vacation in Kerala

I am just back after a week's vacation in hometown, Trivandrum. I got to see the first underbridge (or whatever one calls it) of the place. The city has indeed grown since the last time I saw in August 2004. More cars, more smallish "malls" and more traffic. It was in a way a family reunion with me and Pavithra coming from Mumbai and Rajan joining from Kozhikode.

We did the usual routine of things. A trip to Shangumugam and Kovalam included. We also played the mandatory 25 ball matches on the terrace of our house. I managed to team up with Anand and avoided defeat against Rajan.We may have watched around 4-5 Malayalam and Tamil movies on the CD at home. A couple of them were those of Mohanlal and Sreenivasan from the 90s:-) "Rajamanickam" is the current rage in Kerala. Mammooty displays his prowess of speaking with a trivandrum accent and enthralls the gallery in every scene...It seemed like he has started where Rajnikanth left in Tamil movies. Nevertheless Mammooty once again shows why he should rank amongst the top actors of the country.

Pavithra wanted to have a look at the "real" back waters of Kerala. My argument that Veli is one of them went unheeded since it has become so commercialised that it has lost its naturality. We decided to go towards Varkala and found this place called Kaapil. It reflects the beauty of Kerala in no uncertain terms. You have options in boating. Moreover it looked like very few people tend to go there. But I would recommend this place to anyone who wants to spend an evening away from the maddening crowd in the company of back waters and the sea.

On route to Mumbai we went to Kozhikode. Apart from catching a "budget" airline to Mumbai another reason was to see the IIM (K) campus where Rajan studies. My parents and Anand joined in till Kozhikode. Calicut is a sentimental favourite with me for other reasons as well. I had my first under 13 state cricket camp there in 1988 and also took 6 wickets in an innings against Andhra in 1991 during my under 16 stint.

Before I end, here is another recommendation. Air India express flies into Kochi and Kozhikode from Mumbai and currently it costs as less as Rs 2000 for a one way trip. Not many people know this and I chanced upon this after exhausting other costly options. The cabin stewards and the crowd may be on the duller side but all that is forgiven when your next credit card bill comes!

ps - Loyolites should have a look at this blog: http://jiby216.blogspot.com/2005/05/oh-for-team-worth-cheering-for.html