The Blue Yonder

Inviting sketches for book on status of rivers in Kerala

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:21:00 +0530

HTML clipboardWhat was once the life line of Kerala, is today a decaying, dying river. It is out of concern for Bharatapuzha (River Nila): the erosion of the river banks, the dilution of its culture, neglect and depletion of its resources - that the Nila Foundation was formed five years ago in Kerala. Foundation provides a platform for those who feel for the rivers and its depleting status, and for those who want to positively contribute to its conservation.

Titled, 'Puzha Malayalam', the 400-page book is looking at a participatory model where people from different spheres of life join us in the publication of the book. As a small step towards this, we are inviting interested people through a drawing competition from across the world to sketch the introductory pages of the fourteen chapters.

'My river' is the theme of the competition. This could be a reflection of your insights or experiences associated with rivers.This could be about rivers from any parts of the world. Use your imagination to show the role of rivers played in your life. Let the river flow, from Nila to Ganges, to Thames to Danube...

Out of the sketches, we will select 14 entries in three different age categories, which will be incorporated into the individual chapters of the book. The winners of 14 entries will also get an opportunity to have an experiential responsible tourism for a week along the Bharatapuzha (River Nila) that gives insights into its culture, folk art forms, history, people and life. The holiday is sponsored by The Blue Yonder. A board of experts commissioned by Nila Foundation will be short-listing and selecting the winning entries. Selected entries will also be exhibited at the book launch on 05 June 2010 at Thunjan Parambu literature park in Tirur, Kerala.

As the awards will have three categories for ages below 10, 18 and above, we welcome people from all ages to participate in this initiative. Those sending hardcopy of their sketches should draw using black ink in white drawing paper (10inch*8inch). Digital work is acceptable. Any scanned images of the work should be of min 300 DPI quality not more than 5 MB. One applicant can send up to three images. A separate note on the background of the sketch in not more than 500 words is appreciated. Provide us information of your age and nationality. Authenticity of the sketch has to be self attested. Last date for receiving the sketch is 25th April 2010.

For more details on the book visit

Hard copies of the sketches to be sent to the following postal address.

Contact person: Prakash M
Address:
Nila Foundation
SMAAS, Kandath Complex Poongottukulam,
Tirur- 676101 Malppuram(Dist), Kerala, India
Ph: +91.9446280603 / 9605396238

email address to sent the sketches: nilafoundation2010@gmail.com
Subject: Sketches for Puzha Malayalam

Local hero series

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:51:00 +0530

Shameer at the foot print workshop at the Institute of palliative care, Calicut

The Blue Yonder is starting a series of stories from destinations that have inspired us, stories of local heroes who fought against all odds. We introduce you to Shameer.

Shameer was a young and vibrant high school student enjoying his life when fate intervened to change his life forever. Whilst climbing an aracanut palm tree, Shameer fell to the ground and was never the same again.

Shameer had been living in one of the most picturesque villages of Kerala, Mukkom in the Kozhikode district, with his mother, sister and grandmother. The family had great expectations for him as he was the sole male member of a traditional Muslim family. He was supposed to lead the family financially and emotionally. However, following the accident, the family had to face the reality that Shameer had lost his mobility and he needed support to live. This came as a complete shock to him as well as his family members.

' I managed to survive! I don’t know. The courage and support provided by palliative care people really helped me to survive,”' Shameer.

Even during his most difficult initial years, Shameer tried hard to survive and take care of his family. He engaged in many vocations, such as making hand made products, copying music CDs according to the requirements of the local people and earning a little bit of money.

However, the needs of his family were greater than what he could provide them with. Even in her old age, Shameer's grandmother was forced to work as a domestic servant in nearby houses in order to feed the family.

Thirteen years have passed since the accident, and now Shameer has only his grandmother at home. She is now more than eighty years old, neither able to look after herself nor Shameer.

Now, however, circumstances have changed a great deal. We find a cheerful Shameer surrounded by young intelligent friends, sharing stories, debating issues, leading an active social life, working to finish projects and earning enough to live and care for his grandmother. His strong will power helped him get to where he is today.

These days, Shameer works with the community based rehabilitation project 'Foot Prints', a project by the Institute of Palliative Medicine, Kozhikode. Now he is a trained person in different vocations such as paper bag making, eco-friendly bamboo pen production, artificial jewellery making and more. He also finds the time to engage in two of his favourite hobbies: painting and photography. He has many friends like Aayaz, a college student and his neighbour who regularly visits him. Athira, Aswathi, Junaiz, Althaf, Babin... the list is long. He met these students at Footprints camps, and even though many of them are residing or studying far away from his village, they somehow find time to visit him at least once in a week.

'Now I do not consider myself a disabled person. I am earning,occupied and I have a social life. I have participated in some of the programmes held in Kozhikode last year with the help of my friends like the musical programme by A R Rahman and the talk by former president Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam. I have friends always ready to help me and I talk to them whenever I want. My mobile phone helps me to keep contacts and I don’t have to depend on anyone now to meet the expense to charge my mobile and other expenses because I am earning just like others,' says a proud Shameer, clutching a mobile phone in his hands.

