Off Kovalam, I watched two portly gentlemen polish off half a bottle of whisky in under 15 minutes (watch out: the Kerala peg puts our Patiala cousin to shame), one small sip, then one gulp and the glass is empty. Yet this copious tippling was done noiselessly in the "family room" of a restaurant. By cow-belt standards, everything is astonishingly clean. Toilets, parks, roads, buses, are a sight to behold. At Thiruvananthapuram...
A Secular Gulp
Kerala, or as the tourism brochure advises us "God’s Own Country", is a tranquil, gentle state of indescribable natural charm. Missing is the loud aggressiveness of north India. Present, instead, is a polite, cultured society where people display grace, good-manners, a ready smile and an extraordinary willingness to go the extra mile in order to please the visitor. In museum after museum, near closing time, we were told not to hurry. Tell them how much you are enjoying your vacation in their state and their eyes light up. No one pushes, no one shouts, no one shoves. Queues are formed obediently. I detected only one beggar during my week-long holiday.
Kerala, or as the tourism brochure advises us "God’s Own Country", is a tranquil, gentle state of indescribable natural charm. Missing is the loud aggressiveness of north India. Present, instead, is a polite, cultured society where people display grace, good-manners, a ready smile and an extraordinary willingness to go the extra mile in order to please the visitor. In museum after museum, near closing time, we were told not to hurry. Tell them how much you are enjoying your vacation in their state and their eyes light up. No one pushes, no one shouts, no one shoves. Queues are formed obediently. I detected only one beggar during my week-long holiday.
