According to legend, Kerala, the state and area of Cochin, was Christianized by St Thomas about 20 years after the crucifixion. Kochi means a “small space” or “small lagoon” in Malayalam, the local language.
Spices, especially
pepper, cardamom and cloves, have always been important exports. The first European settlement was by the
Portuguese in 1500 and 3 years later, Vasco da Gama established a trading
station. From then on, it was a fight
for the very lucrative spice trade. The
Dutch pushed the Portuguese out in 1663 and the British pushed the Dutch out in
1795. They stayed until Indian
independence in 1947.
Because of the travel
advisory issued by Cunard, warning of the´possibility of “extremist activity” in Cochin, complete
with embassy telephone numbers, I had booked a tour, “Highlights of Cochin”. I
must remember to look up the word “highlights”.
The telephone numbers would not have helped much since they were for the
embassy in New Delhi, far, far away.
The bus was frigid
and the heat intense so the contrast was most unpleasant, matched only by the
high-pitched voice of the tour guide and her annoying habit of bobbing her head
from side to side when she talked. She
probably wonders why we don’t.
First to the museum
with a grand total of 15 minutes visiting time.
Joseph, the caretaker of the museum, showed us a typical Cochin door
lock which included symbols of the different religious communities peacefully
co-existing in Cochin: Hindu, Buddhist,
Moslem, Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Roman Catholic, Dutch Reformed,
Confucianism.
From the museum, we
were taken to the harbor for a walking tour.
This was a highlight: the Chinese
fishing nets. Supposedly introduced by
Chinese fishermen during the reign of Kublai Khan (1215-1294, the Yuan
dynasty), these cantilevered nets are still in use. A puzzle:
the blue crabs from the Chesapeake Bay are always cooked alive. We were warned not to cook them after they
had died. However, at the Cochin market
(temperature about 85° F in the shade), the crabs were arranged in a circle,
very, very dead but for sale.
The “lowlight” of the
tour: a large building, divided into
walled-off section, each containing a different luxury item: furniture (“we ship all over the world”,
jewelry (more expensive than on the ship), clothing (lovely, hand-embroidered
exorbitantly expensive items) and any number of metal, wooden and plastic knick-knacks. Total time there: 50 minutes.
From there we were
driven to the Dutch Palace. The more
than 19 busses and 100 + cars in the parking lot gave me pause and well they
should have. When the Dutch ousted the
Portuguese, they destroyed some of the maharajah’s buildings. So, they built a mansion, called it a “palace”
and everyone was, in theory, happy.
We were one group out
of about 10 and there were 3 or 4 “minders” for each group because photography
was not allowed. The palace has carved teak ceilings darkened with age and so
the interior was dreary, hot and humid. It
was Saturday so there were lots of families with hot, cranky children. I left early but by the time I got out, the
sun was directly overhead and it was brutal.
We drove to Jew Town,
the non-politically correct name of a section of Cochin which was the Jewish
Quarter. There is still a synagogue but
services were being held for the 8 practicing Jews left in Cochin. We were dropped off at a spice market, also
overcrowded, but when you think of it, what would most of the passengers on a
ship do with bags of spices?
I walked around the
side and back streets, successfully avoiding the merchants who popped out of
their shops as I approached. One
appeared so suddenly that I let out a little (maybe not so little) shriek which
naturally brought other shopkeepers out.
Oh, joy! I was not sorry to be
back on the ship.
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