Spice May issue ipad LR
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
TRAVEL<br />
DESTINATION<br />
The backwaters are renowned for the idyllic life they provide<br />
BLISS IN THE<br />
BACKWATERS<br />
THE PERFECT SETTING TO ENJOY<br />
THE BACKWATERS EXPERIENCE,<br />
KUMARAKOM IS ALSO THE<br />
NERVE CENTRE OF THE KERALA<br />
GOVERNMENT’S `RESPONSIBLE<br />
TOURISM’ INITIATIVE THAT HAS<br />
CREATED A HEALTHY AND POSITIVE<br />
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE<br />
TOURISM INDUSTRY AND THE<br />
LOCAL COMMUNITY. BY NEETA LAL<br />
<strong>Spice</strong>Jet flies to Kochi,<br />
85 km away. Log on to<br />
www.spicejet.com for details<br />
Kerala’s backwaters — a<br />
cluster of brackish lagoons<br />
and lakes cosseted along<br />
the Arabian Sea — have<br />
been extolled endlessly in cinema and<br />
literature. And I am here — in<br />
Kumarakom — just outside the humming<br />
town of Kottayam in central Kerala to<br />
experience its lush landscapes, verdant<br />
vistas and idyllic life.<br />
I begin with a cruise in a country<br />
boat early morning with the mist still<br />
swirling over the majestic Lake<br />
Vembanad, its glassy surface carpeted<br />
with pink and white lilies. As the boat<br />
skims the lake, I get a close view of what<br />
is called the kuttanad — a vast<br />
arrangement of geometric rice paddies —<br />
that connect the backwaters to the sea.<br />
I soak in my mesmerizing<br />
surroundings. The lake — a vast and<br />
complex system of wetlands, estuaries,<br />
lagoons, and canals — throws up natural<br />
splendours at every turn and bend.<br />
Villages cluster around it while a row of<br />
coconut trees line the horizon adding the<br />
perfect tropical touch to the scenery.<br />
Shrubs, grass and bushes pepper every<br />
inch of land. During the monsoons,<br />
gurgling streams and lagoons break<br />
their flow and irrigate the land to an<br />
emerald green cover.<br />
“Kumarakom derives its name from<br />
the deity of its oldest temple<br />
Kumaran’s Akam which later became<br />
Kumarakom,” my guide Sabu, a sinewy,<br />
ex-military man explains as the oars<br />
slice the water making a deep glugging<br />
sound. “Novelist Arundhati Roy’s<br />
birthplace, Ayemenem, featured in her<br />
novel The God of Small Things, is not far<br />
from here.”<br />
The lake is an ornithologist’s delight.<br />
The Siberian crane, egret, heron, water<br />
foul, ducks, moorhens and kingfishers<br />
crowd the water body’s shores. Also<br />
118<br />
MAY 2017
Change language