Meet ‘Kerala’, The 8-Year-Old US Girl Who Visited Her Namesake State To Learn Malayalam

I am not saying this just because it’s my motherland, but it is a fact that there is no other country in the world like India. Extremely diverse, yet beautifully homogeneous, the Indian culture has always fascinated everyone around the world, be it medieval traders and sailors or modern-day globetrotters.

If you remember, inspired and enchanted by the embracing culture, former South African cricketer, Jonty Rhodes named his daughter ‘India‘ after our nation and as it turns out, he is not the only one to do so.

In the year 2004, Charles Kramer and his wife Brenna Moore, from Los Angeles, USA, visited the state of Kerala for the first time. With its beautiful landscape and a progressive society, they fell so much in love with it that in 2009, they decided to name their firstborn after it.

“The hills of Wayanad, the beaches and backwaters, the energy we received from Kerala was positive.”

 

Fast forward to June 2016, the couple decides to take a year off to travel the world with ‘Kerala’ and her younger brother, Julian. Although visiting India was not in their initial plan, they did so after getting advised from Michel, their guide in France.

Michel had an adopted son in Kerala so he offered accommodation to the Kramers at the house of his adopted son’s sister, Manju. As ‘Kerala’ was also curious about visiting the place she was named after, the couple decided to give it a go.

 

So, the Kramers arrived at Cherppunkal, a small town in Kerala and decided to enrol ‘Kerala’ in Manju’s daughter Diya’s school for a month. Julian also joined playschool there. Describing Kerala’s excitement, Manju said,

“Kerala was very excited that we bought her a new uniform, books and she also travelled by school bus with Diya. She attended third standard.”

 

The Kramer family spent their time in Kerala absorbing the local culture. At the first day of school, they received a special welcome and were also asked to address the morning assembly. As for ‘Kerala’, the happiness was doubled for a special reason.

“She was really happy that finally she was in a place where people knew how to pronounce her name and did not call her Keral or Carol or things like that.”

 

While ‘Kerala’ left India in January and is now exploring other parts of the world with her family, she learnt a lot in her namesake state, like speaking a few words in Malayalam and writing her name in the language. She also made some special bonds here. Her friend, Diya, said,

“We are good friends and we had good times together. I miss her.”

 

You can take a look at Kerala’s Indian adventure in this video, uploaded by Worldschool 101.

As I said, there is no country in the world like India.

News Source: The News Minute