Untouched Kumbalangi

A trip to Kumabalangi reveals a village preserved in tradition and the wisdom of past generations.

- Akhil Joshy

While battling existential questions that were overpowering the optimism that I sought and temporarily found when I was home for a small vacation, the universe reponded to my exasperation in the form of a call from Narayana Menon, alias NM, a friend and my boss at Wandertrails. I had hardly heard the words, “You up for a trip?” when my thoughts began soaring, contemplating about the places we could visit.

We didn’t choose our destination; it chose us, in the form of Kumbalangi. A suburb of Kochi, Kumbalangi is the first integrated model tourism and fisheries village of India. It is a paradise with water and lush greenery consuming the sins of ‘modern development’ and striking a critical balance on behalf of nature.

After half an hour of the twisting state highway, we entered the terrain that started showing signs of disconnect from the rest of the city. My Fiat idled along the laterite soiled road, flanked by wild grass on either sides and further embraced by the different streams of the inter-locked water bodies of Kumbalangi. This blessed strip of land is flanked by backwaters, canals, rivulets and crab/prawn farms which are all different shades of the same wonder. It felt like we were in the 1990s Doordarshan programmes that featured villages in its truest essence.