Kumar Family Trip to Kerala, November 2006

By: Jayanthi

This article has been updated, May 2009. Page will automatically redirect in about 5-10 seconds.

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India time Sunday, 3:45 am. However, due to weather delays, we were forced to be rerouted through Bombay. We landed in Bombay about 2:30am India time. We realized that there were other people who also missed the same flight as us, so we had misery in company during our lay over. 

Our new friends and us found our way through the international airport customs and immigration. It is a good thing there is construction, hopefully the updates will improve the current atmosphere and layout of the international airport. The international airport is old, dull, drab, and hard to navigate through. Since we had to take a domestic flight to our final destination, we had to find our way to the domestic airport. Since the international and domestic airports are not connected, we had to take a ten minute bus ride to the domestic terminal.

To take the bus, we had to go outside. This was my first step back on Indian soil in almost five years (I left last in November 2001). At 5am the morning air hit my face. The temperature was between 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit, it was not hot and not cold.  The bus route kept us inside the airport compound. As we rode behind the domestic terminal, it didn’t look like an airport at all. But, as we drove to the front, it looked very much like the Rochester airport (though not really).  They said it has been newly remodeled as noted by the reflective window panes, new pavement and landscaping.  So we went in, and it was great; air conditioned and spacious. There were marble tiled floors and lots of high ceilings and lights.  It was a bustling place at 5am, unlike the international airport which was the dark, decrepit maze...with hardly any activity at all.  Soon as we entered, we wanted to eat something. There was three choices: a Baskin Robbins, a hot dog stand and Café Coffee Day (like Starbucks). I was surprised to see the hot dog stand as most Hindus and Muslims don’t eat pork. Anyhow, we had vegetarian sandwiches, lattes and hot teas at Café Coffee day for US $5 (expensive in India).

Since we had a lot of time, and had to stay awake, we kept getting up and walking around inside and outside the airport. Inside the airport, behind the ticketing area there were small shops- book shops, clothing, jewelry, snack and tourist shops.  In addition, there were clean bathrooms. I would say cleaner than most bathrooms in US.  There were maybe three lady janitors in each bathroom, cleaning each stall after every use. Each bathroom had marble tiled floors with three western toilet stalls and three Indian toilet stalls (squat toilet), all have toilet paper. Also, they have one or two rooms for changing clothes (for transit passengers). There may be showers in there, but I can’t remember. The floors are all marble and each stall is like a small room, not like US stalls you can see under the door. Here you can’t see under the doors or over, all small rooms.  After you wash your hands, the lady janitors hand you the paper towels in hopes of collecting small tips.  I did not give tips, about 25 cents is enough. Upon leaving the bathroom, I told my husband I thought the airport should train the janitors not to take money- incidentally they seem to ask only non Indian looking people for tips (because, I understand, most Indians don't). He answered with a good point, he said that the janitors are paid by the government and the wage is pitiful, like waitresses in US need tips. So, until the government hands the ownership of the airports over to a private company, it is good to give tips. Plus, the ladies keep the bathrooms sparkling clean. So, next time I will take in money to give them.  My husband also commented that it is good that the ladies bathroom is kept so clean because the guy’s bathroom was not as clean- and there were no janitors there.

So, near the bathroom was a cell phone charging stand, with about 6 different connections. We charged our cell phones there, for free. It was a neat concept. In fact there are alot of cell phone users here, maybe more than in US. After that we sat in the waiting area and the sun came out, and we walked outside. Just in front of the airport was a small restuaruant, open air. we ate some Indian breakfast foods there. Total cost about $5 for both.  We stood out there and took photos of the traffic, the resturaunt and the airport.  Then, we went back in. There were plenty of free newspapers, so we read some. There were sudoku puzzles in there, and so this is my new fasination because I had nothing better to do. All the newspapers were in English.\n\n

 
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So we waited in this area again for a few hours, then were able to go into the actual waiting area for flights. Even in India they make you take off your shoes and you can't carry over 3 oz liquid bottles.  But the good thing in INdia, is there is separate security lines for women and men- called frisking lines. The men are frisked in open air, but the ladies have a small booth and are frisked only by ladies. This is much more respectful than the American system. (my feeling)\n
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So we waited inside the terminal The terminal is pitiful in comparison to the waiting area in the front of the airport. THere were three stalls of food- the cafe, and two snack stands.  The bathrooms inside the terminal, also clean. Otherwise there is nothing to do there but sit and stare out the window. Our flight was supposed to board at 1010am, but we got delayed several times and finally left about 11;30 am.  When you board the flight, you have to ride a bus and enter the plane in the open \nair.Krishna was suprized with all the airport renevations, they have not updated this aspect.
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The flight between Bombay and Trivandrum was 2 hours. The airline is called Jet Airways and the service was great. They gave us a meal (no peanuts included) and plenty of water, coffee and tea.  Finally as we touched down in Trivandrum, the international airport in the capital of the state of Kerala, I was suprized that the airport seemed so small.  It seemed not much bigger than Syracuse airport. Krishna said very few international flights actually land here, and it is called international for names sake due to being in the capital.\n",1] ); //-->

