Kaleidoscopic Kochi

Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum

‘Kochi choking !’ Screamed recent headlines as the fumes from a fire at a waste dump engulfed the serene beach town for a number of days. My heart wept for beautiful, lush-green Kochi, with its swaying palms, serene backwaters, roaring surf and coastal breeze with a touch of the salty sea.

Thankfully, the disaster got addressed. The foul air and smog cleared up to leave Kochi, the city of art and culture and delicious Kerala cuisine, fresh and welcoming again. I recalled my marvellous holiday some years back at this sea-side town, located in God’s Own Country, India’s State of Kerala. Kochi packs a lot more than its small name suggests.

During my years as a student I knew of it as the anglicised, ‘Cochin’. An enchanting city situated on the southwest coast of India, it was renamed ‘Kochi’, drawn from the Malayalam, ‘kochu azhi’, meaning a small lagoon, in 1996. The vast expanse of the Arabian sea on one side and the backwaters flowing in through the indentations in the coast line make this a most beautiful lagoon, blessed in its blend of mesmerising natural beauty and vibrant culture.

A wooden “Garuda” in the Folklore Museum

We had reached Kochi in mid-June- awash in the monsoons – everything was spectacularly green and remarkably soothing. The morning in Kochi had started with a satisfying breakfast of a stack of the spongiest,fluffiest, white, warm Appams (lacy crepes made of fermented rice and coconut batter) served with a delicately flavoured vegetable stew in a delicious coconut gravy base- food fit for the Gods!

Mouth-watering Cuisine–spongy appams, prawns cooked in green coconut

Our first day in Kochi saw us visiting the beautiful St. George Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Edapally, Asia’s largest shrine to St George, visited every year by more than 5 million and believed to have been founded in 593 AD. When we reached, the Church was brimming with the devout. As nudged by a polite sign, we took our footwear off outside and went in to respectfully join the others in silent prayer. The breathtakingly beautiful altar inspired reverence. Faith pervaded the air. A young man stepped out and, while still on the church grounds, lit a cigarette. A nun going towards her daily prayers , very young herself, gently admonished him – ‘Not in the Lord’s home, brother’, she said softly. Without demur, he immediately extinguished the offending cigarette.

Edapally Palli (Church of Forane)

Spiritually enriched, we turned to the temporal and made a trip to the Lulu International Mall, the  then largest, mall in Asia. (More recently that distinction, i believe, has been passed on to the Lulu Mall in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India). A short metro ride took us to our destinaion. The Mall was connected to the Metro Station with a covered, air-conditioned walkway  which not only protected us from the constant June drizzle, it also gave us a feel of being in a railway coach as the entire walkway was designed like one. The Mall itself was an unforgettable experience- everything was on a larger- than- life scale. Never in my life (And i enjoy vintage to be proud of!) had I seen such a mind-boggling array of fruits – fruits of all varieties from the exotic Rambutan and mangosteen to the homegrown mango and banana. In a huge section devoted to them, there were bananas and apples from every part of the world- from more countries than I or my wife knew existed! Very tentatively we bought some extra small, extra sweet bananas originating from Malaysia- and thoroughly enjoyed our international experience right here in our own Kerala. The spices section was an olfactory odyssey – intensely aromatic, colourful spices, ground fine, thick, thin, singly, more than one mixed together- specifications to meet each shoppers individual taste- in large vats, attractively placed in glass cases, inviting all the senses to celebrate. My mom’s credo that it is through the eyes and nose that food is first tasted came home to me loud and clear.

A must-visit in Kochi is the Kerala Folklore Theatre and Museum, the only architectural museum in Kerala, which has been enthralling visitors since 2009.

A dream project of George Thaliath and his wife Annie George, it took twenty-five years to build the museum. The entrance is exquisite, adorned with Kerala wood-carvings and the remnants of a sixteenth-century Tamil Nadu temple. Housing more than 4,000 artefacts in its three storeys-the first mostly devoted to dance costumes- vibrant and uplifting , the second to mural paintings while the third hosts authentic stage performances. One can even find utensils from the Stone Age!

