Thiruvanantapuram

Despite the 7 o'clock arrival at Thiruvanatapuram railway station, our clothes quickly clenched to our bodies. March is Kerala's warmest month, which says a lot since Kerala is one of India's warmest states. It is also the state where we intend to spend most of our trip.
We found our way to the capital of Kerala,- not so much for sightseeing, but to fix some practicalities such as flight tickets and the arrangements of a visit to a Diabetes care centre and diabetes awareness project.

Walking down the dusty roads, looking for an open Internet place, we passed rows of small tea shops and kiosks with one thing in common; big fat red bananas, baby size yellow bananas and not ripe green normal sized bananas hanging from their ceilings. We are definitely in Banana Heaven!
People would observe us with curiosity, but a big smile from us and a wob with the head (more about that later) always resulted in the same from them. Of cause we couldn't help looking at them either, especially the men. Imagine going to a place where men wear skirts. Most men in Kerala wear a lungi which is basically a cloth wrapped around the body like a skirt tied with a knot. With a thermometer showing +35°C and a high humidity, we couldn't help envying them when looking down at our annoying hot jeans.


Keralites are known as a friendly and very laid back people. We agree. We are constantly met with a kind and honest curiosity, and not in a intrusive way as we have experienced in other countries. We were a little surprised though of how low the level of English skills are here and wonder how much it will affect our voluntary activities.

Our two nights in Thiruvanatapuram passed quickly, but still it left many impressions. We will remember the friendly people at Connemara market who eagerly told us about their exotic vegetables and fruits,

and we will remember the first taste of the sweet typical Keralean coconut curry, the contrast between the impressive state government and legislative buildings and the poorly maintained roads and the many peaceful demonstrations, which were there maybe because of the upcoming election(?).


In Thiruvanatapuram we also had our first close encounter with a Hindu temple, the 250 year old Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple.
Well, not really close, as non-Hindus generally are not allowed to enter Hindu temples, but it was possible for us to grab a sense of th atmospheric place by standing outside the 30 meter tall seven-tier gopuram and watching the many Hindus on their way to pay respect to the deity Padmanabha.


It remains a mystery to us why only Hindus are allowed into their temple grounds when Hinduism per definition is the most tolerant of all the major religions? (Quote: Former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Dr. Shashi Tharoor)


At another Hindu temple, worshippers brought coconuts that they ritually splintered by throwing them into a giant jar before starting their prayers. We are still searching for the full explanation.

When the final arrangements with Dr. Kumar in Pandalam was set up, we once again made our way to the railway station.