Soon as we got out of the plane, it began to rain heavily, actually must have been raining as we exited the plane. We went, collected our bags and walked out. Krishna's brother in law was waiting by the exit door in his military uniform. They have two cars, one that he drives, one that is the official government car with government flag on it and a flashing light on top, like a police light. So the airport seems to be on the very outskirts of the city, and the place we were going, we did not have to travel through the city, and missed it all. The road we drove on is good as many state highwasy in US, with lots of signs and two way traffic. Only thing is driving on left side of the road and passing can be done on either side of your vehicle. The scenery was great, very green, lots of coconut and palm trees. I noticed only a few cows on the 40 minute drive home. This place is a lot different than where I lived in INdia.. scenery, people, food, language, all different. On this highway there were three things familiar things for me. One was a cement company sign I remembered from where I lived in India before, though it was in a different language, the sign and symbols on it, the same. Second, a chevy car dealership, and three a sign of communist- cykle (spelling) and hammer. This state in India has a communist govt though it is mixed with democracy. They do have elections, but some of the communist principles try to work here- especially unions. People are always on strike here. On the way, we also had to pay a toll, it was like interstate 90. Since we're in the gov't car, we were exempt from paying tolls! The toll booth guy has a solemn and bitter look on his face everytime they pass through the toll and don't have to pay. Reason- they - the workers of this toll booth have put their own money into running this, and they only make profit once the tolls pay off the expense of starting their business. Finally, at about 4pm we came close to their home. The road that comes to the Saink (army) school is called Vet road - Vet means cut in Malayalam. But they were joking with the accent, since that day it rained alot and mud puddles everywhere- it is now Wet road! Anyhow, to enter the Sainik school you have to go through a guard who opens the gate. Usually only people who go to school here or are relatives enter. Mostly foreigners can't enter. I have exemption I guess! His brother in law is the principal of this school. It is for school kids in highschool. They live on campus in the hostel (dorm).

Trivandrum greeted us in pouring rain. My brother in law (jiju) was waiting for us by the exit door in his military uniform and official car. Since Jiju has a high post (colonel and school principal) in the army, he has many benefits, including the car and driver. On the road home, we had to pass through a toll booth. As we approached and drove through the toll booth, the toll booth attendant had a solemn and bitter look. Of course it is because army personally don’t have to pay the toll. However, the toll booth workers have put their own money into running this, and they only make profit once the tolls pay off the expense of starting their business. I enjoyed the 40 minute ride home. The coconut tree lined wide, double laned roads were smooth riding and a nice suprize. I could definitely tell this place was not going to be like Chennai.

As we approached their home, we had to turn onto Vet road. Vet means cut in Malayalam. But on very rainy days like this, Vet road becomes ‘Wet’ road with a slightly different accent! A right turn off Vet road leads to the Sainik school gate. Since it is a high security area, few people are allowed to enter, including residents, students, parents, and relatives. My understanding is that usually foreigners can't enter. I have exemption I guess since Jiju is the principal of this all-boys residential high school.

Upon being greeted by Didi (sister), dad and niece, we were given the grand tour of the home. In addition to being provided fully furnished, the compensation also includes several helpers including cooks, maids, handy men, gardeners and a private driver (with car). Not only is the interior of the home spacious and relaxing, but the yard is also spacious and a true retreat! There are plenty coconut and banana trees, also a pepper tree (green peppercorns which you dry and turn into the black pepper), a cashew nut tree, drumstick tree (that's a vegetable), eucalyptus and neem tree, and lemongrass herbs growing on their property.

So, as we settled into this new and wonderful environment, it continued to rain heavily, so we stayed inside until evening. In the evening Didi and I went out to get some sari blouses stitched. knows only Malayalam, so Didi talked to her.  She charged 35 rupees a blouse (about 75 cents), and said we could pick up the final products in two day. The place she lived was just on the outside of the Sainik school gate. This area seemed like a pakka (real) village, full of small houses built in the old style, narrow pathways for the main road and narrower pathways between homes. In these roadways, it was impossible to have two way traffic. Cargo trucks could not fit on that road, though I am sure they try to!  Following this, we went to a shop called Jayalakshmi Silks where I purchased about 14 blouse pieces to get stitched later. I did not get anything else in that store but blouse pieces. The shop personnel were friendly, and for the most part, could understand English.  They gave a free washcloth with purchase.

