Leaving the heat of Kerala
Namaste friends !
I’m excited to write my first email in English, now that I have enough readers for it! For the ones that have just joined, here’s a quick recap of where I left off in my last email in Spanish.
After spending a little over a month between Dehradun and Delhi I went all the way south to Kerala, where my roommate Mathilde joined me for 2 weeks. These 2 weeks have been a whirlwind, with the biennale in Kochi, the mountains of Munnar, the dalit (untouchable) women-led orphanage and eco-farm in Thodapuzha and Vagamon. It’s hard to put words on such an experience, we couldn’t stop reflecting on what we saw and learnt from the cast system, the women’s condition in India, the environmental crisis that has a catastrophic impact on Kerala and the role of westerners in social and humanitarian affairs in India.
After leaving Vagamon we decided to follow the flow and go to Kottayam to meet Lalu, an upper-cast feminist activist married to an international affairs PhD holder. Off we went on a crazy journey with the jeep to Vagamon, a bus to Pala, another bus to Chotuvila, a tuktuk to Lalu’s house, another tuktuk back to Kottayam, a bus to Allepey and finally a ferry to reach our hotel for the night.
It still was completely worth it to stop by and meet Lalu and her husband for a couple hours. We got to see another point of view and ask questions that mattered to us, mostly on the space westerners can or cannot take on development projects in Indian communities.
Their opinion was that the projects should always come from the initiative of the locals. However they sometimes need funds that are hard to find within the community, so westerners are then welcome to participate, however with no real say on how the money should be spent since they have a very limited understanding of the matters faced by the locals (especially regarding the importance of social status in India). They also said that when Politics come into the picture and the project becomes a movement then foreigners should stay away from it. Let the communities lead their own revolutions.
They also told us about some dalit and feminist figures that start being a voice for these movements, such as Rekha Raj (whom I haven’t had the time to google yet, sorry).
After talking and feeding us a delicious tapioca mash, Lalu tried to trick us into staying overnight by having us meet her mom and sister, who were preparing fish in banana leaf. As tempted as we were by her proposal we were determined to keep going and reach our little island on the backwaters before the night. We really needed some peace and quiet and actually enjoying some time just the 2 of us.
The next couple days we had the chance to take a long walk around the island and see the daily life by the backwaters during a sunrise canoe tour that was quite magical. I’m really glad we got to enjoy those peaceful moments.
I wonder what the future holds for the backwaters. It seems like the water is slowly rising… It was also rather polluted.
On our way back to Kochi we stopped by Kattoor Beach for a night. The seaside looked apolyptical with destroyed guest houses and garbage everywhere. Apparently there has been a big storm a few months ago (or a year ago? Can’t remember exactly) and most of the homestays and hotels that were on the shore got washed away.
That all doesn’t sound very optimistic but Kerala is still a little paradise!
Back in Kochi Mathilde and I had to part, but only after seeing a Kathakali show, the traditional dance of Kerala in which all face muscles are involved, as well as the eyes. It’s weird that Mathilde already has to go back to Paris, after such an intense holiday back on the tracks of where we first met. There’s no feeling comparable to the one of living back memories with the person you’ve made these memories with in the first place. Suddenly it was like we were back in Delhi in 2014, sweating from our mustache, eating spicy food and wondering what our lives would be after India.
I took a night bus to Bangalore, where I only spent the day and I am now at the airport waiting for my flight to Hong Kong. The little I saw of Bangalore made me want to know more about this city. It’s the first time I saw women wearing shorts and skirts on the street. I also had a flash back of what it’s like to be a solo traveler, receiving many unsolicited looks and catcalls. I wanted to walk from a park to a market and ended up going through a crowded street without seeing any woman for 25 minutes, which was a bit uncomfortable.
I can’t believe I’m leaving India. There’s still so much I have to learn about this country and its culture, so much I will probably never understand.
Hong Kong will most probably be a shock! I’ll let you know how it goes once I get there.
Love to you all,
Lucile