Kerala

Watch It On National Geographic Channel

/ Crist Inman / 5 Comments

Our colleagues offer amazing experiences on the backwaters of Kerala, in the houseboats described here, with some visual support here and here; and once more here (really, look at it to get a sense of grocery shopping in our neighborhood); so no surprise that a film crew and remarkable cast of characters asked to spend time with them.  The crew of 15 or so (I lost count) was from all over India; so was the cast.  The four featured men in this film are part of a “bucket list” adventure that is being filmed in the locations ranked most highly in a national competition as “must go.” Kerala’s backwaters made that list. Raxa Collective’s houseboats were chosen as the venue for best experiencing those backwaters.

The four men–a student, an IT marketing executive, an Indian Capoeira master-in-training, and a famous Bollywood actor–met for the first time not long ago, and by the time we met them they seemed like old friends.  By the time it airs on the National Geographic Channel, that will stand out as much as the fabulous locations (I like the picture hanging on the wall past the camera man).  We will share more on the broadcast times when we have them.  The photo below is Milo’s, and we have some additional photos by Sung from this particular day (they were on the houseboats for many more days), more on which as we have those photos, and hopefully some film outtakes.

Pachyderm Premonitions

/ Milo Inman / 2 Comments

At the risk of being tagged a superstitious bumpkin, I bring up the topic of auguries for the second time. My first omen of good fortune in Kumily was the appearance of an owl – the portent was indeed accurate, as shown by the success of Diwia’s paper bag workshop. Today, while in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, I sat on a bamboo raft and allowed my gaze to amble into the skies. It was a bright, sunny day (my toasted face solid evidence), with a clear sky save for a few small outcroppings of water vapor drifting in the soothing breeze. One particular puff of cloud caught my eye for a single reason – it looked like an elephant.

Amused but not particularly touched, I returned to my casual waterline eye-scanning. Not 10 minutes later, the significance of the elephant cloud hit me, albeit from about a football field’s distance.

Shop on the Water

/ Milo Inman / 1 Comment

Kerala’s Backwaters may be the only home to certain cultural items such as the snakeboat races and the traditional Kettuvalam houseboats, but they are also host to universal waterway phenomena. There is the mandatory bounty that nature provides in the form of distinct and delicious fish and crustaceans, not to mention the huge swathes of coconut palms that grow naturally. Acres and acres of rice paddies are cultivated at below sea level – a feat not unique of Kerala. But in today’s universal culture of rapid globalization, few areas are content with being entirely self-sufficient. So what do the residents of the Kerala Backwaters do if they can’t grow or forage a supply they want? The strips of land are too remote and inaccessible for a  run-of-the-mill supermarket to be profitable, let alone practical. As usual, Kerala folks have come up with a creative yet simple solution to the problem of accessibility and functionality – a floating supermarket.

Monsooning Coffee & Tasting The Place

/ Crist Inman / Leave a comment

Monsoon_Malabar_m.pngWe have been beta on a service that allows an actual taste of the places where we work.  Coffee, from our friends in Nicaragua; honey, wild-hunted in India, Africa and South America; the salt that Ghandi promoted; and the pepper that we have written about more than once.  And so on. The point is that you can taste the difference of a food or a beverage based on where it comes from, and that is evocative. For example, coffee grows all over the world, and not only the growing conditions vary but so do the post-harvest traditions:

I head off to attend a friend’s wedding in India.  It happens to be at the same time as the beginning of the monsoon season so I can’t resist the temptation of organizing to visit the coffee monsoon processing town of Mangalore on the Malabar coast.  It is the only place in the world where this most unique of coffees is processed: Monsoon Malabar

I land at the new Bangalore airport which is now world-class, slick, big and impressive.  It is so far removed from the old Bangalore airport I last visited sixteen months ago where you were jolted into a profound awareness that you were in a foreign country for real: with hordes of people lining the exit ramp and traffic going in six directions at once and a cacophony of horns, calls and mass humanity pressing on all sides. The new airport is much more sedate and orderly and the immersion into the wonderfully varied and exotically, pungent Indian culture is now a little more gradual. Continue reading →

Onam Festival at Cardamom County

/ Sung Ho Paik / 1 Comment

As Amie and other contributors mentioned in their posts, the Harvest Festival and the time of giving thanks has come to Kerala and to Cardamom County.  I had the great opportunity to be on property and experience the colorful festival of Onam.  Being part of both guest and staff, I could see all aspects of the event: from preparation to the final event.  Onam is a ten day festival as Amie’s post explains, but the most important day of Onam is the 9th day, which is oddly called “First Onam” because that is the day that King Mahabali actually descends to Kerala.  But any day of Onam seems like the Keralites’ spirits were soaring.  All the staff at Cardamom County have great warm and happy smiles but during this festival season it felt like their warmth was doubled.

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Let Us Give Thanks

/ Amie Inman / 5 Comments

The Kerala Harvest Festival Onam transcends religion and region, making it one of the most important festivals of the state. All signs of abundance and prosperity are incorporated into the celebrations: Elaborate pookalams (mandalas made of flowers and leaves, shown below) adorn the courtyards of homes and business; and elaborate multicourse meals called Onamsadya are served on banana leaves.

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The festival celebrates a story, not unlike the Greek myth of Persephone when she was kidnapped to the underworld but allowed to return once a year for the spirit of rebirth in spring.  The Kerala story is about a beloved king during a time of great prosperity who sacrificed himself, saving the earth from an avatar of Vishnu.  For his devotion he is granted the boon of being able to return to his country once a year to visit his people, who prepare for his coming with an abundant harvest to assure their King that the land still flows with milk and honey. Continue reading →