When people refer to Kerala as the “sigh of relief” of India, they speak the absolute truth. The neon green paddy fields, the blanketing humidity, and the bountiful banana trees bid and shade you to take a deep breath.

So one really couldn't ask for a better place to learn Indian traditional art than Vijnana Kala Vedi Centre. Situated southeast of Cochin this "center for knowledge” is a school woven into the rich fabric of the small village Aranmula, Kerala. Started by a Louba Shield, a French artist who fell in love with Kathakali at age 22, the VJV teaches foreigners Keralan dance, cooking, painting, music, language, woodcarving, Ayurveda, Kathakali, martial arts, and yoga.
The school employs local talented artists and has grown into a government-recognized cultural institution and a charitable organization. The teachers also endow the local children with their craft and the foreign students may teach English to children who can’t afford it.

Clocks at the center are set for the same time. The general vibe is safe, laid-back and restful, but all the activities at the center make the daily schedule feel quite busy. I personally focused on two: painting and cooking.

Guided by Anil, I painted layer after layer a detail-drenched design of Garuda. Anil sat with us and painted his commissions for temples and people’s homes. Keralan mural painting only uses red, yellow ochre, green, black and white, all natural pigments that Anil collected from nature.

Every day, after the painting session, I'd spend two hours with Nisha, Anil's wife, in a laborious chopping, spicing, and frying of mouth-watering vegetable smorgasbords. Nisha awakened my nose to the world of Indian spices and now I have a collection of cherished Indian recipes.

The rest of my time at VKV Centre was happily spent exploring the nearby town, practising yoga and martial arts (the latter not quite as often as the first) and enjoying the company of my fellow students drinking the local toddy, smoking beedis, or eating Hide and Seek cookies after dinner while watching movies.

And, exactly as you might expect, there was a  Keralan feast for every lunch and dinner. Rice, lentils, pappadam, kitchady, theyal, aveyal, payasam, parota, sambar, chapatty, fruit salad, ice cream, lime juice, every Keralan dish was piled upon our banana leaves from bottomless serving bowls.

Staying in Aranmula I learnt a lot, and a special mention is deserved by the following:
1. Lime green and magenta are awesome colors for a house.
2. There are hundreds of ways to use coconut.
3. Sustainability and environmentalism are just common sense.
4. Always make sure your guests feel bad about turning down food.