Day 71, Kottayam [Tuesday 12th February 2008]
Previous day: Day 70, Alleppey, Kerala [Monday 11th February 2008]
Next day: Day 72, Kumily [Wednesday 13th February 2008]
We get up and get out of the room by 7am and go for a walk around the village. Walking along the edge of the water, circumnavigating the huge paddy field next to the house, it takes us about 1.5 hours to walk around.
Everything and everybody is already lively by now — the sun is up and burning the mist of the water. Nearly every house we pass has at least one family member in the water, brushing their teet, washing their hair or having a bath. Schoolchildren are dressed and ready to go. TV's blare out the sounds of Bollywood songs or the news in Malayalam, old men sip glasses of tea on ther porch. Everyone says good morning, the sun shines through the coconut trees and it's already hot and steamy.
For breakfast George makes us potato pancakes with tomato chutney. His family are Syrian-Christian and over breakfast we talk about what this means. He is a progressive thinker and has strong, sensible views on how Indians should conduct themselves - no dropping of litter, no spitting, no urinating in the street. He also knows the problems of enforcing those views — lack of education, rebellion against authority. He says he has complained to the school headmaster about children begging around the village for school pens and money. However, he has ambiguous views on the caste system. He explains enthusiastically that due to the caste system in Kerala there are specific people for specific jobs like toddy tapping, paddy farming etc, and if others tried to do those jobs they would not be good at them. When I ask if he agress with the system he quickly denounces it and says it will be gone in 10, 15 years. There are pictures of serious looking orthodox priests on the walls. George's parents sit watching the 'serials' on the TV.
We relax for a few hours in the garden then get the local ferry to Cheepungal where there is a bird sanctuary. It is the only piece of land on the bank of the main waterway that is publically accessible — everywhere has been bought up by hotels and resorts. Opposite the sanctuary — which contains no birds — is the luxurious eco-hotel CGH Earth Coconut Lagoon, which has no road access but uses water taxis instead.
For dinner we have appam and chicken stew, a classic Kerala Syrian-Christian dish. It's not spicy but is deeply savoury. We meet two Americans who have come to stay, one of whom's husbad is in Chennai studying Carnatic music — she says the festival season there, which runs from November to January, has music concerts every night.
Next day: Day 72, Kumily [Wednesday 13th February 2008]
Previous day: Day 70, Alleppey, Kerala [Monday 11th February 2008]