The Curry Coast

The Curry Coast is a post-exploration travelogue by Binoo K John. Binoo explains this book is written after he has undertaken the journey. The journey covers the areas traveled by Vasco de Gama after he landed on the beach near Kozhikode. The journey of Binoo happens five hundred years after the Portuguese ships were spotted off the coast of Kerala. This book covers predominantly northern Kerala, an area which is also known as Malabar. It moves down towards the south of Kerala for a few chapters and goes up farther north to Goa as no book on Gama can be complete without mentioning this state.

Binoo lands in Kozhikode and subsequently travel to Kannur, Mahe, Kottakkal, Mananthawady, Ernakulam, and Kottayam. He revisits some of the places again to complete the book. Binoo uses the modes of travel adopted by the common man — autos, buses, and trains — crisscrossing the areas once covered by Gama. He examines the social and political commentary of the present day and their influences from Gama’s time. Based on his accounts, it is one of the must-have books written on this area in English for many reasons. I will give you two of them.

The first is the depth and breadth covered by the book. While talking in these two dimensions, I am not only referring to the physical dimensions. With Kerala roots, it is easy for Binoo to uncover most of the social phenomenon in the eighties and the nineties. The love for football, politics, and food are the easiest ones. When the book mentioned the art form “Kathaprasangam” and the artist V Sambasivan, you know the book does…