Near by this clothing shop a rally was being held on the street side. It was some political rally, as always happens here. Didi joked that this is how the 'menfolk spend their free time'. Anyone driving by couldn’t miss the rally due to the light display and loud, boisterous appeals blasting through the loud speakers. It was all in Malayalam, so we don't know what was happening. We did not stick around to find out either.

The last comment of this day is about a stereotype. Where’s all the cows? Don’t cows rule the roads? Well, I asked where’s all the cows? I saw only few cows, but plenty of goats!


Sunday synopsis-

Due to jet lag, I woke up at 3am and watched channels in a variety of languages: English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu. English channels are MTV (Indian version, many programs in Hindi), Star TV (which has English shows from different countries), HBO and Hallmark Channel. I like to watch the Indian channels with film music on it. One thing I realized is that the influence of other languages on Malayalam is quite big, some of the songs shows on Malayalam channels featured Tamil, Hindi or English songs, rather than Malayalam. I heard that Tamil film songs are popular in Kerala due to the upbeats and choreography.

Well, at about 5am I noticed faint music in the distance. I was able to hear through the raindrops a prayer called Suprabhatham (good morning to god). I went to the dining room and sat in a small chair to listen to the song. It was a spiritual experience. It bought tears to my eyes because this is why I like India. The spirituality is everywhere. I listened to the prayer, then went back to sleep at 6. I came to find out later that at around 6:30, the nearby churches and mosques turn on their prayers, and it becomes a competition as to who has the prayers that can be heard the farthest. Since all the holy buildings are outside the army school walls, it is relatively quiet for us. If you lived near these holy buildings, it would take time to get used to the cacophony!

In fact, this state (Kerala) has the most Christians of any state in India. People say that the religions are in a three way split here, 1/3 Hindu, 1/3 Christian and 1/3 Muslim. I don’t know the statistics. There used to be a big Jewish population also and there is a Jewish synagogue in Kochi. So unlike where I studied, there was a Hindu temple on every corner, here temples seem few and far between. There are plenty of Mosques on the main road.
Today we went to Varkala. It is about over an hour drive from their house through small towns. Varkala’s sandy, rocky beach sits next to a cliff. The interesting thing about this beach is that one section of this beach will be closed off to locals in December and January, so foreigners can enjoy it in ‘peace’. In most parts of India, if at all, women don’t wear bathing suits to the beach. So, when foreign women come to the beach in bikini and swimsuits, the locals come and oogle at them. To prevent this during high tourist season and to respect the foreigners, the police keep the locals off the beach and may fine people to keep them away. There were shops and ayurvedic spas, and plenty of tourist shops selling various things like clothes, tapestries, statues and other things (we found semi precious gems, for example) on the cliff. To get to the top of the cliff you have to walk up the side of the cliff. Part of the way is the hill itself, dirty, rocky and slightly tough to climb. As it gets a little steep, they have put cement stairs there for the remainder of the climb. This is how all of us, including dad, climbed up. He came up in one go, not out of breath at all. I was out of breath. I hope I am in good shape at his age.

On top, we spent quite a bit of time looking at semi precious gems and got some amethyst for the house. It was cheaper there. We also went to get some hot drinks afterward (tea, coffee, etc). I found out later that the waiter there was a bit confused, as he would only take an order full of one drink- only tea or coffee for the 8 of us. That means if one wanted tea and rest coffee, he wouldn't do it. It is weird, yet very comical. Why give us a menu card with all the variety of drinks if you can only give the same drink to everyone? I wonder if they treat foreigners in a big group like that? Far as jiju’s friend’s knew (who are local to Varkala), this is the only place they have faced this situation!

Monday Synopsis


This was a lazy morning. I again woke up early due to jet lag, then slept again until 8:30. They have tea before breakfast. Morning tea is usually lemongrass tea - made with fresh lemongrass from their back yard and a teaspoon of regular tea powder and sugar. It has a light brown color (due to a small amount of regular tea powder lightly boiled into it) and good smell and taste. Herbal tea, and teas without milk added are considered out of the ordinary in most parts of India. In fact, it was quite a change for me to see Jiju and Didi drinking herbal tea as when they came to US last year and was introduced them to herbal tea, they couldn't handle the taste and even tried to put milk in it. Now they often drink tea without milk and have milk tea only for visitors.

