOME TO KERALA - God's Own Country!!

Losing my weight

Its definitely one of the losses everyone is happy about. Not even just happy, I must say blissful. In an overly visually dominated world, one's looks, figure, size of shirt, pant, waist size of skirts seem to matter more than anything else.

The media and movies play to this big time. Even seen a fat man or woman in a movie? I come from a state of very sensible movie goers - God's own country, Kerala. In fact, it is the ONLY state in this country which accepts heroines purely on the basis of their acting skills and not on the waist size or other sizes. So I thought mallus grew up with a very healthy self image, especially when their body is concerned. After all it is a land where martial arts originated, or at least widely popular. A very physically active bunch of people.

Alas, I was so mistaken. TV and media has had their degrading effect on god's own people as well.

In a byegone era, the big and fat people dominated. Big time! It was considered great to be physically big and huge. With plenty of fat. These days it is the other way round. It is the skinny ones who walk with an air of pomp, feeling sorry for the fat ones. The skinny ones proudly say how their weight has never exceeded 70kgs and how they are always taking care of their health.

Obsession with weight loss has become an epic phenomenon. Billions of dollars getting spend, but the average weight just goes on increasing. Isnt there something seriously wrong? In a country like India, where no one wants to move their ass, many heroes "control" their weight by just reducing the quantity of food. Oh, wish it was that simple.

As a person who weighs 108 kgs, I get my fair share of criticism. Criticism? Of course, From the worthies who are under 70 or under 80 kgs in weight. They feel it is their birthright to tell us fatties to cut down on food first. Without even so much as checking the basics. The underlying assumption always being you eat 24 hours a day and thats why you gain weight. Ah! The same folks who criticise me so fervently never do any exercise, while I put in 2 hours on my bike *everyday*. Of course, they have an answer for that too. Because of all your cycling, you eat too much. What a simple world, is it not? What the dudes dont realise is after 1-2 weeks of dedicated pedalling (or any exercise for that matter), your body gets used to the rhythm and you wont feel a bit more hungrier than before. But then how will they know? The only exercise they know is sweating watching some horror movie on TV, on a nice comfortable couch, munching potato chips.

I am told that the biggest problem in fighting obesity is people do not see obesity as a disease. Thats the biggest issue. It is not a cosmetic issue at all, considering the attendant miseries and myriad diseases it can possibly bring. We never make fun of someone with cancer or heart disease, though lifestyle probably have contributed to these. Then how on earth do we think it is alright to wisecrack about the obese guy, struggling to walk around or take a few steps? Do you think they are munching food all the time? May be you should check the facts. I personally know folks who are very heavy but eat almost equal or less than some of the 70 kg worthies.

I have a question to all the skinnies. If you have never been 90-110 kgs, how can you to give your weight loss wisdom to obese folks? Man, for heavens sake you have not lost any weight, because you have not gained any!! You really dont qualify to say how to reduce weight.

I have always found it is the skinny folks, for whom 70kgs is like an elephant's weight, who have the strongest opinions on weight loss and what food to take to reduce weight!

My dad used to poke fun on my weight, directly implying it was all the food that I ate. When he had a heart attack and a subsequent byepass surgery and I stayed with him in the hospital, I found something interesting. Out of the 20-30 patients in the cardiac ward, only one person was 90 kgs in weight. Rest of them were all under 75!! That time onwards, I am not sure if it is weight that alone causes heart problems. Dad never makes fun of my weight anymore, considering all the exercise, walking, tea without sugar, no meat and such disciplines did not prevent *his* heart attack, inspite of his weight of only 70 kgs.

Man, I eat only twice a day (no breakfast). But then the skinnies say, you should never skip breakfast. You should eat this, that, drink this, water, blah blah blah. So whatever a obese guy does is a problem. Some say you should just have 2-3 solid meals a day. Other say no, you should have ten small sized meals. Now probably you get an idea of the fat dudes' issues - he gets unasked for advise from all direction, none of which are consistent with the other. And each of those advises given out with an air of superiority from an under 70 kg nobody. No wonder, astrology seems much more credible than dietician's advice.

