Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Cochin
Second Day of Fulbright Conference, St. George’s Church and Kuchipudi Performance
Namaste from Cochin!
It was another delightful day in Cochin as the Fulbright Conference continued. Each day I am getting to know more people and making new friends—personal and professional—which is exactly the aim of the Fulbright Program and this particular conference.
So I awoke at 6.30 am and did not have much time to blog. I had breakfast with Nina Mukherjee and her husband Terry and Christina Nichol—a masala omelette with sausages, corn with mushrooms and stewed kidney beans. I also carried a pouch of my own decaf coffee and asked for boiling water at the table (which was provided to me) so that I could make my own decaf coffee. That, with a pain de chocolate and some cheese saw me well through a not-so-crazy meal.
Not long after breakfast, I checked Twitter and learned from by BBC app that India had launched surgical strikes against Pakistan by hitting its terrorist camps along the Line of Control. All the Indian TV stations then started reporting this news. So I guess now Pakistan will retaliate and the two nations are officially at war. I wonder how this will bode for the vast number of Americans gathered here in Cochin and how this will impact us. If things escalate (which I sincerely hope and pray they will not) then I am wondering if the US State Department may call all Americans back to the US—this would be done as a precautionary measure, of course. Not much was said about it at the conference where, I do believe, every attempt is made to steer clear of politics, especially the politics that govern Indo-Park relations.
I did much of my blogging during the day while attending the various sessions in the galleries. It is possible to do so quietly without the keys clicking too loudly if you type really slowly. Anyway, I attended two sessions with tea breaks in-between. I also spoke to Ryan who then introduced me to Saida who is a representative from Tashkent about the possibility of a professional visit to Uzbekistan as I am keen to explore that—not sure it will go anywhere as my areas of specialization may not be of any interest to people who were once part of the former Soviet Union—but one can try.
Before lunch, we had another keynote address by Joel Lee who talked about the Indian caste system, untouchability and the custom of ‘passing’ for a higher caste among Indian Dalits. It was very interesting and very enlightening and I am amazed at how much American scholars are learning and contributing to scholarship by their inquiries in some of the places we call the Hindu heartland—Uttar Pradesh where Joel makes his home is also where he learned his Hindi and he is absolutely fluent in it—so fluent that he could put all of us Indians to shame in the ease with which he speaks, reads and writes the language.
Traditional Keralite Wedding Luncheon:
More sessions followed until lunch time which turned out to be a wonderful surprise. Instead of the various stations offering buffet offerings, we were treated to a traditional meal which was served at long tables in the manner in which people eat their dinner at Indian weddings. In front of each place was a traditional (real) banana leaf and on it was placed such a vast variety of items—all vegetarian—that included so many different kinds of vegetable preparations plus papads, rice with sambhar, buttermilk (served in a cup), and three types of payassam for dessert and they were all good. Servers came around with stainless steel pails and ladles and kept topping up our items if we wanted more. It was all delicious and such a novel experience, I truly was enthralled as were most of us who enjoyed the meal. There was also a banana—a small yellow Elchi kela which is the only kind of banana I will eat as I love its texture and flavor (I do not eat the regular green bananas at all as I cannot stand them).
After lunch, I attended one more set of conference sessions and listened to a number of really interesting presentations, one of which was superbly interactive as it was about Carnatic (South Indian classical vocal) Music and Western Choral traditions fusing together in a way that was very relevant to my current research in Bombay. It was really a lot of fun. When that was done, we had another tea break and then free time for about four hours. I was not sure what to do and so I decided to simply take an Uber to the Church of St. George Forman in Edapally where a church has existed since the 900s. There is an old church there and then a brand-new modern church that was recently built by the well-known chain of Keralite jewelers known as Joyalukkas and inaugurated by the Cardinal of Cochin. My cousin Blossom had sent me a lavish pictorial account of it that emphasized its opulence. Much social criticism has come upon the family for its vulgar spending on this project as so many people feel it would have been better spent on philanthropic projects such as free hospitals, schools, homes for the aged and the handicapped, etc. Anyway, it seems that Indian Christians are picking up and adopting the ancient Hindu custom of lavishing expensive gifts on temples instead of spending on philanthropy. Temples are the richest institutions in India with many of them actually having underground vaults for storing the huge reserves of gold that are donated by the faithful in return for sacred favors and petitions received.
