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It is now 6 years since my first month long visit to India, taking in the typical tourist spots of Goa, Benares, Agra, Jaipur, Udiapur, Jodpur and Delhi. The trip just changed my life by introducing me to a wide range of so many different people with one common link....they all seemed so happy no matter what their status.

I have now returned six times and eagerly look forward to my next visit in November, taking a group of eighteen friends. My destination? Why, Kerala of course.

Three years ago, I arrived in Trivandrum by overnight train from Chennai and headed for Kovalam for a well earned period of ‘chilling out’. Wonderful climate, good hotels, lovely beaches, great scenery and the most welcoming of people affected me so much so that I have returned twice a year since.

In fact, I am now going to have a house built in the forests near Kattakada so that, in January 2001, I can spend three to four months a year there, helping out at an interesting charity based in Kovalam. Of course, there is more to it than helping out. It is mainly because I have developed an increasing number of true and wonderful friends in the area and want to spend time with them.

It will also mean that I have somewhere where my friends can stay and learn to love the area and get to know the ‘inner’ Kerala rather than that which most packages companies offer -flight, transfer, hotel, a choice of over priced trips and little else.

My trips to Kerala try to give an insight into the land, its people and its culture and, by meeting and befriending more and more Keralans, the trips get better each time, a bonus for those accompanying me.

However, I feel that there is a downside to life in and around the main tourist resorts of Kovalam and Varkala. Why are there so many traders from Kashmir, Bengal, Gujarat and other states when, I am sure that native Keralan small businesses would benefit and so bring more money into the local economy.

The charity that I support is looking to create co-operatives, especially amongst women, to produce, market and sell local crafts and that will do nothing but good for local communities. It seems a great shame that the tourist £ or $ disappears out of the State and does little for Kerala.

Something else that I would like to see the Authorities give some attention to is the matter of signposting. Not every tourist wants to lay on a beach for 14 days. Many of them would love to be a little more adventurous and make visits by the amazing local buses to smaller villages and communities but do not have the confidence to do so. The reason? Virtually none of the signs on the buses are in English. Conversely, it is easy to get about the country by trains as they all have destintations printed in English as well as the appropriate local language. It really would provide visitors with an opportunity for adventure and, of equal importance, it would inject some money into local communities.

In November, when I return, my party will be welcomed at a special evening of Keralan culture in Ernakulam. As a mark of respect, I am going to teach my group half a dozen English folk dances so that we can perform them in front of our hosts. I have already ‘warned’ my visitors and they are delighted. The start of cultural exchanges????

I now have a Keralan pen friend studying at Iowa State University and, through him, I have made many other friends.
I would love to make contact with Keralans in the UK, especially those within easy reach of Derby and Nottingham, firstly to develop new friendships but secondly, to help me learn words and phrases in the difficult language of Malayalam !

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