Captivating Calicut - Vasco-da-Gama, Mangroves and Uru Boats of Kerala

History and life often do not agree on importance of events and things. Both also suffer from lack of true perspective- some very important stuff may at times look like insignificant and vice verse. It is quite an humbling experience to find how with time, the so called "game changing" moments are not even remembered by the communities and places affected by them. I was fortunate to witness one such moment of collective amnesia in Kozhikode recently.  

 I love my work when it takes me to new places and helps me discover the magic in them. The visit to Kozhikode (Calicut) was for purely office work, till it was not. Kozhikode, the capital city of historical Malabar was the seat of Zamorin. It was also the place from where Portuguese finally entered India. In fact near the golden beach of Kappad , there is still a board declaring that Vasco Da Gama came to India in 1498 AD  and landed at that beach. Interestingly, except for this hardly noticed plaque there was nothing much to link the place with such a significant moment of history. 

Kappad beach was magnificent and surprisingly secluded and pristine. Except for a small portion where one could spot tourists and local children- it only had birds and crabs as visitors. The golden sand glistened with the waves and the egrets and storks jumped with joy. Even on the part with human presence, the children merrily played, and the fishermen haggled cost of fresh catch straight from sea. It was as tranquil as a poem. I wonder how this gem of a place has stayed away from the touristy gaze and I thanked God for that.

The city beach of Kozhikode was a stark contrast with this. It was full of noise, human activity, and plastic. There was Kerala Book Fest going on and it was difficult to find an empty spot. Stalls of vendors and groups of students had taken up all the space. Even on a hot and humid afternoon, the extent of cacophony of human activities was too much to bear.

 The magic of Malabar was yet to show another act. Early morning at sunrise, I reached Kadalundi, some 20 Km away from Calicut city. Kadalundi–Vallikkunnu Community Reserve is an estuary and India’s first riverfront community reserve in Malabar Coast. There is a Bird Sanctuary and beautiful mangrove swamps – providing home to varied native and migratory birds and insects. It was quite an experience to enter the mangroves in a boat and witness the ecosystem with such close quarters. A big colony of seagulls was merrily chatting and nesting on an island and the damp soil was full of seashells and corals. It was by far my best encounter with social forestry and what wonders it can bring to the lives of people.

We started back from the dense mangroves of Kadalundi to Beypore later that day. The shores of Beypore, carry a secret that is only known to them. Uru or dhow was the traditional Arabian trading vessel, associated with the ship building culture of Kerala. And the art and science of making these ships are still only known to the craftsmen of Beypore. On the face of it, this looks like just some ship building yards, located near a port  but once you look behind the obivious, it is a mesmerizing tale of India’s  centuries old  maritime trade relations and skilled craftsmanship.

Since the early days of India's maritime trade relations with Mesopotamia, on the southwestern coast of the subcontinent, skilled workers have been building handcrafted wooden boats called Uru or Fat boats. Today these are world's largest handcrafted boats and you may still spot them on the Dhaw at Dubai and other Arab countries. Now they are no longer trade vessels and are usually taken as luxury yachts in Gulf countries. Traditionally made with teakwood of Nilambur forest, islands dotting the Chaliyar river near Beypore port have continued the tradition for over a millennium. 

These boats present a unique architecture expertise of a specially skilled group of people from Malabar. There are no plans, sketches, drawings, or blueprints that the makers refer to. In the traditional methods, no iron nails were used either to prevent rusting and consequent leakage in sea. Instead of using nails, the planks of a boat were "sewn" together with rope and then sealed. From conception to completion, it is all in the mind of the master builder or maistry (same as maestro) of a yard - and it works like magic - every single time.

 Associated with this, is the seafaring tradition of Mappila Khalasis dating back to hundreds of years. There is a saying in Malayalam ‘Othupidichal Malayum Porum’. This translates as ‘team work can move mountains’. Anyone who has seen the Khalasis of Malabar region in action will feel the ring of truth in this saying. Watching the Khalasis at work is an amazing experience. The heavy objects they handle could be a ship to be launched or a huge girder weighing tonnes. They use common sense, experience and ancient wisdom passed down over the generations. Their techniques are not found in text books on Engineering. They work with enthusiasm chanting their traditional songs. The group work of Khalasis need unity of mind, spirit and body. Visualize a giant size Uru, weighing hundreds of tons being drawn smoothly to and from the sea, not with the latest hydraulics machines but simply with some ropes, wooden logs, pulleys and an unmatched physical effort of a dedicated group of khalasis. It was fascinating to see these boats in making at a construction yard near Beypore. It is difficult to comprehend the massive size of these boats- well, unless you climb onto one like I did !

The post will be incomplete unless I mention the cuisine and spices of Malabar. After all , Kozhikode(Calicut) is the mecca for the spice trade. Best quality peppers and other spices are grown in this area, bringing much prosperity to the region for centuries. The cuisine and hospitality that comes with it was equally enchanting. The legendary restaurant of Paragon – the Malabar parotta and its sexier cousin the Nool parotta was quite an experience , even for a staunch vegetarian like me.

On my return journey from the train, I again spotted the mangrove swamps and to my surprise, this time the entire landscape evoked a deep sense of nostalgia and a sudden realization hit me hard that I am far away from the places I stayed my life till now.