Why does Kerala have a mountain range, a midland, rivers and the sea all within an hour’s drive, and why do most of us never notice? In this episode of Uppu Podcast, we sit with Hamidali Vazhakkad in front of a big map of Kerala. He walks us through the land we live on: how the Palakkad Gap was formed, what “churam” really means, whether Wayanad sits on the Deccan Plateau, how the Wayanad tunnel will change the ghat, and why Attappadi gets so little rain. From there the conversation travels to the Himalayas, the Great Trigonometrical Survey, the Nepal glacier-lake disaster and the long history of human travel. If you’ve ever wondered why your geography textbook felt boring, this episode shows you what it was supposed to be.
Hamidali Vazhakkad is a higher secondary history teacher who has become one of Kerala’s most-loved explainers of geography, travel and environment. He has made seven journeys to the Himalayas and grew up beside the Chaliyar, in the years of the Mavoor Gwalior Rayons pollution struggle. That’s where his environmental lens began. Stay till the end for the conversation on development vs environment, what tourism did to Manali and our disposable lifestyle, and his advice on how to be a responsible traveller. It’s a Malayalam podcast for anyone who loves Kerala, travel or simply learning to see the world with open eyes.
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00:00 - Highlights
00:52 - How we came to Hamidali Vazhakkad
02:09 - Chapter I: Are Malayalis Geographically Lucky?
07:00 - Why Geography Fails in Our Schools
08:24 - Palakkad Gap & the Meaning of "Churam"
13:50 - Kuthiran Tunnel & the Wildlife Corridor
15:11 - How was the Palakkad Gap Formed?
19:00 - Is Wayanad Part of the Deccan Plateau?
20:12 - Migration, Mahe & Morocco
25:32 - Google Maps Errors & the Iruvazhinji River
28:09 - Wayanad Tunnel: A Ramp, Not a Pass
30:00 - Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats & the Deccan
36:57 - Attappadi & the Rain Shadow
39:07 - 2026: The Weakest Monsoon
41:16 - Chapter II: How did the Traveller in You Begin?
42:00 - Travel is Not a Picnic
45:58 - The Problem with Travel Packages
49:10 - The Great Trigonometrical Survey
54:01 - Seven Journeys to the Himalayas
55:28 - Nepal GLOF: Did China Break the Dam?
59:06 - A History of Travel: From Nomads to Ibn Battuta
01:06:00 - Why Do We Travel Today?
01:10:50 - Chapter III: Mavoor, Chaliyar & the Environmental Lens
01:13:06 - Learning Nature Without Studying Botany01:15:06 - Development VS Environment
01:17:40 - Everyone Should Be an Environmentalist
01:26:17 - What Tourism Did to Manali
01:28:15 - Disposable Lifestyle & Waste
01:31:40 - Chapter IV: How to Be a Responsible Traveller
01:34:00 - Trusting People on the Road