My trip to Kaavalam

I would have loved to post the review of the newly released "Cheeni Kum" today. But, thanks to an unexpected fever, I am confined to home today. I really hope the film stays on in Kochi for another week so that I can catch it next weekend. Nevertheless, the weekend was not completely devoid of any action. I had the good fortune to visit Kaavalam, a sleepy hamlet in the district of Alappuzha in Kerala, popularly known as the Venice of the East, thanks to the numerous canals that run through the district. It is quite shameful to admit that this was my first trip to a place like that in my 27 years of existence in Kerala, but boy, what a trip it was! There were 6 of us from office and the intention was to visit our ex boss who had just delivered a baby girl. It definitely turned out to be more of a pleasure trip than anything else. The drive till Alappuzha was quite normal. But, the moment we entered Kuttanad, things took a totally different turn. On both sides of the road, there were paddy fields stretching till eternity. It was such a wonderful sight. The fields were separated from each other by canals, all of whom had the luxurious house boats floating on them. There were street side hawkers on both sides of the road selling fresh fish, duck and the like. The less said about the number of toddy shops the better. The first deviation that we had to take from the highway was towards Pulinkunnu. This small village ended in a canal from which we had to be ferried across to Kaavalam. There were numerous passenger boats plying between the banks all of whom could carry even the vehicles. Thus, we were on the ferry along with the Qualis that we were travelling in. It was by no means a great distance to be ferried across. The canal was so narrow that one could actually communicate with the person standing on the opposite side. However, the very experience of travelling in that boat with the breeze blowing on your face was really heavenly! We disembarked the boat at Kaavalam and from there it was another 15 minutes drive to reach our destination. Located on the banks of the holy river Pamba, the house was tastefully done in traditional Kerala architecture. With tiled roof and a false wooden ceiling, it was a very cozy and comfortable house though 56 years old. After enjoying the beauty of nature and the canals in Alappuzha, we landed back in Kochi late evening. On our way back, one of my friends was heard remarking why the government could not put up bridges across the canals to make the transportation easier. However, I still feel such thoughts be better left alone since the sheer pleasure of crossing canals in boats would then remain alien to us.