Author Anita Nair likes to wax lyrical about her homeland in India. 'Kerala gets into your blood in an amazing way because everything here - the landscape, the food and the culture - is so wonderful,' she says, sitting beneath a shady tree on the lawns of Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram, scene of the state's recent Hay Festival of literature and the arts.
But its citizens, say Nair, are a disgruntled bunch who froth at the mouth about all and sundry. So while her home state inspires her writing, she sighs and laughs at the same time. 'Oh, the contradictions.'
Indeed, Kerala is full of inconsistencies. Its teeming cities never sleep, its streets filled with colourfully clothed citizens and punctuated by the sound of traffic horns.
Yet there is serenity, too. The state's exclusive network of canals and lakes present a scenic backdrop for quiet backwater tours. The canals also offer sustenance to those busily fishing for seafood or mining sand to sell, most of the time illegally.
It's this curious mix that makes Kerala such an intriguing discovery. Every visitor to this area near the southernmost tip of India is confronted by a cacophony of clashing cultures and colours.
That may come as a surprise to some. Kerala is known for its healing Ayurvedic treatments, those balmy backwater cruises and its meditative yoga. Such escape routes are necessary after the state's all-out assault on the senses. These relaxing activities are why Kerala is officially promoted as the ultimate get-away-from-it-all destination. But again, a contradiction: to discover Kerala's essence, you also have to experience its noise.
A good way to understand Kerala is to talk to some of its many writers. The Hay Festival offers such an opportunity. These literary masters have somehow managed to solve the conundrums and contradictions of this fascinating place.