Goodbye Cochin, Hello Munnar! Wer’re Nestled in the Mountains!

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Cochin-Munnar

Goodbye Cochin, Hello Munnar! We’re Nestled in the Mountains

Namaste from Munnar!

So, as all good things must come to an end, our wonderful South and Central Asia Fulbright Conference ended after breakfast this morning. We will be leaving the sheer luxury of Le Meridien Hotel in Cochin, saying goodbye to the new friends we have made and would leave warm memories in our hearts of impeccable arrangements meant to satisfy our every need. I packed my case and went down to Breakfast and ate a South Indian breakfast today—one idli, one vada and one dosa with sambhar and chutney and a bowl of muesli with mango yogurt and fruit as I knew that my next meal would be in Munnar, several hours later. I met up with Michelle, the friend with whom I would be traveling to Munnar in the breakfast restaurant and we made plans to meet in the lobby about 15 minutes later.  Accordingly, I brought my case down, checked out and met up with her.  Our driver arrived at 9.30 am on schedule and we began the long ride to Munnar.

Drive to and Arrival in Munnar:

About ten years ago, when I had been invited on a sponsored trip to Cochin, I had seen a vast part of the many attractions the state of Kerala could offer. What had been left out then was Munnar—a hill-station nestled in the southernmost end of the Western Ghats and an ideal place for the growth of tea and coffee on its dozens of slopes. I was determined to see Munnar this time and since Michelle, a fellow graduate student Fulbrighter who also lives in Bandra and with whom I have become friendly, was also keen to go there, we made plans to travel to Munnar after the conference. I left all the planning to Michelle and she did a great job reserving rooms in our hotel and organizing a car and a driver who would stay with us for the entire length of three days—so that we would have conveyance when we got there.

The drive to Munnar from Cochin, without any stops, and in ideal conditions would take 3 hours—I think most journeys take four as you do not ever get on to a highway but are driving through rural villages throughout at very low speeds indeed. Once you get to the foothills of the mountains, progress is still slower as there are hairpin bends on very narrow roads that could scare the bejesus out of those endowed with the stoutest of hearts. We were not in a hurry and our driver Abhijit (who spoke very good English and was the dearest man) took it easy and was a very cautious driver. Once we got into the hills, we saw signs telling us about a chocolate factory and so we asked him to stop so that we could check it out.  

Visiting a Chocolate Factory and a Spice Garden:

     Visiting the chocolate factory was only a chance for us to buy some chocolate from the store attached to it—we got dark chocolate studded with cranberries (as that was Michelle’s preference) and with nuts for me. Basically, we did not see the chocolate being made at all—so factory was a real misnomer there.

The Spice Garden turned out to be a much nicer stop as we had a conducted tour that lasted about 45 minutes given in English by a very knowledgeable woman who showed us such a variety of fruit trees, plants and flowers as to leave us astounded.  We had a chance to taste peppercorns growing right off the tree, to smell basil (different kinds), cardamom (while still green and on the plant), cinnamon (we scratched the tender bark to release the fragrance), all spice (it really had leaves that smell of the different spices that make up graham masala), plus we saw the fruit that splits open and falls to the ground to reveal mace and nutmeg inside. There were loads of cacao fruit from which chocolate is made (which explains why there is so much chocolate sold in Kerala), as well as jackfruit, mango and cashew trees. It was a lovely walk that wound through these trees that are very well cultivated and nurtured.  When we were done with the tour, we were taken into the shop and encouraged to buy either the Ayurvedic oils, face crams and masks or the packets of spices that were sold in varied quantities.  Neither Michelle nor I were in the market to buy anything, so we did not.

    We then told our driver to take us straight to our hotel as it was almost 4.30 by then and we were keen to arrive at our destination and relax. Our hotel is called the Lake View Hotel and we did get there just before 5.00 pm.

Settling down into the Lake View Hotel:

The Lake View Hotel is beautiful, but it is literally in the middle of nowhere. It would be the prefect place for a honeymoon or for an elderly couple who would want to do nothing other then rest. We soon discovered that it is about 30 minutes away by car from the town of Munnar on a winding mountain road that is very scary once night falls. But, of course, at that point, we had no idea how far away we were from anything. We seemed to be tucked away in a fold of the mountains with nothing but peaks rising all around us. The sun would be setting in about an hour and we were sure to have stunning views from our room.

