Tuesday, January 13, 2026:
Participating in the International Anglo-Indian Conference and First Glimpses of Cochin
Today was devoted entirely to my participation in the International Anglo-Indian Conference—the very reason that motivated this trip to Kerala. But first, breakfast. It had been a very comfortable night and both of us had slept well. We awoke, showered, dressed and turned to thoughts of food. Our hotel tariff included breakfast—so we returned to the Rooftop Restaurant of our hotel and prepared to have a really good breakfast.
Breakfast at Hotel Presidency:
breakfast, we ran into Bridget White Kumar, the renowned Anglo-Indian cookery book author, whose books I had once owned in Connecticut. We struck up a conversation with her and joined her at her table as she was seated alone. The buffet was laid out just steps away from our table and we made several trips to enjoy its offerings: I began with Idiappam (which is a noodle-shaped dosa made with white rice flour) which is traditionally eaten with Chicken Stew. Now Kerala is famous for this combination and I had been longing to enjoy this dish. The chicken stew is made with coconut milk which gives it a wonderfully creamy texture and very unique flavor. It was indeed as delicious as I had imagined. Next, I went on to eat the idlis and menu vadas served with spicy sambhar (lentil stew) and coconut chutney. Then, I brought myself a glass of mango lassi to the table and I finished off with a plate of fresh fruit. It was one of the best breakfasts I had eaten on the trip so far and I relished it fully.
Off to the Conference:
Luckily, our Anglo-Indian Conference was in a place called Ashirbhavan which happened to be a Christian Pastoral Center just a ten-minute walk away. Equipped with my paper and my flash drive which contained my Powerpoint presentation on it, we left our hotel at 9.15 am to be there by 9.30 am so that we could sort out all issues related to technicalities.
We were among the very first to arrive at the Conference hall. I was delighted to meet my colleagues, Brent Otto and Robyn Andrews, both of whom were already there and adjusting the projector. We greeted each other fondly and then took our seats. More and more people piled into the hall and everyone was very friendly as almost all of them had registered to attend the entire week’s activity related to the Anglo-Indian Reunion. This event brings Anglo-Indians of the diaspora, who are scattered all around the English-speaking world, to the spot where these reunions are held once every two years. The reunions include religious, social and intellectual activities, including a Research Showcase and a Research Workshop. I have made presentations at these Reunion Conferences in Calcutta and Chennai in person and in Canberra, Australia, by zoom. I was very pleased to return to the Conference, this time in Cochin, as apart from enabling me to showcase my own recent research activity, it allows me to meet with many of my scholar friends who work in the same field of inquiry such as Uther Charlton-Stevens, Dolores Chew, etc.
The Conference began with the Welcome Address and in the middle of the preamble, my cousin Blossom and her daughter Menaka walked in. They had scheduled a visit to Cochin at this time to coincide with the famous Cochin Art Biennale which they too attend every two years. This time, the Biennale happened to coincide with the Anglo-Indian Conference and they were very pleased to be able to attend both.
The sessions went off really well and, as usual, were highly informative and enlightening. I learned a lot from them and became familiar with the manner in which the Powerpoint projection worked as my session was the last—scheduled just before we broke off for lunch, In-between, we did stop for coffee and cookies and this gave us an opportunity to socialize with so many of the scholars whom I happen to know well including those I was meeting for the first time.
My own session was a bigger success than I had expected. I presented a personal and professional profile of the late Deryck Jeffereis, an Anglo-Indian stagecraft artist who had impressed Bombay with his talents and vision as a set and stage designer, lighting expert and production manager from the 1940s until his death abut fifty years later. I had communicated with his sons Yohan and Renana, based in the UA, who had sent me audio recordings and family photographs that I was able to use as part of my Powerpoint presentation. It struck a chord with many attendees as Jeffereis is not very well known and his low profile has kept him out of the limelight for decades. I had a wonderful response to my presentation with many folks coming up and telling me how much they had enjoyed it and the Editor of the monthly magazine, Anglos in the Wind, Harry McLure, immediately commissioning a feature story on the same individual for his magazine. I was thrilled, of course, as I felt that my attendance and presence in Cochin had not been in vain.
Right after my session, the company broke up for lunch which was served in a dining hall just below us on the ground floor. We reunited with Blossom and Menaka as we sat down to eat together from a selection of dishes that were dished out by the nuns of the convent close-by who had been assigned the catering for the week’s events. It was a great opportunity for us to catch up as well as chat with other participants that we met, many for the first time.
