We are sailing on the houseboat. I ask Mandar what time it is, he says “I do not know and for the first time I don’t care”. In between our conversations with Seju, our cook, I feel like writing. So here I write as we sail, smell, stare and savour this experience of a lifetime.
A background of our trip – we reach Alleppey from Bangalore via bus to Cochin and a local bus from Cochin to Alleppey at 8.30 in the morning welcomed by an over-enthusiastic Salim from “Snehadhara” homestay. Its nothing grand – the place, it feels like I’m in my native house. Our day starts on a good note with super Kerala style tea and puttus with chanas, idlis with sambar and chutney for breakfast. My writing is paused now to relish the early evening snack of fried bananas and chai on the houseboat.
I get back to narrating our experience of yesterday. After breakfast, it pours heavily. We have a quick hot shower and wait for the rain to subside. Alas, it doesn’t. We decide to venture out in the rains. We get dropped in a rickshaw to the Revi Karunakaran museum which is unfortunately closed on Oct 2nd. We decide to take a walk in the rains. The rain god has enhanced the beauty of Alleppey. It looks warm and untouched like a newly wed bride. We walk by the canals and in the market area. Then head back for lunch at Snehadhara. The smell of fish cooked fills the air. Lunch is served with fish curry and fried fish for me and beetroot salad and French beans with sambar for Mandar. Salim tells Mandar to mix the rice, curd and sambar together, the way they eat it. I am content with my fish, The seer fish is fleshy and the masalas have been soaked into its meat. The fish curry is different from the Goan fish curry I'm used to eating. This one is tangy and light. An half hour’s rest and we are back in form to explore Alleppey. This time our mode is the Kashmiri Shikara. Salim arranges for a two hour ride in the backwaters. Salim has instructed our sailor to take us into Alleppey’s smaller canals, a route different from the houseboat route we would be taking the next day. The ride starts from the jetty. A voluptuous woman’s statue stands there sensuously subtly sending out a message to each traveler of the sensuous journey ahead. he two hour ride through the canals and in the Vembanad lake is mesmerizing. The water reflects the green around it. We are at peace. No thoughts, no feelings, only the sound of the ripples. We hope the shikara is a preface to our houseboat experience.
Its six in the evening. We get some chai, groundnut cookies and sweet bun at a shall shack near the jetty. We buy banana chips, murkoos and cookies for home. We take a round of the market again to get a souvenir. We have made up our minds – the miniature houseboat is what we shall pick up. Dinner gets served at half past eight. It’s a rejoice time for Mandar with his favourite idiappams and chicken. No doubts, the chicken curry is one of the best we have had so far in our lives. Oh, another halt to my writing. Its raining, the houseboat cushions are dragged inside and a raincoat is worn by Seju.
Oh! I am overwhelmed on a boat in the middle of the sea, I turn I only see coconut trees and rain. I do not think I can capture this in words. I think its what the sages call Nirvana – no thoughts, no emotions, an empty mind, rather a mind and soul at peace. Mandar sitting besides me comments in his Bambaiya hindi “Khopche khopche se nikaal raha hai yeh”, its so true, small canals galore, with small cute boats and simple people. And there, we just spotted a water snake. Wow.
Our day today started with a breakfast of appams and curry at nine thirty at Snehadhara. We lazed in our bamboo-walled room till twelve noon and headed to the houseboat after that. Salim took us to our boat. It is called “GRANMA”. My first reaction was a big smile. Granma is so pleasant to look at and so neatly decorated in a rustic way to match the natural surroundings. Santosh our sailor tells us that it is three years old and to build a single room houseboat it costs about 20 lacs and can be ready in 5 months. The boat has all the amenities – open sitting area, dining table, kitchen, bedroom with a queen size bed, mosquito-protection, mirror, shower and a loo with a bum-shower as well. The boat is sparkling clean. This is one thing I notice during our stay in Alleppey – cleanliness, yummy food and tourism-friendly people. We are welcomed by lime juice and a fruit basket. My writing is halted again for a brief moment as I notice cute wooden houses on islands. Besides, the island-house, we spot pink lotuses and lavender water-lillies. A postcard view. No words.
Back to my narration, after the welcome, we sail into the Poonamada river. Half and hour of sailing and we dock for lunch. Seju and Santosh tie the boat’s rope to a pole in the middle of the river. A bird sits on the pole. A smile breezes my face. After a lunch of fried Karimeen fish, Kerala parboiled rice, curry and vegetables we sail again. And I pause my writing again to watch Seju clean the tiger prawns we picked up at a fish stall by the river bed – rupees 500 for two prawns. It was a fascinating experience to stop the boat in the middle of the river, jump out onto the river bed and pick fresh tiger prawns from the fish stall. Back to present, Mandar poses the prawns for a snap. I look around. There are villages in the river. A small boy washed the demon out of the clothes. A ferry commutes people from Kottayam to Alleppey. Women ride a canoe.
We now enter another canal. We have asked Santosh to talk to a villager to get us a canoe-ride. I sail the houseboat for a while. Its easy but needs patience. I get the feeling that I own the river. I hope to ride the canoe and experience the feeling of being down-to-earth or should I say down-to-sea? I head back to the kitchen to watch Seju cut a pineapple in a fascinating way and arranging it like a snakeboat with racers.
