So, already 2 weeks again since my last entry, ey?
Although I killed most of the time these days with lazying around, watching Family Guy, and occasionally even doing something for uni – there happened also things which are worth mentioning 
After my return from Goa I chilled out the first 2 days and did not to much. Then I tried to get started on various tasks for IIMK and MCI, including a movie screening diary, and a photo essay about the Club of Rome for Globalization & Culture, my autobiography for Discovering Self, and finally also my master thesis.
On the evening of the 6th Arthur left for Goa, and it wouldn’t be before today that he returned (in fact we didn’t have any classes in this time). On the early morning of the 9th at 5 am I left to the train station and took an 8-hour ride to Trivandrum, from where I took an auto to Kovalam. I had decided to go there for 2 days to meet Lisi and Sophia, 2 friends who spent their holiday in India. After having lunch at the beach around 4 pm I walked along the boardwalk at the beach and some guy asked me if I needed a room, which indeed I did need. It turned out to be a really nice room directly at the beach front with view of the sea and the sunset from my balcony
In the evening I went to a rickshaw stand to get an auto to go to Lisi and Sophia’s hotel … and that’s the point where I finally started to get really pissed on the entirety of rickshaw drivers. I knew that a maximum of 200 Rupees would be o.k. for the distance and the first guy wanted to charge 400 – which made me burst out laughing unintentionally, because he was so ridiculous. Finally I made him wait at the hotel and for both ways and waiting I paid a fair amount of money in the end. At the hotel I called the girls from the reception and at first Sophia couldn’t figure out who I was, cause I didn’t mention my name and they hadn’t really expected me – although I told them that I’d come … always remember: when I SAY I go somewhere, I also DO it. We spent a nice evening together and then I went back to my room at Lighthouse Beach.
The next day I spent at the beach and visiting the lighthouse and enjoying some good food. In the evening I took an auto back to Trivandrum for a price much too high (but otherwise no-one would have taken me), which made me decide to avoid rickshaws for the rest of my stay as much as possible. Thus, on arriving back in Kozhikode the next morning I took the bus to the main bus stand and another one from there to Kunnamangalam – all together for 16 Rupees – compared to 220 which they normally charge for a rickshaw.
The next few days I started to write my autobiography a bit, and also found time to some minor work on my thesis. From 13th to 15th the Cultural Festival “Echoes” took place at IIMK – there was a really good program including dance and music competitions, different kinds of workshops, talks (one including Resul Pookutty, the Oscar-winning sound mixer of Slumdog Millionaire), and concerts by Neeraj Shridhar (lead singer of the Bombay Vikings and well-known Bollywood background singer), and the AWESOME “Thermal and a Quarter” from Bangalore, who really kicked off the FUNK!!
Pictures about Kovalam can be found on my FB (Kerala pictures), and on flickr. The same for pictures about the cultural Festival “Echoes 2012″ – FB and flickr.
So, until next time: keep your faith, be kind, and rock the world!
Cheers,
Gerhard
PS: already soooooo looking forward to visiting my cuz in Canada in March!
