Living on an island

I had told you in the previous blog that my car has been sold. It turns out that I am not the only person who is carless now; our second car is waiting in a workshop over the last 10 days for spare parts to come from Mumbai. John is desperately going through every available car magazines as if our next trip is going to be to the nearest car showroom and that he will be forced to take an immediate decision on what car to buy. Well, truth is far from that, we won’t be visiting any car showroom in another few months time except for window shopping. While he is drooling over the pictures of latest SUVs I will take you for a walk through a small group of islands in Ernakulam.

Well, your guess is probably not right; we are not going to Fort Kochi. I am taking you to the Vypin islands where we had stayed for 2 years- a haven of back waters and serene unexplored beautiful beaches.

A king fisher with his evening catch.














Previously before the opening of Goshree bridges in 2004 these islands were connected to main land of Ernakulam through boat service and a small segment of land near North Paravur to Aluva. So imagine, if there is an emergency in the middle of the night people have to travel for hours to reach Ernakulam or wait until the next day early morning for the first boat to come and take you to Ernakulam Jetty in hardly 10-15 min time. The tiny islands are connected by tiny bridges hardly allowing one bus at a time to pass through.
Our story began much later after the completion of Goshree bridges and the real estate boomed in the tiny islands which became part of Ernakulam with direct access to main town. Land prices were rocketing, general population was exploding, the number of vehicles were statistically increasing, but the roads and bridges still belong to the prehistoric, I mean pre Goshree era. The result being horrendous traffic congestion.
Our decision to stay in Paravur hardly 2 kms from Cherai beach was out of convenience rather than our desire to live near a very charming beach of South India. We both being intense humidity haters would rather have preferred a hill station or high range. But the option was simply not there and that Cherai was half way between both of our work places we rented a house in Cherai.

Fisher men at work on a large Chinese fishing net.

When you think of beaches what comes to your mind first?
Nostalgia? A lost love? Or a future thats far yet colorful and bright? Well the mood here is nostalgia for me.











In the morning we left home in different directions, John towards Ernakulam and me northwards along the NH 17. I wonder if it fascinates you, I was traveling daily over the many bridges and serene backwaters. I was always awed by the beauty and the best part is that the same backwaters manage to look different at different hours of the day and in each climate.

Those months were my busiest in my career with heavy work schedule and lot of traveling. On the top of that not a single day passed without ourselves complaining of humidity and mosquitoes. But looking back I realize that I do miss the daily colorful sunsets created by humidity. Any one living in the heart of a city or town will know the feeling.

Evening view from my terrace...













We went to beach occasionally when we came back early from work in the evenings. We drove through the long and narrow stretches of road between the backwaters to reach the beaches and sometimes there will be water alone all around. There will be fishermen standing on the roadside with fishing nets plunged in water, their routines were a matter of delight to us. The main beach of Cherai is always crowded in evenings with plenty of natives, visitors, occasional foreigners, plenty of shrieking children and icecream and peanut vendors.

Daily commotion in Cherai beach

The backwaters are breathtakingly beautiful in many locations.













However if you prefer to relish the beauty of sky and the sea in some quiet locations, you can explore innumerable tiny beaches along the vast stretch of coastal line. I shall introduce you to a few of them.

This is Njarakkal beach, one of the Tsunami hit areas of South India. Breakwaterwalls were constructed as a future protection to reduce the impact of water in case Tsunami decides to strike again.

The break water walls once again, Is man capable of resisting the mighty nature?

Kuzhuppilly beach – a small beautiful beach 3-4 kms from Cherai.












If you get a chance drive through the roads parallel to sea.The roads are all connected to each other and to the highway so its less likely that you get lost. And one last word, smear yourself lavishly with a mosquito repellent cream.

Thats all about my story about Vypin Islands.
Have a nice time.