27 DEC-- JAN
We catch our first white “Ambassador Classic” Kerala cab from the airport through Trivandrum to the rail station, passing street procession on the way, people body painted in yellow and black stripes with tiger masks, some in cages…. Later I find out this is called ‘Poolikali’ or ‘Tiger Games’ But we’re headed for Varkala, the beachof choice for India weary tourists to strip down to their bikinis , soak up the sun and eat ‘gringo’ food. Although ready for a beach, I’m also sceptical of this scene …. So unreal somehow, since we’ve only just arrived I don’t feel a burning desire to ‘escape’ India yet.
Varkala is a cliff top lined with tourist stores and restaurants, bungalows and bamboo cottages. Some 80 or so steps down below is the beach upon which the local lads can gaze from above at the scantily clad girls ….. a bit like being in a fish bowl really! All usual local sensitivities seem suspended here, especially at this time of year when young sun seeking Euros fly in for New Year and prices double. But still, these Keralans seem pretty cool and laid back.
Arriving just before the big New Year rush we manaage to snag a nice room with balcony breeze included, at Oceanic. But by far the best part of the deal is the elephant outside our window!.His name is Rajive, and although he’s a working elephant he’s here with his mahout Sunil for a month to give rides to the gringos. Each morning I eagerly await the soft padding gentle swaying step that lands Rajive beneath our window. It’s shower time….the hose is turned on, Sunil gives instructions in his lilting Malayalum …. ‘Step back, right, a little more! Over here, back a bit' “aleyaleyaley” the splash of water as it drips from the leathery skin, the flapping of happy ears and swishing tail. As his trunk is filled with water the elephant swings it up and sprays all over his back, a process that’s gleefully repeated several times until shower time is over and breakfast begins. I sit on the balcony watching mesmerized as he chomps his way through large piles of palm fronds and occasional banana treats, delicately manoevering them with his curling trunk. I’m amazed at how man and elephant seem to speak the same language, and how this huge wild beast seems so calm and placid even around children who want to stroke him or climb unsteadily onto his back. On our final morning in Varkala, the second day of the New Year and Rajive gets a serious bath! This requires 2 men, one to hose and one to scrub! I watch as he lowers on one knee making a step for Sunil to climb up on his back and scrub behind his ears and down his forehead. Rajive patiently lols from one large padded foot to the next for his pedicure, turns around for a tail splash and around again to allow his trunk to be scrubbed clean and around his solumn pre-historic eyes. Even his tusks are scrubbed clean and the big brass rings around them given a polish. I find myself wondering if he enjoys such pampering like a human would? or is it just a longer wait for breakfast!
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