Village Tourism

Looking forward, optimistically, the Corona free states and those  which have shown considerable efficiency in their health system may see a rise in tourism from a stand still situation.  No doubt, inbound and outbound tourism is not going to revive with visa controls and air travel restrictions still on, there could be a possible increase in tourism with aparticular demand for village and experience oriented tours. With the summer holidays coming, people who are weary after the lock down might want to travel, if the tourism stake holders can woo them to less crowded destinations unlike beaches. 

Social distancing, staying in quarentine have taught all of us a good lesson and chances are local travellers may find experiential tourism a much needed break from the numbness of staying home for so long. 

To attract visitors every suitable localities have to upload short videos on folklores, art forms, cuisines etc on social media and related websites. For that, ofcourse, the local villagers have to be trained on how to make videos and record audios with their phones and how to add sub-titles. 

The government employees who claim the leave travel allowance for the holidays, if they choose, could add some hope and light to tourism villages whose dreams are already shattered. 

Robusta coffee of Wayanad

Italy is famous for its pizzas, wine, gelato and ofcourse coffee among many other food delights. In our state of Kerala, the district of Wayanad produces around 2.24 lakh tonnes of Robusta coffee every year. The Italians use the Robusta for their Coffee and buy from our India and Wayanad farmers around 65,000 tonnes of Robusta every year. With Italy down with Corona Infection, the farmers of Wayanad have lost their hope for the season as such the price was at its lowest in ten years even before the pandemic outbreak.

According to the coffee board of India authorities there are around 59,000 small farmers in the naturally beautiful north Kerala district producing around 58,000 tonnes of Robusta from 67,000 hectares of land. 

All the hopes are now hung on local consumption (1.10 lakh tonnes) by the farmers do not have any insurance coverage. They had insurance cover from weather till 2016, later coffee was dropped from the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana.

Source: The Hindu, 12-04-'20
Wayanad Coffee Farmers

The Will and the Grit

Almost 200 Kilometres everyday, making the best of the coolness of the early morning hours till noon, eating from the Dhabas on the way which were still open during the lock down, Mahesh Jena cycled all the way from Maharastra, where he was working in a workshop, to his home 1700 kilometres away in the village of Bichitrapur in Odissha. There, interestingly, his Covid -19 informed villagers put him under quarentine before accepting him back into the community. Really wish the boy would test negative.

Source:

The Hindu

Heat wave

For a week or so our day temperature was around 38 degrees till it fell to 30 degrees today, following last night's rain. Will the heat  have a remedial effect on the pandemic.

   

Lazarus Saturday

In the eastern tradition of Christianity, the Saturday before Palm Sunday is celebrated as the Lazarus Saturday. It is believed that, Jesus rose to life, the dead Lazarus, on this day before his jubilant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. 

In our Kerala, traditionally, the Christians make dumblings out of Rice, stuffed with grated coconut mixed with Jaggery (local sweetner) and share with the entire family.