At Puvar.....

At Isola....Puvar...painting done on location!

Painted on location, the Anaconda-boat-ride in the distance!

Puvar is an hour's drive from Trivandrum.....right on the coast. From Trivandrum, you head down South, pass Kovalam and reach Puvar. It's a sort of island, flanked by the back-waters and the Neyyar River.
The Neyyar River empties itself into the Arabian Sea.


The Puvar beach is an unusual sight. You have to cross the Neyyar River by boat before you can hit the sands of the beach and the expanse of the Arabian Sea. It's a little like the land-and-water game we used to play. There's land...which is Puvar, then water, again sand....and then water!


The Anaconda ride:


Amongst the to-do things at Puvar, is the "Anaconda boat-ride"! Not that there's an Anaconda snake in these parts. But the ride is such. It takes you through the backwaters, flanked by mangrove forests...almost as if you are in the Amazon.


Vegetation is all around- it thrives in the water. Branches crisscross just above the boat like Old-Delhi-City electric-wires...all tangled and haphazard, creepers dive into the water, coconut-trees grow out of the water. It feels like a tropical jungle...the kind you see in the movies!
Simon Raj, our boatman gives us a running commentary through the journey. He talks about a certain "water-dog" in these backwaters, which looks like a normal dog, but with no tail. And points to a "water-crow" which stands in attention with its wings spread out like two-hands! And draws our eyes to the Kingfisher....with its bright blue-plumage and red beak! There are storks, there are herons, lots of crows.....and birds we could barely identify. Towards the end of the ride, which lasts an hour, we turn into the Neyyar River....and ride with the river into the Sea....where we get dropped.


You can't do this trip everyday. It has to do with the water-level in the back-waters. Simon talked about a man-made estuary which is sometimes cut through the sands right up to the sea. The Neyyar River now gets an alternate path to exhaust itself. And with that, the depth in the back-water reduces.


The boat is well maintained, the life-jackets are in good condition. You feel safe and in-control all the while. The next time you are at Puvar Beach, just ask for "The Anaconda ride"!


Nature:


Puvar is nature at her best...in all her pristine beauty. It's as if she has been in some ways over indulgent and pampered Puvar with groves of coconut trees, lush vegetation, trails of backwaters, ponds with lotus and lily......and made it home to birds of every variety....from droves of common crows to the Kingfisher.

And above all, Puvar is about the Arabian Sea- row-upon-row of waves shimmering in the sun, now billowing, now falling, now surging over the sand like frothy, fresh sugar-cane juice, now receding........and carrying with them.... forever....all those little notes....those notes scribbled.... on the sands of time....someday, somewhere.