Kerala Day 2 pm: We try our hand at some fishing, Chinese Style!

Thrissur's Vadakkunathan Temple did much to assuage our regret at missing Lord Krishna at Guruvayoor, so it was a contented family that cooled off in our AC Indica as we trundled off to Kochi. We had nicely arranged our schedule to arrive there in time for a Sunset Boat Cruise around Fort Kochi. But the India Planning Curse struck again … as we rolled up at the tiny KTDC tourist office, only to be told that the cruise had been cancelled that day due to inadequate patronage. In our infinite wisdom, we had assumed that being a long weekend, there would be better attendance!

It is interesting visiting India as a naturalized Westerner, both in terms of one's own attitude and how one is treated. For us it was a strangely tumultous experience best catharisized so we can evolve into more effective travellers in the country. Whereas elsewhere around the globe, we have been tolerantly amused by local idiosyncracries, in India we found ourselves being intensely judgmental, while concurrently jealously proud of the culture and signs of prosperity and progress. That said, there is little doubt in our minds that being an NRI (non-resident Indian) in India is a bad bargain. One is treated with the disdain accorded to a local visitor, yet people try to fleece you because you are clearly a Westerner in every regard except physiology.

Enough heavy handed introspection! Back at Fort Kochi, we installed ourselves at the Tantraa Homestay. A fairly comfortable and conveniently-located house, but not a place we would recommend since, unbeknownst to us, the owner has emigrated to Denmark, leaving a single housekeeper in charge (and she turned out to be quite a character!)

We spent the rest of the evening wandering around the Fort Kochi harbour, which is a major tourist attraction, albeit cynically litter-ridden like so many other otherwise scenic locations in India. The non-existence of trash cans is quite a shocker when first observed. Really, the country would be better served if celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan invested in a Garbage Disposal company, rather than a cricket team in the glitter-overdosed Indian Premier League. We made a beeline for the famous Chinese Fishing Nets, those feats of mechanical engineering that have evolved into a tourist fiesta in their own right. We were duly invited onto the great devices to try our hand at tugging on ropes to lower and raise the nets. We knew there was nothing extemporaneous about the invitation, but it did not detract from our fun, and for the princely sum of Rs50, it classed as a must-do experience for us. We even caught a fish or two, one of which was a tiny sword fish which nipped Shobhita's finger as one of the fishermen got rather carried away and dangled its pointy snout from her hand for a photo moment!

From there, we walked along the waterfront watching the powerful swell of high-tide waves lash the coastline. Clearly a place to be careful of rip-tides, as Sarvesh realized, almost too late. A seemingly modest wave gathered steam and slammed into us as we stood in a small cove, upending both the children. A kindly man standing next to Sarvesh managed to pull him up, but both he and Shobhita were nicely saturated, thus putting paid to our stroll as we hastily headed back to the homestay to clean them up.

Photos from our Kochi strolls:
http://picasaweb.google.com/chitra0828/KochiHarbourFishingNetsAndAll#

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