The Hindu Business Line : Bond with the river

Like the river Nila that he loves so much, Gopinath Parayil's life has seen many twists and turns to it. He's driven autorickshaws, worked for NGOs, marketed software and has also been a disaster management consultant.

But it is as a champion of Kerala's Bharathapuzha river (also called the Nila) that Parayil found his passion.

Founder and a trustee of the non-profit Nila Foundation and Chief Executive of The Blue Yonder, a Bangalore-based travel company, 32-year-old Parayil rediscovered his bond with the river soon after this father's death.

He found to his horror that there was hardly any water in the river. "It wasn't even the beginning of summer, but I had to literally roll over to make sure that my body was wet enough," he says.

Deforestation, sand mining and various other activities had reduced the Nila to a shadow of its former state. "The sight of the Nila dying choked me. The river was part of my day-to-day life; it was part of my growing up," he adds.

One night, soon afterwards, Parayil and some of his friends came across a small group of people who had gathered on the dry bed of the Nila to sing and talk about the river. "They had one thing in common: It was the river, the dying river.

The river they couldn't live without; the river they wanted to share with the next generation," he says.

This meeting made Parayil realise that if he chose to work for something, it would be for the river.

He quit his job as a fund-raiser for a voluntary organisation in the UK and turned his attention to reviving the dying river. As he travelled along the banks of the Nila, he learnt more about the river, and met others who were passionate about it. However, he found that many of them, especially youngsters, had little time for the river because they could not strike a balance between passion and money.

And, while there were many groups and individuals working to save the river, each was like an island, with no communication or links with others, equally passionate about saving the Nila. And so was born the Nila Foundation — an organisation to unite all those who felt strongly about rivers, especially the Nila. Explaining her decision to become part of the foundation as a trustee, writer Anita Nair says: "... here was an opportunity to help preserve a landscape and memories of a culture that were so integral to my childhood and so intrinsic to the world I write about."

Parayil believes that while the physical revival of the Nila may not be possible, the memories of the river can be revived by collecting stories that are linked in some way to the river, and also by documenting the music, the traditions, rituals and art forms associated with the river.

The foundation also supports a research project on the status of rivers in Kerala. Parayil set up a travel agency `The Blue Yonder' to serve as the financial engine to keep the foundation going, as he was very clear that it should not depend on any large funding agency. "Having worked with donor agencies, I was sure that the foundation ought not to follow the pattern of funding where the recipients are totally dependent on the interests and mercy of the donor agency," he explains.

Responsible tourism

Designed on the principles of responsible tourism, his travel company offers custom-designed holidays for its clients.

Its holiday packages are crafted to involve and benefit local communities. So, for instance, a cruise in a thoni or country-boat along a stretch of the Bharathapuzha will benefit seven people including the boat's owner, oarsmen, a fisherman and a local household that cooks organic meals for those who take the cruise. And the company's tourism products are mostly owned and managed by local people.

Similarly, the company also works with local folk artistes and musicians to help revive indigenous art forms and music traditions. Thus tourism becomes an alternative or additional source of income for local people, he says.

While the company initially offered a bouquet of experiential holidays connected in some way with the Nila, it now offers similar holidays in other parts of Kerala. And recently, it has started operations in Sikkim too.

Also on the anvil is The Blue Yonder Associates, an evaluation system to identify and promote hotels that follow the principles of responsible tourism.

Over the next few years, Parayil hopes to develop the Nila Foundation into a platform for all those who love rivers and nature. At the same time, he believes that his travel company will continue to be a flag-bearer of responsible tourism worldwide.

For him the greatest satisfaction is that "my work with the Nila Foundation and The Blue Yonder brings a smile on my face as well as to many others. When you see that you can be a catalyst to create wealth around, that is a dream thing to do."

What greater reward can a person ask for?

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