Intimate and Unforgettable:
New Year’s Eve in Kerala

I was huddled around the heater in a room that was getting as a cold as a meat locker when I got the idea of going to Kerala, in south India. I was surprised at how cold it could get in Delhi in December, where houses are made to keep heat out, not to keep warmth in. So, I got on the phone and found out the only available flight was on New Year’s Eve.

Arriving at the small airport in Trivandrum in the mid-afternoon, I could sense immediately the languid, tropical air. After three weeks in India, I was getting my first taste of the subcontinent’s incredible cultural, geographic and climatic diversity.

The Shinshiva Ayurvedic Resort’s driver, Biju, met me with a warm smile on his face and drove me the 30 kilometres south to the resort in a fat, white Ambassador — the elephant-like car that has been ubiquitous in India for 50 years. I felt like a child with my face pressed to the window, taking everything in, judging nothing. I saw rows of palm trees, cows grazing on the side of the highway, a river of plastic garbage along the meridian.

And then we arrived. I chose Shinshiva Ayurvedic Resort on a recommendation from a friend in Delhi, and was not disappointed; it was exactly my kind of place — comfortable without being slick or pretentious; professional without being formal. And, best of all, the small cliff-top resort, overlooking the Arabian Sea, was created to blend harmoniously into the natural environment.

Everything was made from natural materials, there was lots of outdoor space — like the open-air restaurant covered in a big thatch roof and the yoga platform — and the rich, red earth, and profusion of trees, plants and flowers, completed the picture of perfection.

I had just enough time to settle in and change into a new orange salwar kameez (three piece suit) covered in fine embroidery when it was time for dinner. As it was New Year’s Eve, they put the tables together, and the guests gathered were mostly European, though some were from Kolkata and Mumbai.

Ocean-Inspired Feast

The feast began with a tender coconut, which I drank from a straw and enjoyed as if it was the finest champagne. Then, staff brought out plate after plate, piled high with brightly coloured vegetables, fragrant rice and the main course, freshly caught fish bathed in spices — all covered in lashings of leafy greens and infused with specks of pepper, ginger, cumin, cardamon.

Every detail of the architecture and food was inspired by the culture of Kerala, which reminded me more of Thailand than of north India. Kerala is the spice bowl of India, and it is also a major producer of rice, tea and seafood — and we were enjoying all of it.

After dinner we assembled in front of the yoga platform for a special performance of Indian classical dance. A light breeze blew in from the Arabian Sea, and from where I sat I could look out from our cliff-top location, past palm trees, at a row of lights in the dark, like a sparkling diamond necklace strung out against the velvet blackness of the tropical night. It was the lights from the fishing boats that went out nightly from the hidden village at the foot of the cliff.

The dancing started. A young woman in jewel tones and elaborate makeup, stamped her feet; a male and female in gold costumes acted out mythological scenes from Indian epics; and a ring of Indian women in flowing white saris created lyrical tableaux. There was something hypnotizing about the building tempo of the music and intense eye movements of the dancers; I felt I was glimpsing another world, the mysteries of which I could barely perceive.

That night, tucked inside a roomy mosquito net, I fell asleep listening to the sound of the ocean. The year 2006 was about to begin, and a full five months of travel adventure in India ahead of me. It was a great way to start the new year.

Shinshiva Ayurvedic Resort put on a stunning Kerala-flavoured bash for us — even though the Hindu New Year is in the fall, at the time of Diwali, the festival of lights.

THIS POST IS PART OF SPECIAL T+E HOLIDAY SERIES EXPLORING NEW YEAR’S EVE CUSTOMS, CULTURES AND TRADITIONS FROM AROUND THE WORLD. READ MORE HERE!

AND! TUNE IN TO T+E CHANNEL ON DEC. 31ST AS WE COUNT DOWN TO 2012 WITH SPECIAL PROGRAMMING TAKING YOU ON A WORLDWIDE NEW YEAR’S EVE TOUR, EVERY HOUR ON THE HOUR STARTING AT 7 AM ET/4 AM PT. HERE’S A PREVIEW!