At about 9:30am Jiju goes to work. The car with driver comes to pick him up. Before he gets in the car, the driver affixes a flag to the hood of the car, making it an official ride, though he rides literally less than ¼ mile to his office.  Around this time one guy comes and sweeps the cement road in front of their house and their circular driveway. This makes the place look so neat. In afternoons one guy comes to trim the bushes and plants, taking about 3 hours most days to complete this. After this, we lazed around in the morning and they had a Hindi movie called Munna Bhai and watched that. I tried to watch, but no subtitles, I actually went for a nap. Then we ate lunch late about 3pm.

Around 5pm we went out for shopping to a three story clothing shop called Aiyappas. Aiyappa, pictured to the right, is a god famous in Kerala. This shop had its own parking lot in the basement of the shop.  Since I had good experiences in Chennai when I was there shopping for clothes, this place was a bit uncomfortable. People were not helpful in the store and the quality of the saris was not so good. You had to actually search through lots of dresses to find good patterns and good quality fabrics. We decided on two saris a silk sari and a cotton one.  After this we went out for dinner. Food was very good, the menu had foods from other parts of India. After this, we went home. It was late by that time, so our day ended here.


Tuesday Synopsis


Tuesday morning about 11am we went out to the photo studio to get our digital photos transferred onto CDs. On this outing, I went with Didi to the beauty parlor to get my eyebrows done. Here they don't wax or pluck, they do this thing called threading. The lady uses regular thread like you sew with and they form it with there hands into something like scissors and are able to put it in such a way it picks up your hairs and cuts them, they also use scissors to trim. During the threading process, there was stinging, pain and reddening, that bought tears to my eyes. Also, it eased the stinging when the other lady in the shop or I pulled by skin taut to ease the stinging. Didi was concerned it was painful. It was a bit during the process, but unlike waxing which leaves my skin red, tender and stinging up to several hours after it’s over, threading only hurt while it was going on. Soon as it was over, there was no pain, reddening or tenderness. The other thing I liked about threading in India was that in India thicker eyebrows is women like. Pencil thin eyebrows are not common here. Since I prefer the thicker eyebrow design, I did not have to worry and explain how I like it, like I do in U.S. Of course, the other benefit to this was that it only cost 14 rupees (30 cents). Didi said where they used to live the beautician came to her house and did it for half this price!

After this we went to what they called "Margin Free shop". This is like the Kerala Walmart. Far as the family know, Margin Free shops are not in any other state in India. The concept is like Walmart- try to sell things at the cost the store purchases it at. It is like a department store, but they don't sell clothes, they sell food, kitchen ware, beauty products, health products (western over the counter and ayurvedic medicines), herbal teas, some small knick knacks.

The other experience worth noting is that my husband drove us around today. He has driven in India before, mostly Delhi, but he says driving in Kerala is different and frustrating. The only rule is drive on left, but even that sometimes doesn't happen. Anything goes.  It is not a law to wear seatbelts and generally people don't wear seatbelts.  You also have to use your horn a lot here, and he doesn't like to beep the horn. Also, it’s best to keep moving. The memorable lesson was the time we approached the main road from the side street. He came to a full stop, rather than slowly nudging into the line of oncoming traffic. We were stopped there several minutes, and it got to the point where people on the main road appeared confused and came to a rolling stop to let us in!


Wednesday Synopsis

About noon today we got to see a very interesting place called KINFRA Film and Video Park. Basically it is film studio- a place to make movies from shooting to editing and screening. It has been built on land purchased from the army school, so it is just behind the school. You need to get special permission to come here, it is not a tourist place. Each and every building has it's own staff and they have to be ready to guide you.  Because Jiju is in the army and it is on army property, we got permission to go inside. The land was purchased by three famous Malayalam film stars- Mohanlal, Mamoothy and forgot the third. These actors are there sometimes, but not on this day.  The first place we saw was where they screen new films. The theatre seats were very comfy, they reclined, had cup holders and the leg space was generous. The theatre had surround sound, which I guess is kind of new to this state. (What we take for granted.) They screened two movie trailers for us, one in Malayalam and English, the English was “Bad Boys 2”- with Will Smith. I have never heard of “Bad Boys 1.” In this theatre they will have an international film festival in December. Most likely public is not invited here. Then we saw some of the scenery of the place, a reservoir for their water supply that was scenic, then some houses on the property. The property was very scenic, hilly with plenty of grass, greenery, landscaping and of course, coconut trees. They have built special houses on this property they will use for filming movies.  There was a building full of glass reflective windows (outside). We couldn't go in because it wasn't completed yet. They will make animation films in that building.  Then we saw the editing building. This building has a large wooden Siva (god) statue. I think it is over 20 feet tall, carved out of one single piece of wood (teak wood).  There was a house behind this building the actors stay in when they come here. No one was here today. In front people were mowing the yard with a lawn mower. I guess this is a rare sight (people don't really have yards in India), so we decided to take a picture of that. Next we saw the building they actually make the movies in (negatives and film reels). That was very interesting. They showed how they expose negatives through chemicals and the stages from blank negative to negative with picture and that the sound negative is a different negative and how they combine the two to make one reel with both picture and sound.  The campus of this place was huge, the roads were very wide with islands of trees and grass dividing the sides. Some of the parking lots had tiled parking spots, like marble. I don't know for sure that it was marble, but it looked like marble. After this we came home. 

