Youth Voices: Cruising through Color - Three Days in Kerala

This weekend, Riya and I took a three day trip down to the 2nd southernmost state in India: Kerala. I'm beyond grateful to the Kalluvila family for an amazing trip- spending a jam-packed 96 hours in Anchal, Kerala was full of new memories to last me a lifetime. As soon as I stepped out of the airport, I could feel the humidity sink into my skin. Getting to spend time in different states has been so amazing to get a glimpse at the cultural diversity in India: the languages (Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, etc), religions (Churches, mosques, and temples scattered throughout), and even the foods (Homemade sambar and biryani have my heart). Everything about this weekend was full of color and love; hence, I'm going to go down the rainbow and share some memories with you today.

Indigo
Despite often being left out of the common rainbow, our trip started on indigo. Literally. Riya and I left Hyderabad at 8:15 pm on Friday by boarding an IndiGo plane to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The flight only lasted approximately two hours, but it was followed by two more hours of driving from the city airport to where Riya's grandparents live. Even though it was close to 10 pm, we were welcomed out of the airport by big hugs from her grandparents and beautiful flower garlands. Right away, I felt at home with the peacefulness of Kerala and the sweetness of our flowers. While driving, we shortly stopped the car for a view of the ocean! Having not smelled the salty ocean and its aromatic smell in so long, we stood for some time to watch the waves crash into the stone walkway before re-boarding and heading inland.

Blue
The next morning, we were up bright and early for a trip to one of the village's medical camps. The camp, set up inside a primary school, was hosting a training session for the village's residents, and we got to shortly speak with some family friends who Riya's dad grew up with. The space came to light with the voices and chatter of school kids, parents, elderly, and doctors. Riya and I even made the Kerala News! [CONTINUE READING]