Dear friends,

      Sharing with you a few photographs taken during  my recent visit to Kerala.

      http://www.flickr.com/photos/nadirafromkannur/

     The beach in the pictures, is about twenty minutes drive from my home. When the sky is  clear of monsoon clouds, the sunset is a beautiful sight. Not lucky this time though .

      We also have an old fort in Kannur built near the  seashore. Constructed  by the Portuguese, it was later on taken over by the Dutch. They in turn, sold it to the Arakkal Rajahs, who were the then local rulers. On earlier occasions , one has sat  there  for a long time, on the  stone embankments of the fort, blackened with age, watching  the waves lashing against the rocks, sometimes coming high enough to drench you . Now, to protect the walls from being eroded by the salty air and water, the walls have been plastered smoothly. The whole place has a spruced up look, gardens and all, but it just isn't the same.  The location can get kind of secluded and some years ago, there was a rare case of rape. The local authorities are not taking any chances I guess, for there were constables posted there. Such deployment is being done at all the main tourist destinations.

        Muzhappilangad is another drive-in beach in Kannur. When we went there,  on an evening , the tide had brought in a lot of trash. But soon we saw a group of women walking along the shore with baskets and brooms , cleaning up the entire length of the beach. Employed by the Tourism Department, these women were associated with the "Kudumbashree" project , launched by the Government ,with the aim of eradicating poverty. They are self help groups of women from poor families  now engaged in a variety of activities , ranging from garbage collection , tailoring, pickle making,adult education and so on. Loans are provided and the participating  groups are encouraged to explore new areas  of income generation. They are also trained  to maintain logbooks containing details of the loans , profits generated from the activity they are engaged in , loan repayments etc. It is working quite well. 

      Wynad district, where the other photographs were taken, is slowly becoming a tourist attraction. The place is  not for those looking for malls and fast food joints. For nature lovers though,  the beautiful , gently rolling hills and the verdant terrain is a feast to the eyes. Wynad has a large tribal population. There have been conflicts about their rights over forest land . The successive Governments have been trying to rehabilitate them with distribution of land , schools for their children and so on.

      Tourism is being actively promoted by the State, but with due regard to the protection of the environment. Construction on ecologically fragile areas, even when privately owned  , is being allowed with many restrictions.

     Do visit Kerala . It's beautiful!

     ( No, I am not on the payrolls of the Kerala Tourism Department):-)