Article dedicated to Daphne and Guillaume

Dear readers,

It goes without saying, now that you have understood that we had a nice trip to India last year. Beautiful is too weak a word, actually, to describe this discovery of Kerala. Aaaah! Wonderful India with a thousand palaces, a thousand scents, lush vegetation or majestic deserts. Certainly, the articles in this blog about this unique experience will have given you the desire to leave, the desire to travel. What’s more, thanks to the Covid 19 which has allowed you – I’m talking about those who live in France, the others will adapt according to their local reality – which has therefore allowed you to no longer ignore anything in your room, studio, apartment, house or castle nor the slightest curiosity located less than a kilometre from your home, thanks to the Covid 19 therefore, you will now be dying to make a great liberating journey, the starting point of a new life full of new resolutions with a completely new look. And who says great journey, says « India », there’s no doubt about it.

But allow me, at this point, to have a moving thought for all those who have been hard hit by this coronavirus, whether in their own flesh or in that of their loved ones, or who have been unjustly condemned to living conditions that have suddenly become much more difficult, particularly as a result of living conditions that are already scandalously inadequate. Let us not forget that in our country, Covid 19 or not, at least 9% of the population lives below the poverty line, and for much more, a trip as suggested above is totally unthinkable. I don’t know what to say in the face of all these injustices, whether they come from the hands of men or… from the hands of men, except that I don’t deny them… but perhaps the rest of this article will bring some comfort to those, and if so, then one of my goals will have been achieved.

All my apologies for this long digression, I come back to this marvellous India, object of the journey par excellence, close and mysterious, at the same time welcoming and secret. You are already dreaming… but your dream would be incomplete without a little additional information. This information, all the tourist guides and travel agencies tell you that « it » will not happen, as long as you scrupulously respect a certain number of rules … which will inevitably make you miss the trip, and the adventure that must always be attached to it for it to be a real trip, if you have the misfortune to comply completely. I feel that I’m beginning to intrigue you, I think I’ve even hooked you, so let’s get to the heart of the matter.

First, five photos of Trikaipetta: banana trees, coffee trees, rice fields and local handicrafts…

Then five photos of Mothakhara: a group, a road, a representation: the women drums…

So, on these two series of photos, compared to those you have already discovered on our Blog, what do you notice? Anything at all? Ah yes, one thing perhaps: no trace of the travellers in these photos… neither of them. Anything else? Ah yes, if you look closer, the sharper minds will have noticed that each series is by a different author. Subtle differences in frame, camera settings, use of light… no, I’m delirious! We’re both not very good at photography and all we can do is set the control dial to « landscape », « automatic », « sport » or « macro ». But most of the time we are not on the right setting because we have to think about it all the time and as we are travelling, we think little and absorb a lot, so the settings on the Canon … But if I have told you all this, it is of course to put you on the track, and dear reader, I know your perspicacity and I know, yes, you guessed it: each of these two sets of photos was taken by one or the other of us, because at that moment of the journey, one or the other was totally out of condition to take a single picture. Yes, because of « it ». How to talk more about « it »… difficult, a too realistic vocabulary would risk tarnishing the image of India in the most delicate minds. So, how to put it. The most scientific way would be to say that the microbiological composition of Indian food is not the same as in France. The most scatological way I would be allowed would be to say that when « it » doesn’t want to pass, « it » doesn’t want to pass, even if « it » always ends up coming out, from the top or from the bottom, but never at the desired moment and without finding the slightest pleasure in it. No, don’t go back and look at the photos again, no clue will allow you to see if the photographer has undergone the « U-turn » or the « express passage ». A more practical way to talk about « it » would be to say that you should never believe tour guides or agencies about food advice, because in the end, they don’t work, and following them scrupulously exposes you to two disappointments: not being able to taste a lot of things on the one hand, and on the other hand, having caught « it » despite tireless efforts to avoid it. In the end, the biggest risk is missing the trip. On the other hand, carefully follow your favourite doctor’s instructions (thank you Guillaume!) about the medication to take with you, and even double the quantities. In the end, you’ll never know if it’s nature or chemistry that came to the end of « it », but when you’re in the middle of it, it’s the only thing you can hold on to and keep hope when everything is capsizing: we’ve taken what we need, we just have to wait for it to work. And to wonder what our guests might think of such small things. But on second thought, they seemed very sorry to see us like this. You can understand them when you see some pictures… that will never be published in this blog or anywhere else!

Well, now I think you know all about « it » and you’ve got the gist of it. Indeed, « it » is not much compared to the beauty of India and the strength of the encounters we make there, and we must not let « it » stop us when this irrepressible desire to travel comes out. And for those who can’t afford to travel, they can console themselves by saying that they have escaped « that » and that never far away, there are restaurants where authentic Indians make excellent cuisine that is worthy in every way of their country of origin and… in accordance with the microbiological standards of France!

Par Jean-Yves

Translated with http://www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)