South to Cochin (June 14-17)

This past week consisted of a two day reunion conference for current and alumni Fulbright Fellows from the Indo-American Environmental Leadership Program (IAELP). From Delhi the city of Cochin is a 4-hour flight. Most people arrived to Cochin (the state is Kerala) early in the day on Wednesday with enough time to hook up and catch a taxi to one of the other islands. It was a beautiful day and I joined a group of 3 other folks – none of us knew each other. In fact, by the end of 2 ½ days together, this small group of 21 became pretty tight in terms of our camaraderie. People arrived mostly from India and 6 of us were Americans (out of this 6, however, 3 have backgrounds/born and raised in India now living in the U.S. as citizens). The Foundation sponsoring this event was hoping for 40 people so they were disappointed in the turn-out but we actually liked the numbers. So upon arrival to this fabulous hotel, "Gokulam Park Inn", all of us were greeted with this giant coconut treat – basically just coconut water you drink with a straw – talk about healthy! (then again, woulda been nice to toss in a shot of Grey
Goose with that!):

Upon arrival to the hotel, I was glad to soon hook up with Neelu, Malvika, and Prof. Urfi (from Delhi University). There were several academics in this group so it was great to connect with folks working in the colleges here in India as well. So we took a private car to "Fort Cochin" which is an island across one of several bridges connecting this series of islands out in that area.

So Michele, yet again that book you bought me on travels in India came in mighty handy here in Kerala! – Apparently, Cochin is this state’s prime tourist destination spreading across several islands (as mentioned) in a stunning location between the Arabian Sea and the backwaters of the wild places. We wandered around exotic spice markets, watched these indigenous guys messing around with the Chinese fishing nets, there’s "Jew Town" with a Synagogue built in 1568, a Portuguese palace, lots of homes inhabited by Dutch people from early settlement handed down through the generations… and more.
The first night we also enjoyed a Kathakali dance performance ("expression dance") – amazing. Pics don’t do this justice for sure…

Local parks heavily used, extraordinary shops, historical structures are incredible – "Kochi" (long known as Cochin when the Brits took over) was founded in 1341 when a flood created a natural safe port as the new chief harbor on the Malabar coast so this royal family made it their new home base then the city expanded pretty rapidly as I read about it, attracting Christian, Arab, and Jewish settlers from the Middle East. Then the Portuguese began to arrive and settle in the 1500s followed by the Dutch and British. So what happened? Everyone wanted to control the ports for its lucrative spice trade so fighting of course occurred – who won? The Brits. So from 1812 until Indian Independence in 1947 this area was ruled by "finance ministers" – Now people of Indian descent live in harmony with the Brits, the Dutch, the Jews, etc. – one big happy family! (well, sort of!) …


I ended up bringing some of my project work with me in case I was able to sneak in an hour here and there… and, I was which actually worked out great. Plus, a bonus for me was probably ½ the group was either familiar with the National Green Corps program I’m evaluating or has an integral role in their state! Plus, I had a chance to give a presentation about my project. As part of the conference there were several guest speakers in addition to Fulbright scholar presentations on each day. I went the first day and thoroughly enjoyed myself. By the way, Indian people talk MUCH faster even in English than I ever could!

Food in southern India is quite different – so I’ve been learning from south Indian restaurants here in Delhi. Everything was paid for by the Foundation and the food was scrumptious! At one point towards the end of the first day, there were 3 reporters from the local newspapers who wanted to talk with some of the scholars. The Exec. Dir. pulled together 4 Indians and 2 U.S. scholars (me and this other guy from Boulder). It became very clear, very quickly that these reporters were only interested in the Indian experience over in America! They never asked either Eric or me questions and when a couple of folks directed attention to us, the reporters kept bringing questions back to Indian perspective of U.S.A. as they apparently didn’t care about our experience here!– (interesting, eh?!)

The conference was enlightening and informative. I met some GREAT people! So yeah, I’m feeling darn good about having places to stay all over India when I come back!!! (Pack your bags, Michele, you’re coming back with me this time!) … The second day after the conf. ended we had about 90 minutes of "free" time before we went on a boat ride. At this point it was raining and 6 of us decided to pal around and it the markets. We piled into 2 rickshaws and headed down "M.G. Road". This stands for Mahatma Gandhi. Just like there’s a M.L.K. Boulevard in every major city in the U.S., there’s an "M.G. Road" in every major city here in India. So I was with 3 beautiful Indian women all wearing their sari’s and I had my black jeans on – I went ahead and crawled into the back of the rickshaw and scrunched up on the back shelf! (nope, not a seat – a shelf!) – funny as hell! They were all laughing and loved it ("crazy American"). That would have been a great picture for sure! Anyway, of course since I was in Southern India by the coast, I had to buy a few traditional gifts from the "south". So for 1000 Rupees ($20 US dollars), I got a great stash of goodies to bring back as gifts. Always nice to have Indians with you when you go shopping!

"Shuba", Neelu, me and Deepali - new friends, Fulbright Alum

More Misc. Facts and Tidbits about India:
* Indians don’t start their business day until mid-morning – stores don’t open until 10am and some even until 11am. When we’re up and out the door, they are having breakfast! Dinner is between 8 and 10pm (7:30pm if you’re lucky!)… 6 or 7 pm is considered "an early dinner". This typical day is the norm here.
* Cricket is the national sport and the majority of Indians (women and men) are huge fans.
* World Cup Soccer ("football") has been HUGE here – the games have been on every t.v. screen you see.
* Majority of households’ still use cassette tapes in terms of music – only higher caste people have CD players.
* "Mutton" is a delicacy – Goat meat. I think it tastes kind of nasty, but that’s just my opinion.
* What we call "standing [or waiting] in line", Indians say "waiting in the cue". One time I was asked "are you waiting in the cue?" and I had no idea what they were talking about!
* Electricity/power is definitely a huge problem across India, especially in excessively hot, scorching seasons like what I’m experiencing now. People use multiple fans and A/C window units. Only rich corporations, U.S. related businesses, and 5-star hotels have central A/C. Everywhere, no matter where you go or what you do – shops, businesses, restaurants (even upscale places) the power goes out from 5 min., to 6 or more hours at a time. And, this might happen (in short spurts) several times a day. Generators are used by people who can afford it.
* Aside from one of my previous stories (see link for Himachal Pradesh), where some villagers are clueless about the crime, violence, homelessness, etc. in America, it’s important to know there is a huge percentage of Indians that are extremely intelligent and have more global knowledge than most Americans – India is filled with highly educated people! It’s these folks who tell me "Washington D.C. is brain dead" (as if I didn’t know that already!).
* People who wander the streets of the markets trying to sell their goods (cheap trinkets usually and knick-knacks) to foreigners (suckers like me) are called "Hawkers".
* All meals no matter where you are revolve around "Veg" or "Non-Veg". That’s the common language. "Do you want vegetarian?" and they don’t ask "do you eat [or want] meat?" – it’s "Non-Veg?"

Okay everyone, next stop? Agra in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the home of the Taj Majal! That will be a full day trip next weekend with some local tourist group from Delhi. Can’t come to India and not see the TAJ =) Stay tuned …