     We were given a room with a queen bed but asked for a change to be made to a twin bedded one—this was on a lower floor which meant that our view of the river and the lake below us were completely blocked off—much to our disappointment. The receptionist told us that she would move us to a higher floor tomorrow...but I rather doubted that would happen.  When you are in such an isolated place, you have to hope that you will have a good TV set with some great channels—so guess what? The entire cable system in India is currently screwed up with the government having recently interfered in the regulation and charges of cable channels. This means that most hotels are not able to offer the variety of channels they once did.  We had nothing decent—thank goodness we had good books to read (Michelle on her Kindle and me on my Ipad).

    Not long after we checked in, Michelle went for a swim as we have a very nice swimming pool overlooking the hills. I sat down in our balcony overlooking hills on the other side and blogged. Then I got up to stretch my legs and to explore the property before I joined Michelle at the pool to see the sun go down. It was a spectacular sunset as we had cloudless skies. As the sun sank beyond the hills, more peaks came into view, some shrouded by mist. It was truly beautiful.

     

Dinner at Ali Baba Restaurant:

We told Abhijit that we would like to go to Munnar for dinner and he said he would take us to a place called Ali Baba. It was at that point that we discovered how far away we were from civilization—it was a good 35 minute drive around hairpin bends on narrow roads that had no guard rails. I was not comfortable about this situation at all and decided that we would eat dinner in our hotel tomorrow night as it does have a full-serviced restaurant. 

     Ali Baba was not bad—it offered a multi-cuisine menu with the emphasis on Middle Eastern offerings. We chose to eat Mutton Dry Fry (a Keralite speciality) and something called Nalan Chicken Stew with steamed rice.  The mutton was awesome but the chicken stew was very ordinary.  For dessert, I was delighted to find Kanafi on the menu—this is the layered dessert that Llew and I have eaten in Jordan and in Israel: it consists of a creamy under layer, a crisp top made up of thin strands of fried dough and a top most layer of chopped pistachios. The entire dessert is then soaked in saffron-flavored honey. Indeed, it was superb. I have eaten many different kinds of Kanafi in various countries of the Middle East but none comes close to the ones we had in Jordan.

     Abhijit drove us back home along that same scary mountain road at the conclusion of our meal when we sank down on our beds and spent a little while reading and unwinding before calling it a day. 

     Our first introduction to Munnar had been lovely and Michelle and I looked forward to the next two days in this clear mountain air.

     Until tomorrow...             

        

Second Day of Fulbright Conference, St. George’s Church and Kuchipudi Performance

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...            

What a blast! First Day of Fulbright Conference in Cochin, Kerala

Monday, February 25, 2019

Cochin

What a blast! First Day of Fulbright Conference in Cochin, Kerala

Namaste from Cochin!

         What a fabulous day it was! Just imagine the thrill of waking up in a five-star hotel where the size of your room is three times the size of your usual studio and where the view from your window is of a vast swimming pool and green lawns that reach down towards the banks of a river fringed by lush coconut-laden palms trees. I know! It’s so incredible that I have to inch myself to believe that I am actually here.  I keep thinking that, in academic terms, I have hit the jackpot really. 

   So I woke up at 6.30–yes, the air-conditioning really has much to do with how well and how long I sleep—and began blogging...but I did not have the time to proof-read the draft before I had to jump into the shower. And guess what? I actually had a hair-dryer in my room...so of course, I washed my hair and allowed myself the luxury of actually styling it—something I realize I have not done for about 6 months! All dressed in formal attire (as I would be presenting later in the afternoon), I left my room and went off for breakfast which was served buffet style in a large restaurant called Latest Recipe. I found Huma Ghosh in the corridor of the hotel as I was awaiting the elevator and we ended up eating breakfast together. 

