Monsoon Sojourn

When Monsoon hampered my trips to less travelled roads, I have no other option but to travel through the rain, enjoying its varying moods. Beauty of rain varies with different terrains. In the hill area rain has a violent mood and in the plains it is romantic. If you want to see the interplay of different moods of rain visit a backwater village and thus Munroe Island became my natural choice. Armed with an umbrella and my favourite camera I reach Munroe Island to capture the beauty of the last lap of famed Kerala Monsoon.

Still it was raining. Toads croaked along the side of rain soaked narrow pathways, birds were trying to dry themselves by shaking feathers sitting on fences. The village is sleepy, seems incessant rain has made it more idle.

Unique village

Munroe Island is nestled between Ashtamudi Lake and Kallada River and this location makes it a place worth to visit. Officially it is a Panchayat in Chittumala block in Kollam District. Two other islands Pattomthuruthu and Pezhumthuruthu are connected to Munroe Island and the trio makes this area unique.

On reaching the mainland, I got the assistance of an auto-driver, Rajeev who is also a good guide. He takes me to the inner regions of the islands but warns that there are some areas where his humble machine cannot reach, you have to tread through mud and I agree. The rain was in its full beauty and playing freely and seems enjoying its last monsoon days. Raindrops created ripples in the backwater, slowly it gains strength and the calm Ashtamudi Lake gets excited and responds with full vigour to the showers. Labourers were hurriedly loading coconut husks in the country boat braving rain. When musical beats of rain sync with the beauty of backwaters it becomes a rare experience to cherish.

Best kept Secret

To see the surprising secret of this village, you have to walk through muddy pathways amidst coconut groves. It is an old beautiful church built by the Dutch in 1878. The red church stands in the verdant area like an old heap of fire, a classic beauty of Dutch-Kerala architecture. Nobody was there except a black cow grazing in front of the church braving the rain. A favourite haunt of wood pigeons, this church has survived the test of time and looks like a stoic witness to different moods of Ashtamudi Lake.

I walk along the verandah of the Church to see the beauty of huge white pillars, a typical form of Dutch architecture. There are no regular masses here and dust gathered here is evidence of it. The only Christian family here is that of Louis Fernandez. This octogenarian looks after the affairs of this Church which falls under Kollam Bishop. The annual affair of Palli Perunnal or Festival is conducted with the help of Non-Christians in the area, says Fernandez. They make it sure to conduct it without any fail. There are two tombs in the backyard of the church; one is that of the wife of Louis Fernandez. The other one is not decipherable.

Rain and the River

On the western side of Munroe island flows the majestic Kallada River. From the Kadavu I decided to cross the river in a country boat that ferries people to West Kallada and back. This is the best way to enjoy the beauty of rain in a river. My co-travellers were cursing rain for its pranks as the oarsman struggled to control the balance of the boat in the rough river. Though calm on the top there will be strong under currents, says an elder and he shows the place in the river where a boat race will be conducted during Onam.

Rain showered on swinging country boats tied to coconut trees along the bank of the river as people waited with umbrellas for the next boat. River was happily flowing after receiving cool showers from the heaven. I wanted to enjoy the beautiful setting for the whole day but have to retreat as the clouds gave the signals of next big rain.

Lesson of History

Munroe Island got its name from Colonel Munroe, the British Resident of Erstwhile Travancore. He was elevated to the post of Dewan in 1910 by Rani Gouri Lakshmi Bhai. He held the post till 1914 and was instrumental in connecting Munroe Island to other islands by digging navigable canals.

Later Colonel Munroe gave the island to Kottayam Church Society for Evangelical purpose. In 1930 Rani Sethu Lekshmi Bhai retrieved it back to government. Stone Age tools and Megaliths have been dug out from this island.

How to reach there

You can reach Munroe Island through Rail, road and water. If you want to enjoy the beauty of backwaters and have time and patience for a two and a half hour boat ride, the best option is to travel by a boat. The government owned boat service is from Kollam jetty to Pattomthuruth. Check the boat timings before you opt for it.

Munroe Island is 25 Kilometres away from Kollam. There are no frequent buses from Kollam, hence board a bus from Kundara and travel 12 kilometres to reach Munroe Island.

There is a railway station at Munroe Island but only passenger trains halt here. Confirm the passenger train timings if you are going by train.

