Kerala Sonnet : By Bachi Karkaria

This article was written in 'Times of India' in August 2018, when the state of Kerala was dealing with devastating floods .... 

‘Shall i compare thee to a sun-drenched beach … ?’ Alas it’s not the sun that’s done the drenching this monsoon of Kerala’s discontent. But why let the heart-wrenching images drown all that has made this state segue into our collective consciousness in so many ways, with so many lilting names? 

Let’s go with the flow – and a prayer for paradise regained.

Ayurveda, Alleppey, Arundhati Roy, aappam, Asin, Achutha Menon, Achuthanandan, AK Antony. Backwaters, Balu Nayar my friend, Bekkal beach, Bharananganam temple, Balamani Amma the ‘poetess of motherhood’, beef chilli fry, banana chips.

Chottanikkara devi, communists, cardamom plantations, Chemmeen the novel and the film, Cochin Jews, chatti pathiri the layered Ramzan specialty, Carnatic music, coconut  in  everything. Diaspora. Ernakulam, erachi varutharachathu the roasted mutton curry, pumpkin-lentil erissery if you’re ‘vejirreriyan’.

Floods. And prayers against them at Guruvayoor. Along with generous Gulf money.

Hill stations, houseboats, horoscope casting with fail-safe accuracy, hundred-percent literacy. Idukki, Idiyappam.

Kochi Biennale, Kottayam book-shops, Kasargod, Kollam, Kovalam, Kumarakom, Kozhikode, Kathakali, Kasavu saris in cream and gold, Kamala Das, KR Meera,  Kay Kay Menon.

Matrilineal, Malayala Manorama, Munnar, Malabar, Moplah, Mar Thoma Church, meen molee, Manu Joseph and Pillai. Mallu jokes. Namboodiripad, Nair women, nadan pattu dance, nadan kozhi roast, Neha Dhupia (yes, the same!), nurses, nuns once of gun-running infamy.

Onam, OV Vijayan, Oommen Chandy. Periyar, parota, Padma Lakshmi, puttu with or without kadala curry, palada payasam, puli inji the ginger-tamarind chutney, Parsuram whose remorseful axe heaved into the Arabian Sea gave rise to Kerala.

Rescue, relief, rehab, rebuild, rejuvenate.

Snake-boat races, Sabarimala, settu-mundu style of Namboothiri women, Shobana,

Shankar my efficient secretary, Shirodhara therapy, Sadhya rice meal. Thanjavur-Travancore, Tilottama of Raja Ravi Varma, Thiruvananthapuram nee Trivandrum, Thrissur.

Udvartana and ubtaan massages. Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, Vidya Balan, vastu vidya, Varkala beach. Waterfalls at Athirapalli, Palaruvi, Tusharagiri, Vazhachal.

No floods can submerge many-splendoured Kerala.

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