God’s own country, India’s tourist haven, the land of the coconut trees, the state with the highest literacy rate, a paradise on Earth, a temple of everything Auyrvedic,  the paradise of the exotic backwaters and even more exotic food – Kerala is different things to different people. But in one thing everyone stands united – it is a place to visit at least once in this lifetime.

Located along the Malabar Coast of southwest India, Kerala captured the world’s fascination way before India acquired its current pre-eminent position in the globetrotter’s imagination. It travelled across oceans through the word-of-mouth of visitors to make a place for itself among much-vaunted tourist destinations, much before the Internet shrunk the world and brought Kerala’s backwaters in global backyards.

Popular for these aforementioned backwaters, the Ayurvedic treatment spas that are as common here as fast food joints are in most cities, and yoga, Kerala calls out to all those weary souls seeking shelter from cacophony of city life and bears them away to calmer shores. 

Kerala is old – and familiar, like all the good things in life, like memories of more innocent times, which we retreat into as an escape from the desperate intensity of the Now. Being in Kerala, even for tourists and visitors, is like coming home.