TRAVEL DIARY # BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP #MUNROE THURUTHU , NEAR KOLLAM , KERALA

 

The scenic beauty of the shimmering sea water and the view of the interlude chunks of land covered with coconut trees, are a visual marvel when we travel from Thiruvanandhapuram  towards Kochi, Specifically on a train against those  expanse of backwater.

I’ve travelled many times in this route ,on the trains , religiously  taking  the window seat to enjoy the beauty of this picturesque land and seascapes   , to watch the sun speeding with the train , playing hide and seek with the coconut trees and the vastness of the back waters , blowing  and glowing  with  golden rays .

I have been thinking for many days to venture into this geographical wonder to see, what is inside those  land masses covered with coconut grooves !!! ,  to sail thru the gulfs , walk on the roads inside these land parcels and to see  who is living inside !!! and what do they do !!  

This system of connected but disconnected tiny islands are very complex geography of rivers, backwater, lagoons, canals, and sea . Though the cluster of patches of land is called  ‘Munroe thuruthu’ or ‘Munroe island’ , it disqualifies  to suit within the definition of an island   because of its  physical connection  to the main land .  It has got a railway station in its name ,it  is well connected by roads.  YET its called as islands.  Boats are used for inland travels among these chunks of  land .  This side of the Malayali edge of the  main land is in the process of gulfing by the invasive  sea and what  we see today is the left out crumbs of whatever being eaten by the Arabian sea  and we humans appreciate it as elegance . 

We hired a boatman to  take us inside the sea , mixed with  shallow  and  deeper portions  and the  tourist friendly boatman  took us thru the sweet spots first , which are the  familiar seascapes which we had  seen it as a backdrop for the  familiar duets in Malayalam films. The water was still like a lake, it was greyish with Eichhornia (water hyacinth ) blooming in bunches  and  in some areas   mangroves were grown artificially to control erosion. We spotted some half naked fisherman looking for some easy catches at the bottom of the bund.

It was irritatingly humid and  cloudy with some relief from the  sea breeze swaying from the east side. As we were enjoying the dark clouds on the  open sea , which appeared  clear but threatening with a   potential thunder storm ,  we could see the rain being chased away by the sun rays ,  advancing  towards us with a  heavy drizzle , then with strong showers for a minute   and firmly followed by the chasing sunny rays . We got drenched a bit, but it’s a blessing of a ‘ sunshower ‘  for an experience.

 On a distance in the East , the train passing thru the bridge is a reverse beauty  .  The western side is the open sea here; we can spot a couple of big vessels at a distance.

The boat man stopped at a small jetty for refreshments, After a hot  chai and vadas , he took us  thru  the narrow canals , where we can see the movement  of cars and bikes  above the viaduct  lined with mangroves . It has a strange sync of land and water, cars and boats.

Our boat slowly drifted thru the  floating village of a different kind  , with  houses with  parked bikes in their portico , and a private canoe , gliding in the water  in front  of their house,  the rear side is connected to the main land  . Every island has its own ingredients to show up, huts, chai shops, goats, tethered cows , rooster and its flocks , which contributes  its picturesque appearance from the distance .  I was told that it has, churches , temples and schools also .

We paddled  to the bitter part of the island . These were uninhabited islands, with a few coconut trees; some are left out with abandoned houses / buildings. Most of the land masses has red mangroves at the edge  , those are as good as  trees and  could grow as tall as a Banyan tree , in fact  we climbed in some of the mangroves to take pictures  . They are invasive but contribute to the ecosystem and pretty constructive in conserving this location.

 On reality, after understanding the ground , I realized how “the green veils hides the sinking mire beneath !” . How hard it is for the people to live here!!!. The cluster of these, so called islands is surmounted with myriad problems. It is becoming extremely unlivable. It has acute water shortage and people are leaving this area for obvious reasons. No one to purchase  lands in this area, ‘while the sea water gulfs the land masses, salinity engulfs the livelihood of the people’.

Their sun tanned face, and their sun -creased eyes —tells us their stories.” As each passing day feels like a slow farewell to them. The backwater ,that once fed their fields and carried their boats now creep steadily into their homes, swallowing courtyards, memories, and the whole stretches of land. Salinity has seeped into their wells, their soil, and their livelihood, turning once-fertile plots into barren stretches. Many households stand half-drowned—walls collapsing, roots rotting, and coconut trees tilting like silent witnesses to the island’s grief. As they prepare to leave the only home they have ever known, their faces carry the agony of displacement: the pain of abandoning ancestral soil, the sorrow of watching their land disappear beneath rising waters, and the helplessness of knowing that the island’s slow sinking cannot be stopped. Munroe Thuruthu, once their pride, now forces them away like a parent who can no longer protect its children.”

Its weird to understand the phenomenon and the complexities of the earth, some Natural phenomenon takes centuries to complete its task , but some takes only a  few years . I 've read articles on the geological changes effecting the mountains, courses of rivers ,over thousands of years  , but here in ‘Munroe Thuruthu’  it is all of a sudden  .

 Already eroded half, this area’s agony was aggravated by the  2002 Tsunami. The tsunami changed something seriously in the system   , it triggered the undercurrent or changed the seabed soil or something, that humans cant figure out accurately. The change was faster from then and had caused a  perennial impact overnight  on the lively hood of the people living in this clusters  .

Of course ,  small scale cottage industrial activities  are happening ,  shrimp farming, jute manufacturing , fish drying , toddy tapping etc. Tourism contributes most its economy; mind it! This beauty what we enjoy and spend  is the lively hood for the locals .They host the tourists with food, chai , snacks,  and provide home stay accommodations for some adventurous travelers , but their  dark , weather beaten  faces reflects their grief .I could imagine , beneath the sea , below the water, where the boat floats are their erstwhile villages of their forefathers  . 

What used to be a freshwater-paddy–coconut ecosystem shifted to a brackish-water–fish–shrimp ecosystem. Many locals switched from paddy farming to aquaculture because crops couldn’t tolerate the salt. Salt is invasive here! Salt had become  both adversary and ally —destroying crops while preserving their fish . The soil whispers of the sea’s slow claim.

We have heard of  areas sinking into the sea and some areas propping up in the other parts of the earth. This area belongs to the former , its going inside the water inch by inch , day by day. Geographers ,  predict that this clusters will become extinct within 10 years , by the time, Maldives sinks, these areas  will also  be under the sea.

 “The MUNRO THURUTHU’ looks serene from afar; a postcard of green and blue, but up close, its reality is starkly different”