As usual, it was a bit of a struggle to wake up and venture out early in the morning, especially on a Sunday. Still, the lure of cycling, photography and Kadamakkudy had the last laugh today. As usual, Kadamakkudy does not disappoint anyone who does not have any specific agenda. Or, is that a global truth?. If my focus was only on bird photography, that would have been a great disappointment as there were not many of them around. Instead, Kadamakkudy and it’s people were in a joyful mood. The general mood at Kadamakkudy is festive now, as they are all gearing up for the tourist fest and the next season of prawn farming. Chettaa…kaanaarillallo?….(elder brother…not to be seen these days…) from the wayside focused my attention to these two men, gathering clay to fill the mud wall separating their Chemmeen kettu (prawn farm) from the Veeran puzha (river) flowing next to their chemmeen kettu.
They are in search of good clay…..to fill up the mud wall of the prawn farms (Chemmeen kettu). If you observe carefully in the photo below, you will see a small opening in the middle of the mud wall, which is a kind of a shutter valve made of wood. They call it as Cheerpu, which is the one and only entrance for water into and out of their farm. During the high tide, they open the shutter valve to allow the water from the river to enter the prawn farms and then they close it. During the low tide, they open it partially, thus allowing a steady supply of river water into the prawn farms alias Chemmeen Kettu. The Chemmen kettu season starts soon. Now the entire life at Kadamakkudy is gearing up towards it.
The people of Kadamakkudy are very loving and innocent….I love them…Kadamakkudy is a in a festive mood, as the rainy season is almost over, the Christmas is round the corner, the tourism fest is near and above all because of the beginning of the Chemmeen kettu season, everyone has employment….
A piece of true life story from a lazy cyclist, photographer and blogger…:-). When the Kettu season begins, I have plans for crazier things to do. Wait and watch. Subscribe to my blog 🙂
Exploring Kadamakkudy Islands on a cycle 