His future looks bright.
---------------------------
The Blue Yonder is partnering with Palliative care movement in Calicut to set up another unit of travellers' forest in the Calicut campus and also to bring in interested travelling volunteers to work in foot print workshop. The first step of planting by travellers will be inaugurated on the 5th of June 2010, which also happens to be the world environment day.

Doing good and doing well conference- Barcelona

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:30:00 +0530

The Blue Yonder will be featured at the Doing Good Doing Well conference in Barcelona 26-27 Feb 2010. The theme of the conference this year is 'From niche to mass market:taking responsibile business to next level'.

The Doing Good Doing Well conference is a two-day event with an interactive panel discussions on major opportunities and challenges faced by responsible businesses and organisations. The conference organised by IESE's Responsible Business Club, attracts, proffesionals and students from around the globe. By challenging participants to consider the potential for sustainable development, the DGDW conference helps develop innovative new strategies and business models, as well as foster meaningful relationships between industry professionals and graduate students. IESE is one of the top ranked management school in the world.

We will be presenting our case in a panel titled, 'CSR in service sector'. As in previous seminars, TBY will be sharing its opinion on how responsibility should be a main stay of any business and not as a CSR initiative to be part of a 'go-green-agenda'. We are humbled to be invited for this prestigous conference where more than 100 speakers from various sectors and different parts of the world are attending.

Cigar makers of Badagara

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:39:00 +0530

No.1 Basar Churuttugal (Cigars) / pic Xavier Muhlethaler

It's not that every day you run into Cigar makers in Kerala. There are still six workers who are actively involved in cigar making in the once communist bastion of Bagadara town. According to them, there are about thirty workers still engaged in the trade in North Kerala, but all of them aged and not in a position to work any more, so they roll the cigars whenever they can from their home.

The T. P Mahamood, 'Tobacco Dealer and Cigar Merchant' runs the only surviving cigar brand in Kerala by the name of 'Superior Dasar' cigars. Every time we went to visit them, we realised that the time paused when they talk. However, when their memories go back to their life as young-passionate-communist party workers, it is as if we are on a time-machine. Rajan Vadakkayil, 63 emotionally went back and forth to the days when cigar workers were the back-bone of the leftist movements in Kerala.

22 pieces in one packet and sold at Rs 10 per packet! pic Prakash WK

Paralla Parambathu Chaathu, 70, reminded us that there was a time in the late 40's when many people left their teaching job to roll cigars in Kannur district as they earned more! Still an ardent follower of left ideologies and communism (as he knew it), Chaathu is at pain hearing his colleagues criticising the trade unions and political parties that they once were part of. It was only when our colleague Mohammed wished him 'Laal Salaam' (Red Salute), that he giggled. Till then we didn't know that he was suffocated for the last couple of hours listening to our discussions on the value-erosion of left politics in Kerala and how the communist leaders who once built a movement of workers and farmers don't even know that these cigar manufactures still exist!

'Do you know that one of MLA (Member of Legislative Assembly) exclaimed after watching a documentary on us in a local Television channel, 'Really? There are still cigar workers in Kerala'. Chandran continued, 'We are glad that someone noticed us through that documentary. Her statement hurt us a lot though, because her father was a cigar roller and now a famous politician of the left. This is where the left movement has dived into, this is where we have ended up as well'.

From 7.30 am till late evening, they sit in this yogic posture rolling one cigar after the other. pic Prakash WK

They earn a maximum of 60 Rs (less than a Euro) per day depending on the number of cigars they can roll. Gopalan, another cigar maker ( who prefers to smoke only Beedi!), said that with their age, on an average they earn about 50 Rs out of which they have to find money for their tea and lunch!, When I asked them why they don't go home to eat (so as to save some money) he said that they will lose that much more time to roll and earn even less.

A packet consisting of 22 cigars are sold in the market for less than 10 Rs! Certainly, we are not talking about elite Cuban cigars here!

When asked why they continue to do this tiring, low income ( where is the income anyway!) job, Chandran retorted, 'Son, what else do you think we know to do? We are all above 60 now. We started at the age of 14 and this is the only skill we have! Our kids have grown up and luckily they earn enough to support their family by driving autos and similar jobs and what we are earning right now is just for our basic need. If we think about taking a break, we go crazy, so for the peace of our mind, we come here every day at 7.30am and reflect on our lives and past. Then, once in a while, people like you come hearing about these 'lost-souls' and we feel good to know that we are actually 'alive'.

These cigar workers in yogic postures gets 200 Rs (less than 4 Euros) per month as a social security support, which apparently has not been paid for last 8 months! These are the same workers who used to organise rallies for fair wages and human rights and to support the struggles of the fellow proletarians of the world. Ramakrishnan, who was silent till the end of our discussions laughed at this memory and said, 'we used to run to various parts of the town to organise rallies and protests at the cost of losing the 'per-cigar-pay, whenever we get a note from our leaders who were under-ground (hiding from Police). For us it was the proletarian movement that came first, not even our hunger'.

