Welcome to Kerala, God's Own Country proclaimed the sign!
What a relief it was to get off that Sri Lankan Airlines hour long flight from Katunayake, Sri Lanka to Trivanduram, India and have our feet firmly planted on solid land!
Unfortunately for us, the welcome lasted just long enough for me to read the sign as, when I placed my passport on front of the immigration officer, I was left in no doubt that I had already outlived any such welcome.
The problem was that my racial appearance bore no resemblance to the family name on my passport, so the logic of the Immigration authority was that my passport was fake. When I pulled my husband forward and explained that, on our marriage some forty seven years ago, I had taken his name, the hostility moved directly and squarely in his face. While my visa was examined by three other officers, stamped and orders given to me to "Go Away!' he was kept for ten minutes and haranged for marrying an inferior Western woman instead of one of his own race. We were to find out that this marriage was widely disapproved of in Kerala with Sam being treated as a "bought boy" by restaurant staff and two hotels and one home stay refusing to allow us to share a room until we produced evidence that we were, indeed, married. This had happened to us in Sri Lanka when we were younger but came as a huge shock now.
We finally escaped the airport to be met by our first Keralan home stay hosts, Anil and Lekha, whose warm friendliness quickly overcame any surprise at seeing our unconventional partnership.
Kerala is a Communist governed State, something we decided had both advantages and disadvantages. One of the advantages is that the tourism sector of the economy is very well organised for do it yourself travellers, something Sri Lanka could well take a look at. I found it easy to find home stay options because every home stay has to be registered, is audited yearly and ranked in a three tier category system. Devi Kripa Home Stay in Kovalam, has a well deserved top Gold Star rating. On arrival we were amazed to see that we had two levels to ourselves. Upstairs was a good sized bedroom complete with aircon and large "wet" kind of bathroom while downstairs we had a kitchen and sitting room. The bedroom was tastefully furnished with a large wardrobe, dressing table and stool as well as in room tea and coffee making equipment. The balconies provided a lovely sit out in the cooler early mornings and evenings.
I was not feeling at all well after eating what I had thought was a home cooked meatball just hours before we left Sri Lanka, so for the first two days I could not enjoy the beautifully cooked Keralan dishes that had been thoughtfully prepared for us. Neither could we put into action our prepared sightseeing plan, instead resting quietly in the aircon and being thankful that our home stay was down a quiet lane away from the main road where smelly rubbish was being swept up and burned roadside.
Our first night coincided with a religious procession with the Goddess from the local temple being paraded around the narrow streets of the neighourhood. Feeling unwell, I had to give up my plan to join the procession and slept soundly despite the fireworks and music that lasted until first light. In the morning we hopped in an auto rickshaw aka tuk tuk and went around the narrow winding lanes to see the decorations and shrines outside the homes of devotees.
The photo does not do justice to this temporary street shrine with its offerings of grapes, apples, pineapples, melons, flowers and garlands. It was a wonderful display of devotion!
After following the procession's route and noting that groups of people were cleaning up the discarded water bottles and food wrappers, we continued to the Kovalam beaches.
There are four small beaches, each one separated by a rocky outcrop. As
we were there at the end of the tourist season, the many seaside
restaurants and shops were having a quiet time. Accommodation here is in the budget range.
The Lighthouse Beach seemed to be the most popular one today with quite a few men in the water while the women merely wet their ankles at the edge.
Unlike beaches here in Australia, there were no public change rooms so my lukewarm idea of a sea dip was banished in favour of a very much needed back massage.
What a relief it was to get off that Sri Lankan Airlines hour long flight from Katunayake, Sri Lanka to Trivanduram, India and have our feet firmly planted on solid land!
Unfortunately for us, the welcome lasted just long enough for me to read the sign as, when I placed my passport on front of the immigration officer, I was left in no doubt that I had already outlived any such welcome.
The problem was that my racial appearance bore no resemblance to the family name on my passport, so the logic of the Immigration authority was that my passport was fake. When I pulled my husband forward and explained that, on our marriage some forty seven years ago, I had taken his name, the hostility moved directly and squarely in his face. While my visa was examined by three other officers, stamped and orders given to me to "Go Away!' he was kept for ten minutes and haranged for marrying an inferior Western woman instead of one of his own race. We were to find out that this marriage was widely disapproved of in Kerala with Sam being treated as a "bought boy" by restaurant staff and two hotels and one home stay refusing to allow us to share a room until we produced evidence that we were, indeed, married. This had happened to us in Sri Lanka when we were younger but came as a huge shock now.
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| Devi Kripa Home stay hosts |
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| Devi Kripa Home Stay, Kovalam |
I was not feeling at all well after eating what I had thought was a home cooked meatball just hours before we left Sri Lanka, so for the first two days I could not enjoy the beautifully cooked Keralan dishes that had been thoughtfully prepared for us. Neither could we put into action our prepared sightseeing plan, instead resting quietly in the aircon and being thankful that our home stay was down a quiet lane away from the main road where smelly rubbish was being swept up and burned roadside.
Our first night coincided with a religious procession with the Goddess from the local temple being paraded around the narrow streets of the neighourhood. Feeling unwell, I had to give up my plan to join the procession and slept soundly despite the fireworks and music that lasted until first light. In the morning we hopped in an auto rickshaw aka tuk tuk and went around the narrow winding lanes to see the decorations and shrines outside the homes of devotees.
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| Hindu goddess |
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| Kovalam beach |
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| Kovalam beach |
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| Lighthouse Beach, Kovalam, Kerala |
That wasn't a very nice welcome.
ReplyDeleteNo excuse for prejudice like that. I might suggest that after 47 years, he probably isn't about to trade you in for someone more 'culturally appropriate'. Takes the gloss of a visit, doesn't it?
ReplyDelete