The world owes you nothing You owe it to yourself: Lovedale ~ A trip to Backwaters Kerala

23^rd November 2015 ~ Dawn 5: 10 a.m. ~

Village Puthanangadi, Poojaveli East Road Kerala

Moving towards Kochi Airport 71 km away

But this isn’t the beginning …

This holiday began six days ago …On 17^th November 2015

And the planning, much before!

I am soon realising that homestays are my kind of option.

So there I was, a month back, browsing through resorts in Kerala and after going through the usual ones, I give into my temptation to type Homestays in Kerala on my Google search bar.

After browsing through some options, I come across a YouTube video of this place called LOVEDALE Lakeside Homestay. The name resonates, for obvious reasons. My second book launched a few months back… guess what it’s called… LOVEDALE ~Married to Life. Reason enough for me to research more about it.

Why homestays need research, is to know exactly if it’s truly a homestay or a hotel projecting itself as a homestay, to get benefits attached to it. And believe me, LOVEDALE Lakeside Homestay is a Homestay to the core. Far from commercialisation and truly could be your home away from home… to such an extent that for the first time ever none of us felt homesick. Us, that’s me and my better half and our two kids…and we aren’t the sight-seeing types... So I booked a room for six days at the same place… LOVEDALE.

We decided to skip the customary, suggested destinations by travel-tourism websites, like Munnar and Thekkady. Instead, we had this no-long-travel, no-futile-sight-seeing clause in our vacation this time around.

It was worth it!

17^th of November 2015, we leave at 3.00 a.m. for an Air-India flight to Kochi and as an added perk we get to be at the International airport since Air-India domestic flights are diverted there. Thanks to Meru cabs, (so far, it has proved to be the most trustworthy cab service provider for us) we reach in time for a flight which is delayed by thirty-five minutes.

The excitement of reaching our destination is enough for us to not mind that extra minutes at the airport, which I must say looks stunningly amazing. After a queued up take off we are gazing out at God made creation from a man-made creation.

I goof up by adding pepper and salt into my coffee, my newly acquired spectacles to blame. Only to be teased by my clan, throughout the journey, for being so stupid. The purser being sweet enough to hand me a second helping, and I make sure its sugar this time…with my spectacles on.

We land at Kochi airport and are received by Lenin, who is going to drive us to our destination. Since the flight is delayed we get to see busy traffic at places in Ernakulum. (The comfortable Tata Indica tourist car was arranged by Anshad at cost)

Last 1 km stretch to Lovedale is a narrow village road, off the highway, which runs parallel to a canal filled with weeds. Almost, as if, someone has laid a green blanket over the water of the Vembanad.

Within two hours and a smooth ride, Lenin has dropped us at our destination…where I am so glad to read a small flex banner “LOVEDALE”… and our hosts Anshad and Amina are waiting with smiles to receive us. They welcome us into their home which is going to be ours, as well, for the coming week.

When walking into a homestay you need to be sure you know what a homestay is all about. Don’t expect the usual overtly luxurious facilities of a lifestyle resort or a starred hotel room. But be assured you shall be treated with humble comfort and warmth in abundance.

The view of LOVEDALE from the entrance

The main structure which houses three rooms at top and two down
*The cycle which you could just pick and ride

Our Favorite place at Lovedale THE SIT-OUT cum Dining area

Welcome to paradise ~ Welcome to LOVEDALE lakeside homestay

Lovedale is bang on the Vembanad and I guess, most of the properties are... But this place and especially our room, had the view of the magnificent wonder with its arms wide open right in front of us.

The Magical Vembanad right in front of LOVEDALE

The mornings are beautifully pleasant, with a variety of birds enchanting us with their melodious tweets.

The one which sat patiently,as if, posing for me!

The one which was playing hide and seek with me-
Finally, I got it posing for me - teasingly

The one which came and perched itself on, each morning

The ones that came fishing

Each morning, I woke up before the others, like on all vacations...

and would ask Anshad for my cup of tea, less milk and a little strong. Sipping my brew I would look at the Vembanad and it would look back at me with its full glory.

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The best part of this vacation was we weren’t going from one destination to another, we weren’t changing hotels, nor were we travelling long distances every morning to reach another destination. We were simply stationed at this quaintly serene Abode. So the plan for each day was …that we didn’t have any plan. We just took each day as it came silently soaking us into the pace of this nature kissed bounty. Gradually our body and souls paced down to match it.

Day One ~ After a bath we were ready for our first meal. I had read amazing reviews about Lovedale, Anshad, and of course, his wife Amina’s culinary skills.
In fact, very rarely have I read so many good reviews of a single place.

You need to experience it…to believe it.

We are all foodies and made it very clear we had had enough poultry back there at home and would love to have fish all six days. Anshad and Amina took care of that. Almost, each day, a new variety of fish....the prawn curry being the best.
On the first day ...Caramine (pomphret like) is what we were served with Curry, rice vegetable, chapatis, pickle and papad.

