Play

More than six decades ago, when Jawaharlal Nehru visited Alapuzha for the first time, he was captivated by the beauty of its lakes and boats. He even chose a chundan vellam, 128-foot race boat instead of a VIP vehicle to arrive at the wetland area. Enthralled by region’s unique culture, Nehru donated a silver trophy in the shape of Kerala's famous snake boats, thereby giving an official stamp to what would come to be known as the annual Nehru Trophy Boat Race.

But this year's event had a slightly novel twist to it, one that has more in common with the state of modern cricket than traditional Kerala culture. The winner of the 2015 Nehru Trophy was the Jawahar Thayankari, a snake boat owned by the Vembanad Boat Club of Kumarakom which has bagged first place a few times in the past as well.

The difference, however, was about who was on board. The boat, captained by Jameskutty Jacob, was powered by rowers from Manipur and Assam, according to the Times of India. And that hasn't gone down well with other locals.

The owner of a fellow boat which lost in the heats, said it was okay for other states to compete, but for a local boat to use imported talent – using an Indian Premier League-style cash prize to entice rowers – seemed wrong. Boat clubs are scrambling to find the money to pay for training, and now a boat is more likely to have a sponsor backing it rather than a traditional village. Five out of the 16 participating teams were sponsored by several boat clubs’ NRI owners, and as they compete for prizes that go into the tens of lakhs, in addition to bragging rights, they're increasingly unable to find rowers from Kerala itself.

"Let us face it," said winning captain, Jacob, to ToI. "The average Malayali has become lazy. He would rather go to the Gulf than stick his neck out here."