Following lunch, Blossom and Menaka left and returned to Fort Cochin where many of the venues of the Art Biennale were scattered. Llew and I returned to our hotel to check out and call an Uber that would also take us to Fort Cochin where our next hotel was located as we too wanted to catch a bit of the flavor of this beautifully antiquated part of Cochin before we lost all light. We made plans to reconnect with Blossom and Menaka once we were at our hotel.
so, at about 4 pm, we were at our next hotel, The Fort Bridge View Hotel in the very heart of Fort Cochin, just steps away from the waterfront where the famous Chinese Fishing Nets are located. We checked in, called them to let them know we had arrived and then Llew and I sat down to have a cup of coffee in our room. About a half hour later, they joined us in the lobby and we began our exploration of Fort Cochin on foot.
Initial Exploration of Fort Cochin on Foot:
Fort Cochin has a very long and illustrious history. Its Western imperialist history begins in the 1500s with the arrival of the Portuguese in India. Vasco da Game landed not far from these shores at a place called Calicut and with his entry onto the scene, the colonial history of India began. The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch (who took control of a royal palace in the area) and the French. However, the Baghdadi Jews had arrived in Cochin long before the Europeans and they have left their mark in an area know as Jew Town.
As soon as we left our hotel, which was really quite ideally suited to rambles on foot, we made our way to the waterfront to see the Chinese fishing nets. These are in operation in the early morning when the daily fish auction also takes place. On inquiry with the local fishermen, we discovered that one must be at the venue by 8.00 am to see the fresh catch come in and witness the auction haggling for various lots of freshly-caught fish. That scene taken in, we walked just a few meters away, along wonderfully leafy avenues lined on both sides by well-established trees, past Bastion House, which houses a permanent exhibition on the history of Cochin. We arrived, in a few minutes, at St. Francis Church where Vasco da Gama was first interred (before his remains were transported to Belem, outside Lisbon in Portugal). However, St. Francis Church was closed at this hour and the notice stated that it would be open, the next morning, for Mass. And so Llew and I resolved to aware early and catch the fish auction as well as the interior of the church.
At Menaka’s suggestion, we then called for an Uber to take us to Jew Town, the most evocative and picturesque part of Fort Cochin as she felt that the atmosphere by night would be different from day light hours. We went along with her plan and the four of us reached the center of Jew Town, about ten minutes later.
Exploring Jew Town by Night:
It was really very atmospheric to stroll through Jew Town at night. The area is so-called because it was a Jewish stronghold until the creation of Israel which caused large numbers of Indian Jews to emigrate. Rumor has it that there are now only 12 Jews left in Jew Town. This area boasts the first arrival of the Jewish community from Baghdad and the place where the second Jewish synagogue was built. It still stands and is one of the largest spots of tourist interest in Kerala.
We walked down the street leading to the synagogue. This is lined on both sides by upscale shops selling clothes, jewelry, art work, Indian handicrafts and the like. A shop of more interest that the others was once the home of a woman called Sarah Cohen who became famous for her hand embroidered linens—towels, table napkins, tray cloths, etc. We entered her home and found that it contains a small museum filed with memorabilia from her own life. The man she trained and adopted and to whom she passed on her legacy still runs the shop. We shared a few words with him before wending our way deeper down the road.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the Synagogue which was closed, as expected. We took few pictures and just when we were on our way to have dinner, the heavens opened and it began to rain quite heavily—rather unseasonably too. We sheltered under a store awning for a few minutes before deciding to brave it and make a run for the restaurant at which Menaka had made reservations for us as she was taking us all out for dinner.
At Ginger House Museum and Restaurant:
In fact, our dinner reservation had been made at a place just on the next street and within a few minutes, we were there. Menaka had chosen an absolutely lovely place. It is an old seafood restaurant that sits right on the Cochin water front, facing the river. The approach to the dining area is itself very pretty with soft lights along the path and many beautiful antiques and handicrafts decorating the space—all of which are for sale. We were seated at a table right by the water and, in a few minutes, had ordered wine, beer, shandy, etc. to get us going. The Beef Roast, the Prawn Masala and the Vegetable Stew with the fluffy appams we ordered were just superb…it is really hard to have a bad meal in Kerala, to be honest. Best of all, we had a really fun time together, catching up on our lives and talking about our upcoming travel plans. We fell really grateful that we were able to spend this time with each other in this way and savor the joy of meeting even if two or three times a year because of the various locations in which we live.
And, on that happy note after Menaka paid the bill (refusing to let any of us pitch in), we called another Uber and returned to the other side of Fort Cochin where we parted company—going to our separate hotels—and made ourselves ready for another good sleep.
tomorrow, see ya…
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