I am 108 kgs and have a BMI of 34. And I will live longer and healthier than 95 percentile of the Indian folks who are reading this. Thats for sure. Overweight or obese, I am healthier than you, any day, any time.

Lets face the fact folks - if it is that easy to lose weight, by just saying no to a few cookies or soft drinks, everyone in the world lose weight. Because no one chooses to be obese. Period.

Learning from the Japanese

It was one of those rare days when I got a sensible forwarded email… About how the Japanese folks took the disaster in their fold and came out like Champs. Here are some points.

I highly recommend folks to watch movies like “The Last Samurai” starring Tom Cruise to understand the Japanese way of life.
My comments are in Italics.


1. THE CALM Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. Sorrow itself has been elevated.
I have always respected the Japanese for their work ethic, composure and the general “zen” way in which they handle life. Stoicism - if I put it in English. To me, the Japanese folks have learnt more from the Gita than what the Indians did. When I saw the folks on TV, running amidst the shattered ruins of their own houses, the thought from Krishna’s advise to Arjuna “be like the lotus in water – in the water, but not touched by it” rang true.

2. THE DIGNITY Disciplined queues for water and groceries. Not a rough word or a crude gesture.
When you learn to respect yourself, you respect others too. Its natural. Just compare it with what happens in other parts of the world, notably the civilized world and the New Orleans incident 3 years ago…. Just compare and you will know what these folks are made of.

3. THE ABILITY The incredible architects, for instance. Buildings swayed but didn’t fall.
This is an area where they have been masters. And will be in the future too. Its what is called hoping for the best, but being prepared for the worst.

4. THE GRACE People bought only what they needed for the present, so everybody could get something.
I believe it is again the zen like quality. And concern for the other person. It is too degrading to call these as “etiquettes” in my opinion. It is not a mannerism, but a genuine love, concern for the other person and the deeply understood need to stand together in times of disaster.

5. THE ORDER No looting in shops. No honking and no overtaking on the roads. Just understanding.
Have you thought about this: such simple civilized behavior surprises us? It shows me how far I am from civilization. But we get used to the fact, for everyone around us is also similar. The fact that in a country like ours where we take the moral high ground all the time, these simple things awe us is a clear indication of our moral depravity. Time and again I have seen this incorrigible superiority complex, that we are better than the rest. One of our national songs itself is “sare jahan se acha”. I am sure I can waste my life searching for proof of the same.

6. THE SACRIFICE Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. How will they ever be repaid?
Boss, we will only talk about Vedas and advaita and karma. No action. Just words, wallowing in intellectual garbage. When a testing time like this comes, you can imagine. We will sit at home and chant hanuman chalisa at 4 AM, but we will not move our bottoms. That’s been our heritage, at least in the recent past. These 50 people will remind us what it is to be human, what humanity and all the assorted scriptures mean.

7. THE TENDERNESS Restaurants cut prices. An unguarded ATM is left alone. The strong cared for the weak.
In our country, everything would have cost 100 times. Absolutely no doubt. But we will slit others throats by chanting “hare rama” “hare Krishna” etc etc. We bring god even into business, while looting hapless people.

8. THE TRAINING The old and the children, everyone knew exactly what to do. And they did just that.
In our country no one would have had a clue. Its kind of ok, since we are not used to or trained to handle such things. But definitely not something to be proud of.

9. THE MEDIA They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.
Ha!! All the mass media channels would have had a field day. Repeating the same scenes of suffering day in and day out, and folks like Burkha Dutt coming and puking all over us, on air.

10. THE CONSCIENCE When the power went off in a store, people put things back on the shelves and left quietly
We would have even stolen the scriptures from the stores! And felt proud of it. And went home and prayed.