The Earthy Sport

Have you heard the Earth singing with joy? There is a fable about a singer who threw away his flute and ploughed the field to satisfy the earth and then the Earth responded with her music. Poets sing that the Earth is like a beautiful maiden who blushes at the first rain and sometimes she is like a Goddess who gives you the bounty of harvest when satisfied with your toil. A farmer is more attached to the Earth than others, he knows her varying moods. Agriculture is not simply sowing and reaping, to keep the relation with Earth intact farmers derived Agri games. Maramadi or bull race is one of them.
In Maramadi Rain, rhythm and race blend with the strength of man and oxen. The race course is a muddy paddy field clear after harvest and soothed by monsoon rains. The athletes are powerful raging bulls controlled by their jockeys. Maramadi is not a confrontation between man and animal as in the jellikettu in Tamilnadu. It proclaims that man is deeply bonded with nature.

A Village festival

I set out to Kaarathala, a village near Varkala which is around 50 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram hearing that a Maramadi fest will be held there. Elders say that this rural festival was an annual affair at Kaarathala but the agriculture crisis hampered it and the villagers were not able to conduct it for the past seven years. Now they have revived it and the upbeat mood of the villagers was evident of this when I reached there. Hoping for brisk business mobile vendors who sell ice candies and tea roamed around the area. A makeshift restaurant offered mouth watering steamed tapioca or kappa and beef curry and one guy was selling fresh beef under a big tree, red meat was hung on the branches of the tree. As it was the ‘Thrikkarthika’ day of the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (November) an old lady was selling different tuber crops, an essential item for celebrating Karthika. The festival mood was complete with the cheering crowd that consisted of toddlers to octogenarians!

Farmers call the bull which participates in the race ‘uru’. They are brought in mini Lorries and slowly led to the field. They run in pairs or ‘jodi’ and a trial run was allowed for all pairs. The jockey who controls the uru is called an ‘ottakaran’. After the rehearsal one ottakaran complains that the track is too muddy. “An ideal track is one mixed with sand and mud and of 100 metres of length. Here there is no sand and I struggled for grip”, says Nandakumar a jockey with more than ten years of experience. “Take care of gutters there”, Nandakumar warns his companion while setting out for the real run.

The race is in three categories. In the Sub-junior section bulls with two teeth or one year old will participate, in the Junior section bulls with four teeth or two year old will compete. Bulls with six teeth or more than three years old are put in the senior section. The bulls were ready at the starting point with ‘nukam’ or a pole on their shoulders. The ‘maram’ is a plank made of teakwood or Jack wood is tied to the nukam and placed flatly on the muddy field. At the starting point an old farmer waves a red flag. The first pair in the sub-junior section rushes towards the red flag at the finishing point holding the crowd on the tenter hooks of excitement, kids boos with raised hands. “Bulls can’t be trusted” comments a cameraman and he moves to a safer place too shoot. I found bull race a spectacular extravaganza; sometimes the bulls crossed the limits of tracks to nearby fields, and jockeys fell along with them. Some jockeys literally flew above the muddy field and fell flat on the mud, as the bulls tried to shrug away the nukams on their shoulders. My humble camera struggled to capture the pace of the race in its full spirit. The race and excitement continues till afternoon. The excited supporters ran to the field, hugged and kissed their mud-laden jockeys as the owners of winning pairs gleamed with joy.

An enthusiast speaks

“I have seven bulls including the two I bought from here”, says 58-year-old Thankachan, a veteran in this field. Thankachan is into bull race since 1973 and he travelled around 100 kilometres with his bulls to reach here to participate.

Many bull enthusiasts buy either Kadamala bulls or Pulinkudi bulls, the native breeds from Tamil Nadu. They are long, strong and have a body with more aerobic characteristics than ordinary bulls which makes them good athletes. Thankchan says the price of a good pair will cross Rupees one lakh. The race bull’s diet include rice porridge, horse-gram, milk, egg, Dasamoolarishtam, Chicken soup, Mutton soup besides normal cattle feed.

“They will be given intense training in my two acre paddy field. In the month of Medam (April-May) bulls will be ready for the race. Again I check their strength by rehearsal and I select the best one for competition”, says Thankachan. His son Jose assists his father in rearing up the race bulls. Thankachan is very careful in selecting his jockeys too. A good jockey must have strong muscles; he should not pant while running with the bulls. “Besides physical qualities, jockeys must be able to understand the language of the bulls” says Badarudeen the oldest jockey among the participants.
This rustic game is on the wane as the paddy cultivation is no more profitable and fields in Kerala are facing the threat from real estate developers. “We are into paddy cultivation not because of profit but with sheer interest and to forget the pains behind it farmers conduct festivals like this”, says an old farmer. As I clean off the mud from my denim with water from the nearby stream and hastily return to the town, one of the farmers requests me to come again next time also. But he is not sure whether this will take place next year and reminds me to send him photographs.