Coconut, fish, spices and intellect

Kerala is unique as it is a strip of verdant land just a few miles in width with the luring Arabian sea n the West and the misty Western Ghats towering 500-2700 ms in the East. The land is enriched by over forty rivers crisscrossing the land strip. It has an equable climate, a long shoreline with serene beaches, tranquil stretches of emerald backwaters, lush hill stations, exotic wildlife, waterfalls, sprawling plantations and paddy fields, enchanting art forms, magical festivals and an exotic cuisine. Damn Hawaii and damn Rio, watch the damsels of Kerala on the beaches , backwaters and the mountains sashaying in lungi and tops as itsy bitsy as bikini tops. It is for such reasons a government department of Kerala in charge of promoting tourism has adopted the slogan God’s Own Country for its campaigns. The name must have come naturally to the babu…

Nothing can beat the  karimeen pollichatu and ayila varuthathu in the sea food variety washed down by of course coconut toddy, while sailing in the backwaters on a moonlit night or on a dark night with the monsoon rain tip-tapping the thatched roof of the house boat.. . so much for the exotic cuisine and an intoxicating ambience. The combinations can be varied and the taste made different with a variety of spices and the beautiful species of all hues and relations.

Well what has all this got to do with the intellect?

Everything I say. For one, with a lifestyle in these bewitching environs who needs intellect?  An average Keralite while gallivanting with the Gods (and the Goddesses) in their own country, obviously is not expected to tap intellectual resources. When the guy gets out of Kerala and there are no Gods or Goddesses around the unused intelligence accumulated over years is used in abundance. “Nonsense”, I hear somebody say…”No sir”, I say, this phenomenon is known in psychological circles as Reverse Cosmosis. This cosmic theory says that normal human beings who use the little intellect day in and day out are required to go on a holiday to recharge and distress. This activity is known as Cosmosis. I am sure now you now understand the theory of Reverse Cosmosis!

It is not fish! It is not coconuts! It is not spices! Even the Americans eat fish and chips! It is the whole package of growing and living in God’s own country!