The Dalavapuram incident!

Mr. Shafeeq, Mathrubhumi Kollam, at Puthiyacavu Central School, Kureepuzha, Kollam.

We launched from the Kollam boat jetty around 11AM, after the flag off ceremony. The first stop was at the Puthiyacavu Central School, Kureepuzha.

Kayakers with Principal, Staff and Students of Puthiyacavu Central School, Kureepuzha, Kollam.

The school program was the first we did, we shared what we observed during our trip from Changanacherry to Kollam, how the waterways are important to all life forms and how we are connected to it; story telling about how heavy metal contamination affects our health; culminating in heavy metal awareness poster distribution. After the school program, we left for Dalavapuram by 4PM.

Route from Kollam to Dalavapuram, Day-1 waypoint.

On the way we decided not to follow the buoys indicating the National Water Way, NW3, and got stuck in the mud flats, as the Ashtamudi Lake was having a low tide. Murugan Krishnan, gets the experience of  pushing the kayak, as it gets stuck. One of the best backwaters in Kerala, the least polluted, Ashtamudi Lake is a treat for your eyes and mind.

Mangroves of the Ashtamudi Lake, Kollam, Kerala.

The setting sun gave sheen to the mangroves, birds and leaping fish that we saw en-route. By around 6PM, we could see the Dalavapuram Bridge, arching in the horizon. We were told to land on the western side of the bridge for the evening neighbourhood meeting. As we approached the bridge, we heard loud calls and found a group of 10 or more hooligans shouting, "handover the kayaks....we will drop boulders from the bridge". They were running helter-skelter and one bunch was seen getting down from the bridge, coming straight for us. We grew tense and called the sponsors, who asked us to call the local representative. As the tide was receding and the hooligans were becoming more vocal, we decided to stay in the back waters after crossing the bridge. They kept shouting at us, as we masked our fear and decided not to acknowledge. We pulled close to a Chinese fishing net operator and stuck a conversation with him. All along, the fear of the hooligans reaching us in small boats or wading over, loomed.

Murugan Krishan leading the neighbour hood meeting, Dalavapuram.

It was when we connected with the local panchayat representative did we feel relieved. We were asked to head to the eastern side of the bridge and landed there. A few locals were there to help, having heard our experience. One of them was Mr. Joseph, a retired Indian Railway employee, who served most of his time in Mumbai. He accompanied us to the St. Joseph’s Church, Thekkumbhagom, situated close to the bridge and assured us of all protection. Mr. Joseph held the post till we came back from the neighbourhood meeting at 10PM and had secured permission from the Pastor for us to camp at the Church premises. Joseph uncle was our saviour that day, he got us dinner, stayed late until we had put our tents and decided to sleep. Sleep did not come, and we got up in the middle of the night, hearing commotion at the Church Jetty. We woke up and saw fishermen landing their catch of Crabs and Crayfish! 

At 4AM, Joseph uncle woke us up and helped us close the camp, have the morning tea and to bid goodbye to Dalavapuram. What started as a situation was now the pleasant feeling of meeting a good samaritan. We said our goodbyes to Joseph uncle and promised to meet him on our next trip. He kept in touch by calling all days, to hear more about how the expedition was progressing. We have kept in touch with him and as we plan our waypoint for NW3-K4-2015, we have Dalavapuram as our Day-1 halt. We look forward to meet Joseph uncle and re-live our experience from Jan 2014.

A lot many angels like Jospeh uncle blessed us during NW3, Jan 2014, thanks to them, we completed the expedition.

Murugan Krishnan, the only person to have pushed a vehicle on road and water! 

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