August 6, 2014.A group of around 150 people have assembled in the courtyard
of a two- storeyed house on the banks of a rivulet in the village of Kumarakom,
in Kottayam district in Kerala. Neither the marauding rain nor the carnage it
has inflicted on the paddy fields—the primary means of livelihood for the
villagers along with backwater tourism—has managed to dampen their spirits.
Clad in white sleeveless vest and shorts, they are members of the Kumarakom
Town Boat Club (KTBC), one
is a Malayalam writer who has published three works of fiction. He lives in Kottayam.