The best part of the food is, it is cooked by Amina herself and Anshad makes sure he personally serves you the meal and after the meals he is always eager to talk to you.
Trust him, he is the best guide and will arrange for you almost everything. From an auto-rickshaw to a houseboat, to coconut water to Shikara… he makes it available literally at the doorstep.

Anshad-The humble man himself

Anshad, is one man who seems to have never learnt the word “NO” and he will make sure he will fulfil, almost all, his guest's request. So there we were getting a Kerala massage on the very first evening... It was the best way to start our week at Lovedale.

We took turns…my better half started it, I followed and so did the kids, after us. We agree on most points and so did we on the fact that the old native couple, who came for the massage, knew their job well and their technique was so rooted in ethnicity. Their generous use of the naturally raw, almost primitive oil was the testimony of their humility.

There is no television in the room. For some it maybe a punishment …. For us it was a boon. Remember, this is a homestay. There is a television set near the dining cum sit-out area but I never saw it work nor I felt the urge to make it work. WiFi is available, so you aren’t exactly going to miss out on your social media update.

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Bow down to the GLORY of Vembanad

The stillness and calm I would try and freeze at times with my camera and at times envelop around my body mind and soul. I knew I couldn’t be there forever but that thought didn’t cross my mind till I wrote these words. For that moment... It was … as if I belonged there.

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Morning breakfasts were something we looked forward coz of the sheer traditional variety Amina would come up each morning.

So apart from the regular egg variety of Omelet or boiled eggs or egg curry or fried eggs, butter and toast there would be the native cuisine. The sambhar is a meal in itself, with sumptuously laced vegetables. The chatni is authentic to the core. Coffee would flow in with the breakfast and after a day we decided to give lunch a miss.

But the aromas shooting out of the adjacent kitchen are tempting enough to change your mind.

The sit out almost touching the water of the Vembanad became our favourite place and we spent most of our time there …

either reading books on a hammock or simply pulling out a chair and gazing endlessly at the water body. There is never a dull moment at the lakeside due to the adjacent village… there is always some activity happening.

All in a day's work

So, mornings we would observe the villagers floating on Vembanad on their Canoes moving for their day’s work. Not so far would be houseboats sailing through, birds which would come fishing or simply hover, and very close by weeds playing to the tune of the gentle breeze.

By afternoon the canoes would return with their catch of shell fish, making way through the bed of weeds they would get back to the sheds where the shells would be separated from the muscle by heating them and the shells would be collected for them to be picked by cosmetic factories.

The Chinese Fishing nets

The Chinese nets which I had read are a part of the guided tour in travel tourism packages were at a stone’s throw and in abundance, where the activities would begin only after dark.

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Day two ~ Houseboat!

On the deck of our three-bedroom Houseboat

And the most beautiful part of the houseboat was that we didn’t have to go anywhere to get into it …it actually came to receive us.

If you are in Kerala you just cannot miss the houseboat ride …
after a lot of deliberation we decided we wouldn’t be sailing overnight so our trip was from 12 noon to 6 in the evening with lunch and evening tea.
We were greeted by a huge three bed room houseboat and our cook, attendant and the captain, neither of whom could speak our language. A little bit of English, and much of assumption worked.

Slo-mo shot on Panasonic Lumix FZ-300

When you are sailing on this wonder you are lost and it feels like the journey shouldn’t end at all. At one point of time, we were in the midst of the vast expanse of the lake and the horizon nowhere in sight but we didn’t complain … the mountains, at times, may seem intimidating… the lake never seemed daunting… u don’t mind being lost.

Our cook suggested that we could buy some fish from the local store at the banks. I bought some prawns which our cook fried on my instructions along with the

in-house spread which comprised of Rice, fish curry, dal (on our request), vegetable, chapatis, pickle, salad, curd, papad and sambhar loaded with veggies. Anchored in the middle of nowhere we enjoyed the delicacies to our hearts content.

We wished we would have hired it for the overnight journey but we decided to make best of it while we were there with a promise to come back soon.

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Day Three

Glad _ Rickshaw Ride

At the coir factory

Next day after breakfast we visited the nearby coir factory in an auto-rickshaw just for the kids and Anshad followed us on his bike. The rest of the afternoon we spent cycling and exploring the village.

In the neighbourhood - meters away from Lovedale

Reliving childhood in bylanes of Allapuzah

The bridge just adjacent to Lovedale which led to the other side of the canal

Just happy ...to be...

Evening we were off to Marari beach. If you are from a coastal city or town, like us, …it’s not going to be a great loss if you give it a miss. There isn't much to do there either, only resorts which mostly cater to foreign tourist. Milder version of Goa Beaches.

At Marari Beach

Since that afternoon we had skipped lunch we picked up some snacks from a local bakery on our way to the beach. And finally we found some coconut water on our way back.
Ain't we GLAD!

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We had almost done everything one would, in Alleppey … so the next day was completely a free day … we walked along, helped Amina to pick some raw mangoes from the tree for the curry, selfies for the social media update, slo-mos’s to try out my new Panasonic Lumix FZ 300 (which is an amazing camera)…

Wanderer!

