01/05/2018 Eighth Day
First visit of the day was to Kanthari. ‘ The organization’s namesake is a chili pepper frequently used in Keralan cuisine. Founded by Sabria, a blind German woman, and Paul, a Dutch engineer, the organization serves as a training facility to educate those passionate in creating and leading social organizations for change in developing countries. The candidates undergo a rigorous entry screening process before they are selected to participate in the organization fully funded. Based on the experiences of Sabria and Paul in developing Kanthari, the organization places the participants within a fictional country and guides them through the development process, letting them learn from their mistakes as they go along. The complex itself, located on lake-front property, was designed by Costford and includes a small fishery, organic gardens, a duck farm, rainwater collection and bicycle-powered pumps, and biogas collected by the separation of liquid and solid waste in toilets. (A community with such amenities would be greatly sought-off in the US by a group of families or friends who want to live together communally) To support their endeavors and to share local Keralan culture, I could not help but to purchase several bags of dried Kanthari peppers as gifts for various people.
A suggestion from our Costford guide, Ashams, lead the group to the currently-constructed house of a former Communist Party of India member of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The house is another Costford project and it demonstrates that their model is compatible with the needs and demands of higher-end clients.
Lastly, the majority of the day was spent waiting for others receive their massages at the beach-front Ayurvedic resort, architecturally designed by Costford and approved by the Government of Kerala for treatment.
For lunch, it was the first time I tried olan, a white gourd dish of Keralan cuisine, and Vatha tea, a “fire” elemental tea.
It would have been better if I could have explored further, but I was lucky to have Ashams with me for a little walk.
He noticed that I was heading away from the group and decided to join me.
So we took a little walk outside the restaurant among the neighborhood of fishermen houses.
I finally learned about the charms that people hung outside their houses. Apparently it is to make their houses less attractive to reduce jealousy among the spirits.
We talked about modern architecture in Kerala and used the local Hindu temple just adjacent the restaurant as an example. The modernist architecture removed much of the identity and culture associated with traditional, stone Hindu temples.
Ashams also demystified the mystery of entering and worshiping at Hindu temples. Just walk in with shoes removed and pray in front of the idol.
Along our walk to the sea-wall, we went through some local women preparing coconut fiber to make into coconut coil rope.
One of the women asked if we wanted to watch them prepare the fibers, but then laughed at us teasingly because they were not yet at the stage for preparations.
Standing on the sea-wall and in front of a row of modern, concrete fishermen homes, we agreed that they were a much improvement from the traditional coconut thatched houses.
I explained my thoughts on why people like Donald Trump and went through some of my personal history.
Overall, it was a very pleasant time and restful day.
