When a Malayali tells you where they are from, they name a district. If you do not know where it is or what it is known for, the conversation stops there. This class fixes that — and the payoff is immediate: respond with something specific about a place and the conversation opens. NORTH TO SOUTH കാസർകോട് Kasaragod — the northernmost, on the Karnataka border, and one of the most linguistically diverse districts in India: Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani, Beary and Marathi. Theyyam, Bekal fort, a genuinely mixed cultural character. കണ്ണൂർ Kannur — Theyyam country, the heartland of the form, performed in sacred groves between December and April. Handloom, an intense political culture, the old Kolathiri seat, and the fort at St Angelo. വയനാട് Wayanad — the high plateau district. Coffee, pepper, tea. Kerala's largest Adivasi population. Cool climate, forests, wildlife, and the Edakkal caves with their prehistoric petroglyphs. കോഴിക്കോട് Kozhikode, the British Calicut — the great medieval port. The word "calico" comes from this city's cloth. Malabar cuisine, halwa and Sweet Street, a distinctive and much-loved dialect, football, and a deep literary life. Malayalis will tell you Kozhikode people are the friendliest in Kerala, and Kozhikode people will agree. മലപ്പുറം Malappuram — the most populous district. Deep Mappila traditions: Mappilappattu, Oppana, Arabi Malayalam. A major source of Gulf migration, football-mad, and Nilambur's teak. പാലക്കാട് Palakkad — the gap in the mountains, the doorway to Tamil Nadu. Rice country, Kerala's granary: flat, hot, with a strong Tamil influence in language, food and community. Kalpathy's chariot festival. തൃശ്ശൂർ Thrissur — the cultural capital, and it says so. Thrissur Pooram with its rival processions and percussion. The Sahitya Akademi, Kathakali and Koodiyattam training. A major gold and banking centre. And a speech famous across Kerala and affectionately mocked. എറണാകുളം Ernakulam — the commercial district, containing Kochi. The busiest, most urban, most cosmopolitan part of Kerala: technology parks, the port, the shipyard. ഇടുക്കി Idukki — the high range. Cardamom, tea, Munnar, the arch dam, and the settler farming communities. Almost entirely mountainous. കോട്ടയം Kottayam — the heart of Syrian Christian Kerala. Rubber, and the Rubber Board. And the centre of Malayalam publishing: newspapers, magazines and books. The first town in India declared fully literate. ആലപ്പുഴ Alappuzha — the backwater district. Coir and its industrial history. Kuttanad, farmed BELOW sea level, one of very few places in the world where that happens. The Nehru Trophy boat race. പത്തനംതിട്ട Pathanamthitta — forested and hilly, containing Sabarimala, which receives millions of pilgrims in the Mandala season. Aranmula, with its mirrors and its boat race. കൊല്ലം Kollam, once Quilon — an ancient port named in medieval accounts including Marco Polo's. Cashew processing: the world's cashew capital for much of the twentieth century. Ashtamudi lake. തിരുവനന്തപുരം Thiruvananthapuram — the state capital and the seat of old Travancore. The Padmanabhaswamy temple, the universities, the technopark, and the space research centre at Thumba. Quizzes below. Dr. Reshmi R Nair — SpeakMalayalam.