A daily worker in Kerala who earns about 250-400 Rs depending on trade / skills is considered to be rich compared to workers in many other parts of India. In the same Kerala, we have these workers who are rolling cigars to complete their cycle of life and death.

As one of them sighed, 'Janichu poyille'!

Folk expressions by Vayali in Bangalore

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:37:00 +0530

The Blue Yonder is partnering with Maraa to organise folk expressions from Vayali. Part of the 'Near the river ' series, the evening is a continuation of show casing the unique culture and civilisation of River Nila in Kerala (Bharathapuzha).

The performance is held at JAAGA, near hockey stadium in Shantinagar, Bangalore.
Date 21 Jan 2010
Time: 17.30-20.30
More details check out the site

eco-tourism to eco-disaster?

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 00:04:00 +0530

If not taken care of immediately, such newly opened destinations will turn into eco-disasters

Ill-planned, half-baked and funding dependent tourism projects can turn disastrous than achieve sustainable tourism. Yesterday afternoon our team went to scout for new tracks and ended up at the valley of Western Ghats in North Kerala. We entered a pristine length of the forest only to be welcomed by plastics strewn all around. 'Ever since we opened up this region for tourism, we see far too much waste that we don't know what to do. They haven't even appointed anyone on a salary to support the 'eco-tourism' initiatives. Worse, when we appointed two women to collect waste, the committee in-charge of the eco-tourism refused to pay wages to them as they thought it was waste of money!'. One of the locals lamented.

On our way back, after a relaxing swim in the stunningly beautiful river in the rain forest, three of us started collecting plastic wastes left behind by tourists, only to realise that our guide who was walking oblivion of the waste surrounding us started picking up one after the another. We didn't train him, we didn't request him, we didn't preach nature conservation. However, on seeing us collecting the plastic waste, he also joined us.

Seeing us collecting the picnic waste left behind by tourists, Matthai our guide joined us

We collected one large bag full of plastic wraps on our way back. Not knowing what to do with it, we took it along with us to the near by town and handed it over to the garbage collector the next day morning! What else do we do? What do we do with plastics? What will the garbage collector from Municipality do? They will burn it. By collecting it from forests, we can ensure that its' not eaten by animals or doesn't damage the immediate surrounding. However by not having a system of waste management, we are just doing a cosmetic cleaning, and nothing else.

Forest department in Kerala has done fantastic work in using tourism as a tool for conservation in places like Periyar, Chimmony and Chinnar regions. To develop sustainable tourism, the capacities of the local hosts including the tribes and those living on the fringes of the forests have to be developed. Thorough briefing on handling of the waste, importance of preserving forest land itself can bring about a change in tourist mind-set. The lack of infrastructure for waste management can to a large extend be minimised by proper behaviour. Quoting Mathai, our local guide, "Well, people tend to do same things as they do back where they live, look at our cities and villages, we throw things everywhere. They continue to do the same here as well".

When a new tourism initiative doesn't take care of basic infrastructure and capacity building of local hosts, why launch it in the first instance. Why name it as eco-tourism and green wash? If our guide Mathai was inspired to collect waste from the tracks, we believe there will be many such Mathai's around the world. Crying about the waste-strewn surroundings doesn't help; be the change! Though engaging Government and tourism industry is important, let us not waste our time thinking they will bring the change and find solutions.

Let us show that we can make the difference, like the way Mathai did.

Three people who inspired us today

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:45:00 +0530

Gandhian Krishnettan - 'I have a duty to be the change'
This morning we had gone to meet some wonderful people with whom we have decided to work together on our sustainable development initiatives in Kerala. By end of the evening we realised that all we did was to learn, to be inspired by what they were doing. It was a day that made all of us smile, because it was another day where we felt good that we didn't give up half-way when things were tough.

We spent the day with Gandhian Krishnettan, who has dedicated his whole life living and promoting Gandhian values. Though his face was familiar in newspapers, I was really surprised to see him walking around the village in a loin around his waist!

Binzy - the student leader is a 'health minister' in the school parliament
Later in the evening, by the river banks, he told us how disappointed he is about the way India is, 60 years after independence. He sounded like a man in hurry,who believes he has a duty to be 'the change', the man to bring changes to the society. He sounded desperate though he wouldn't admit it.

Krishnettan has finally decided to focus on a small village near Calicut,where he visits 50 house-holds every day to engage them on hygiene, health, education and nature conservation. He works with about 37 young students, who go around these houses twice a week with him to talk about the need for waste management, to avoid plastics etc. These students also have planted several trees within the small land holdings their parents have, and they were so proud to show us around! We were more surprised to see them growing a special variety of rice (njavara) known for its medicinal quality in small piece of land in the hillock.

on the right side of the kids are the saplings taken care of by individual house-holds for planting
What was more surprising to us was the trigger that prompted the Gandhian to focus on these 50 house-hold rather than attempting to change the whole world. The septuagenarian said that he had lost his conviction to change the society and had almost given up till he met Rajesh, a young boy who had come to meet him last year after reading about his attempts to make villages self-relliant and sustainable. Rajesh stressed the need for him to work with young students, than trying to change the whole world. This was an effective scaling down from global views to local views, which looked very effective.