In the evening, we went to see the famous Padmanabha Swamy Temple. In Kerala there is a royal family with the last name Varma. Varmas are all over India, but if they live in this state, they are royalty. They were the true kings before India became a democracy with a president. But, people still consider them royalty and call them maharajas (great kings).  Though they are known as maharajas, it is by name only. They do not have official governmental ruling power. This temple began as the family temple of the royal Varma family. However, over the years, the kings allowed public inside. But the maharajahs have a great ego and think only certain people can come in. They say in the name of god, I say in the name of their ego. Also to enter you have to dress in certain clothes. Women can enter if they wear a sari, a long or mini skirt. The irony is women can’t wear salvaar kamiz or pants because it shows the form of the leg. Of course, a mini skirt does just the same, but is more revealing. There is no way to make sense of that rule. Guys have to enter shirtless with a mundu. A second folded mundu can be worn as a scarf to cover the chest if desired. My niece doesn’t wear Indian clothes, so she rolled up her jeans and tied a mundu over it to create a long skirt. It was a priceless sight.  Then there are so many things you can't take into temple- cell phone, weapons, walking stick, purse, etc. There is a sign clearly marking what is not allowed. I am surprised you can't take in a purse, even a small wallet because then how can you donate money to the temple (if you wanted).  Didi wondered about the elderly who needed a walking stick, could they not bring it in? As we approached the entrance they told us (in Malayalam) I could not enter. First they said it was because I am not Hindu. My family tried to justify that in several ways including the fact of marriage, and by showing my thali. Then the guy said I needed to present the marriage certificate. Then his dad got very upset and said just because I am Indian how do you know I am Hindu? Is it written on my forehead? Then the guys said I could enter from the back door (which really means we'd go there and they'd tell us we can enter from front door).  Then the cop came and said I'd need a certificate from the maharaja to come inside. I laughed out loud when I found this out. How idiotic. We all left. No one went inside. The thing that infuriates me about this is that it is not because I am not Hindu they won't allow me in.  It is because I am white. If I was brown skinned (Indian) but was not born in India, how would they know? Or if I was a brown skinned Christian, Muslim or other faith, and came in a Hindu dress (sari with a bindi), how would they know? Later my husband told me that him and his mom tried to go to this one temple and he was wearing this white thread that Muslims wear, so they did not let him in. Also his mom told his dad not to call him by his nickname "Sunny" in the temple because that is considered a Christian name, and they can be kicked out.  That is the annoying thing to me because I definitely would be a believer of Hinduism in comparison to Indians who are of another religion.  Just to note that this stupid rule is mostly just in this state in India and only in certain temples. Where I lived before I had no problem entering the temple. In most temples I was not allowed into certain parts without permission, but that is true even in some churches. You can not enter all parts. Anyhow we left the temple without entering, which is a shame. It is a very old temple. Some rumors claim some parts of this temple are over 5,000 years old. The statue of the god is so big that it covers three doors and that you can't see it all through one door.

 

Actually less time in the temple praying to ‘god’ allowed us to spend more time shopping! We ended up shopping for gold and silver jewelry. Gold is owned by just about everyone in India. We had fun shopping for earrings and drinking chai in Josco’s shop in Trivandrum. I was gifted a nice pair of earrings and then on my own purchased some silver jewelry and items from a nearby shop.

 

… And time marches on…

Thank you for reading this.

This is not an exhaustive diary of our travels. At present, I can’t promise to complete this journal. I will try my best!

Photos of our trip are here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jayanthishomepage/ | Or – see a photo diary of scenic photos taken by my husband at: http://flickr.com/photos/kris_kumar | | Slow and Steady Wins The Race- Lessons from My Father-in-Law | "Kerala 2007" Series Diary Entries- Google Search
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