The Invitation
You should always feel fortunate to be invited to an authentic Indian style wedding. Especially if it is taking place in India and has a double-bonus of blending wedding traditions from both the north and the south of India.
So it was that an Indian couple that we became friends with during my work in Vietnam invited us to their son’s wedding. Naturally, as a retired couple, we could not travel to the other side of the world and only attend the wedding. We had to make a big trip out of it.
The wedding would take place in the state of Kerala in south India. Kerala is home to the Western Ghat mountain range. If you have never heard of this area, know that it has been identified as one of the ten most biodiverse regions in the world. Between the wedding and birding Kerala this trip was going to be exciting.
Birding Kerala Plan - Pre-Wedding
Not wanting to be jet lagged during the wedding events, we decided to arrive almost two weeks before the wedding. We also needed to get a grip on the attire required, which seemed quite complex. We would need somewhere around five to seven outfits matching the theme of each of the events. Some we could rent, some we would need to purchase, and one would be purchased for us by our friends (I guess they did not trust that we would get it right).
All of that would not take 12 days to complete, so what should we do with all that time? Maybe go birding Kerala? I think that would be a great idea. After all, I was closing in on 2000 lifetime birds and there seemed to be a possibility that I could get there on this trip. I would need roughly 130 new birds.
We flew into Kochi, the capital of Kerala, and planned three nights to sort out the clothes. This turned out to be anti-climactic and I only rented a tux for the final reception which was nearly three weeks down the road. The rest of the clothes would be sorted later.
Getting Around Town
We taxi’d and Uber’d around town so I must mention the driving situation in Kochi (and most of India, I suspect). Let me digress, if, when I was working, I were to ever have a near miss that I thought my life nearly ended while driving to work, I imagine that I would get to work, call Mirka, tell her that I love her and that I don’t know what I would do without her.
Well, that type of thing happened about every 30 seconds with our cab and Uber drivers. Lane compliance does not exist; “no passing zone” compliance does not exist and even driving on the correct side of the road is a bit of a guideline. Throw in road work, cows, dogs, bicycles, motorbikes, pedestrians, hostile public buses and randomly stopped vehicles in lanes and it’s a miracle we never experienced an accident. Surprisingly, we did not see a single accident and cars did not seem to be too banged up. With all this going on, the drivers seemed calm.
It did, however, seem like the objective of most of our Uber and taxi drivers was to urgently pass the vehicle in front of them no matter how fast it was going. There was a never-ending stream of vehicles in front of us that just needed to be passed.
Birding Kerala Begins
Now to some birding Kerala. I had already recorded a few low hanging lifers like White-cheeked Barbet, Indian Paradise-Flycatcher and House Crow on Day One at our accommodation close to the airport. We went on a backwater boat trip in Kochi which was nice and yielded some more lifers like Greenish Warbler, Western Reef-Heron and Rufous Treepie. Birding Kerala was off to a good start with 15 lifers before really beginning the birding.
Soon we were off to one of the premier birding spots of the Western Ghats and frankly all of India. The area of Thattekkad. We booked 4 nights at the Jungle Bird Lodge which is a very birding focused homestay and uses in-house guides every morning and evening. They also operate a couple of hides.
The elevation of Thattekkad is about 100 meters above sea level. There are two major reserves: the Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary (government reserve) and the Dr. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary (private reserve). The birdiness of this area is over the top. The sound in the morning is amazing. Birding Kerala was getting exciting.
We birded both hides, went on several day hikes and even went owling one night. In all, I listed forty-five lifer birds at Thattekkad.
The Jungle Bird Lodge
The Jungle Bird Lodge was a great place to stay. It was affordable and the owner is the main guide. It is a real family homestay, the roof top deck makes for great birding and the family-prepared Kerala style cuisine was very tasty. I was getting used to the whole idea of eating with only my hands. It is quite a strange feeling to plunge your fingers into a pile of rice with curry on top. Watching Indians eat like that, you can see that there is a real technique to it, and it is quite natural for them. For me, when in India…. We have been told that eating like that enhances the experience of eating and the sensation of the flavors.