Rajesh(L), the youngster who convinced the Gandian to work with the students.
The success of the student initiative was visible when one of the women from the village told us that they don't burn plastic waste anymore. She said with pride that it were"these kids" who told them to segregate waste at source and keep plastic separate. She lamented, "We don't know what to do with plastic though!". The girl who is responsible for the student group is just 14! (Binzy said that she is also "Health Minister" in the school parliament.).

The day couldn't have been any better. Meeting three gems in a day! Gandian Krishnettan who works in the grass-roots especially with the youth, Rajesh who inspired the Septuagenarian, and Binzy the student leader who inspires rest of the team! They will soon be attending an inter-region exchange we are planning to bring together various stake holders of The Blue Yonder to share their experiences in finding solutions to commonly seen issues related to water, waste, power and health.

M.E.S college ponnani

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:39:00 +0530

Couple of weeks back, we got a phone call from a local college telling that they are organising a 'National Seminar on Responsible tourism', an event supported by University Grants Commission. It seems one of the speakers had suggested TBY name telling that Responsible tourism in Kerala was triggered by what we initiated based on River Nila fiver years back and will be able to give insights from a practitioners point of view.

The event till evening was a jumboorie of academic reading, reports tracing the RT movements across the world. Though well-attended, we were not really sure how much of this was of any use to the students attending the seminar. Till the last moment we were not sure what we should talk about or what angle of the business we should introduce them to. Especially since our sessions fell after a heavy lunch, we had to ensure the we showed them something that ensured students weren't falling asleep.

We spoke in Malayalam, which I guess helped to connect well with the crowd while rest of speakers all spoke in English, we told the background of how TBY was formed, and what we learnt in five years. We ran about 80 slides of pictures taken from less than 30 square kilometres of that college, and surprisingly there were far less than a quarter of the audience who knew what we were sharing. Almost all of them hadn't seen the cultural heritage of the region. However, when asked how many of them have planted at least one sapling in their entire life, there were quite many. Though when asked about the number of saplings that they have seen survived after the planting, as in many similar situations, the hands went down. Not surprisingly.

When we shared the details of our partnership with Palliative Care movement in Kerala linking nature conservation with rural health programs, almost every one had heard about palliative care clinics functioning in rural Malabar region. It took more than 5 years for us to stand in front of local boys and girls to show case and share what we have been doing so far. However, I have to admit that irrespective of all the conferences, seminars and trade shows The Blue Yonder attended across the world, this was the most fruitful, satisfying experience. To stand in-front of an audience of enthusiastic students, and talk to them in our colloquial language about approaches we have taken to find solutions to local issues through responsible tourism, felt so good.

The result of the 90-minute engagement was there to see by end of the day as the college principal invited us to his office to say how glad he was knowing about The Blue Yonder and how his institution is willing to keep apart one acre of land within the 26-acre campus for the traveller's forest! Though the practicalities of this partnership has to be worked out in detail, we hope this model will help our region regenerate at least some of its bio-diversity.

If only 10% of our school and college management decides to follow M.E.S Ponnani college, Kerala would be a better place to live in and visit!

Responsible tourism networking in New Delhi and Kathmandu

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Tue, 9 Feb 2010 08:12:00 +0530

The last few weeks saw two unique events in Responsible tourism. Trend setting responsible tourism networking events were held during SATTE in New Delhi on 29th Jan and later on in Kathmandu on 2nd Feb 2010.Continuing the tradition of networking to bring together like-minded people in Responsible tourism to learn, share and inspire, both the event stood apart for its uniqueness.

Delhi event supported by SATTE, ITB-Berlin, The Blue Yonder ,Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT)and International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India (ICRT India) focused more on workshops this year, whereas the event in Nepal saw experienced practioners inspiring tourism students. New Delhi discussed the role of Media in responsible tourism in a panel moderated by Sankar Radhakrishan - Independent writer, editor and attended by Charles Kao - Chairman and Publisher - Travel Mole Media group, Kai Friese - Editor - Outlook Traveller and GEO and Sopan Joshi - Managing Editor - Down to earth Magazine.

The panel on responsibility on wildlife tourism was moderated by Julian Mathews: Chairman Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT)and well attended by Amit Shankala: Managing Director - Encounters Asia and Dr. Latika Nath Rana from Singinawa Lodge.

