By Swati Deb

The intense cold wave had been sweeping across northern India. Fewer doses of sparkling sunlight were pierced by icy winds. Delhi was itself overshadowed by talk of gang rape and noisy protest. It was ideal for any Delhi resident to think of better options — to run/fly away down south towards Kerala — someone had rightly the land ‘the God’s own country’. No! This was no escapism.  

Nestled among lush paddy fields, highlands, extensive rubber and tea plantations resides Kerala. The palatable visitors’ destination – the list was endless. What was more important was to talk about the budget as it was the “season time” when the tour operators ranging from ‘tilak spotting’ taxi-wallahs, ‘mundu (Loongi like) attired’ hotel managers and others make a killing. We settled for a reasonably good but popular circuit – Kochi-Munnar-Thekkady-Allepy-including one-night Houseboat stay. Then came in the crucial negotiation with tour operator Kerala Destinations Pvt Ltd.

Jiby Jose, the M.D of this Kochi-based company knows the job pretty well. Man with an IT background, a jovial person Jose sought to welcome us with his one-liner as much with his broad but infectious smile: “In Kerala we will offer you a perfect blend of ancient, mystical and modern hospitality; a good synthesis of history, wilderness and culture”.

He was right. The five-day stay was truly a wonderful – once in lifetime experience – something refreshing for the mind and soothing for the urbane sore eyes.

If Munnar and Thekkady offered sprawling tea plantations, picture- book towns and a glimpse of Kerala’s own traditional martial art, Alleppey along the shore of Arabian Sea was truly the Venice of East.

The first destination — glamour of Munnar offered the confluence of three mountain streams, 1600 m above sea level. Jose was right : “we had it all sprawling tea plantations, picture- book towns, winding lanes and waterfalls, all combining to make a “unique sight for sore eyes and cure for sore minds”, as he put it.

But from a working scribe’s point of view the stay was also informative – more so for someone with the background of being born and brought up in the backyards of northeast India — Tripura — also idyllic in more ways than one. Alas, I was right; the tourism potentials have not been really exploited in the land of seven sisters.

Let us examine the stark differences – albeit objectively.

“In Kochi itself, we have over 200 tour operators. Starting from very good ones catering to all segments of customers to those operating from home,” says Jose.

He says his company offers services to all segments with corporate packages, honeymoon packages and for targeted segments like students and family. There are also standard, premium and deluxe categories.

“Tourism is definitely a booming industry in our circuit,” says a retired school teacher Muhammad Salim of Thekkady, who also runs a residential apartment meant for visitors.  

In fact, in residential lanes in Thekkady and Munnar several locals like him provide rooms and make good money.

In short the message is: tourism is a booming industry in Kerala. Now, we know, why Kerala could edge out Taj Mahal to become India’s topmost travel destination in the Google’s search trends in 2012.

Kerala registered a record tourist arrival of over one crore with the tourism industry generating a revenue of over Rs 20,000 crore.

So, at the back of my mind – the question was : why not tourism is such an industry in my northeast?

Cut to reality test.

Travel in northeast can be more often nightmarish. Years back I remember, George Fernandes (in 1990 as Railway Minister under V P Singh) had to walk for about 10 km enroute from Dimapur to Kohima. Well, those of us from the region experience such ‘adventures’ annually – thanks to landslides and in Assam – floods.

Roads in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Manipur are washed out by floods regularly. Mizoram capital Aizawl is 8-10 hours away from railway head Silchar in flood-prone Barak Valley of Assam.

The broadgauge trains now operate up to Dibrugarh – in remote tip of upper Assam – but the rail commuters on the route between Delhi and the northeast often complain of “pathetic services” even in Rajdhani locomotives.

Thanks to unplanned manner of things and a large number of trucks plying, the Shillong-Guwahati 3-4 hour time span on odd days now go up to 7-8 hours too.

In contrast, travel in Kerala is fun. All journeys we undertook between major destinations like Munnar and Thekkady or Thekkady to Allepy took 4-5 hours – but the roads were good despite the wild lanes.

Next comes the general law and order issues. While insurgency and related bane like extortions and kidnapping especially in the backyards of Tripura would scare away visitors from northeast – for last six decades – the peaceful abode Kerala is a picture in contrast. Even at the dead of mid-night it is fun and frolic while roaming about on the streets of Munnar or Thekkady after a sumptuous supper preceded by a glass or two of local beer Toddy or even Goa’s famous Fenny.

For the ‘spirit’ lovers, here is a tidbit - people including the visitors in Kerala consumed alcohol worth over Rs 50,000 crore in the past ten years. Kerala State Beverages Corporation (BevCo) is also set to make a sales turnover of more than Rs 9,000 crore.

Again in contrast, practically all northeastern states – Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur and others could not develop their respective tourism potentials because of ethnic and parochial problems. Shillong’s infamous ‘law and order’ problem of 1990s have scared away several one-time residents – including Nepalese.

Therefore, one was little perplexed to encounter Ganga Tamang (36) working as a waiter at a Thekkady eatery as his house in Alu-Gudam area along the Polo Road in Shillong was gutted in 1995.

“The anti plain-manu stir in Dimapur or anti-Dhwakar movements in Shillong have created permanent scars. That’s why every year we travel around India but avoid northeast,” says Vishwakarma Bordoli, an architect working with a Ahmedabad-based firm in Gujarat.

No wonder even as Munnar’s tea gardens and exotic picnic spots at Kumarakom attract millions of tourists every season, every year; the famous tourist spots like Cherapunji, Elephant Falls in Meghalaya and Sepaijola Zoological Park in Tripura have almost gone off the visitors’ maps.

Other issues also mark stark differences between Kerala’s tourism boom and the poorer handling of the tourism potentials in the northeast.

This is vital as unlike in northeast, the locals in Kerala have not left all the initiatives to the government. The growing keenness shown by local entrepreneurs have helped other areas of operation to link to tourism and thus ensure enhanced dividends.

The Elephant Safari at Munnar is a privately-run operation but with the government approval and rates. So is the money spinner houseboat business at Allepy. “The turnover is over Rs 10-15 crore and that’s by a humble  estimate,” says Viju Antony, a driver in one of the houseboats.

“Look at the way the tour operators function in Kerala. No body is trying to cheat you. Everyone around you is working hard but they spot that Malayali smile. Even the handicap of not knowing Hindi for instance is not a major issue as they have a helpful approach,” comments Jatinder Singh Bhatia, a visitor from Dehradun, who also laments that even in his state Uttarakhand and other northern states the prank taxi-wallahs and even cops play havoc with tourists. This menace is almost missing in Kerala.