The seaside resort

My latest – 9th hotel- is new. One of many new hotels in Kovalam, some way outside Trivandrum. So much for the Delhi travel agent finding me one close to Biotech, he’s just parked me with one of his mates. I could have found a closer one with a blindfold and a pin. It is a lovely hotel though, called the Hill & Sea View. Most of them are called something similar here as the resort is built on two large hills, and you can’t fail to see the sea. There are probably more hotels being built at the moment then are actually up and running.
From my balcony I actually have a view – the first view which hasn’t been a car park or the side or roof of another building. Look south and there’s a red and white painted lighthouse flashing, and look north and you see three mobile masts. Between them is the sea, and between my hotel and the sea are bananas, mangoes, and palms. It all looks like jungle India until you notice that the palms are in rows, and that this resort is being constructed on a plantation. But it looks and sounds like jungle – the racket last night of insects and monkeys. Bells ring out from the temple in the village ‘ting, ting, ting, ting, ting….’ and music plays. I couldn’t see much in the dark, but the lighthouse flashes regularly.

Mr Sajidas of Biotech isn’t able to see me at first, so I had an early morning trip to the beach, and then trying to update the blog on a dodgy, slow internet connection. Last night was another wonderful storm, and so much rain. Is this the monsoon come early? There were quite a few holidaymakers out early, and lots of fishermen. They have these great long wooden boats, very heavy, which about six men paddle. Woven panels are tented over them as they lie on the beach to keep the rain out, and all their fishing gear is similarly covered.
A group of thirty or more men were bringing in a net, like a seine net. The lines holding it were incredibly long; both ends were brought in together; the men singing to keep rhythm. The waves were breaking far out to sea and rolling right up the sands, and out there in the rough waters, three or four men were guiding the net home. As the net came ashore, you could see tiny silver fish, about the size of whitebait. Some I recognised as sandeels, the rest a mystery. When it was finally landed, I don’t know whether it was a disappointing catch or not. The men shrugged when I asked, so I presume it was average. There were about 4 crates of small fish and a dozen larger individuals. Some kind of row broke out between two or three of the older men, maybe to do with divvying up the spoils. If these were share fishermen, then they were having trouble sharing. There were a lot of men involved in the operation, a lot of effort – I wouldn’t have been happy with the result.