The discussions were concluded by a panel on Responsibility & Profitability exploring the business case for responsible tourism? The panel consisted of
Asit Biswas : Co-founder - Help Tourism, Charmarie Maalge: Founder Director / CEO - Responsible Tourism Partnership Sri Lanka, Major Murray Jones: Specialist travel advisor - Palaces and Tigers UK and Rakesh Mathur: President ITC Welcom Heritage. Panel was moderated by Lelei TuiSamoa LeLaulu: Co-Chair - Innovations for Sustainable Development Centre.

This was followed by networking event.

The Responsible Fringe Meeting held on 02 Feb 2010 at the Dechenling Garden Restaurant in Kathmandu was attended by over 50 individuals, including 17 students and faculty from three leading tourism institutes - SMSH, NCTTM and NATHM.The event was organized by socialtours.com travels and Silver Mountain Institute of Hotel Management, and sponsored by Everest Summit Lodges.

Disaster prevention in tourism

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:52:00 +0530

“In May 2007, BBC world was making a programme called Climate Watch where they were collecting information on the impact of global warming on local population and destinations in different parts of the world, including India. They got in touch with us and told us they wanted to document the impact of global warming on the river Nila (Bharatapuzha) in central Kerala. The river had by then started gaining international attention following our campaign to highlight this unique river valley civilization being destroyed through human greed.

Bharatapuzha, otherwise poetically called Nila, is the longest river in the Indian State of Kerala. Kerala has a unique network of 44 rivers in a land that is just 580km long where the average width comes to about 50kms. The river Nila is dammed in many locations; rivulets and streams flowing into the river have dried up because of various construction activities and lifestyle changes."

Read more excerpts and details of the book 'Disaster prevention in tourism'

Palliative care and responsible tourism

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:38:00 +0530

Palliative Care is now the most visible social movements in Kerala thanks to the efforts of Pain and Palliative Care Society in Calicut. From a one room clinic by the anaesthesia department in Calicut Medical Collegein 1993, palliative care has grown organically into a movement that has more than 8000 volunteers in action at any point of time mainly in the Malabar region of Kerala.

While entering the main campus of Institute of Palliative Medicine, there is a green patch known as “Smritivanam", a wood dedicated to the memory of dear ones. This was initiated by Forest Protection Staff Association, the trade union of forest protection staff six years ago.

The Blue Yonder is taking a small initiative to help preserve this patch for regeneration and let it develop into a natural forest. In future, this patch will be a solace for the in-patients to rest and relax and find harmony with the nature. Travelling volunteers, medical students and regular palliative care volunteers will be taking active role to maintain the place. read more about the initiative here

The Blue Yonder at SATTE 2010:

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:26:00 +0530

The Blue Yonder is exhibiting with Karnataka Tourism at 2010 edition of SATTE New Delhi from 29-30th Jan. This will be an opportunity for trade partners to know more about our new product range. For appointments, please contact Sandeep Sinha

We are once again partnering ITB Berlin to promote Responsible tourism at SATTE. 2009 SATTE saw excellent turnout at the Responsible tourism networking. This year we are working with Tour Operators for Tigers (TOFT) and ICRT India to organise various responsible tourism workshops and networking events.

29 Jan 2010
Responsible Tourism networking
organised by The Blue Yonder and TOFT (Travel Operators for Tigers). The evening will also witness the launch of TOFT awards.

Time 5-6 pm
Venue: Conference Hall, Hall 18, Pragati Maidan. RSVP on email or facebook

Malabar Holiday auction

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:47:00 +0530

Malabar was once a British Principality of India. After Independence, Malabar as a state was no longer recognized and the region was divided to form the northern part of what is today called Kerala. Though Malabar has no geographical boundaries, no presence on a map of India, it still exists as a state of mind: laid-back, slow, to live and let live.

While most of Kerala is recognised as a traveller’s must–visit destination, Malabar is yet to be discovered. And hence to the uninitiated, Malabar offers a plethora of delights ranging from a river cruise to legend trails to spice tours to tea estate visits to craft villages and heritage sites.

This is a Kerala where the everyday and exotic merge seamlessly. For a traveller who is weary of experiencing shrink wrapped plastic package tours, the Malabar leg comes minus hype and spin and instead is a way of life that asks little of the traveller except an open mind.

The Malabar holiday is now available for an auction through The International Eco Tourism Society website. Check here for more details.

Art auction at ITB Asia

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Thu, 5 Nov 2009 15:46:00 +0530

Responsible tourism networking event at the ITB Asia in Singapore on the 22nd OCT saw people from more than 25 different countries gathering to interact with like-minded people working in Responsible Tourism. The event also became very unique by providing a platform to organise an art auction. WIT conference attendees drew doodles on a canvas which was later transformed into a stunning visual by local artist Sarbani Bhattacharya based in Singapore. An initiative by Issu.E.Rasers, the proceedings from the event went to Himmapaan Foundation based in Thailand. The RT networking event was organised in partnershisp with The Blue Yonder, Wild Asia and Traveltocare.com

Responsible tourism networking at WTM - London

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Tue, 3 Nov 2009 17:06:00 +0530

The Blue Yonder is partnering Tripbod.com to organise another responsible tourism networking which is coinciding with World Travel Market, London. Kindly join us to meet partners in Responsible Tourism from across the world.

