Two Towns, Two Days and a Couple of Interesting Characters

The train to Kottayam was a pleasant 3 or so hours from central Trivandrum. Come evening our friend Hari Kumar (whom we met in Masinagudi, near Ooty) and two of his friends, Sarath and Bijou met us at our less than lovely hotel (we’ve been spoiled by the aesthetics of the SEWA home near Trivandrum!) Soon we were off to see a couple of temples – Kerala temples are typically built of wood rather than stone, with pagoda like red tile rooftops. Unfortunately for us, the rules about photography are stricter here, and we were not able to take any pictures.

Seemingly by chance, we arrived at the second temple just as the “flag” was being raised. This happens only once each year at any given temple, on the opening of that temple’s annual festival. This being India it was a crazy, noisy affair. Loud drumming, chanting and fireworks (that would never be permitted in Canada) marked the event. Puja lanterns were lit everywhere – in alcoves, standing lanterns, multi-wicked lanterns being held high by monks (and refilled with liquid oil every 10 or so minutes.) Obviously fire regulations are a little more relaxed here! The temple elephant patiently looked on, waving his ears – I’m not sure if this was in response to the cacophony or the heat. To add the craze of it all, there were nasty midges whose bites felt like match burns so we couldn’t be sure if they were insect bites, or if small sparks from the fireworks were raining down on us! Had we more time in Kottayam, we could have returned to that temple every evening for the next week or so to enjoy cultural events like Kathakali dance, music and more.

But... there are other attractions here. The next morning we took a local bus out to Kumarakom, on the backwaters. There, we hired a small boat to take us to a bird sanctuary on Paathiramanal Island in the middle of Vembanad Lake. We must have been the first visitors of the day as we scared two snakes into the bush (only saw their large tails disappearing!)

Hari’s family lives in Ettumanoor, about 12 km north of Kottayam, and we traveled there by bus that day (Jan 30). Happily, Hari had found a far nicer “tourist home” for us there. We were invited to his home for supper, and had an absolutely wonderful time with his family. His mother, Remani, speaks just enough English for small conversations, and is full of loving kindness and good humour. She is a devotee of Sai Babu (a guru from the state of Andra Pradesh who is also well known in the west) and you can really feel that she spends a lot of time in meditation and prayer. Her “cousin brother” (as close cousins are called here) who lives in the house next door is also a very spiritual person. As Remani put it, praying is his full time job. He asked me if I had any questions about my life and I was blown away by the answers, which he gave after a few minutes of silent contemplation looking into the room that serves as his shrine. He is VERY perceptive or, perhaps more correctly, psychic. It was a little unnerving but at the same time inspirational. I don’t think Hari or his siblings are able to keep any secrets from their mother… all she needs to do is ask her cousin brother!

Hari’s father has Parkinson’s disease and has been unable to work for the last 3.5 years. He gets no pension, so most fortunately they have 3 children to help them out. Remani told me that I may think she is poor, but she is very happy, with everything she needs. Fortunately, they do own their own home complete with a postage stamp garden and a gorgeous well that in recent years has played an important role provided water to many families in the neighbourhood. Apparently for the first time in 27 year old Hari’s memory, Kerala has begun to suffer from water shortages. During the dry months, there are many power cuts because of lack of water at the hydro-electric plants. Hard to believe that is possible in this place of endless backwaters and 92% humidity! On the other hand, the population density of Kerala is about 900 people per square kilometer.