Taamara - The lotus blooms ( Day 1)

After our trip in Cochin, we were destined for a place called Taamara - this place featured as one of the 20 hideways which were not invaded by hordes of tourists. We had called & booked the place in advance though we were not sure what we were getting into.

Our trip started with the owner's car coming to pick us up from our hotel in Cochin.Our destination was a place called Cherthala. My searches on google has given awaya virtually no results except that the place serves good food. The drive was a pleasant one with moderate traffic accompanied by a lot of greenery around. The drive from the highway to Taamara took us through the local village with pretty houses on both side of the road. The road was a narrow one with cycles & ocassional autos coming our way. It became clear to us that this place was indeed a quiet one with us not having seen a single tourist post our entry into Cherthala.



We reached a large green gate called Taamara and its opening was synonymous with the opening of the gates of heaven. Lush greenery on both sides paved the small route. It was a kind of quiet which you only hear or read about. Ocassionally a bird cries out which cuts through the silence post which it is again ...............quiet. On our way in, we even saw a rabbit named "Roger"( not Moore) who looked at us with suspicious eyes. We were greeted by the owner "Mrs Nirmala Babu" who showed us our rooms.



Now let me describe Taamara to you. Taamara incidentally in Malayalam means Lotus. On the entrance, you find a small house with thatched roofs. The windows are covered with mats to keep the harsh sunlight away. Its entrance has two small canoes on both sides and had a small garden on the front. The front of the house faces the two rooms and the verandah sorrounding it. The place also has a small badminton court and the kitchen facing the court. They have their own speedboat as well which is parked near the bay.

The vast expanse of the Vembanad lake extends its majestic splendour to as far as your eyes can take you. The water is covered with pretty floating green hyacinths which change their place everyday. Its like they have no roots, no attachments and are the biggest gypsies of the water world. Between all these, you see fishermen rowing their tiny canoes coming back for rest after the early morning hard work. After being mesmerised by this sight, we were called for lunch by the hostess.

Lunch was an epicurean affair with it being served on banana leaf. Its called "Sadhya" and is used for serving in marriages / auspicious occasions. We were treated to a delectable South Indian fare consisting of bitter gourd fry( not bitter at all), thoran, ladyfingers made in yoghurt, avial, fish wrapped in banana leaf, pappadam & rice. Wow - and the food was just great with the hostess filling in us with details about the Kerala culture, their food habits, common traits etc. After this heavy lunch, what can you expect but fall asleep watching the lake.

We woke up refreshed around 4 pm and went outside. By that time, the other guest had also arrived. Suzy was her name & she was from London - We exchanged the customary hellos and went on to play badminton. Post a refreshing game of badminton, we went for a walk to the near by temple. It was a quiet walk with ocassional sights of schoolkids walking back home, locals gathering to discuss news, grandfather taking the lil one out for a walk etc. Very distant from the hum drum of the city life. It seems time moves here in a slower manner taking pauses & stops whenever it wants.

When we arrived back, our English friend was taking cooking lessons from the fabulous cook " Raji" with copious notes to take back home. I have met quite a few Brits and befriended some, and it always amazes to see their lessons into the Indian cuisine. Sometimes I think I know less about the Indian spices than they do.

Dinner was served at around 7.30 pm. We were joined by Mrs Nirmala Babu and her husband Mr Babu. Thats how he was introduced, so sorry I dont know his full name. He is a film producer and his last film Agnishakshi won the national award as well. So it was illustrious company. The food was again unmistakenly delicious, a trend which was to follow the kaizen principle with every day. Delicious hot appams with vegetables & fish curry. This is just one part and there was a lot more but my memory only reminds me of the heavenly taste & not the contents.

At the dinner table, we got talking to Suzy and it was some nice conversation. Suzy is an interior designer having travelled a lot across the world and was here on a holiday for around a month. After a lot of discussions on food, Kerala, travelling we came back to a topic we thought we would never have imagined given the sorroundings, recesssion. It was nice getting in touch with reality and was good to see the perspective of someone from some other part. It seems in UK things are worse compared to India - We all hope the entire world comes out of all of this soon. Our hosts were kind of getting bored with all of us chatting away about recession etc etc. So we called it a day and headed back to our rooms. Overall a great first day with great host, awesome food and intelligent conversation etc. Tommorow morning I have to get up to see the sunrise at 6.30 am, so would call it a day

See you tommorow