ago, but laziness and procrastination ensured its appearance here only today. Due to tickets
not being available on the train that I take normally to Kerala, I had to go by the other train
that reaches my station at 5AM.
Since I was home too early in the morning for my son to be awake, I decided to combine my
morning walk with a photo session of the neighborhood. So, after a cup of refreshing tea at
home, I set off. I decided to go off the beaten path and explore a place that was off the main
road. First stop was what is called a Sarpa Kaavu (literal translation being Serpent Woods),
with a temple dedicated to serpents in its precints. There is a story behind how this temple
was built, the main entrance of which you see below.
The land and the temple on it belongs to my friend's family. Before the temple was built, it
used to be just trees and dense shrub growth, with maybe a tree or idol which was revered
by the family. Somewhere down the line, it seems someone from the family did something to anger the Gods and this was linked to the series of misfortunes the family faced.
It was decided that to appease the Gods, a temple dedicated to serpents should be built there, which would stem the problems faced by the family & this was how the temple came up here.
I know this would sound like gibberish to most people (especially westerners), but that is how local lore (or superstition goes). Anyway, another better view of the temple.
All this while, there was this curious squirrel that was following my actions. These creatures
can move amazingly fast & can just scamper up a tall coconut tree in seconds.
Done with the temple, I moved on to the water-canal that runs for a couple of kilometres through the fields. Though built for channeling water to the fields alongside it, I do not ever remember seeing water running in it. It is mostly used as a walkway by people living in the neighborhood. Anyway, when it rains almost round the year here, why would there be water scarcity ?
All around me are acres of fertile land that unfortunately are not cultivated because farming
isn't lucrative anymore due to rising labour & other input costs. This land comes real cheap.
I met a guy who owns land there and he was ready to sell of his 50 cents (half-acre) of land
for just Rs.50000 (1000 $) !!!
I walk on the canal and come across a small pond with many ducks enjoying the cool water.
Alongside the canal are coconut trees & areca-nut trees. When I was young, there use to be
quite some demand for areca-nuts (also called betel nut & used by those who chew tobacco). There used to be people who came to buy the nuts. But nowadays, no one seems to want it anymore. You can see a row of areca-nut trees in the pic below - the trees on the right.
BTW, climbing an areca nut tree is trickier than climbing a coconut tree because they are so slender and with a man's weight, the tree could sway dangerously. Also, coconut trees have cuts/grooves made into them every 2 feet or so for the climber to put his feet into, making climbing easier. A close-up snap of the areca-nut tree flowering .
This is how the ripe nuts look like.
And this is the tapioca plant, which was once the poor man's rice-substitute (like potato in Europe), but today it is expensive enough to be out of the reach of the poor man. It's a tuber, with the root is the edible part. Boil them and have them with either fish curry or any
meat dish (chicken/mutton/beef/pork) or just plain spicy chutney (if you are a vegetarian)
and you are in for a gastronomic delight.
Done with my morning walk, I retrace my steps home via a different route & chance upon a
guy running his small soda making industry at home. Talk to him for a few minutes during
which he casually mentions a risk that I was not aware existed in his business - the bottle bursting. Enough to make me say a quick goodbye and move on - I don't want shreds of
glass shrapnel hitting my face.
An hour spent well, I would think.
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