Breakfast in Le Meridien Hotel:

As in any five-star hotel breakfast buffet, there is an endless choice and, consequently, very real danger that you will overeat unless you exert careful control over your gluttony. That said, I had a small (very small) bowl of muesli with mango yogurt and a sprinkling of dried fruit and nuts poured over.  There was no decaf coffee available, so I helped myself to fresh watermelon juice—delicious but probably loaded with sugar, so not very healthy. I then found a station where they were taking orders for eggs—I ordered a cheese omelette. Then, I spied a chef making waffles and, of course, I could not resist ordering those. That waffle loaded with maple syrup and honey plus a ton of cashew nuts, walnuts and pistachios was my breakfast for the day. Stuffed, and I mean really stuffed, I arose from the table and waddled over to the Opening Ceremony session of the Fulbright Conference. 

Getting to know Senior US Government Officials:

Selecting a seat at which to settle down, I found myselfMy presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant. right in front of Adam Grotsky, Executive Director of the United States-India Education Foundation (USIEF) which is the governing body through which the US State Department regulates the Fulbright Commission’s academic grants in India. It was amazing, but he seemed to know me by name and said “Oh, its so great to finally meet you!” Standing by him was his delightful Argentinian wife, Olga. During the next five minutes, I met a bunch of other American bigwigs—David Kennedy from the US Embassy in Delhi (who is extremely friendly), Julia Findlay from the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs in Washington DC, Lauren Lovelace, Consul for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the US Consulate in Chennai and P.S.Gangadhar of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. With each of them seated at my table before the start of the formal part of the ceremony, I exchanged business cards with every one of them—which was fun and very affirming.

     The speeches were very inspiring, needless to say. Every speaker, Indian and American, reminded us how privileged we are to be selected for his program, how much of a cultural and educational ambassador each one of us is in a global world and how immediately we each contribute to Indo-US geo-political and race-relations in a world that is becoming increasingly fragmented. Needless to say, it was all deeply validating to me and I had to pinch myself again to wonder how I, just an ordinary Catholic student from a middle-class family in Bombay, grew to the heights of this sort of personal achievement that allows me today to rub shoulders with international diplomats and elitist academics from Ivy League institutions. Indeed I can honestly say that there is probably nothing like doing ethnographic research in your own country on a foreign grant. I am certainly living much better on the Fulbright Grant than I ever lived during my years in India—and I was certainly never poor having had the privilege of being raised by a father who was a career banker and a mother who was devoted to reading, education and the Arts. Overall, I felt the kind of intellectual privilege at the end My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.of this session of speeches that I had felt when former President John Sexton of NYU had given a welcome speech to new faculty of New York University who had been hired that year as Full-time professors. So there are some speeches I have heard in my lifetime of listening to speeches that stand out for me because they have personal impact on me and the values and ideals that I have adopted in running my life.

Sessions on the First Day of the Conference:

There was tea at the end of the opening ceremony—of course, I did not go anywhere close to the tables as I was still stuffed— after which we dispersed and went to the various conference rooms where the panel presentations took place. I attended a session that presented papers on miniature Indian Rajasthani paintings in Jaipur, Tagore’s Shantiniketan as a Garden and Diplomacy through Academics in Uzbekistan. They were fascinating to say the least and I left quite speechless as the complexity and diversity of the research projects that are being undertaken through tax-payers’ dollars in the US through the international Fulbright Program.  

It was during this first session that I finally sneaked a look at my phone to find out the Oscar Results.  As everyone knows, I am a serious Oscar Fangirl and this year I have been quite removed from all the excitement as I had not seen any of the nominated movies except for Roma and A Star is Born.  Well, I am glad that my taste in movies coincides with that of the Academy because Roma was sidelined except for its Director Cuaron who walked off with the Best Director Award.  

Lunch followed and it was lavish. I tried to be discrete about what I chose to eat from a vast array of cuisines and dishes. I ended up focusing on traditional Keralite cooking (as I was, after all, in Kerala)  and ate  Fish in coconut milk curry, Chicken Cacciatore, a dahi vada, a couple of Salads, a papad but I did have dessert—butterscotch ice-cream, chocolate mousse and Shahi Tukre which I had never tasted before and really liked—it is fried or toasted bread triangles soaked in a sweet custard flavored with saffron, best known in Hyderabad.

