Kumarakom:Capital of God’s own country!

By early June the southwest monsoon breaks and there are three months of wind and water with short spells of sharp, glittering sunshine that thrilled children snatch to play with. The countryside turns an immodest green. Boundaries blur as tapioca fences take root and bloom. Brick walls turn mossgreen. Pepper vines snake up electric poles. Wild creepers burst through latente banks and spill across the flooded roads. Boats ply in the bazaars…thus Arundhati Roy begins her Booker Prize winner – The God of Small Things. Although the novel - which is set in Ayemenem village adjoining Kumarakom - does not render the unspeakable beauty of Kumarakom, aren’t the aforementioned words enough to lure you to the most beautiful place inKerala (arguably)? And If I say Kumarakom is the capital of the God's own country, will you disagree?

Well, honestly, this is my fourth trip to Kumarakom, with an intention of doing a photoblog on Yahoo! Strangely, it had been raining all these four times, maybe, to make me realize that the beauty and majesty of Kumarakom are at its best during monsoon.

And this time, I’m in a houseboat, the perfect place for chilling out -and much more ;-). Houseboats are big barges with five-star amenities –air conditioned bedrooms with contemporary bathrooms, modular kitchens that prepare the choicest Kerala-style food, home theatre and whatever else you want. Some of them have as many as five bedrooms, some have conference halls and some are even double-storied.

Every here and there you see a fisherman, hounding for Karimeen (pearl spot). The boat captain excitedly explained to us four different methods to catch a pearl spot fish and how clinically they do it. Interesting!

At the prow of the houseboat sits Sreehari, 15, after whose name the boat is named. He doesn’t just share his name with the boat, but he owns it! The young guy too has his share of knowledge to impart – about Tiger Prawns, another taste of the Kumarakom. He flashes his torch into the water, toward the stone wall of the canal’s side and I see two small bulbs flashing between two stones. And he says those are the eyes of a Tiger Prawn. Wow!

Before I clicked this photo, it never occurred to me that lightning is the best source of light for night photography. Yes, this photo was clicked at 11:40 pm, there was lightening and the photo came out like this.

It may be the company of boatmen, the palatable Karimeen (pearl spot) fry, mouth-watering tiger prawns curry, a bottle of chilled beer from the boatmen’s icebox, a romantic night with your other half, or the cruise across the Vembanad Lake, Kumarakom guarantees you something to cherish for a lifetime.

India Through the Lens

A Hindu priest holds a traditional oil lamp as he performs prayers on the banks of the River Ganges in Allahabad, India, Friday, June 17, 2011. Allahabad, located on the confluence of the Rivers Ganges and Yamuna, is one of Hinduism's holiest centers.

People play in the sea against the backdrop of merchant ship MV Wisdom which ran aground at Chowpatty Beach in Mumbai, India, Friday, June 17, 2011. The ship went adrift after breaking loose while being towed from Colombo to Alang in Gujarat, for being broken as scrap.

Children play on top of a wall under the overhead high voltage electric cables during the evening in the old quarters of Delhi June 19, 2011.

A man sews clothes in front of a wall with posters of Hindi movie 'Ips Narsimha' on a street in the old quarters of Delhi June 19, 2011.

Women sit beside empty edible oil tin containers during a protest against what they say hike in the prices of edible oil in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad June 19, 2011. India is expecting food inflation to fall further in the second half of the fiscal year as forecasts of a normal monsoon raise prospects of a bumper grain and oilseed harvest. The placard reads: "The government is useless if it cannot provide cheap edible oil to the people".

A boy lies on a used sofa as a girl plays with a weighing scale inside the compound of a scrap dealer's shop in New Delhi June 19, 2011.

A firefighter tries to extinguish a burning bus which was set ablaze by a mob, after the bus reportedly ran into a group of people who were on their way to the Nada Sahib Gurudwara, or Sikh temple, in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh June 18, 2011. At least three people were killed in the accident on Saturday night, local media reported. Picture taken June 18, 2011.

A woman vendor sets umbrellas up for sale on a roadside pavement in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad June 19, 2011. India's Meteorological Department is expected to release its outlook for the rest of the monsoon season early next week.

An Indian migrant laborer carries a bag of goods along the street, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers have swelled the population of India's capital city in recent years.



Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, left, greets his French counterpart Christine Lagarde in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. Lagarde is in the country to canvas for her candidacy for the International Monetary Fund's top job.

AP Photo / Gurinder Osan

Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, center, sits with others during a public interaction at his ashram in Haridwar, India, Tuesday, June 7, 2011. The television star and yoga guru leading tens of thousands of people protesting Indian corruption said he resumed a hunger strike Monday in the northern Hindu pilgrimage city after police ousted him from the capital. Baba Ramdev, along with tens of thousands of supporters, had earlier began fasting Saturday in a massive tent camp in New Delhi, despite reaching an 11th-hour agreement with the government on his demands to battle graft.

AP Photo / Kevin Frayer

A Indian youth eats food distributed by a local charity outside the Hanuman Mandir, or the temple of the monkey god, in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, June 7, 2011.Known for his strength and valor, Hanuman is one of the most popular gods in the crowded pantheon of Hindu deities.

