‘Living’ in Alleppey

1^st February 2011

I confused a few people with my facebook status set to “Living in Alleppey, Kerala”. I meant only that this is where I live today. But I do feel very at home here. I always had the sense that I would like Kerala, and so far, it is true.

Kerala feels a little different to other parts of India (not in the same way as Goa but maybe the Christian influence in both places plays a part). Kerala is very mixed with Hindus, Christians and Muslims. But they are all Malayali. Keralans are very proud to be Malayali and are very proud of their state. Its beauty and its literacy rate in particular.

It has been interesting to just be based here for a while as most people come through Alleppey for only one or two nights on either side of a boat trip. There are surprisingly few establishments catering to the ‘traveller’ scene, I suppose because people don’t stop for long and on the surface there isn’t a huge amount to do here if you’ve exhausted the backwaters. There is Alleppey beach a few kilometres west of the main town and further up the coast (14km) is Marari beach, which is beautiful white sand and palm trees and fairly empty. There is one resort but I can imagine it won’t take many more years for it to be transformed with beach huts and restaurants. There are some temples, churches and mosques. And other than that, it is just a small town with a grid of canals running through it.

But the longer that I am here, the more I like it. Just going about my life here. I admit, most of the time I have been here has been spent at my desk, so maybe it is more that it is a good base for me for working. I have been very productive and enjoying popping out to pick up supplies. A fresh coconut from the stall at Stone Bridge, a carrot and orange juice from the juice stand (I had to buy the carrots yesterday as he didn’t have any) and of course, the occasional Indian sweet or bakery item, Masala Dosa from Hot Kitchen or going for a beer in the bar of the Park Royale Hotel (not as glamorous as the name might sound).

Alcohol has an interesting relationship with Kerala. There are all sorts of regulations about where you can sell booze so restaurants don’t have liquor licences. You have to go to hotels. There are seedy, back street bars (not quite sure what category they fall under) and then the crowds of people at the state beverage store. You would think that it was only open for a few hours a day judging by the crowds of people pushing to get to the mesh grate at the counter (queuing isn’t an option). There are also dry days – well, two since I’ve been here – one was the anniversary of Gandhi’s death and the other is just because it’s the 1^st of the month which apparently is because it is pay day so it’s to stop the rush of people spending their wages. Alcoholism is quite a problem among men here (women don’t really drink, at least not openly).

Traditional values and behaviour are still prevalent between men and women here. The modern attitudes of the big cities haven’t seeped down to the youth culture even though everyone is educated and hooked in to social media, TV and music videos on the web. As with other parts of India, men are more than curious about women and will ogle at any bit of flesh they can lay their eyes on when you are on the beach. (I wear a top over my bikini).

From my wanderings around my neighbourhood along the canal, I’ve met an assortment of people. Men in lunghis at the local chai stall. Groups of women and kids out in the afternoon, coming to see the foreign girl strolling through their neighbourhood – some women showed me all the coconuts they were drying out in the sun for pressing to make coconut oil. In the evenings I’ve been practicing my Carrom with Binu and Sarath. Binu is my teacher and he’s very good. Sarath is a better opponent for me as he’s not that good so even though he usually won, I only had one or two coins left by the end. We had long games. I even cut my fingernails to improve my technique, but I still need a lot of practice.

One evening I finally got to see a Kathakali show. There had been one playing every night in Fort Cochin which apparently was good but is put on especially for tourists. I had managed not to get around to it the whole time I was there. This was one at the Kottamkulangara Temple on the north east side of town for the Utsavam Festival. Nithin from Daffodils was waiting when I got back and asked if I wanted to go the show. He took me over on his bike and introduced me to a friend and then left having only come to bring me. So sweet. It was fascinating watching the performers getting ready in a room at the back of the temple. Such elaborate costumes with fully painted faces. Must have been so hot. The show was interesting, just to see the staccato moves and facial expressions. They go on a very long time – one reason why the tourist shows are good, as they are abridged. I think traditionally the shows would go until dawn. I stayed a couple hours, watching the whole spectacle, not just the show. The men and women watching from the floor in separate groups, kids running around, another ritual going on in the background with a group of men circling the temple with a flame and drums behind the area where the show was going. Observing the audience and setting was as interesting as the show – it would have helped if I had a better understanding of the story – but I enjoyed just being there, soaking up the atmosphere, the drums beating, stars overhead, people everywhere. It is moments like those that are why I am in India.