Visit to St. George Church at Edapally:
As it turns out, I managed to get a ride from a lovely Fulbrighter called Amelia Hauser who was waiting for a car together with her husband Michael. They were off to Ernakulam where they live as Amelia has her grant associated with a Catholic college in Cochin. She told me they would be happy to give me a ride to the ferry port at Ernakulam from where I could easily get the ferry to cross the river to Fort Kochi (Cochin) where the annual Art Biennale that I want to visit is located. I happily piled in with them and in the car discovered that the biennale would take a few hours. I was unlikely to have that much time this evening as I wanted to get back for the Kuchipudi dance performance that was scheduled at 7.00 pm. So I decided instead to go and see the Church of St. George at Edapally by simply asking the Uber driver to take me there after he had dropped off the Hausers. And that was what I did.
I almost dozed off on the long drive from Ernakulam to Edapally but when I awoke and was alert again, I was looking at the old church and the new one right on the main road that was busy with traffic. This has been a popular religious spot of Indian Christian pilgrimage since the 9th century with a church on these premises since 934 AD. Two weeks ago, my British friends Cynthia and Michael Colclough had visited this church while on a cruise of India and the Far East. They had also sent me pictures of their visit and told me about the history of the old church and the new modern one that has been constructed here.
I visited the old church first and made my three wishes—and I did the same in the new one too. I actually preferred the interior of the old church to the new as the second one was much too extravagant for my taste. The old one had Portuguese influence as seen also in the churches of Goa—there was gilding at the altar (the main reredos and the side altars) but it was subtle. The new modern church had an overdose of gilding which was not to my taste. Overall, it was great to be able to join pilgrims through the centuries at this spot and to pray fervently with gratitude for all blessings received.
I found a quiet spot to sit and have a long telephonic chat with Dad and Russel who then apprised me on the latest situation back home. It was good to talk to them and Dad too was happy to have someone to chat with and share the news with. I told him about India’s surgical strikes on the LoC—of which he knew nothing. I told him to switch on the TV and get the news, which he said he would do right away.
I called for an Uber to take me back to my hotel and got one within 2 minutes. Back at my hotel, I relaxed in my room and this time I did change for dinner and went down to the lawns for the Kuchipudi performance.
Kuchipudi performance by Lalita Sindhuri:
The Kuchipudi performance was simply stunning. Performed by Lalita Sindhuri who is a Fulbrighter herself and who has traveled to America on the Fulbright taking her art form with her, it was simply a pleasure to watch her in action. She did about 5 short sequences, each of which told a story. She also danced on a brass plate—on its edges to be exact. How it did not hurt her is beyond my understanding. Truly, it was among the best things I have seen in India on my trip so far and it left us all speechless. Since I was seated right up in front, I saw every expression on her face and enjoyed them immensely.
Dinner and Rest:
The performance was followed by a buffet dinner in which I focused again on the appams and stew as I am unlikely of get this kind of food anywhere else. I also had some hot and sour soup (which was not great) and some Cauliflower Manchurian and some Fish in Garlic Sauce. For dessert, there were brownies with vanilla ice-cream and chocolate sauce and jalebis with rabri, a thick end saffron-flavored custard. I have to say that although there was an abundance of enticing food, not much of it was superbly delicious. I am all for quality, not senseless quantity and that is why I am also amazed by the kind of food you find on cruise ships—where the portions are tiny but the food so tasty you simply keep wishing there was more. This is not the case in these Indian five-star hotels.
After dinner, I was simply too tired and so returned to my room for some R and R. I did a bit of reading before I fell asleep.
Until tomorrow...
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