Monsoon trail in Tootha puzha

photo1 : all set to face the monsoon. scene from a primary school

In the last two years when we went rafting through Tootha puzha (river), villagers came out to plead not to do it as they thought it was so dangerous to go down stream on a bamboo raft during monsoon! The tiny bit of land that Kerala is; it is crisscrossed by forty one rivers that flow down to the west (Arabian Sea) and other three that flows towards the east. With ponds, lakes, canals, rivers, waterfalls, streams and beaches all around, it's quite surprising to see that we hardly have any water sports other than some snake boat races here and there.

Originating from the mountain ranges of Silent Valley National Park, Tootha( known as 'Kunthi puzha in that stretch) is one of the richest tributaries of Bharatapuzha (River Nila). If not for Tootha, Nila would remain dry for most part of the year.

photo2:our host who served us 'sulaimani' (pic courtesey lukose francis)

The one hour drive from Kuttippuram to 'Muriankanni' itself was a feast for eyes. While rest of the Kerala is busy filling up paddy fields for other land use (mostly construction), most of the villages closer to the Palakkad border still continue their farming tradition. If not for looming rain and the anxious team waiting for building bamboo rafts, we would have just stayed there in those villages! The short walks through the stunningly green (and a hundred shades of them!) villages and interaction with the shopkeepers and villagers were so refreshing for all of us.

Knowing our interest in documenting the natural history of the river, one of the shopkeepers and our acquaintances, Baapputti(kka) these days takes extra interest in everything that has something to do with the river. It's as if he needs to be ready with at least a small bit of information every time Arun visits him. I was simply awestruck by the love he showered on us in the few minutes we stopped to say hello to him on the way. Just before we got into the car, he said, 'You know, sometimes I think that our rivers (Nila and Tootha) have so much in common with Tigris and Euphrates. The river culture that you guys are talking about is something of the sort of Mesopotamia, which was the cradle of civilisation!". Wow! And that came from an unassuming villager!

photo3: awaiting the kill - in the days of super and hyper markets

While shooting the lone vegetable shop in the village, I heard David exclaiming, "Man! After two months in Mumbai and Delhi, this is heaven for me!". Sandra sounded equally relaxed on having taken the plunge to accept my invitation to come and visit our village (and the river!) and interact with our interpreters as part of our capacity building program.

In less than an hour we assembled our simple bamboo raft with truck tyre tubes and coir rope. Equipped with "nentrapazham" (Kerala banana) and water, four of us literally plunged into the monsoon water by half past 12! Seen off by a group of excited villagers we sailed through Vellinezhi, Kaalikaavu and Tootha amongst several other small villages. Except for the strong current hitting the rocks under the Tootha Bridge, we hardly had a problem navigating the raft.

photo 4: tootha puzha

In two places we were invited by villagers to take a break and join them for warm tea. The first stop was near Kaalikaavu where the villagers are building a 'kali' temple. They gave us piping hot tea and asked us to stay back till the evening. We wanted to donate something for the temple construction, but obviously none of us had a wallet. The next stop was by the hill where a Muslim family served us 'Sulaimani'. Jack fruit chips and bananas supplied to us by our team on the way was such a good combination for the evening tea break.

Our 'offering' to the river was only David's lens cap. While I managed to drown my small digi-cam for a second or two, David managed to drop his expensive SLR on the rock! Luckily the lens remained intact except for the small bent in the outer cover!

While struggling to climb on to the raft after a decent swim in the swollen river with David, it didn't occur to me at all that I was fasting for the last ten days! For those who were worried that the rafting immediately after ten days of fasting wasn't a great idea, let me announce that I am still in 'one piece' and raring to do more :)!

Tirur © GP 2007

Gandhian Prakriti Chikilsa Kendram

This is where I have been cocooned for almost ten days now. Gandhian Prakriti Chikistalayam (poorly done website) in Tirur is in service for the last 25 years. Run by Dr. Radhakrishnan, this is one of the leading centres in orthopathy in Kerala. From the simple building near Tirur railway station, they have moved to a larger facility in Ezhoor set on the banks of scenic Tirur river. Providing cure for patients with various ailments through natural living, this centre has established its presence in northern and central Kerala.

What impresses me every time I interact with Dr. Radhakrishnan is his humility and dynamics of his thoughts. The way he interacts with people, the way he builds his network and the maverick social entrepreneur he is. It's simply awesome. The "inland magazine" that he sends out every month with insights into naturopathy, reaches every single post offices in Kerala it seems! May be its time that he spread his wings slowly to the electronic world. Starting with a good website! Any volunteers out there to support? The Blue Yonder is also working towards finding volunteers who can teach the staff spoken English so that they can interact with patients and guests coming from other parts of the world.

A combination of traditional and modern techniques this building and its compound itself is a solution to many of the problems affecting the Kerala society. Keeping away from opulence and unnecessary building techniques, this simple abode has taken care of the energy usage, water harvesting, solid waste management and unnecessary usage of resources. Designed by Dr. Radhakrishnan himself, the place ensures that they don't generate any plastic wastes in the vicinity, and all natural waste that comes out of the day to day operations are used for bio-gas, with which they light the bulbs in the compound!

