Kerala Backwaters

    As we approached the pier to begin our day, the comfort of cloudy skies diluted the sharp bright rays that are typically absorbed during the hours before high noon. The cool breeze blew briskly across the dark green fresh water of Lake Vembranrd, rippling in the slow churn of the diesel powered engine that propelled our houseboat for the day. We eagerly awaited a chance to step aboard the iconic vessel that dots the horizon of these dark waters from dusk to dawn. Here in the land of the coconuts, these boats are the face of ecotourism that has brought so many to the backwaters of Kerala. Now it was our chance to set sail on the water system that since the 1st century had been Kerala’s primary mode of transportation and exchange.

    Within minutes of boarding the one hundred and three foot vessel we were greeted by M.R. Krishna Varier’s, our guide and informant on the rich history of Lake Vembranrd, with ripe coconuts that were chopped and prepared as refreshments to combat the thirst spurred by the damp and relentless heat. Mr. Varier, we would find was one of the first to bring ecotourism to this part of Kerala, and has been operating tours for over 35 years.  It came at no surprise in the land of the coconuts that the canopy in which provided the cooling shade aboard our houseboat was hand built from native bamboo, and was tightly fixed with rope construed from coconut shells. As the crew pushed off and we escaped the thick marshy wetlands that dominate the lakes inlets, we gathered ourselves and prepared for a day on the water.

    Before the introduction of automobiles in Kerala, these house boats were the dominant form of transportation and were previously seen in greater numbers along the elongated man made canals that connected the southern tip of India. Today, the boats are abundant, yet the thought of busier waters became increasingly clearer as we advanced towards the narrow canals in which Keralites had settled more than a thousand years past in pursuit of rice patty cultivation.

    The distinction between the waters we traversed and the low lying patty fields became apparent as we entered the canals surrounded by the thick green vegetation.  The thin and manmade strips of land that divided the waterways were populated by local farmers, whose unique and earthy homes melted into the passing landscape.  It is astonishing to see life flourish as it does in Kerala, and never before had I observed a group of people live so simply in accordance with their surroundings.  As we passed we observed local men and women bathing in the cooling waters, barely acknowledging our foreign presence.  For these people life in the backwaters was ordinary and to our unfamiliar eyes the sight of life in these sparse strip of land construed pure inspiration and hope.  In our daily lives we are so utterly removed from the source of our resources, yet here in these canals, the source of their survival is all within sight. From the seemingly worthless shell of a coconut to the pain of hauling ones water for the day, nothing can be taken for granted and as it appears, nothing is.    

   After nearly five hundred clicks of my camera we arrived back at the pier of our departure with bellies full of local pearl spot fish, coconut water, Masala tea, and above all, as Bill McKibben emphasizes, a glimpse of what it means to live lightly on the earth.