An exhibit from the Kerala Folklore Museum

Come dinner time, we head to the Paragon restaurant in the Mall, famed for its authentic Kerala cuisine. We order its signature dishes -the delicious, tangy, prawn mango curry and biryani, but are hugely disappointed to learn that we are late for the latter. This has already been cleaned out by the constant stream of eager diners, even though the clock is showing only 8.30 pm!

Our Homestay, Lake Front Beach Homes, Cherai gently sloping into the placid backwaters

Early the next morning we head to Cherai, where we have booked a delightful homestay with a young couple at their home on the backwaters. It is a lovely 90 minute drive from Kochi to Cherai beach through neat roads lined with lush green trees and parks. Across the backwaters we go on a barge, still seated in our car! And onto Cherai, a narrow belt of land on Vypin island, locked between the backwaters and the sea- with swaying coconut trees and paddy fields. Famous for the images of delicate Chinese fishing nets on its coast, Cherai has one of the most visited beaches in Kochi.

Laid out longitudinally, this is a really narrow strip of land – just a few hundred meters across – so we had the freedom to take a leisurely boat ride on the placid backwaters during the day, marvelling at the beautiful, delicate Chinese fishing nets dotting the waters and then, by evening, to stroll across to the other side of the narrow strip to enjoy the sea beach and the waves. We round it off with a delightful dinner at a lantern-lit palm- leaves shack by the sea side – lip-smacking fried fish-fresh catch of the day from the backwaters, fiery kappa [tapioca] curry and rice – all washed down with cool green coconut water for us and potent, refreshing palm toddy for our fellow diners, the local fishermen.

Our young, hard- working hosts at the ‘Lake Front Beach Homes ‘, Shari and her husband and their six- year old daughter have made sure of our every comfort and made us feel very, very welcome. The rooms are neat and comfortable, a careful selection of books is stacked in the verandah with comfortable, roomy cane chairs to lounge in and spend a peaceful evening with oneself, watching the fishing nets and the boats bobbing up and down on the backwaters.

Shari with her efficient staff and her little girl in tow, rustles up a warm breakfast of our choice – warm dosas one day, hot ‘pooris’ another and egg and toast on a third. She has learnt many exotic preparations from the large number of her guests from all over the world and is now quite a gourmet chef! Not to be left behind , her six- year old has done her own learning from the constant stream of international visitors – the little one is a linguist and can, at her tiny age, hold a decent conversation in six global langauges– make that seven with her native Malayalam! Her doting grandfather, a skilled fisherman in his time, has created a perfect miniature operational Chinese fishing net, cantilever and all for his little moppet. It can be lowered into the waters and then pulled up with Minnu’s small catch for the day, teaching her so much about the human-nature balance. We enjoy his demonstration of how to operate it.

Cantilevered Chinese Fishing net at the Lake Front Beach Homes

Of course, no visit to Kerala is complete without an Ayurvedic massage. On our request, Shari fixes a time for us at an Ayurvedic spa within strolling distance. We walk down, enjoying the sea breaking alongside! Vendors with cucumber and other fruit pickled in brine in large glass vats seem to attract many locals but the wife and I satisfy ourselves just by chatting with the vendors, unclear of how spicy the contents of their jars might be! Once at the parlour, the soothing aroma of medicated , oils , infused with a number of healing herbs , starts to work its magic even before skilled masseurs take over – relaxing both body and mind. Refreshed, renewed, we return , collecting sea shells by the shore on our way back.

Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com

Come departure time, even though it is unusually early in the morning, an Uber arranged by our hosts the previous evening, arrives dot on time. As we take leave, we could not agree more with the Kerala tag line – it is indeed ‘God’s own country’, with the most wonderful people.

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