Culture, cuisine and crafts on sherpas' menu at G20 meet in Kerala

From 'lagoon lake' conversations to caparisoned 'elephant walk', the meet had many touristy elements

The recently concluded Group of Twenty (G20) Sherpa Track in the backwaters of Kerala was a lot about the three Cs — culture, cuisine, and crafts. Once the heavy-duty sessions were over, it was time for ‘sofa talks’ or ‘kayal (lagoon lake) conversations’. The setting was a plush houseboat and the agenda was free-wheeling discussion over high tea. It’s here that the G20 sherpas were without their aides, and away from other delegates and the media. Just sailing.

From Kathakali, Mohiniyattam, and Theyyam to the ancient martial art of Kalaripayattu, and the procession of caparisoned temple elephants known as Thrissur Pooram, the state rolled out the red carpet.

The traditional vallam kali (boat race) even saw some champion boat crew of the state, representing emerging economies, Group of Seven and other such groupings, racing each other, paddling furiously.

One of the highlights was a mega-cultural programme on the night of March 31, directed by National Award-winning director T K Rajeev Kumar. The programme comprised ballads and dance performances on a huge dais erected in the middle of a lagoon at one of the resorts.

As sherpa for India, Amitabh Kant’s Kerala connect came handy for this track. The Kerala-cadre IAS of 1980 batch was behind the tagline of God’s Own Country years ago. Now because of that goodwill in the state, Pinarayi Vijayan’s government and the Centre managed to pull off a logistical and hospitality feat when the breath-taking backwaters of Kumarakom, two hours south of Cochin, hosted the second G20 Sherpa meeting under India’s Presidency, sources said.

For the G20 Sherpa meet, a massive redevelopment exercise of the backwaters was undertaken. The state government built an enormous convention hall in a resort owned by the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation and built exhibition hangars and seminar spaces.

“The state government re-paved the roads, cleaned the backwaters, and built new jetties. They paid for all the cultural shows and supported the central government in more ways than one. I have not seen such magnificent cultural spectacles. The scale of what Kerala has done boggles the mind,” Kant told Business Standard.

The state government repaired and re-laid more than 20 kilometre of roads, and overhauled the entire infrastructure of the quaint tourist town.