Here’s what I think typifies Kerala; caught between the old and the new….the architecture is traditional, but it now used only in “resorts” and hotels….the old hurricane lamp is now lit by a CFL element….and it may not work half the time…yet there is a sense of peace.

And here’s the biggest “lantern” of them all…the monsoon may dull its shine, but sooner or later, it comes bursting through in all its glory….

The palm frond…that symbolizes a tree that is so useful…the wood to make boats and furniture, the fronds for thatch, the fruits for food and drink (that cannot be adulterated as long as it is eaten and drunk from the coconut!)….