In search of my Kurinji: The Tale of a Land across Time

Road trip from Alappuzha to Cochin

The Alappuzha Beach

The one hour drive from Alappuzha to Cochin was rather subdued owing to a steady traffic on the highway and the ruminations propelled by a sublime tryst with nature that often leaves one bereft of speech. Checking into the YMCA Youth Hostel, I decided to enjoy the nightlife of the Ernakulam City. The always ever so busy MG Road was choke-a-block with city smells and people.

A view of Kochi backwaters from Marine Drive

After a day spent in the car I decided to walk to Marine Drive and slowly meandered my way through the bustling city. This is a city that is so homely that you soon feel you belonged here. The boats plying the backwaters, the Cochin harbor in the distance, the rainbow bridge casting an ethereal glow in the night sky, the aroma of freshly brewed coffee, and the buoyant city lights on the rippling water, I lost my heart to a city that seemed so strange yet so familiar. I decided to clinch the busy day with Kerala’s famous street food, the parotta, and beef. The fluffy lace of the beaten flour melted in my mouth, as did the succulent, juicy, aromatic and hot beef chilly. The mix was so heady and spicy that it was with smarting eyes and a full heart that I retraced my steps back to the hotel for a well deserved night’s sleep.

At the crack of dawn, I checked out and began my journey to Munnar. The city was just grumbling out of sleep and a hot and strong chai, the long stretched out and beaten variety, where the warm liquid bubbles over and bursts in glee at the touch of your lips, in a wayside shanty, was all I needed to set me on my course. I could put my engine in full throttle as there was not much traffic on the highway. Crossing Edappally, I wondered at the huge malls and skyscrapers that had come up in the city. Many people in Kerala shy away from the thought of living in an apartment in a high rise building. But the ‘mall and flat’ culture had become hugely popular in Ernakulam, probably because it was the city of cinema celebrities, of youngsters, of food courts and multiplexes, of all the glitter that a consumer culture could provide. I wondered whether even in a state so blessed with its bi-annual monsoons, rivers, freshwater lakes and ponds, the scarcity of water in many of the mushrooming high rises would not be a looming fear shortly to materialize. 

Focus of 2018 Kurinji

Responsible Kurinji tourism

How we are going to control this year’s kurinji is a major challenge for the entire people. . more

The Changeover is not positive

Balan Madhavan says he has travelled extensively between 1988 and 2018 in this region.more