Cochin, India

Cochin is a thriving, palm-fringed port city with one of the world’s finest harbors, located on the Southern Malabar Coast.  Cochin is located in Kerala, one of India’s most densely populated states and claims the highest literacy rate of 96% in the country.  Sixty percent of the population is Hindu, and there are also four Roman Catholic sects.  India has 1.2 billion people and will surpass China as the most populous country in 2035. 

Cochin has been a stopping point for trading as early as the 10^th century BC.  From the 15^th century onward the port saw the comings and goings of the Portuguese, Dutch, Chinese and British.  The Portuguese settled in the area in the early 1500s, then the Dutch forced the Portuguese out and started the Dutch East India Company in 1602, and then by 1684, the British India Company was formed and forced the Dutch out.  All this was over the spice trade.  In 1947, Britain withdrew from India and it became a republic in 1950.

India is a very interesting country.  They are modernizing their infrastructure at a rapid pace.  In Cochin, there are new bridges and high rise condos, and a modern updated port for big ships.  India needs electricity and there just isn’t enough of it.  If the monsoon rains don’t come, then there isn’t enough water to make electricity from the dams so they are collaborating with the Russians to build nuclear power plants.  There is the new city on one side of the harbor, and the old city on the other.  The old city is shabby, full of trash and derelict looking; at the same time, there are some beautiful and well maintained buildings.  Manufacturing is down because of the unions.  India produces and exports rubber, fish and spices such as peppers, cardamom; in fact, 72 commercial spices are grown and exported.  They are even building a new aircraft carrier. 

The weather here is miserable most of the time.  In the summer months (April and May), the average temperature reaches 104° with 100% humidity.  They need the power for air-conditioning!  Today, we were fortunate as the temperature was only around 91° with 60% humidity. 

There are approximately 1,652 dialects in India and English is widely spoken.  The word Taj means town.  Indians love spicy foods.  According to our guide, the sacred cow is nothing more than a “political creation.”  They love to eat beef.

Cute child we saw

Cochin is a cluster of islands and peninsulas, and the Coast Guard and Navy have offices here.  Today, we took a harbor tour and saw many colorful fishing boats as well as derelicts.  Some of them looked like they could sink any minute, while others were clean and sported some fancy paint jobs.  The boat we rode on was old and shabby, but at least there was a cover over the top deck to keep the direct sun off of us.  Cheap plastic chairs were lined against and lashed to each side railing.  We cruised by some islands, yawn, and saw how some of the fishing people lived.  I managed to get a shot of a woman doing laundry by throwing the clothes against the rocks.  They may have an emerging economy, but plainly, there are many that have not or never will be a part of it.  There is plenty of poverty and homelessness here.

New city of Cochin

New mixed in with the old

This is the type of boat we rode on for our harbor tour

This is the boat we road on

Fishing village

Some of the poorly maintained fishing boats

Fishing boats in harbor for Easter Sunday; this is mostly a Catholic village

No washing machine for this woman

Great arms for the pounding against the rocks

Colorful fishing boat

Fishing boat underway

The highlight of the boat ride was to see the Chinese fishing nets.  They lined the shore at the entrance to the harbor.  These are fixed, cantilevered structures suspended over the sea and operated from shore by teams of up to six men.  One our last visit here, I saw them operated from shoreside and the fishermen had a great gig going:  let the tourists pay $1 for the privilege of operating them.   The fisherman made money and got fish without having to lift a finger.  Ain’t capitalism grand?!  They are fascinating to watch:  counterbalanced by stones attached with ropes, the fishermen walk along the beam causing the net to dip into the sea, and after a few minutes it is hauled up.

Chinese fishing nets

Raising the net

Chinese fishing nets

Upon returning to shore from our little cruise, we went to the Taj Malabar Hotel where we saw a 45 minute Kathakali performance.  This was a beautiful old hotel from the British era; the ceiling woodwork was magnificent and this is what you think of when you see old movies from the day of British colonialism.  We were served a few snacks and then sat down to view one of the weirdest theatrical performances I have ever seen.

One man was the moderator and drummer and another man, dressed as a woman with very heavy make-up came out and did a little warm up routine of rolling his eyeballs and raising his eyebrows in time to the drumming.  Oh, my aching head – our western ears are not meant for these sounds.  Then he added blinking eyes and mouth expressions.  After about five minutes of this stuff, he then went on to demonstrate the nine human emotions of love, contempt, sorrow, anger, courage, fear, revulsion, wonder, and tranquility.  At no time was a voice used, there were no spoken words, just facial expressions and body movement.  Most mothers that I know already use this technique, you know, THE LOOK.  Mom could say a whole range of things, most of which are not fun or nice, with just THE LOOK.

Greetings y'all

Demonstrating fear

The good boy in the story

He then demonstrated concepts.  We were then ready for the real performance.  You know it:  the girl looks fine, flirts with the good boy, but good boy is not easily taken in with the evil girl, yada yada yada.  We then watched a 30 minute or so performance of this tale.  We were very fortunate in that most performances of this type last for half a day; they usually start at 6pm in the evening and go all night not ending until the next morning.  Here’s a little demo of the concept:  "come here and take a seat."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYbDYZC6VQs

We got back to the ship in time for lunch, and spent the afternoon at the pool.