Rest and Prep for my Presentation:

     After Lunch, I was too full and also too keyed-up for my My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Meory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant.presentation which would begin at 3. 30 pm. So I went back to my room, lay down for a nap, got a nice rest and then turned to my paper to chop some bits of it as I realized that they are really strict about presentation time limits. So I dropped off the introductory  page and a half. I then got myself ready for my session.

Delivering my Paper:

Within a half hour, I was in the room devoted to our session. I was the first speaker and having loaded my PowerPoint presentation, I was ready to go. My presentation was entitled “Strolling Down Memory Lane with Bombay’s Thespians”. In an attempt to make sure it had general appeal, I focused on little-known tidbits of information—amusing, startling, enlightening—that have been revealed to me through the many interviews I have conducted in Bombay as part of my Fulbright grant. It went well in a packed auditorium and I was, I could see, completely holding the interest of my audience. So that was great. Presentations that followed focused on Journalism in Translated Indian languages, a grass roots ethnographic recorded study among young people from different economic backgrounds in Bengal, Traditional Bengali Food Versus Bengali-Fusion Cuisine and Bandit Culture in India with reference to Phoolan Devi and Veerapan. All really interesting although they were all very different—the common thread was the ethnographic focus for our work that is based on actually talking to people in the field. There were many questions that followed during the Q and A session, two of which were directed at me.

A Short Boat Ride:

    I felt relieved when it was over as I could then relax and enjoy the rest of the conference with no strain or pressure. Tea was available after the session which I did not have. There was free time for nearly two hours after this and basically what I did was get to the boat jetty pier to hop into the boat that crosses the river several times during the day to take guests from one branch of the hotel to the other. This ride as the sun was close to setting was delightful. It was short—about 5 minutes, but I shared the boat with a couple who had attended my talk and told me how much they enjoyed it. In fact, for the rest of the evening, I was told by so many folks how much they had learned from it and how absorbing and engaging it was. 

Since the boat ride did not take more than 15 minutes and there was not much to do in the other hotel lobby, all I did was sit in the cool lobby of my branch of the hotel to read. I sat reading for about an hour during which time I also met Olga again and spent some time chatting with her. Unlike everyone else who went up to their rooms to dress formally for dinner, I did not.  Most of the folks here are wearing Indian clothing—females as well as males—are seen in beautiful Indian cotton fabrics or silk. 

Keynote Address and Formal Dinner on the Boat Jetty Lawns:

Wine and beer were available at the open bar as passed hors d’oeuvres like chicken lollipops, grilled fish and samosas were on offer—yes, food again! Seriously, all we seemed to do was eat. But soon, drinks in hand, we took our seats around tables and chairs arranged on the lawns. I made my way to the front so that I could see the speaker well. She happened to be India’s Former Ambassador to the US, Nirupama Menon Rao, who, after her retirement from the Indian Foreign Service started an academic career by teaching at Brown University and now at Columbia. She is writing a book right now on Indo-Sino Relationships.

Nirupama’s keynote address was wonderful. She is a very good speaker indeed and the content of a speech entitled ‘Two Democracies, Two Partners’ was a wonderful attempt to bring in the writings of Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. etc. She was an English Literature major—so she brought all her love for reading and books and literature into her talk which also touched upon the roles of President Kennedy, Senator Fulbright, Prime Minister Nehru, etc. in effecting the kind of relations that have made such a success of the Fulbright Program.She was introduced by Adam Grotsky and a Vote of Thanks was delivered by Lauren Lovelace. It was all quite wonderful indeed—except for the slight humidity and the mosquitoes that hovered about my feet, it was fabulous to be under the stars on the green lawns of Cochin on the banks of a river.

Dinner followed—-a wonderful buffet with every kind of food available. I was at a table with a few interesting people as I helped myself to pineapple and chicken salad, then vegetable stew with a freshly-made appam and a bit of fish curry. The desserts were not tasty at all although there was dal halwa, mango ice-cream (flavorless) and chocolate cake (ditto). I sat chatting around with a few folks before I decided to go upstairs to my room after what had been a long day. I was more than a bit tired and ready to drop into my bed. I did some reading and chatted with Llew and Chriselle before getting to bed.

Until tomorrow...   

         

Admission in God’s Own Country, Kerala, for Fulbright Conference

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Bombay-Cochin

Admission in God’s Own Country, Kerala, for South and Central Asia Fulbright Conference

Namaste from Cochin!

