Oh! Spectacular, Amazing, Unbelievable

Those were the words that came out from one of the British ladies who were one amongst the innumerable tourists who have boarded the banks of Lake Punnamada to witness the mesmerizing boat race for the prestigious Nehru trophy. It was truly amazing, the world’s biggest team event, the snake boat race. A real feast for the thousands gathered around the venue. Nehru trophy 2010 was inaugurated by the first lady of India, H.E. Smt. Prathibha Devisingh Patil on the 14th of August at Punnamada Back waters in Alleppy. “Devas” Snake boat, made its debut and finished first in the Second Finalists. The performance of Devas paddled by the St. George boat club team was well noted.

The boat captain Swan Chacko of CSS Group and the team captain Karthikeyan were amongst the oarsmen encouraging and guiding them at the race. A 40 meter long snake boat can carry up to 111 people including the oarsmen, cheerleaders and the direction controllers. Devas Snake boat is one of the very few boats, who made an impressive performance in its first appearance. In the women’s category, “Devas thekkan odi” retained its title, defeating its challengers. Cheerleaders for Devas consisted of the CSS Group staff members, their friends, well wishers and the Group Chairman, T S Kaladharan himself.