KRGFamily Reunion Part 3 - Rainbow Cruises

After breakfast at Sarovaram we boarded two air-conditioned Tempo Travelers and proceeded to Alleppey enroute to the Rainbow Cruises Boat Jetty. After a boisterous 90 minute journey we reached our destination. We generated a lot of cacaphony & commotion and had enormous fun during the bus ride - music videos belting out latest bollywood songs accompanied by turbulent dancing/hip shaking by the youngsters. At the boat jetty we all took a breather, a washroom and selfie break. An array of beautiful crafted cruise boats were anchored neatly in a row. Rainbow Cruises was one amongst them and cousin Jayaram happens to be a Director in this enterprise.The management committee of Rainbow Cruise were present on hand to receive us and assist in boarding the cruise boat - a sleek air-conditioned luxury boat with nice rooms and a huge air conditioned conference room on the top deck with a terrific view of the Vembanad Kayal - picturesque and panoramic.We were welcomed aboard with cold towels and "elaneer" or tender coconut water -a perfect drink to expunge our thirst and commence our exotic cruise.The conference room had a long oblong table - just perfect to seat the entire family. We spent a lot time walking the top deck, exchanging pleasantries & exclaiming about our magical journey we were about to undertake on the tranquil backwaters of incredible Vembanad lake. We soon settled down to our chatting and gossip sessions and exchanging notes on what each one had been upto in recent times. Mobile phones were out and clicking pictures and selfies galore. Many in the family were meeting one another for the first time or after a long interval and consequently there were excited squeaks or screams of amazement.
Jayaram officially declared the bar open and appointed himself as the head barman.The spiritually oriented immediately made a bee line to the bar and were served cocktails of Elaneer and Golden Apple Vodka. As the veterans slowly started get inebriated, the quieter & gentler "tee-totallers" too gravitated towards and aligned themselves to the bar and helped themselves to this "soma-amrith" or divine elixir (but firmly declaring that they were merely consuming elaneer). We were having a boat load of fun and kept posting pictures on the family whats app group much to the chagrin,despair & disappointment of those who did not attend
The cocktail session was followed by a grand Kerala style vegetarian sadya served on plantain leaves - served with three payasams - wholesome, fulfilling & awesome. Post lunch some members retired to the comfort of the rooms for a much needed afternoon naps while the rest remained on board and continued their amusements, banter & tete-a-tete.The highlight of the post lunch merriment was a delightful game of "Telepathy" introduced by Jayaram.This game had everyone mesmerized and astonished.Many in the family must still be scratching their heads trying to figure out the philosophy behind telepathy. We were then served hot hot delicious Pazham Poris and tea/coffee and soon the boat reached our idyllic destination after a smooth 5 hour long therapeutic cruise. Our peregrinations on the Vembanad Lake concluded and we arrived at our mysterious destination - The Lake Palace Resort.