If every person wanting to construct a new building in Kerala starts thinking differently as Dr. Radhakrishnan, I believe most of the problems related to water and related resource crunch can be minimised to a large extent!

Tirur © GP 2007

Heavy weights

When we were asked to prepare a proposal highlighting the uniqueness of River Nila by department officials, we started jotting down few things. When we started looking at some of the writings that came from the banks of river, the list went on like this:

Scientific works like "Drikanita" of Vadasseri Parameswaran (Astronomer),
'Dasadhyaayi' of Thalakulathu Bhattathiri(Astrologer),
'Goladeepika' of Trikandiyoor Achyutha Pisharadi(Mathematician),
'Maathanga Leela' (on Elephants),
"Manushyalaya Chandrika"a work on architecture,
"Prakriya Sarwasam" of Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri (on Sanskrit grammar),
"Tantra Samuchaya" by Neelakanda Somayaji on Tantric practices

the list goes on...

When we opened The Hindu newspaper this morning, there was an article in the Kerala section about sixth century mathematician and astronomer Aryabhatta (India's first experimental satellite was named after him) that he was born in Ponnani!! (Estuary and old harbour where River Nila joins the Indian Ocean). Trikandiyoor and Alathiyoor near Ponnani has been traditionally known for its mathematicians.

We have been told by scholars from this part of the world that Aryabhatta was from Alathiyoor gramam (village) and not from Bihar as it is commonly believed.

K. Chandra Hari, senior geoscientist at the Institute of Reservoir Studies of Oil and Natural Gas Commission, Ahmedabad now says that "Aryabhata lived precisely in the modern Ponnani-Chamravattom area (latitude 10N51 and longitude 75E45) in Kerala in 6th Century AD. " Birth place of Aryabhatta has been a debate.

In any case its quite a list of famous people who came from the banks of river nila!!

(It's just a tragedy for all these geniuses that Arun and I were born in these villages (Trikandiyoor and Alathiyoor) and have absolutely no clue of mathematics, forget the fact that we can't keep counting straight;)! Arun, sorry, I didn't really mean to let the world know of our struggles of clearing maths exams in school!)

Tirur © GP 2007

The Monsoon

Rain drops in a spider web. This was taken 4 years before, one day prior to the monsoon.

The atmosphere is filled with angst of the rain to come,
the heaviness of those fresh green leaves carrying big water drops from previous rain;
slight breeze that make the leaves splash drops of water;
as if its mimicking the rain that is to come.

I can hear the pelting of big drops now on the tiles,
From one drop to several,
its now transforming to an orchestra.

There is a lonely crow out there somewhere
I can hear the beginning of symphony
being prepared by the crickets.

A lonely toad has found its partner and now
there is a family of frogs welcoming the rain.

I wish every child in this world could see and feel the monsoon in my village!

Alathiyoor © GP 2007

From the blue yonder

Looks like The Blue Yonder news update for June 2007 has struck the right cord with travellers. In the 5 days of launching this through our network, traffic to the website has increased by 50,000 hits and still on the rise. We have been wanting to compile news from The Blue Yonder since long time, but never managed to sit down and prepare one. Now, once it is done, we realise how important it is and how much of an opportunity we had lost by not documenting the process of growth.

One of the most interesting content in the newsletter seems to David Stott's interview with Arun on how we are interpreting the river culture to the travellers. Happy reading and let me know what you think of the content and design.

Once again thanks to Asha and Lotte for putting the pieces together. With the fights, temper, temperament and expectations, looks like working on the July issue is going to fun again!

Bangalore © GP 2007

The Guardian

"There are no coincidences in life. I know there is a reason behind us meeting here. Let us see what is in store for us". This is how we met in Singapore a year back during a CSR Asia meeting. The connection was instant.

We stayed in touch and then I invited him to come and attend the National symposium on Responsible Tourism in Bangalore last December. Even with with one week short notice we gave him, he took the trouble to come over from Hongkong for two days. Later he came back again to Bangalore on his new project discussions in the state and we managed to spent some time exploring various options of working together. The reason I am mentioning Andrew here is because I was so touched when I checked his website today and to see our name mentioned in his . Humbled!

Andrew calls himself as "Guardian" of Sanctuary Resorts and not as founder or Chief Executive.

He says," If I sleep and dream well in a property, I know I can be happy there, and so will our guests and staff members".

"To be sustainable, you need to be profitable, only when you are profitable, you will have the freedom and capacity to do good things that you would want to do."

When you think that this world is going crazy and that you mind not be able to withstand the onslaught, you meet someone like Andrew and feel that the world is so beautiful and that its a blessing to be surrounded by such people.

There are so many reasons to smile in life. People like Andrew being one amongst them.

An interesting posting on his website: ' I believe that we are all connected by the same Universal energy source. That when we have a thought, and put energy behind it (just having the thought is not enough), we can send it, using the connectivity to the Universal Energy Network, to another recipient. How does it work? I have no idea, I am on a fast track to enlightenment, I just know it works. Ask the people who started the Internet; they probably could come up with a better explanation.

In the meantime as we do not have these skills honed to perfection yet, if you would like to contact us by way of the “normal” means of earthbound communications, click here you will find our contact details. We would love to hear from you."

Bangalore © GP 2007