As far as ...the ROAD leads...

Special effects...

At Lovedale ~ One for everlasting Memories

and just be…

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Being at Lovedale was like reliving my childhood in many ways.

Carelessly, carefree cycling through the narrow village lane, racing with the canoes which ran parallel to us cutting their way through the weeds was fun.

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On Anshad’s suggestion we walked down the evening walk to the nearby church, less than 2 km away, something, that shall stay with me for long. On our way back we were caught in a heavy shower which didn’t last quite long but drenched us enough to fill us with some more lingering memories. Words may fall short at times to describe memories which are so vivid and beautiful ...let the pictures tell the tale...

Walk through the quaint village

The beautifully located church and school

Homeschoolers posing in a school

Literally the creator blessing us with myriad colours

No filter - no effects - this is how it appeared to us -AMAZING!

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Day Five-

During our previous vactaions to Shimla and Ooty we had come to the conclusion that we shouldn’t have shopping as a part of the agenda on a vacation and this time around we were reassured. The visit to Alleppey town was just like touching Mumbai and running back to our heavenly Abode.

Alleppey town stands testimony to the fact what touristy spots turn to in a pursuit to serve. Alleppey beach, probably we visited at the wrong time Past noon...maybe the evening could have been better.

Tired, sweaty, and hungry we returned to our dwelling where Amina was sweet enough to make us some onion pakodas.

After having spent the later afternoon at the sit out just reflecting back on all that life is and all that life could be...we decided we had to venture out one last time into the VEMBANAD...simply to feel it's magnificence and calm.

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That evening we took two cycles which, I suppose, belong to Anshad's kids' and drove down a kilometer parallel to the canal upto the highway.
Believe me there is nothing more therapeutic then cycling, especially through the villge roads...

Sailing through... like a vagabond... I wanted to be lost

But there was so much to discover with my loved ones

I simply ...chose to be found!

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Day six-
The lingering after effect of being on the Vembanad in our huge Houseboat was strong enough for us to take a Shikara ride the next day which happened to be our last day. I have no idea what the Kashmiri shikaras look like in Dal lake, I am yet to visit, but while in backwaters you shouldn’t miss this experience. Anshad made sure that the Shikara too comes to pick us up at the doorstep and that the boatman would not repeat the same route that of the houseboat.

The view of Backwaters near Kolam are simply breathtaking with coconut trees almost lined up in a single row overlooking the paddy field on one side and the Vembanad on the other.

We fetched some toddy from one of the toddy shop which even served local cuisine on banana leaves. Like I said this vacation at lovedale almost relived my childhood.... the toddy reminded me of yet another childhood memory, the difference being it was available first in mud pots and now we drank it from plastic bottles.

The calming effect of the serene Vembanad can prove like a healing massage in itself and we lazily dipped our legs into it to be caressed by its love.

Endlessly sailing through the boundless Vembanad

The infinite sky blessing us with its changing colours

I let my physical form float …

…for some moments, though, my soul I mistook as my form

The distant horizon appeared almost invisible

When …I realised… I was glad to be lost …

Anshad’s relaxed attitude is quite contagious… like on one occasion when we were contemplating to wake up early for the shikara ride he very softly added “you are on vacation sir...relax and kids are also there… why hurry?” He would never insist on food being served at a particular time and patiently wait till we would finish. Amina makes some lovely fish curry and her Malabari paratha are to die for. Anshad very gently shared her desire to be in Akshay Kumar’s master chef. Let me tell you this Anshad and Amina may your wish come true but till then know this you truly are a marvellous cook and a wonderful host.

Your humility lies in the fact that you treat each of your guests in the same manner be it foreighners or Indian’s. “Atithi devo bhava” The canoe ride is due for next time. And it’s not going to be too long before we come once again to feel the love of LOVEDALE again.

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This unusually nature soaked trip chose us or we chose it, I am not sure but this mesmerizing journey wouldn't have been complete if we wouldn't have spotted a wonderful spot just near Lovedale in the Vembanad...we literally soaked in this time ...the boundless Lake in our arms...the vast limitless sky over our head we felt like being born again ...a lifetime of memory we packed in ... with a dip in the welcoming water body.

In the Vembanad- With Lovedale in the backdrop

It was time to leave this nature's chosen destination LOVEDALE Lakeside Homestay back into our chosen and created world.

Anshad and Amina were awake and our coffee was ready the moment we stepped out of our room at 5 a.m. It was a strange feeling but truly I felt I was leaving something behind as I saw Anshad and Amina waving out to us and humbly telling us to come again. As we shook our heads in affirmation I realised I was also taking a lot with me ...

In times when the noise and chaos of my city dwelling shall bogg me down

This calm and peace that I carry with me in my embrace I shall feel

I belong here... where I am... A part of me lingering somewhere in Lovedale

In times when the mad pace and artifice of my routine will jarr me

This beauty and bounty of Vembanad that is embeded in me I shall caress

For not only am I leaving something of me behind but so am I taking a litlle bit of each day spent at Lovedale.... this tiny emerald of Allapuzah -Kerala