Date:	Monday, 09 November 2009
Time:	18:30 - 23:00
Location:	Pavilion End Bar
Street:	23 Watling Street
City:	London, United Kingdom

Location Map here. The event is organised with support from Intrepid, Rough Guides & Traveltocare.com. To ensure that everyone gets to meet those attending the event, there will also be a fun-filled speed networking. Please RSVP on facebook or write to Sally

The Blue Yonder is exhibiting at the World Travel Market from 09-12th November. For appointments contact us over email or drop by at AS4600 /03 (International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India).

Green Circuit to be launched officially at World Travel Market London

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:43:00 +0530

Green Circuit, an idea mooted by Social Tours - Nepal is now a partnership between 5 responsible tourism operators in the India Sub continent. Social Tours, Grass Routes, Ecosphere, The Blue Yonder and Help Tourism are coming together to provide a unique network of responsible holidays in the subcontinent.

Green circuit proves the fact that tourism industry can work together and complement each other, rather than competing with each other other. Green circuit features various destinations covering Nepal, Eastern and Western Himalayas, West Bengal and North Eastern India and South India.

We welcome you to join us at the official launch of Green Circuit at World Travel Market - London. Fiona Jeffery - Chairman of WTM and Just a Drop, will launch the initiative on the World Responsible Tourism day on 11th November 2009 at the stand of International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India (AS4600 / 03).

Certification makes green see red!

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:23:00 +0530

The following is my comment on Catherine Mack's article on certification:

"When responsibility comes from within, whether someone is certified or not doesn't make a difference. However unfortunately that's not how majority of the industry functions. To what extend can reporting back from travellers bring in a control on green-washers? To what extend can tourist actually see the entire supply chain and report back? To what extend would a traveller run around and report back on the green credentials of operators / properties, rather than enjoying their holidays?...

In 5 years of running our company, we have come across many DMC's in India who are many times transparent and accountable than any that has been certified by someone like Green Globe. To do a fantastic job, they don't need certification, however this doesn't mean that any one of these people might be unwilling to respond to questions from those who are interested in the responsibility factor of their business.

We know personally many stories of poorest of poor artisans in the state of Rajasthan who are cheated by so-called fair trade organisations funded by many international organisations. It's not about taking massive amount of margins. (A leather bag bought at 7 Euro sold at 110 Euro in Habitat isn't our concern.)But, to pay these poor artisans, below standard rates to mass produce these bags and then call it fair-trade is the crime. When we ask the illiterate artisan(sitting in front of a big poster announcing the fair-trade practices of his partners (meaning organised buyers in Europe and their whole sale agents in India))what he understands by "fair trade", he says, he gets about 20 GBP per year to send his kids to school ! For me, that is scandal and not fair trade!

When you see a stamp of fair-trade on a product that one purchases in the west, people buy those (to an extend) as a guilt free experience. 'My purchase is making a difference to the destination from where this product came from. I know that this product I buy hasn't been sourced through exploitation'. Oxfam fair trade coffee became a hit earlier mainly because of this. However, as in the case of a traveller, who might want to know more of about the responsibility factor of the supply chain on which the holiday is running, the lay customer who quickly runs into a fair-trade shop doesn't have or resources or energy to investigate the 'fairness' of these products.

I am not suggesting that we need to have another organisation that certify the 'fairness' of the organisation that has already certified these products. Though that will be a hilarious situation.

What is missing in all the certification process is the matter of 'Trust'. Our guests purchase many souvenirs from the artisans we work with mainly in Kerala and Rajasthan. They buy leather products, bell metal art, pottery and puppets without any question of 'certification'. None of these are certified products in any case!

The reason they purchase these with genuine interest is because of the 'trust' they have developed with the company they are travelling with, and most importantly because they are purchasing it straight from the hand of the artisan without a middle-man. ( certified or not!).

I don't know how this 'trust' factor can be built in the purchase when you buy it from elsewhere. (For.eg, a purchase in a shop in London claiming to have fair practices)

However one way to sort out of these issue of trust / certification is for the operators ( Tour, or property owners) to be pro-active about their claims. Orchid Ecotel in Mumbai for e.g, are so proud to show their guests on check-in about the responsibility in which they are running their business! This touch and feel experiences makes all the difference.

Art auction at RT networking ITB Asia

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:43:00 +0530

One stroke, one good deed

Make your stroke on our canvas and inspire artist Sarbani Bhattacharya, to create a piece of art that will commemorate WIT 2009. The art work will be auctioned off and proceeds will go towards the Himmapaan Foundation of Thailand.

A project of Isse.E.Rasers a volunteer initiative which uses creative mediums to increase people's sensitisation and action in social and environmental concerns so individuals become "issue erasers".

Sarbani Bhattacharya is a freelance artist in Singapore. Her painting style is semi-abstract and represents narrative art.

