Kerala

Kerala: Seeing & Learning

/ Milo Inman / 1 Comment

As I begin putting myself in situations in which photographing people in their natural state is more possible, I’m finding that I not only become more comfortable doing so, but the quality of my photographs improves. The subject doesn’t always have to be smiling, or even friendly – my best portraits are the ones that express the authenticity of a subject’s disposition and emotion in a single frame. Asking a scowling subject to smile will usually result in a sheepish grin, or a reluctant curve upward of the lips that ends up radiating a general feel of puzzlement.  Continue reading →

Malabar Giant Squirrel

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My friends and I usually head into the forest every now & then to bask in the sounds of the forest- the chirping birds, crickets, sounds,  monkeys and always in the hope of sighting wild animals. And most of the time we hear the rattling calls of the Malabar Giant Squirrel but we rarely get to capture a photograph of the beautiful creature. Continue reading →

Kerala Wildflowers

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It doesn’t take a gardener or horticulturalist to appreciate the beauty of an angiosperm’s blossom – whether a flower felled from dozens of meters above splayed on the ground; a gorgeous splash of color on the forest floor, or purple puffs of perfectly formed pollination mechanisms overlooking the steep slopes of the Western Ghats – Kerala is a bouquet of stunning wildflowers. Continue reading →

Wordsmithing: Tribal

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Western travelers to Kerala at first can be startled by the frequent use of this word, which has been replaced by the word indigenous in other parts of the world, but whose noun form has special mention in OED:

A member of a tribal community (usu. in pl.). Chiefly Indian English.

1958    New India: Progress through Democracy iii. vi. 378   Illiteracy is almost universal among tribal peoples.‥ Tribals are being trained as teachers.

1964    Economist 18 Apr. 261/1   More are arriving daily, among them Christian and Buddhist tribals.

1979    South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) 28 Dec. 3/1   Teams of mountain tribals are to join the search for three Singapore Air Force Skyhawks which disappeared over the northern Philippines eight days ago.

The word has no “tone” to it, at least not perceptible to foreigners living in Kerala.  Continue reading →

Any Given Monday

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

In the world’s largest democracy, there are a diversity of ideologies that would make any other democracy blush in modesty.  Today, on the streets of Cochin, you could have had a very small sense of that. Continue reading →

Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor)

/ Salim.E.I / 1 Comment

SAMBAR DEER (Cervus unicolor) are found inhabiting mainly damp woodland environments, like marshes and swamps. In Periyar we have thousands of sambar deer, which is the favourite prey for Wild Dogs, Leopards and Tigers. Whenever they perceive danger, they start giving a repetitive honking alarm call.

Continue reading →

Our Gang, Thevara (#10)

/ Crist Inman / 3 Comments

Two brothers and their neighbor buddy.  Thevara is one of our communities, part of Cochin (aka Kochi) and situated on the backwaters between the modern part of town and the older harbor sections of town called Fort Cochin and Mattancherry. Continue reading →

Elephants – Lord of the Jungle

/ Salim.E.I / 3 Comments

The Periyar Tiger Reserve is famous for its elephant population. According to the 2010 Forest Department census, there are about 1279 wild elephants in the reserve. The world population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) is estimated to be around 60,000, about a tenth of the number of African elephants.

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Our Gang, Thevara (#9)

/ Organikos / 2 Comments

These youngsters are often to be found on a warm afternoon sitting in this exact spot, discussing something important in Malayalam; but ever polite, when a passerby of foreign appearance says hello, they break into English. Continue reading →

Steer Clear

/ Milo Inman / 5 Comments

One of my uncles was visiting Kerala for a few days, and we did what we always do with VIP visitors: trekking together in the Periyar Reserve.  48 hours ago we were in the Gavi sector, and as always my attention was drawn as much to the charismatic micro-fauna as to their mega- counterparts.  In all the places where my family has lived and worked–North, Central and South America, Western and Eastern Europe, and now India–we have always been most impressed by interpretive naturalist guides that can make insects as interesting as primates, pachyderms or felines.

It is not easy, but it is possible.  So I am focusing alot of attention lately on small creatures like the one in the photograph above, hoping to unlock visually what these great guides do with words crafted into stories. Continue reading →

Water, Dams, Kerala & Tamil Nadu

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In the lovely monsoon season, one of our Contributors wrote about crossing the border from Kerala into Tamil Nadu.  The writing took the man from mars perspective: a South Korean observing two distinctly different cultures and landscapes within southern India, writing with a sense of wonder and backed up by great photographs.

Lately things are different.  Sung would not be able to make that same journey.  The politics of water–actually the politics of politics superimposed on the politics of water, or vice versa–seem to be the problem.  Another of our Contributors, writing seven weeks prior to Sung about the same cross-border excursion, hinted at the problem seen today, with martian prescience. Continue reading →

Our Gang, Thevara (#5)

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

Those not roaming or sifting, waiting for school or playing cricket, are often sitting right here in the late afternoon.  Their instructor is nearby, always happy to have a passerby speak English to her tutorial group.  And they are always eager to showcase their favorite phrases. Continue reading →

We Are Not The Only Ones

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Normally we are watching for them in Thekkady or at the orphanage.  But they are elsewhere also.  In Munnar, where there are both tea estates and plenty of forest, elephants are always lingering.

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Our Gang, Thevara (#3)

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

In more than one earlier post, we might have given the impression that every young person in our neighborhood seems to smile all the time.  Not necessarily so, though most do.  But for certain when they see someone they do not recognize, they will definitely say hello.

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Water Resources

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We are in constant search mode for methods to reduce the use of plastics in India.  Plastic water bottles are the big frontier to conquer for resorts–no matter how “green” they may otherwise be–in particular.  Travelers are educated from so many sources–guidebooks, travel agents, government advisories, etc.–to demand sealed plastic water bottles (or else not drink from any other source). Continue reading →