Travelling through Malabar...

Though I originally belong to Malabar, I had never bothered to find out more about the colorful heritage of my hometown and to discover the simple joys of the people here. This thought haunted me particularly when I visited Beypore with 2 friends, Chuga and Sudheer.

Beypore is a small town about 10 kms from Calicut city. Sudheer, who is from Calicut, told me and Chuga  about it. It was once known as ‘Sultan Pattanam’, an important trading port. But nowadays Beypore is especially  known for its ‘Uru’. This was an unfamiliar word for both Chuga and me. Sudheer explained that 'Uru' refers to the country boats used here. And, as I soon found out, these were mammoth country boats

As we walked down the narrow street leading to the beach, we noticed small models of the 'Uru' being displayed in shops. Delicately crafted in great detail, these tiny boats were made out of pure timber. “They look very real”, marveled Chuga. Suddenly, a young man jumped out of a small 'Uru' shop. “Sir, I am Raffique”, he said. Chuga politely said “Hello” and shook his hand. For Raffique, this was a great moment, when a foreigner shook his hand. He welcomed us into his small shop. He soon found out that Chuga was not an ordinary tourist who had come to buy antique pieces from his shop. When Chuga explained the reason behind his trip to Kerala, Raffique offered to take us to his house where he also built the 'Uru' later that day. In the mean time we decided to explore the nearby beach.

I was amused to see his excitement and enthusiasm as he took us down to the beach. He said, “Sir, the specialty of our beach is that there are 2 man-made extensions breaking the sea. This makes it easier for fishing boats to access the beach.”Chuga found all this very interesting and was looking forward to seeing the beach.

 

On the way, we saw 2 little children playing on a swing. They told us that they had designed and made the swing themselves. It looked very ordinary. But what amazed me was their creativity. They were from a poor family. But from the twinkle in their eyes and the huge smiles on their faces, I could see that they were happy and content; maybe even more than me.

 

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