COCHIN
(or Kochi as it is correctly known here.)
| F |
lying into Kochi is like flying into Bangkok, or the Carribean. Tons of palm groves as far as the eye can see. Obviously a sign of balmy, steaming, tropical weather, unlike the weather in northern India which has been wonderfully cool in the mornings and evenings. True enough, soon as I stepped off the plane it hit me full blast in the face: the heat and the humidity came on very strong, and within minutes I was sweltering.
Once again, the group got onto the bus and I headed into town by car to get ahead of the group and arrange for their arrival. Ah, but the traffic, the traffic... India, being India, the only predictable thing is the unpredictability of everything. I was in a small car so we managed to weave our way through the traffic, but the bus moved much slower. The result was that we recommended that the bus come directly to the hotel, and the part of the tour that would have been on Friday afternoon would be moved to Sunday.
The group stayed in a place called the Tower House. It's a heritage building in Fort Cochin, also known as Mattancherry, which is the old part of the city. There are many antique Portuguese and Dutch buildings here that have been converted into boutique lodgings. This one has 13 rooms of which we occupied 10. We also had our own dining room set up in the library, which overlooked the pool. The rooms here are HUGE and so even though it was far from a 5-star hotel, the authenticity and the antiqueness of the place made a lovely impression on the guests.
(As an aside, I must say that I am traveling with an amazing group of people, who are all lovely people and not at all fussy, and take everything is good spirits. They all absolutely loved the Tower House!)
Local Snake charmer – I never believed it till I saw it
While all were settling in, I schlepped out to examine the route to the shul. We had so many contradicting versions of the distance, that the only thing to do was to go a check personally. I mean, when we arrived, our local guide said it was three to four kilometers. Within five minutes it had grown to six kilometers. Moshe the Chabadnik said 25 minutes walk, so there was no way I was not going to find out for myself. At the same time I figured that in that heat we would need at least 2 stops for water along the way, which we found and paid for, so that the guests could stop there for a drink on the way to shul. In short, I figured it was a 40 minute walk, at a regular pace. Turns out it took ten minutes more seeing as people were pretty much strolling along on Shabbat morning.
All our catering here in Kochi was provided by a kosher caterer, a Chabadnik, who made "Heimische Essen" type food, which for everyone was a welcome diversion after the spicy foods we had been eating until this time. We found another two Jewish couples on vacation here and so we had a minyan for Kabbalat Shabbat at the hotel, and afterward an amazing Shabbat dinner, with zemirot, wine and whiskey all round.
On Shabbat morning we had breakfast and then headed out for the walk to shul, stopping along the way at the watering holes. We made it to shul while they were still in pesukei dezimra so that was fine. There would have been a minyan without us seeing that there was a tour of young Russian Jewish Americans who were there with a guide who did the guides course with me. He's gone into that market and does kiruv work that way. With us there were about 20 men in shul, which is probably more than they have had in that shul for 50 years at least. The reason is that while many groups come to visit the shul (it gets some 10,000 visitors per week, so they are NOT poor) Jewish groups never seem to stay there over Shabbat. Even the observant groups that come to India and travel through South India never stay there over Shabbat, because of the distance from any reasonable accommodation to the shul. Once again, our group took it all in their stride. They have not stopped talking about how impressive and meaningful it was to spend Shabbat there rather than in some fancy hotel.
The shul itself dates back to 1534. The original shul dates back to the 1300s, but it was burned down when the Portuguese arrived bringing Christianity's hatred of Jews with them. That is the only known recorded anti-Jewish event in Indian history.
After shul the group sponsored a lunch for everyone at the home of Sarah Cohen who lives in Jew Town (the name of the street because, historically, all the Jews lived there) a few houses away from the shul. She is 87 years old and is the last Jewish person who still lives in Jew Town. She was absolutely thrilled to see so many Jewish people in the shul. Some other members of the community (which currently numbers between 9 and 40 - opinions are divided) also came, the women dressed in their finest saris, as well as two former members of the community who were visiting from Israel, one who had come to put up a tombstone for his father, and together with the other kids group and a young couple traveling through, we were a lovely crowded all jammed into Sarah Cohen's living room wall-to-wall sardine style. For the members of our group this was a highlight you could not buy for money. After lunch was minchah and then the walk back to the hotel, sleep, seudah shlishit and then maariv with havdalah, before we all went out for a walk, a drink and to bed.
On Sunday we started the day with a stroll down the road from our hotel to the Church of St. Francis. The building was erected here by the Portuguese during the period that they ruled this small part of India. It was here that Vasco da Gama, the man who discovered the sea route from Europe to India (via the Cape of Good Hope) was buried after his death. He was later exhumed and reinterred in Portugal. As one who grew up in South Africa, and learned of da Gamas exploits early in school, this was an important place to visit.
As we left there we drove past a laundry service that had put our the laundered garments and sheets to dry on washing lines that stretched all across a massive field. Fascinating!
