Kumily sits at 900 metres on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, and the air there smells different from the moment you step off the bus, not sweet, exactly, but sharp and green in a way that takes a second to place. It is cardamom, and it is everywhere: drying on rooftop sheets, stacked in jute sacks outside concrete godowns, moving through the town on the backs of motorcycles. The town exists because of the spice, and if you time a visit right, you can watch the trade happen from about three metres away.
