Skip to main content

Village



Arikuzha is a relatively small village in Kerala.  It is the village in which I was born and brought up.  The lush green that undulates in the rolling landscape is not unique to this village.  Kerala is blessed with the bounty of nature in many ways.  Hills and valleys, rivers and backwaters, and the whole coastal area on the west make the state a palette of variegated offering.

Here are a few pictures from Arikuzha. 

Road through the village


River through the village


Temple on the river bank

Yesterday while I was walking along the village road I met an elderly person (74 years) who asked me whether I had any problem in my leg.  I was limping slightly due to the fracture I had suffered in my foot three months back.  I explained the matter to him.  In the afternoon he came to my home with a herbal medicine he prepared himself.  He advised me how to apply it on the foot and assured me that in 5 days time or even before that my limping would vanish.  He wouldn’t accept any payment for the medicine.  He told me that he gave medicines only to his friends and it was not a business for him.  It was an act of love, of friendship.  Such attitudes themselves can be very healing.  And such attitudes have not vanished from many villages of Kerala yet. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. Richa SinghMay 27, 2013 at 10:16 AM

    Seriously where do you find such beauty and beautiful people. Thank you for sharing it with us :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 10:53 AM

      Really, Richa, I wish there were more such places and people.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMay 27, 2013 at 10:28 AM

    humanity resides in rural India.. still alive ... :) .. nice to know the old gentleman's initiatives just to make sure you start walking properly .
    Nice capture! Although northern India is not tha lush green .. still I could relate a bit with my father's village . :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 10:54 AM

      Yes, Jack, we can still find much goodness in the rural India.

      Delete
  3. IndraniMay 27, 2013 at 11:11 AM

    Arikuzha is in which district?
    You are lucky to have such a friend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 11:47 AM

      Arikuzha lies in Idukki District but on the border of Idukki and Ernakulam districts.

      Delete
  4. Manav SinghiMay 27, 2013 at 11:57 AM

    I can say that after reading your posts that anyone will love to visit your Arikuzha. If possible then please also post about how to get there and options for accommodation. . . :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 2:51 PM

      Dear friend, Arikuzha is a typical village in interior Kerala where an ordinary tourist won't find anything much... It's the natural beauty of the place and the goodness of the people that I'm trying to highlight in order to show that too much of urbanisation is not good. The villages have to be preserved.

      Delete
  5. KISLAYA GOPALMay 27, 2013 at 12:43 PM

    Beautiful and serene village you have with beautiful people in it.
    THe elderly man reminded me of my Nanaji, my grandfather.
    Thanx for sharing these clicks and about your village.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 2:52 PM

      I'm sure there are plenty of good people in the world, Kislaya. It just takes a little time to discover that goodness.

      Delete
  6. UnknownMay 27, 2013 at 2:18 PM

    Beautiful pics and beautiful incident...it's good to know that still some humans remember to be humane.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 2:53 PM

      Indeed, Pankti. I certainly would like to highlight such goodness, but most people won't like their names to be mentioned.

      Delete
  7. UnknownMay 27, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    Cool pics sir

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 27, 2013 at 2:45 PM

    Real India lies in Village and it is evident in your post

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 2:54 PM

      Exactly, the true india lies in the villages - Gandhi had said it. But no one bothered...

      Delete
  9. MridulaMay 27, 2013 at 5:06 PM

    Lovely pictures!

    ReplyDelete
  10. K V V S MURTHYMay 27, 2013 at 5:11 PM

    I had been in Kerala for some days on a personal work. In my opinion entire state is like a beautiful park.In addition to that, what I like about Kerala is even a poorest one tries to maintain neatness in his daily life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 8:53 PM

      True, wherever you look you find nature's generosity in Kerala.

      Delete
  11. UnknownMay 27, 2013 at 6:54 PM

    Wow u grew up in this place...amazing!! and yess such selfless act is very rare!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 27, 2013 at 8:54 PM

      It's my dream to come back and live a peaceful life in this village after retirement...