Launderer at work
Afterwards went to the new part of town, where there are two other Shuls, both no longer in use. The one is completely closed and the person who has the key never allows anyone in. The other is open and is used on Sundays as a place for the younger generation of the community there to meet for 'cheder'lessons. That local Chabad shaliach teaches the two men and his wife teaches the four girls and women who come. We met the head of the community who uses the foyer of the shul as his tropical fish business. He was a very interesting man - about in his fifties - who still recalls old songs and melodies from his parents. There are no longer any sifrei Torah in this shul. They have all been transferred to Israel where they are in the shuls of the Cochin expats.
The visit here was also fascinating and the group absolutely loved meeting the local people. Here too we met the man's brother-in-law visiting from Mumbai. The street where these two shuls are located is called Jew Street. Afterwards we headed back to the old part of town seeing as the group wanted to go shopping at Sarah Cohen's store, which she operates out of her house. Shopping is indeed very important for our guests, and shopping here was even more important to them.
In the afternoon we took a cruise around Kochi harbor just to enjoy some down time. Everyone appreciated NOT having to go somewhere or see something that involved getting onto and off a bus. We walked from the hotel to the jetty before the cruise and walked back afterwards. A chicken dinner with copious amounts of wine rounded off the day, and it was followed by a walk along the sea wall. The sea wall is dotted with Chinese fishing nets. These are typical fishing nets but they are attached to large wooden cranes with pulleys and balances that lower the nets into the water every hour or so, for about 15 minutes. They are then hauled by pulley and weight into the air and the catch is removed. It is mainly made up of mussels and small fish, which are immediately sold to local buyers coming by. The process is repeated a few times daily - the locals are really not into working too hard, you see.
The Chinese Fishing Nets – a system that exist only here?
As an observation of Indian society it appears to me that this country is destined to remain a relatively backward society as the rest of the world moves forward. The Hindu concept of 'karma' so envelops everything here, that there is no social responsibility whatsoever. If you are poor, that is your destiny, your karma. So why should I interfere in your karma by giving you money? You are poor and so shall you be. If your karma was otherwise, you would not be poor. The same seems to me to be the case with all things here in India. There appears to be an overwhelming projection of lethargy. As if to say, if my karma was to be energetic, then I would be. If I am not, it's a sign that it's my karma to be not energetic. I would even go so far as to say that any advancement in India will forever remain in the hands of the few who don't rely on karma but on effort.
In general, my return to India after 12 years has left me sad. Was it infatuation with the east that caused me to like India so much before? When I think back, it was the people that I grew to like so much. There seemed to me to be an attitude of there always being room for one more, no matter how crowded or how poor; an inherent patience with this thing called life. That has not changed. I see it this time too. However the lethargy, and the "don't care" attitude, and the "give me some money for this or that effort or service" seems to be much more pervasive than it used to be. Of course, it's more than possible that it was like that before too, but seeing that I was not in a service industry at that time, I didn't have to deal with it then and now I do.
Now, in the deluxe hotels in which we have stayed that has not been the case. Everyone is keen to offer service and to make sure that everything is as best it can be. However, in Cochin, which has a communist government, and where the unions and employees are in fact the true bosses, it was - and I will use a word that hardly ever escapes my lips - disgusting, and it has left me feeling very angry, sad and disappointed.
The strange thing is that the group members had an absolutely wonderful time and for them Cochin has been the highlight of the whole tour! Of course that is because the work done behind the scenes is never exposed in front of them. From that point of view I am a service provider, and I have to work with those who provide me service in order to ensure that the guests have the best time.
On Monday we left Cochin and travelled to Allepey, a nearby town on the bank of a series of canals, known here as the "backwaters." Here we boarded what's called a houseboat. It's a long boat divided into a series of en-suite bedrooms (ours had 5 bedrooms) a kitchen, a deck, and ours also had a large open dining room on the upper floor, where everyone went to sit. We went for a four hour cruise along the canals, rivers and lagoons that make up the backwaters. The canals were developed in order to enable access to the city for the people who lived out in the boondocks. So outside every home there is a long boat, similar to those that can be seen on the Chaya Prao River in Bangkok, but not motorized. It's oar-powered. In it people do their shopping and visiting and whatever.
The divisions among the rooms, the walls and ceilings of the house boats are made from wicker. The wicker itself is created from coir which is a by-product of coconut hair, and coconuts grow in abundance here, what with the tropical climate and all. All in all there is a romantic feeling about this area. You see many houseboats plying the rivers silently, like hippos floating along with the tide. They can be seen docked at the riverside, or with the guests sitting on the decks, or eating a meal. Some of them are also luxury houseboats with a single bedroom. Also, they each have a kitchen so they provide meals. You can rent them for a day, a few hours or for a few days, during which time you can cruise along doing nothing but enjoying pure, relaxing leisure.
After the cruise it was back on the bus and off to the airport for our flight back to Delhi. This time the Chabadnik caterer outdid himself and provided a superb packaged meal and everyone boarded the plane full and satisfied. And again, as always throughout this trip, almost everybody makes a point of coming to say thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment