Cochin-the Malabar Coast

those are little goats running down Bastien Street in Fort Cochin

I like this person's thinking!

91% Literacy ........ yes you read it correctly.  In Kerala, education and welfare of the people are priorities.  The children are all groomed well and excited to attend school.  Nursery schools are common.  Collectives are common (I purchased some cardamom and silk scarves from a women's collective) and the beggars are Definitely fewer than anywhere else in India.
I have been all over the state, but this blog is about Fort Cochin: a very very charming hub bub of a neighborhood.
Cochin is a gaggle of islands (as is Mumbai) connected by
small bridges or ferries.  Fort Cochin remains very small scale; narrow tree lined roads, a labryinth of intersecting mayhem.......perfect for me to get lost in......... which is truly how i travel!

state of Kerala- first  and only elected Communist Gov't in the country

St Francis church- oldest church

Chinese fishing nets

net being lifted by 4 people- traditional fishing

the day's catch- notice blue foot crabs

The Portuguese (and of course later British) came here in search of SPICES for commerce (later, East India Co which was the vehicle for the British Empire to take final control).
Consequently, there are many churches and Christians (+ Christmas), as well as JEWS ,Jains, Muslims and Hindus.
But it is the SPICES that are so wondefully exotic.  I visited 
plantations as well as markets....... more later.

On my second night here I went to see KathaKali dance...... which is actually more like theatre.  The men play all the parts and it is the language of the EYES and mudra (stylized positions) Hands.

make up applied for Kathakali performance

the musicians were powerful and carnatic singing accompanied

this beast wants to seduce another man's wife (the beginning of the troubles in the world!)

She so-does-not-want -him

the husband lays a trap a slays him

Now for a little irony......in the world of travel. The first day in Cochin I took off for walk ,trying to find Dal/Roti a restaurant recommended. It was closed so I just began to wander.  Fort Cochin is like that; it encourages wandering with its goats skirting in and out of alleys and the well groomed school kids laughing, and the endless (harassing) tuk-tuk drivers (ferrari they call themselves) and of course the iconic church steeples rising above the seedy architecture.  (Please Indian architects........ come home and create some beauty!) I nosed myself to another closed cafe and then found an art gallery.  It was so compelling and provocative that i had to walk in and really view these paintings and drawings.  They were drawn in ink, boldly graphic with startling images of violence.

They were beautifully disturbing.  And well drawn. Then I noticed that further inside was a cafe.  I sat down and noticed that the place was filled with ex-pats, Indians and tourists.  There is a place like this in every "hip" place around the world.  A place to meet.  Within 5 minutes I was in a  humorous conversation with expats as well as the American owner Dorrie and her Cochin born husband.  How could I not discuss the art on the walls?!  turns out .....later on l looked in my Lonely Planet, and she is the Queen Bee of Cochin's art scene.  Sitting next to her was a "sadhu" and a westerner.
They were casually listening to our conversation.  All of a sudden, this Indian man,wearing just a dhoti and matted hair and for all intents and purposes looked as though he had just stepped from the ghats of Varanasi spoke to me and said, "I love Vermont and Bennington is my favorite town"
My eyebrows went up......i was speechless.......I hadn't even said what state I was from...... not to mention the exact location.
Meeting people from around the world is like that............... it's a futile exercise to think "labels"-"categories"- or "boxes".
Isn't the reason we travel to "roam, think and behave out of one's box?????????!"

door hardware in my room

travelin' woman