Himmaapaan Foundaiton supports sustainable tourism in Thailand. It strives to restore or improve the quality of local people in their communities and their surroundings and supports environmental protection projects.

The auction will take place at the responsible tourism networking event Oct 22, 2009 between 18.00-20.00 Room number 208. RT networking at ITB Asia is co-organised by Wild Asia, The Blue Yonder and Traveltocare.com

Kerala tourism roadshows in Oslo, Helsinki and Stockholm

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:17:00 +0530

We are participating in the Kerala Tourism roadshows organised in the Oslo,Helsinki and Stockholm. This is continuation to the roadshows in Brussels and Milan. In a newly designed format, the business meetings are organised in well-known Indian restaurants rather than in hotel auditoriums.

Wonder how much of business can be talked over mouth-watering spicy meals! Let's see!

Oslo 2 Nov 2009 Agra Restaurant,
Stranden 3, 0250 Aker Brygge, Oslo, Norway

Helsinki(Finland) 4 Nov 2009 Samrat Restaurant
Intialainen Ravintola, Etelä Esplanadi 22c,
00130 Helsinki, Finland

Stockholm (Sweden) 5 Nov 2009 Alishan Restaurant
Timmermansgatan 35 11855 Stockholm Sweden

The Blue Yonder will be represented by our Scandinavian representative Linda Veråsdal. All meetings will be between 5-8 pm on respective dates. For more information please contact us .

October newsletter released

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:16:00 +0530

Our newsletter for Oct 2009 is now available online. It features a travelogue written by Zainab Kakal who visited Sunderbans immediately after Cyclone Aila that hit Eastern India on 25th May. It carries an interview with Jeremy Smith, founder of ivili.org on the potential of the website to bring together innovative solutions to sustainable development. Two other articles show case The Blue Yonder attending ITB Asia and WTM London. A short summary of latest recognitions to TBY can also be read here.

For more details, check online here

Ivili - innovations for sustainable solutions

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:48:00 +0530

Jeremy Smith is a writer and producer specializing in environmental, travel and cultural issues. Former editor of Ecologist magazine, Jeremy recently co-authored 'Clean Breaks - 500 New Ways to See the world' with Richard Hammond. His interest in sustainable development led him to set up ivili.org, an online platform to bring together solutions from practitioners from different parts of the world. Jeremy is also a winner of "exemplary journalism" for writing one of the top ten censored stories of the year, called Re-Engineering Iraqi Agriculture.

Jeremy in conversation with The Blue Yonder on Ivili.org

Ivili.org is a free and evergrowing library of tools, solutions and inspirations for sustainable living. Whether you are looking for advice on sustainable living, such as growing food in your garden using permaculture techniques or generating your electricity in a more ecofriendly way; or if you want ideas and inspirations for community projects that might work in your own area; or are keen to volunteer on an environmental project but don't know what's out there; or perhaps you are a funder looking to support essential work in an area you are passionate about, then Ivili is a unique place to start looking for what you need as it only focuses on bringing you sustainable solutions from all over the world.

Read the complete interview here

Memories of Cyclone Aila

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:07:00 +0530

Cyclone Aila Support Group managed to raise 5,00,000 INR (appr 10,550 USD) through the facebook campaign. Compared to the devastation and the need in Sunderbans, this amount is quite small. However with guidance from Association for Conservation and Tourism, the money is spend on basic needs of the affected people. Charities Aid Foundation India is doing the due diligence, programme planning, funds disbursement, monitoring, auditing and reporting. Updates from us will be send to all donors. We thank all the organisations and people who raised awareness about the disaster. We salute the resilience of the people of Sunderbans and self-less work by our partners at Help Tourism who stood by the communities when they needed them the most."

Seeing a posting on facebook for a volunteer to document the Cyclone Aila that hit the Eastern India on the 25th May 2009, Zainab Kakal went to Sunderbans to share the need of the people and give her insights into the disaster that affected millions of people in West Bengal and neighbouring regions. The following text and photos are from Zainab's personal journal that she maintained during her travel to Sunderbans.

Sunderbans: the land of floating green islands:

Arrival: (June 2009) "I enter the Sunderbans exhausted. The endless journey jumping from boat to boat through the riverines has taken about 4 hours and I am drenched and extremely skeptical. The Sunderbans, even to a tired eye looks like a marvel. It is close to being called mythical for it could not be real - it is the land of floating green islands.

I am sitting in a boat huddled in cargo and open umbrellas. My umbrella is poked in too many places to offer any protection and my baggage is wet and drippy but I could not care less for I was in the Sunderbans. Yes, there is a wonder of it all - the endless skies, the elegant angler dropping his nets into the birthing seas, the exodus of people traveling back and forth; all in the palette of murky grays and soft blues." Read the full text here:

The Blue Yonder to attend World Travel Market, London

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Sun, 4 Oct 2009 01:53:00 +0530

The first time we visited the World Travel Market was in 2005. The next year we were glad to be highly commented for Responsible Tourism awards, and there after we have been regularly exhibiting at this international trade fair in London every November. Exhibiting with the Incredible India stand, this has become a trade show that we can't afford to miss. 2007 edition saw the launch of Responsible Tourism Networking - an initiative kick started by The Blue Yonder and Your Safe Planet.