After the Jungle Bird we would need to relocate to Calicut which is about 6 hours north of our location. We hired a driver and made our way in preparation for start of the wedding. We still had some clothing issues to sort, and the wedding was now 4 days away.
Relocation and Preparation
We stayed at a boutique hotel near Calicut. I rented two more suits, an Indo-Western suit and a Modi Jacket with Kurtha. Mirka went to this amazing saree store called Seematti where she was treated like a movie star and bought two beautiful silk sarees. On a side note, I had no idea that a saree was a wrap and not a dress that you put on. Learning to wrap a saree properly is no easy feat. In fact, we would never accomplish it, always throwing in the towel and calling in experts (Indian ladies) to make the wrap.
I did manage a couple of birding excursions to some eBird hotspots in the area. One turned out to be a very strenuous hike. But they were all worth it as a handful of new lifers would be found including Booted Eagle, Yellow-billed Babbler and Black-headed Cuckooshrike.
Birding Kerala on Hold for the Wedding
Let the wedding begin. Birding Kerala would be put on hold for the next week. Raja and Indu (parents of the groom) treated us like royalty. When we moved to the first wedding venue, the 5-star Raviz Kadavu, we were very surprised to discover that they had booked us into not a hotel room, but an entire villa overlooking the Chaliyar River. All the events, and there were many, at this first stop would be in the tradition of the north of India.
Some of the events were quite personal and ritualistic where the crowd is merely observing the process of the officiant reading passages and performing various rites with the couple.
Other events were quite festive. In particular, the Sangeet is a big party with music and dancing. A unique feature of this is that various combinations of family members and friends choreograph dance routines and perform them on stage. Now that I know this, if we ever go to another wedding in the north traditions, we will prepare a dance to perform.
After two and a half full days of events and many amazing meals it was time to move to the next venue and begin the traditional activities of a south Indian wedding. Transportation was provided to Guruvayor where the actual wedding ceremony would take place. Again, we were put-up in a very nice hotel. Guruvayor is the site of Shri Krishna, a most holy Hindu temple and performs dozens of weddings each day. Our time slot was 6:30am. The ceremony lasted about 15 minutes, and it was a small group of attendees. We felt very special to be there. There was a post wedding event based mostly on ritual but also, people lined up to greet the new couple and get photos taken.
The last move was back to Kochi for the big blow-out at the Le Meridian luxury hotel. This reception had roughly 300 in attendance. We were again treated very kindly with assigned seating right in front of the stage where there was live music and professional dancers.
The Grand Wedding Finale
With a dramatic entrance the new couple entered the venue and made their way to the stage where they had a toast (one sip of red wine). This was the only alcohol at the entire weeklong wedding. They took their seats and then the speeches began. Of course, parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins were first to go. Then all the sudden, Raja, started thanking the 6-8 of us who traveled long distances to be there. This was nice, we stood up, took a bow while the crowd clapped. Then a few minutes later, we were called again to give a speech. I didn’t see that one coming. Fortunately, I have given many impromptu speeches in my working life, so I got through it.
One would think that during the reception the couple would randomly mingle with the guests, but not so. It is far more controlled. The couple stays on stage for the entire reception and well-wishers line-up to say a few congratulatory words, possibly give a small offering in an envelope (No round numbers, please. Add a one to whatever you offer for good luck.) and get their photo taken.
Then, just like that it was over. We met most of the family members and had a really great time. Raja and Indu gave us a beautiful mirror which is a very special Kerala produced item made from polished alloy, not glass. It was sad for it to be over.
New Friends
Of the foreign guests, we spent a lot of time with a corrosion engineer from Vietnam at both the wedding events and outside of the events. We really got to know Ms. Vinh more deeply than when we were in Vietnam. She was a real bright spot on our time at the wedding.
Raja worked many years with Kuwait Petroleum (KPI) before working in Vietnam. In attendance were former colleagues from Kuwait including the former CEO of KPI, the CEO of a major maintenance contractor in Kuwait and the former Oil Minister of Kuwait. I had some very nice conversations with the former Oil Minister. He was a very down-to-earth relatable person who I enjoyed talking with.
The bride and groom currently live and work in the USA. They received their degrees from Purdue University. Murali works for GE in New York and Nidhi works at an IT firm in Bentonville, Arkansas. Now they must sort out who will be leaving their job and where they want to live.
