Kozhikode a la Calicut

I had some official engagement at Indian Institute of Management - Kozhikode (Calicut), and so had to visit Calicut. It was a pretty long flight from Mumbai - it took around 1 hour and 40 minutes or so. The Jet Airways flight was not full, and had mostly Keralites on board, some of them returning from the Gulf apparently.

I had taken a family vacation in Kerala in December 2005, and really believe what the Government of Kerala claims - it is “God’s Own Country”. There are similarities with New Zealand in certain parts of Kerala in terms of the natural beauty, scenery encompassing hill range, forests and beaches, etc., Ofcourse, the weather is something else - it is always hot in Kerala, it was hot even in December. However, now it is end of January, so I thought it would be getting hotter than the winter time. Thankfully, Calicut was not that hot, though quite sunny. In my quick drive through the city, I noticed the following - it is a fairly small town type of city, has clean and well-laid out roads, and quite sleepy - I did not see much activity. That is good in a way - too much commercialisation spoils the environment any way, and the people seemed to be happier without it !

I stayed at the local Taj hotel which also looked pretty sleepy with everything in slow motion. Compared to Mumbai, it was backwaters all through. However, the food was great, and I recommend the “Meen Curry” - local fish in rich coconut curry sauce, and vegetable stew with appam. Better eat like Keralites when you are in Kerala !

The big surprise was IIM - Kozhikode. It took something like 30 minutes drive from town to reach the hilly environs of IIM. The Campus is perched right on top of a hill, with winding roads taking you up the cool atmosphere. The buildings are nicely laid out, not massive though. The scenic beauty was breathtaking - valley and forest on one side, city view on another side, and sea on yet another angle. Amazing ! I thought it was a romantic setting, and should be resulting in romantic moods and liaisons, but when I expressed it to one of the students, I learnt that there is just no time for such heady thoughts. The Program is taxing and leaves no time at all, there are classes starting at 10 PM even !

You can learn more about Kozhikode City and IIM-K from the following websites - “Kozhikode” and “IIM-K”

Some of the pics I took for your viewing pleasure as below -

DSC00839, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

DSC00840, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

DSC00841, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

DSC00842, originally uploaded by vjsri99.

Best Regards

Vijay Srinivasan
01 Feb 2007
Mumbai