Floods fail to dampen Kainakary's boat race spirit

ALAPPUZHA: Sajith, 28, a Kainakary native, hurried up towards the bank of the Pampa River. His face was lit up with joy and thrill despite floods that had thrown his family into a relief camp.

He has to catch a boat to cross the river, where United Boat Club (UBC) is set to kick off the season’s practising session on the other side.

They are getting ready for the Nehru Trophy Boat Race (NTBR) on the second Saturday of August.

This remotest island in Kuttanad worst hit by the floods has now woken up to the thrill of boat races imbibed in its blood.

A hundred rowers from here are practising for UBC Kainakary, the last year's runner-up. "Nothing can defeat our craze," says its captain Sunil Padmanabhan.

"The floods continue to take a toll on our life. But that won't stop the session." All of them are in relief camps, but they join the session at 6 am and return there at 6 pm.

"We have just started practising," he said. "This time we have no rowers from outside. All are from Kainakary."

St Pious X Boat Club, Mankombu, which have majority rowers from Kainakary, also began its practising session on Saturday at Mankompu.

‘The rowers are coming from relief camps," said Linu Joseph, its captain, also from Kainakary.

"The unprecedented floods have displaced our families. Despite hunger and despair, the boat race has brought us to cheer."

All boat clubs have begun the practising sessions in various parts of the Kuttanad.

People here are mostly small farmers. They work hard in paddy fields throughout the year to make ends meet.

"For these hard-working folks, the annual boat racing season is social emancipation," says Vinod Karichal, a boat race buff.

Maya, a Thekkumoola resident married to Kainakary from Thiruvananthapuram, was always taken by surprise as she saw their craze irrespective of gender.

"I came here as the daughter-in-law of Kainakary almost two decades ago from an entirely different demography and lifestyle," she says.

"When the season begins, these people want neither food nor sleep. In the initial days, I found it difficult to cope up. But slowly I too became a fan."