      Delete
  12. A Homemaker's UtopiaMay 27, 2013 at 7:27 PM

    Lovely pics and lovely post..:-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. JeevanMay 27, 2013 at 8:50 PM

    Tomichan, you've really brought out the beauty of a simple village in Kerala. You're lucky to have been brought up in this pristine land.

    ReplyDelete
  14. RajeshMay 27, 2013 at 9:30 PM

    Beautiful and scenic village.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AditiMay 27, 2013 at 11:29 PM

      Enjoying the serene holiday pictorial blogs.Do post more.

      Delete
    2. Tomichan MatheikalMay 29, 2013 at 6:57 PM

      Thanks Rajesh and Aditi. Now the tour is beginning and I will have hardly any time to post blogs!

      Delete
  15. AnonymousMay 27, 2013 at 11:52 PM

    Sigh!! I've never been to an actual village, I've never been to any village! I wish I could step out of these concrete jungles!
    Thanks for sharing! It was a virtual delight!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 29, 2013 at 6:58 PM

      Kriti, I conisder myself fortunate to have inherited a legacy in this village.

      Delete
  16. AnonymousMay 28, 2013 at 1:50 AM

    Wow!! It is indeed wonderful to hear that such kind of people still exist!! Thanks for sharing it with us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 29, 2013 at 6:59 PM

      Such people are not too rare, my friend. It's just a question of synchronisation of minds.

      Delete
  17. Rakesh VanamaliMay 28, 2013 at 9:30 AM

    The magic of Kerala, can never be paralleled! Brilliant post and a good space you have here. Chanced up on Indiblogger. Glad to have stopped by.

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnonymousMay 28, 2013 at 2:30 PM

    Your story was like a cure for depression. BTW, checked out your blog on my phone. The mobile version looks clean and classy.

    ReplyDelete
  19. UnknownMay 28, 2013 at 7:32 PM

    At a time when the venom of distrust and meanness chokes us in our city life, your post gives us an insight into the beauty of village life and the intrinsic goodness of the people living there. This is a welcome relief from the kind of life we live out here and such cordial behaviour characteristic of rural life in the purity of sylvan surroundings does not still make us feel ashamed when we want to assert- our India is great. A great post with some beautiful pictures.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 29, 2013 at 7:01 PM

      I'm myself taking a break from the city of Delhi, you know. I do believe that there's a lot of goodness in the world...

      Delete
  20. mandakolathurMay 30, 2013 at 6:53 AM

    Would you agree that an aptitude for rational enquiry? That was in response to the comment "to make sure you start walking properly."

    By the way, I visited Chengannur for two days some years ago. While I was visiting people whom I consider my adopted family, I also wanted to take in Kerala, the sliver of Kerala I had an opportunity look up close. This in response to your, "ordinary tourists won't find anything much." The thing is you find much only when you stop trying to. Unfortunately, "typical" tourists do not know this.

    Yes, I am glad you posted this,photographs and all. I am also glad that people appreciated the photographs. Yet, I feel they will be disappointed when they get to the place. These photographs lie, just as every photograph does. Photographs transmit emotions and one must be mature enough to receive them.

    Enjoy your vacation, despite this jarring discordant note.

    RE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 30, 2013 at 7:22 AM

      The photos are selected, no doubt, Raghuram, with many reasons for the choice. To that extent they lie. At any rate, my objective - as I have stated above - is not to promote tourism but to show the beauty of the rural Kerala. I would appreciate it much if people begin to understand that beauty and stop killing it with too much urbanisation, induastrialisation, etc.

      Delete
    2. mandakolathurMay 30, 2013 at 4:01 PM

      It is not in the sense you perceived that I said photographs lie. You may not recall that quite a while ago, I wrote in a blog (in the other space) that any photograph by the very fact of having been clicked by one person can convey only a garbled context to the others. You misunderstood me thoroughly. That shot of the road or the temple front could have conveyed that vehicles have intruded, or they have not intruded enough to have created a rural nightmare. Only you know.

