I was tired after my three-hour flight from Delhi to Kochi. This was Kerala in all its glory. I parked myself in the Tower House which is an old heritage hotel in the Fort Kochi area from the time of the British Raj.
I was there for a few days with my Infynith team to revamp and upgrade my blog. Yes, Tikku’s Travelthon is getting a makeover. We are upgrading to the custom WordPress platform.
After giving out a few instructions, we headed for the beach for a feast of fried pomfret, beer, shrimps and chicken. A quick nap and I felt fresh again as I gazed at the sea shore from my window sharing my ideas with the site developer.
Kerala is a communist state and world famous for ayurveda. “You went to Baba Ramdev’s ashram. Have you got any contacts there? I want to sell ayurveda to Baba.” Shiju asked me with a polite glare “No, not really. I tried getting an interview with him but I failed.” Shiju, the boss of Infynith, felt let down. The worst thing about Cochin is the butter chicken. I mean, these guys can’t cook North Indian food for nuts. When in Kerala, just try the local cuisine and that will give you all the satisfaction.
On the last day of my stay in Kochi, we moved to Alappuzha where we had hired a houseboat for the night. The whole day was dedicated to taking pictures and feasting on fish that we caught from the river.
In the evening, I went for a swim in the saline waters of the canal. It was wonderful as I saw kids jumping into the water to escape the heat. This was truly God’s Own Country with its palm trees, wooden boats and green waters of the bay.
The whole team had a great time strolling in the nearby farmland area taking pictures of birds and various other water bodies. It was business and pleasure rolled into one. Salman, a member of team Infynith, and I sat down for a chat about married life and what one should think of before one takes the plunge. He was very keen to invite me for his wedding.
Next morning, we all got up in a hurry. It was like the wild beasts had just been woken up. There was chaos all the way as I was late to catch my flight. We rushed into the car and Shiju drove me to the airport in a hurry. I was pleased with this trip to Kochi as I felt that I had accomplished my goals and vision for Tikku’s Travelthon. It was time to take it to the next level!