A monsoon rendezvous in KERALA – God’s own Country!!!

Kochi: Paradise 1

"The lure of the distant and the anonymous is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are.” So, when an opportunity of a FAM trip to Kerala knocked on my door - I simply grabbed it with both my hands.

Me, God’s preferred child was all gung-ho for this trip to God’s own country, but, had my own inhibitions of traveling there during the monsoon season, which experiences torrential rainfall. But, the travel bug had already bitten my soul and wanted to convert this very negative perception for a more positive one.

So, set with this goal in mind I packed my bags for an exploration of the five main cities of my motherland – Kochi, Munnar, Kumarakom, Kovalam and Thiruvananthapuram. Joining me on the trip was Gracy. Luckily, the carrier was on time and we boarded the flight that took us off towards the impending journey.

The window seat was the preferred location that gave me a leverage to capture the best aerial shots of the paradise called Kerala. Looking out of the window my mind drifted along with the clouds to a World of coconuts and plantations, but it was interrupted with an announcement by the air-hostess, who cautioned all to keep on the seat belts for the air outside was turbulent. Wow, some excitement it was in mid-air. The turbulence made me feel like Kathleen Turner of the adventure comedy movie “Romancing the Stone”. Few clouds later the air got cleared and I got a 360 degree view of God’s own Country. The land of King Mahabali was indeed beautiful and green even from 786 feet – a feast to the eyes.

We boarded the bus organized by the tour operator and said adios to the colonial ambiance of the Kochi Airport. The road en-route to the hotel was razor clean and had greenery on both sides even though it is adorned with bill boards. You see commercialization has not even spared this part of the virgin land. In fact it was good to see a life-sized advertisement billboard of Mohanlal, the Southern superstar, who with his Namaste posture seemed to welcome us to some good times.

The route from the airport to the Casino Hotel, our stay for the night was interesting. In the sense, we passed through the main city’s (MG Road) market area which had some known jewelry showrooms, which I had only watched in some Malayalam TV channels. Kerala known for its coconuts and spices is equally famous for its traditional gold ornaments. And, one of the shops that caught my eyes was the "Gold Souks Grande Mall", which is very famous in the city of Dubai. It was also informative to know that the city had good civic sense and traffic offenders were flatly fined Rs1000.....wish Mumbai had such stringent rules! The MG Road route also had many churches gracing one’s vision and amidst all the hustle and the bustle was the magnificent building of the oldest tabloid of the city Malayalam Manorama, where news is made every day and week.

The pick-up bus zoomed some miles more and we reached the bridge that connected the Wellington Island (Old Kochin) with Ernakulam (New Kochin). I wanted to get up and close with the view around me, so took to the vacant passenger seat in the front and befriended the driver in my broken Malayalam dialect. It’s a brownie point if you know the language of the land and will take you comfortably in the long run. The now friendly driver was enthusiastic to share his knowledge of the island with a deal that I would be the translator for others. He briefed us that the island was man-made and created during the construction of modern Kochi Port in 1936 with the soil dredged out while deepening the Vembanad Lake to accommodate the new port. Now, the island is home to the office of the Cochin Port Trust, the Customs Office, the Royal Air Force’s aerodrome, a few hotels (Casino Hotel being one of them) and business centers. These establishments have provided good source of livelihood for the locals, which comprise a good mix of Keralites and Tamilians. My only regret was I couldn’t catch sight of any handsome Naval cadets…..I guess the drizzle kept them indoors.

After nearly an hour’s drive from the airport we reached Casino Hotel, a contemporary establishment frequented by the business community. Nothing Bondish about it! Thecourteous bell-boy escorted us to the double room, which was well-maintained with all the necessary amenities, including Wi-Fi access. The bathroom was equipped with a hair dryer, hot & cold water supply and installed with a bathtub fit for a Cleopatra bath.

The itinerary of the evening was to join in for a night of celebration with Spice Land Holidays, the tour organizer. Keeping up with the black and white theme, we entered the Durbar Hall, which was already swooning to the music rendered by the Vylli Orchestra. The folk lore created through the wooden instruments (gifted by a Japanese Music Company) was heart thumping and touched each of our souls. The night was kept alive with more music and songs sung by professionals. The crowd danced all night long and had the night of their lives.

It was heavily raining the next day morning and the wet Earth tickled the sensory glands and worked up an appetite. Our first Southern breakfast at the Tharavadu Restaurant was refreshing in every sense – the traditional ambiance with a welcome lamp and the nira para at the entrance complimented the scrumptious breakfast spread, comprising English egg-n-toast, soft idlis and sambar to crispy Masala Dosas with spicy, tangy chutneys.

We had some time on hand before we boarded the bus for Munnar. So, we explored the hotel and chanced upon the spa, the outdoor swimming pool and the SHOP, a curio shop, which was all set up in the back-end of the hotel. What took our fancy though was the SHOP of course, since girls just wanna have fun with shopping. The place had some exquisite and traditional trinkets, accessories, bags, kurtis, saris, and many other metallic antique pieces in all shapes and sizes. We went crazy for choice and ended up buying some interesting mementos for family and friends back home. This way a piece of Kochi was coming back with us to Mumbai.