I loved everything about today.  I was returning to Kerala after about 10 years and as it was at Cochin that I had made my base the last time, it would be fun to return there.

I awoke at 5.00 am in my little studio in Bandra, Bombay, and began blogging as usual. I kept it short and quick as I had to a lot to do before leaving for the airport at 10.45am for my flight to Kerala. However, having met my friend Sue yesterday, I thought it was high time I tried to reach out to my friend Delilah again (she is in Toronto) and I ended up having almost an hour-long chat with her—during which time she told me all about the treatment of the edema (swelling) that had developed in her ankles after her long and very difficult stint with breast cancer and chemo. The tips she gave me for Russel’s home treatment of the swelling will be invaluable and as soon as I get back from Kerala, I shall try the message techniques and the water therapy that she told me about. I should try to encourage the fluid build-up from the lymph glands to go back into them and be absorbed by the body. Basically, the swelling is the result of lack of movement for so long and, therefore, walking about, just any moving around in general, will be of great help, she said. However, she also said that one had to be patient as it will take 2-3 months to go down. I decided that I would tell Dad all about my conversation with her. 

     After blogging, I organized some breakfast for myself (muesli and coffee) and did all the last-minute packing I needed to do. Angry with myself (looking back), that I forgot to include the little bottles of gin that I wanted to carry to make cocktails in my room at the hotel—they charge an arm and a leg for them in any five-star hotel in India. 

     Then I stripped the bedsheet off my bed and the draining pad I use on my kitchen counter and went off to Dad’s to leave them for his Man Friday Rohit to launder (or maybe Satyavati will do it as she will be around for the next few days before she too leaves). I visited with Dad and Russel for about half an hour and conveyed everything that Delilah had told me. We will wait until I return to Bombay to bring the physiotherapist Valerian back and will request him to go easy on the difficultly level of the exercises as Russel is in a different category of patient from the one she is probably accustomed to treating. Meanwhile, Russel’s elbow pain has subsided considerably and he is able to walk around the house with his walker again.

     After I left Dad’s, I went home again and cleaned my little studio to make sure it would be clean and tidy when I returned from my travels. I then jumped into the shower to get ready for my departure. By 11.00 am, I walked down, found a rickshaw and told the man to drive me back to my home so that I could pick up my case. With that and my backpack on my back, I was off. I was at the Santa Cruz airport at 11.20 am with plenty of time to get checked in (the line at the Indigo counter was long and winding but moved quite fast) and give them my bag. Then I made my way to the gate where I sat reading as I had downloaded books, magazines and The Times of London on to my IPad (so I have a lot of reading material for the trip). I have begun reading Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman and I am really getting into the novel which is a mystery thriller set in London and, I think, Bora Bora.  I have finished almost 100 pages so far and find it very well crafted.

     

Flight to Kerala: Fabulous Views over Bombay

     I have to tell you that as departures from a city go, this was probably one of the best I have ever had! It is next to impossible to get clear pictures of the island of Bombay during takeoffs or landings because it I usually so smoggy (thanks to what people call the pollution) but today, I hit the jackpot. It was gorgeously clear and I am now kicking myself that I focused so much on trying to get pictures, both with my camera and my iPhone, all of which were coming out of focus because, for some reason, my cameras refused to focus—and so I got really lousy pix. I wish I had simply feasted my eyes on our progress down the southern spine of this glorious island as I could have at least preserved those memories.

      Anyway, that said, I saw the Bandra SeaLink clearly from above, the Skyscrapers of Worli and its sea face and then I saw the beautiful bay that gave the city its name (Bom Bahia—beautiful bay in Portuguese). There was the short curve of Chowpatty and the lovely beach at Governor’s Point where the Raj Bhavan (home of the Governor of Maharashtra and once home to my lawyer friend Michelle, now in London) could be seen. I also saw the Wankhede Stadium where all the major cricket matches are held today, Cuffe Parade and its skyscrapers and then the southern most point of the Island, Nariman Point and the NCPA. I was just bursting with excitement—almost as much excitement as I have when I am flying over London and spot the landmarks there.   This was every bit more exciting because my vantage point, as the aircraft skimmed the coastline, was better than actually flying right over the city. Here, I had perspective—I could see the skeleton of the island to my left outside the window and marvel as how beautiful it looks from that height. I mean take away the slums, the garbage, the lack of civic sense and Bombay is such a beautiful city. My love affair with it is renewed when I see it from these rare perspectives. How lucky I was!