A background of our trip – we reach Alleppey from Bangalore via bus to Cochin and a local bus from Cochin to Alleppey at 8.30 in the morning welcomed by an over-enthusiastic Salim from “Snehadhara” homestay. Its nothing grand – the place, it feels like I’m in my native house. Our day starts on a good note with super Kerala style tea and puttus with chanas, idlis with sambar and chutney for breakfast. My writing is paused now to relish the early evening snack of fried bananas and chai on the houseboat.
I get back to narrating our experience of yesterday. After breakfast, it pours heavily. We have a quick hot shower and wait for the rain to subside. Alas, it doesn’t. We decide to venture out in the rains. We get dropped in a rickshaw to the Revi Karunakaran museum which is unfortunately closed on Oct 2nd. We decide to take a walk in the rains. The rain god has enhanced the beauty of Alleppey. It looks warm and untouched like a newly wed bride. We walk by the canals and in the market area. Then head back for lunch at Snehadhara. The smell of fish cooked fills the air. Lunch is served with fish curry and fried fish for me and beetroot salad and French beans with sambar for Mandar. Salim tells Mandar to mix the rice, curd and sambar together, the way they eat it. I am content with my fish, The seer fish is fleshy and the masalas have been soaked into its meat. The fish curry is different from the Goan fish curry I'm used to eating. This one is tangy and light. An half hour’s rest and we are back in form to explore Alleppey. This time our mode is the Kashmiri Shikara. Salim arranges for a two hour ride in the backwaters. Salim has instructed our sailor to take us into Alleppey’s smaller canals, a route different from the houseboat route we would be taking the next day. The ride starts from the jetty. A voluptuous woman’s statue stands there sensuously subtly sending out a message to each traveler of the sensuous journey ahead. he two hour ride through the canals and in the Vembanad lake is mesmerizing. The water reflects the green around it. We are at peace. No thoughts, no feelings, only the sound of the ripples. We hope the shikara is a preface to our houseboat experience.
Its six in the evening. We get some chai, groundnut cookies and sweet bun at a shall shack near the jetty. We buy banana chips, murkoos and cookies for home. We take a round of the market again to get a souvenir. We have made up our minds – the miniature houseboat is what we shall pick up. Dinner gets served at half past eight. It’s a rejoice time for Mandar with his favourite idiappams and chicken. No doubts, the chicken curry is one of the best we have had so far in our lives. Oh, another halt to my writing. Its raining, the houseboat cushions are dragged inside and a raincoat is worn by Seju.
Oh! I am overwhelmed on a boat in the middle of the sea, I turn I only see coconut trees and rain. I do not think I can capture this in words. I think its what the sages call Nirvana – no thoughts, no emotions, an empty mind, rather a mind and soul at peace. Mandar sitting besides me comments in his Bambaiya hindi “Khopche khopche se nikaal raha hai yeh”, its so true, small canals galore, with small cute boats and simple people. And there, we just spotted a water snake. Wow.
Our day today started with a breakfast of appams and curry at nine thirty at Snehadhara. We lazed in our bamboo-walled room till twelve noon and headed to the houseboat after that. Salim took us to our boat. It is called “GRANMA”. My first reaction was a big smile. Granma is so pleasant to look at and so neatly decorated in a rustic way to match the natural surroundings. Santosh our sailor tells us that it is three years old and to build a single room houseboat it costs about 20 lacs and can be ready in 5 months. The boat has all the amenities – open sitting area, dining table, kitchen, bedroom with a queen size bed, mosquito-protection, mirror, shower and a loo with a bum-shower as well. The boat is sparkling clean. This is one thing I notice during our stay in Alleppey – cleanliness, yummy food and tourism-friendly people. We are welcomed by lime juice and a fruit basket. My writing is halted again for a brief moment as I notice cute wooden houses on islands. Besides, the island-house, we spot pink lotuses and lavender water-lillies. A postcard view. No words.
Back to my narration, after the welcome, we sail into the Poonamada river. Half and hour of sailing and we dock for lunch. Seju and Santosh tie the boat’s rope to a pole in the middle of the river. A bird sits on the pole. A smile breezes my face. After a lunch of fried Karimeen fish, Kerala parboiled rice, curry and vegetables we sail again. And I pause my writing again to watch Seju clean the tiger prawns we picked up at a fish stall by the river bed – rupees 500 for two prawns. It was a fascinating experience to stop the boat in the middle of the river, jump out onto the river bed and pick fresh tiger prawns from the fish stall. Back to present, Mandar poses the prawns for a snap. I look around. There are villages in the river. A small boy washed the demon out of the clothes. A ferry commutes people from Kottayam to Alleppey. Women ride a canoe.
We now enter another canal. We have asked Santosh to talk to a villager to get us a canoe-ride. I sail the houseboat for a while. Its easy but needs patience. I get the feeling that I own the river. I hope to ride the canoe and experience the feeling of being down-to-earth or should I say down-to-sea? I head back to the kitchen to watch Seju cut a pineapple in a fascinating way and arranging it like a snakeboat with racers.
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