The official forums at WTM were largely focusing on larger corporations, (rightly so, as even a small change towards sustainability by these companies will have a large impact in the travel industry) so we got together many small operators from different parts of the world in a little pub in London and prompted them to pitch their RT initiatives. Since this was not officially part of the WTM programs media called it as a 'fringe event', a name that stuck and continued to be used by many of our partners as well.

Since then similar networking events have happened in London, Berlin (supported by ITB Berlin), New Delhi (supported by SATTE and ITB Berlin) and for the first time in Singapore (supported by ITB Berlin and ITB Asia) on the 22 Oct 2009. For the 2009 World Travel Market, preparations are going on for the third get together, details of which will be announced by Sally.

This year at the WTM London (9-12 Nov), The Blue Yonder is exhibiting along with Help Tourism, Ecosphere, River Retreat and Traveltocare.com under the banner of International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India. There will be new initiative launches, media interactions etc at Incredible India stand AS4600, details of which will be announced shortly.

The combined marketing initiative by DMCs and related partners focusing on responsible tourism in India is a new beginning for successful partnerships that we believe should be emulated across the world. We believe that complementing each other with their core competency is the way forward rather than competing in a cut-throat business environment. This partnership has helped us understand a lot from each others work and stand by each other when there is a need. Cyclone Aila support group that was formed as a facebook group is another example of how such networks can be formed for the benefit of people and destination. We are also officially supporting WTM World Responsible Day on the 11th November 2009 to highlight other initiatives on Responsible Tourism.

We welcome you to visit us and know more about our unique holiday experiences at the ICRT India stand at AS4600.

The Blue Yonder to exhibit at ITB Asia

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Fri, 2 Oct 2009 04:42:00 +0530

The Blue Yonder will be exhibiting for the first time at ITB Asia Suntech, Singapore. We will be introducing our holidays in India focusing on Kerala, Karnataka, Orissa, West Bengal, North Eastern India, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh.

ITB Asia is a B2B trade show and convention for the travel industry and is designed to become the primary event for the Asia Pacific travel industry, much like its parent event, the ITB Berlin itself.

We are also co-organising Responsible tourism networking on the 22nd Oct 2009 at 1800 in partnership with ITB-Asia, Traveltocare.com and Wild Asia. There will be a dedicated stand focusing on Responsible tourism S01, where details of the Responsible Tourism Networking can be collected. ITB Asia has announced that pre-registered attendees for the RT networking can visit ITB Asia on the 23rd without any payment.

We request our trade partners and visitors to fix appointments before visiting the stand, so that prior meetings are not clashing. Click here for appointments. You can also reach Sandeep Sinha on email who will also be available at the stand C17 (The Blue Yonder).

Children initiated into world of letters

noreply@blogger.com (GP) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:39:00 +0530

The 'Mandapam' in Thunjan Parambu where the author was initiated into learning in 1976

'Vidyarambham' is a secular South Indian tradition of initiating children into the world of knowledge by wiring letters on sand or rice grain. Yesterday, more than four thousand toddlers were initiated into learning as part of the Navarathiri festival at Thunjan Parambu near Tirur, in Malappuram district in Kerala. Thunjan Parambu is a memorial of medieval poet Thunchath Ezhuthachan, revered as father of Malayalam literature, where children are brought to write their initial letters on sand and rice grains.

Writer C Radkahrishnan says, "It was in Thunjan Parambu that Ezhuthachan modified the Malayalam alphabets and wrote the Harinamakeerthanam to popularize them. Even after centuries people from various parts of the state come to take sand from Thunjan Parambu to initiate their children to the alphabet."

It was in Thunjan Parambu that Ezhuthachan taught and spent better half of his life. Here one can find the original stylus which Ezhuthachan wrote the Malayalam Ramayana, a Hindu epic. Legend says that the whole Ramayana in Malayalam was recited to the author by a parrot so that he could compose tirelessly without having to stop in between.

The literature park designed according to traditional Kerala architecture, has a beautiful bronze statue of the parrot and larger version of the Iron stylus and the palm leave in with which he wrote the epic. The legend says that the Nux Vomica tree with bitter leaves here has lost their bitter taste to sweet wisdom.

Thousands of children were initiated into the world of letters on Monday at public functions organised by religious/educational institutions, charitable organisations, cultural and media establishments across the state as part of the Vidyarambham ritual marking the conclusion of the Navaratri festival. More news here

a peaceful journey through Tirur river

Most of the trips that The Blue Yonder organises along the River Nila is initiated by a visit to Thunjan Parmbu followed by a serene country boat ride through the Tirur River that joins Nila before pouring into the Arabian sea at the estuary in Ponnani. Check out for more details here.