Touchdown in Kerala:

     I ate a Chicken Tikka Sandwich for lunch with water (as I had a corporate meal included in my ticket). The sandwich was very good indeed. I did a lot of reading on my flight—I was really getting into my novel. And before I knew it, we were descending as as we lost height, I could see the greenness of the land and knew why Kerala is called God’s Own Country.  There were miles of banana groves and coconut plantations and tons of fields as we flew around a river that runs through the whole verdant landscape—so beautiful! Our touchdown occurred a bit later and once we claimed our baggage, there was a Fulbright representative waiting for me to tick our names off a list and lead us to a van that took us to our hotel, an hour away.  We passed by loads of churches of different denominations, each one in a very different architectural style, and wonderful flyovers. I also saw a metro system—it is amazing that so many more minor cities than Bombay have excellent underground systems-which makes me wonder why they were sleeping in Bombay for all these decades.

Checking Into Le Meridian:

     The Le Meriden Hotel is gorgeous—a five-star hotel if ever I saw one.  The lobby is huge and most impressive but I had little time to notice anything as I checked in, got my room keys and the Welcome Kit that Ryan of the Fulbright admin staff handed over to each of us with our name tags. The bag is particularly nice-it is made of sturdy Indian cotton and is reversible (maroon on one side, navy blue on the other). It is one of those unisex crossover bags that would fit everything in, if you were traveling.

     Ten minutes later, I was entering my room and enjoying the view of the pool outside my window and of the same river I had seen from the sky. It flows right by the hotel which has extensive property and is really amazing. My room is more like a suite with a lovely sitting area and a grand bathroom. I am only very disappointed with the TV as the cable folks are apparently on strike and there is no CNN or BBC here (I am wondering how I will get any information about the Oscars which are later tonight—that would be tomorrow for me). 

    I had about a couple of hours to relax in my room so I continued reading my novel and watching Animal Planet and then taking my 20 minute power nap. It was at 7.00 pm that I made my way down to the room assigned for our dinner.

First Informal Fulbright Dinner in Le Meridien Hotel:

     We had a lovely time at dinner as I reconnected with a few of the Fulbright friends I have made already in Bombay and met new ones. Fulbright Fellows and scholars like myself have arrived from all over South and Central Asia (as far away as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Burma, Nepal, Sri Lanka, etc) to participate in this conference  which will begin tomorrow. I surveyed the offerings and was amazed at how huge just the salad counter was. There was also soup (I had wonderful Sweet Corn Chicken Soup) and the main station (where the star, in my opinion, was the creamy Mutton Curry with Keralite spices and coconut milk)—and there was another station where I found grilled fish, freshly prepared baturas for chana  batura and  amazing little dosas with Keralite vegetable stew in coconut milk that was terrific. I took a few of the above-mentioned things: just a small bite of each as I really did not want to stuff myself.  Desert was marvelous crepe brûlée (which actually had a brilliant sugar crust) and a bowl of chocolate ice-cream which was surprisingly good. I enjoyed chatting with Ryan and with Jed and Kelly, a couple that are based in Varanasi and had fascinating stories to tell about the cheeky behavior of the people there, and with a couple from Khazakstan—Sara and Yasha—who told us about their lives there. I am really looking forward to getting to know a lot of new folks at this conference. I also met Huma Ghosh, with whom I had hung out in Goa last month.

     At about 9.00 pm, I returned to my room after walking around the hotel and finding the boat pier that would take the graduate Fulbright students to the other wing of Le Meriden hotel which is across the river. Come to think of it, it was probably at that branch of the hotel that I had stayed, the last time I was in Cochin, as this part (where the senior Fellows are staying) is not familiar to me at all.

     I did some more reading and tweeted and texted a bit before I called it a night and switched off my light, giving thanks for these incredible travel opportunities I have been given through this terrific Fulbright program.

     Until tomorrow...