High Elevation Birding and Tea
After the wedding there was one last stop in birding Kerala, we would travel high into the Western Ghats to a town called Munnar. The elevation at Munnar is about 6000 ft above sea level. We had booked the Abad Castle Resort and I had arranged a birding guide. At this elevation there would be new birds to see.
In the cloud fog of the first afternoon, from my balcony, I saw my lifer Blue-capped Rock-Thrush. What a surprise! I snapped a crappy photo in the fog, expecting to see this bird many more times, I never saw it again.
We birded that afternoon, the next day and the following morning with our guide. I am not going to say that the guide was not knowledgeable because I believe that he was. He seemed to know the bird calls and a few places to look for the targets that I gave him. I think my issue was a lack of enthusiasm compared to what I am used to and a heavy reliance on playback.
We were also hindered by weather in Munnar. We were heavily fogged in for a good portion of the birding which made spotting the birds difficult. Our trip to Eravikulam National Park was a birding Kerala highlight with good looks at the elusive White-bellied Sholakili, Nilgiri Pipit and Palani Laughingthrush.
They Like their Tea
The countryside of Munnar is filled with tea farms thanks to the British who started planting in the 1880’s. Mirka and I took a tea factory tour and learned so much about tea production. Across the globe, tea is produced from a single species of plant, Camellia sinensis. Green Tea vs Black Tea has to do with how the leaves are processed (fermented/oxidized), black being more heavily fermented. White Tea is lightly processed not from the leaves but from the leaf buds. All other teas, Earl Gray, for example, are made by adding flavorings to one of the above three types of tea, usually black.
Cultural Observations
I must close with three cultural observations about Kerala. They are not big on the vices that many westerners regularly engage. Very few restaurants serve alcohol and not many “bars” were noticed. Also, tobacco use was almost non-existent. Rarely did I notice someone with a cigarette in their mouth. Good for the Indians on these points.
Kerala is one of the few locations in the world with free and transparent elections that regularly chooses the Communist Party to govern them. You can see many symbols of this as you drive around the state. In fact, a state level party leader was in attendance at the wedding and when announced received a warm round of applause. I can’t see that happening at an Oklahoma wedding!
The third observation is regarding billboards on the highways. They like them. They like them huge. I would estimate many of them to be 20 meters by 30 meters. And what are the top products being advertised, you may ask? Fine ladies’ jewelry and bras. Why these two items dominate the billboard scene, I have no idea.
So closes the chapter on birding Kerala. We reported 175 different species in Kerala and I probably got 75% of the lifers that I expected. The 2000 lifer goal still needed some work but was a possibility. I was happy and ready for the next phase.
Joel and Mirka, you are the best geography, social science and ornithology teachers I ever had. Indians and their Hindu traditions got a head start on us, going back some 5,000 years. Their birds date back much longer. I would like to add that finger food is also flavored by banana leaves the food is served on. Note that your house in Bocas del Toro is about the same latitude of Kochi area: 9.3 degrees north. Have you seen any commercial banana plantings? My assignments were further north to Pune, Maharastra and even cold Delhi. Are you seeing long distance passenger trains in Karala? I was impressed with an overnight train with beds from Pune to Maharastra. Once again, congratulations on your 2,000th bird. You are rapidly catching up with Phoebe Snetsinger.
Thanks Clyde. We did see some small scale production but nothing the likes of Central America. We never took an overnight train, choosing to fly between cities, but we did see many of them.
I tour the world through your eyes! The photos are amazing! What else is there to say? Stay safe and I eagerly await the next post.
Juanita
Wow! So entertaining and informative! I started out planning to comment on my favorite bird as the Black-rumped Flameback, but as I read on, there were soon too many to list. The Velvet-fronted Nuthatch is also quite amazing. I enjoyed reading about the traffic, wedding, and tea. I’m glad that you didn’t miss the Blue-capped Rock-Thrush but sorry the photo wasn’t deemed post-worthy. Looking forward to part 2, although Clyde may have given something away!
What an adventure! I really want to learn that yoga pose the Velvet-fronted Nuthatch was doing 🙂
Haha, its good for the neck!