AFP Photo / Biju Boro

Great Adjutant storks stand as a woman rag-picker collects recyclables at the biggest garbage dump in the northeastern state of Assam on the eve of World Environment Day at the Boragoan area in Guwahati on June 4, 2011. The UN declared 2011 the International Year of Forests with this year's World Environment Day theme 'Forests: Nature at your Service'.

AP Photo / Channi Anand

Indian laborers carry firewood, as smoke rises from a brick factory on the outskirts of Jammu, India, Saturday, June 4, 2011. India accounts for 5.5 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions. World Environment Day will be marked on June 5.

Indian Monsoons

India in the monsoons is a rhapsody, a riot, a river swollen with a thousand dreams. The whole country celebrates when the monsoons arrive; farmers, businessmen, politicians and children cheer the downpour.

The rains mean that the country will be able to grow the crops needed to feed its population, politicians can be assured of another term in office, film-makers can be inspired, artists can use the rains as their muse, children can slosh around the rain puddles and lovers can use it as their aphrodisiac.

AP Photo / Mahesh Kumar A

Agriculture and monsoons: The two are inextricably linked with rain-fed agriculture accounting for upwards of 60 per cent of net sown area. To feed its teeming millions, the monsoons have to be normal, and on time for India’s two main seasons: kharif and rabi. Luckily this year, the monsoon is above normal. Farmers will be pleased and so will the Indian government, whose fortunes are intertwined with the normalcy of the monsoons.

AFP Photo / Deshakalyan Chowdhury

The monsoon economy: India may have been growing at a clip of 8-9 per cent in the past decade, but its economy and GDP growth is closely linked to a regular monsoon. Citigroup, for example, forecasted that it expects India's economy to grow by 8.1 percent in 2011-12, but a failure of monsoons, it said, could result in the growth rate drop down to 7.6 per cent. The other big worry- inflation- hopefully the good news of better than normal monsoons, will result is easing the pressure in food-led inflation that is currently hovering at 9.01 per cent.

AP Photo / Sucheta Das

The monsoons can be especially harsh to the homeless; exposed to the relentless rains, with no shelter, they must make do with discarded rags for protection.Here, a beggar shields herself from the rain with a plastic sheet and begs beside a busy road in Calcutta, India, Tuesday, July 7, 2009.

AP Photo / Prashant Ravi

Water resources: India has a huge dependence on the monsoons for its fresh water supply. The monsoons play a significant role in the delivery of fresh water throughout the country. While the rivers in the north like the Ganges and Yamuna are snow-fed and are dependent on the Himalayas, the southern rivers of India are mostly rain-fed, depending primarily on the monsoons for water supply.  The coastal rivers of Western India are also rain-fed and monsoon dependent.

AP Photo / Mahesh Kumar

In the 2006 floods in Andhra Pradesh, a man searches for relief packages dropped by the IAF, as he stands beside the remains of his hut demolished by the rains. The floods forced nearly 650,000 people from their homes.

AFP PHOTO/Manpreet Romana

Monsoons and flooding: While one hand the whole of India eagerly awaits the monsoons, it also wreaks havoc, almost every year due to flooding. In 2010, the Brahmaputra unleashed hell and displaced 50,000 people in the North-East. In 2008, it was even worse, the flooding of the Kosi river affected a million people and destroyed close to 2,50,000 households. Flooding causes large-scale displacement, poverty, child trafficking- not to mention- damage to homes, livestock and fodder. Not all floods are the fury of nature; some of them are the result of poor planning and execution.

Clint Thomas, Yahoo! India News

Monsoons and holidaying: While some might frown at the idea of a holiday when its raining there are others who wait for this time of the year to book their holidays. Monsoon holidays are especially popular with those who want avoid the holiday crowd; and honeymooners. Tour operators offer a variety of packages even for the most well heeled traveler. Popular destinations include Goa, Munnar, Leh, Kashmir and Karwar.

AFP Photo / Pal Pillai

Mumbai: an Indian couple gets intimate during a rain shower.

AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi

The downpour cannot dampen the spirit of these children who dance among the waves that lash the seafront in Mumbai.

AP Photo / Rajesh Kumar Singh

Monsoons and festivals: Monsoons in India are between June and September and there are plenty of festivals that coincide with the season. These festivals are spread across the country. There’s Teej in Rajasthan that welcomes the monsoon, Dussehra in Mysore that is celebrates the culmination of Navratris (nine nights), Rongali Bihu - harvest festival of Assam and the Ganesh festival, which is celebrated across India (but best experienced in Mumbai).

AFP Photo / Punit Paranjpe

Monsoons and Indian cities: Some Indian cities and the monsoons are closely linked; Mumbai and Cherrapunji comes to mind. Mumbai’s rains are famous, both for the happy memories they evoke and the sadness it brings because of how the flooding brings the city to a standstill. Cherrapunji, once the world’s wettest city, has an annual rainfall of 11,777 millimetres.

AP Photo / Rafiq Maqbool

Monsoons and the flora/fauna ecosystem: India is one of the world’s most bio-diverse regions and is home to about 500 species of mammals, 200 plus species of birds and about 30,000 species of insects. It is also home to a wide range of birds, reptiles, fish and amphibians.  But this rich ecosystem is dependent on the monsoons to survive. Any failure in the monsoons puts tremendous pressure on their survival.