      I take you at your word, but there were at least a couple of touristy sentiments expressed by the visitors, "How I wish I were there!" I never even implied that you were promoting Kerala tourism, which in any case is not a bad endeavour at all.

      Sorry for inadvertently creating misunderstanding.

      RE

      Delete
  21. mandakolathurMay 30, 2013 at 6:57 AM

    The first sentence of my comment is incomplete. The missing portion: "enhances the aptitude"

    RE

    ReplyDelete
  22. mandakolathurMay 30, 2013 at 6:59 AM

    Your post just refuses to let me loose! Another mistake: read "attitude" in place of aptitude.

    RE

    ReplyDelete
  23. D.NambiarMay 31, 2013 at 4:18 AM

    Lovely (and homely) photos. How sweet that somebody should that trouble to get you some herbal medicines. I hope your leg's better soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMay 31, 2013 at 8:18 AM

      Thanks, DN.
      The herbal medicine did help to reduce the swelling. But since I'm on the move most of the time, even the medicine will take time it seems :)

      Delete
  24. UnknownJune 1, 2013 at 12:48 AM

    i have heard..people from the rural areas are more simple than in the towns and are thus more willing to help people in times of distress...where as in towns even if a neighbor is dying a person would not have a second look...!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
47 comments
Read more

The Veiled Women

One of the controversies that has been raging in Kerala for quite some time now is about a girl student’s decision to wear the hijab to school. The school run by Christian nuns did not appreciate the girl’s choice of religious identity over the school uniform and punished her by making her stand outside the classroom. The matter was taken up immediately by a fundamentalist Muslim organisation (SDPI) which created the usual sound and fury on the campus as well as outside. Kerala is a liberal state in which Hindus (55%), Muslims (27%), and Christians (18%) have been living in fair though superficial harmony even after Modi’s BJP with its cantankerous exclusivism assumed power in Delhi. Maybe, Modi created much insecurity feeling among the Muslims in Kerala too resulting in some reactionary moves like the hijab mentioned above. The school could have handled it diplomatically given the general nature of Muslims which is not quite amenable to sense and sensibility. From the time I shi...
15 comments
Read more

The Real Enemies of India

People in general are inclined to pass the blame on to others whatever the fault.  For example, we Indians love to blame the British for their alleged ‘divide-and-rule’ policy.  Did the British really divide India into Hindus and Muslims or did the Indians do it themselves?  Was there any unified entity called India in the first place before the British unified it? Having raised those questions, I’m going to commit a further sacrilege of quoting a British journalist-cum-historian.  In his magnum opus, India: a History , John Keay says that the “stock accusations of a wider Machiavellian intent to ‘divide and rule’ and to ‘stir up Hindu-Muslim animosity’” levelled against the British Raj made little sense when the freedom struggle was going on in India because there really was no unified India until the British unified it politically.  Communal divisions existed in India despite the political unification.  In fact, they existed even before the Briti...
16 comments
Read more

Insecurity and Exclusivism

“ Hindu khatare mein hai.” This was one of the first slogans that accompanied the emergence of Narendra Modi on the national scene. It means Hindus are in Danger . It reveals a deep-rooted feeling of insecurity. Hindus constitute an overwhelming majority in India – 80%. All the high positions in governance, judiciary, academics, any significant place, are occupied by Hindus. Yet the slogan was born. Strange? It will be facile to argue that Modi used this slogan and its concomitant hatred of Muslims and Christians as a political weapon for winning votes. True, he was successful in that; he rose to the highest political post in the country using minority-bashing. But the hatred did not end with that achievement; rather it spread outward and became more exclusive. Muslim and European rulers of India were booted out from the country’s history books and wherever else possible like the names of roads and institutions. With vengeance. Now there is a concerted effort going on to place In...
31 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
19 comments
Read more