Come Snow or Long Layovers at Airports, Los Indios! here I am

A few weeks away from the Indians (native people of the Americas), I begin to feel their physical absence. Fortunately, I have a reason to go back to see them, once a month as I have been doing for more than 15 years..
At the begining of the journey, which now begins in Paris, but in other times, it was Havana or Baracoa or London or Kingston, I think of the long journey ahead, a little dispirited, but as I approach their country or reservation, all apprehension vanishes and I feel rejuvenated even before I am among them.
The journey began at 9 am, leaving home in Paris, taxi to Porte Maillot, Air France bus to CDG airport. Finding your terminal, checking in, security and then rest a little bit at the Lounge before boarding the flight. This time, because of less head wind the flight to New York was only 7 h 40 minutes and because I am pre cleared for immigration, it took less than one minute for me to go through Global Entry Kiosk, put your card in, get your finger prints checked on the reader and they print out your exit card. viola!
Long wait at EWR. Flight through the cold night to Omaha and by the time you walk out of the terminal, clad in various layers of clothes to face the minus 20 C weather, it is already midnight. Rest at a hotel nearby and then in the morning go to Avis, where they listen to me approaching, I have bells from Burma attached to my shoulderbag, and they hand over the keys to the car. Dont dare drive on the highway, they cautioned, saying there have been many accidents on that section and the highway was closed. What shall I do? The European descendant, always very pleasant to me, suggests, go and have breakfast downtown.
I call the Indians, they say to me, why dont you take the back roads to the reservations, it goes through several towns, so you can be sure that the snow sweepers would keep the roads clean. Sure enough the drive was safe and there were no snow blockages nor the heavy traffic of semi trailers and it was nice to be surrounded by the eery calm of a white landscape for the next two hours... and when I arrived at the Blue House, it was warm and welcoming. The sun was already shining, the temperature read 20 F...
35 hours to get here, but it feels good.. Since I said good bye to them on 14th of January, I have been to Paris, Kuala Lumpur and Cochin... amidst flavours and scenes unimaginable to the Indians, but they dont long for that, they would tell me about the snow that had fallen, the get togethers on warm evenings, and stories of their children.. Their stories would always have an element of nature interwoven.. A grown up woman said, when I was a child, I lived in the country and now I look at my daughter and what she is surrounded with, and how much more I can learn from her... It is a philosophy of humility. While Americans complain how bitter the weather has been, the first Indian i spoke to this morning, said to me, we used to have winters like this, and good to have cold winters for the earth to renew itself...

An Unusually Cold winter in Paris

My body truly is made to live in the tropics! whenever I had to spend long periods of time in places where the cold weather predominated, I was not happy and when the temperature rises, so does my good mood.. I loved and still love Miami in the USA, La Habana/Baracoa despite its rains, Kingston was good while it lasted.. most of my travel destinatons have been to warmer climates: South East Asia for example and the Pacific Islands.. among others.
I arrived from KL last sunday and I am writing this from the Paris Airport Terminal 1 (not as elegant as AF terminal 2). In the seven days here, the temperature never rose more than 0 degrees Centigrade and there were always the threat of snow or flurries. This does put a damper on you, in this city which is well covered on foot. I didnt go to any place special nor did I visit any friends.. just at home, writing and reading and savouring the trip that has been, regurgitating the lessons of Yoga and then anticipating yet another cold destination where the American Indians live, but this time it is different... I stand to gain much more than my sacrifices...
I am glad to have friendships and love in various parts of the world, and my life is a motion between affections. I am grateful.
The photo shows the house where I am headed to, the Blue House among the Indians of Nebraska, do drop in if you are in the neighbourhood... meaning, within 500 miles!

To Learn Humility from Unselfish Malayalees ...

My friends at TouristLand travel agency tucked into a building near the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station were happy to see me, they knew I was coming and had booked a room at the Metropolitan Hotel near there.
I jokingly address then in the Indian endearing fashion, Uncle, and they also address me as such, as a joke. The agency is owned by Uncle S1 who is very entrepreneurial and increasing his operations comfortably over the years. Uncle S2 who manages the business, is a kind man from Quilon, where his family home is, 12 km distant from the centre of Quilon. There is always a shadow of worry in his face and no sooner had i sat down, he said: Dr, I dont know whether you will have time, but my sister and my neice both have thyroid problems and they would like your help. then he called them at their home outside Quilon and gave me some results, patchwork of blood tests which were not making any sense to me. Would I consider going there, Uncle S 2 asked, tomorrow evening we could take the train, just two and half hours to Quilon and then one hour to my house..and we can come back the day after, early in the morning so that you can catch your train to Bangalore in the evening.. I had planned my 48 hours in Cochin rather tightly, wanting to see some people in the Jewish Community, wanted to spend some time with the erudite Mr R... Let me think about it, I said. On the way back over to the hotel, I thought to myself, this requires a bit of sacrifice but just imagine the gift of medical help and advice that I can give which no other doctor in that region would have the expertise or time to give. I can postpone my other activities as I was planning to return to Cochin/KL in August.
The evening was spent in the company of Mr R at the Lotus Club. Indians seems to attach importance to Club Memberships but I can see the greatest advantage is that there is space and no crowds. He made me current on what is happening in Kerala. I was astounded by this man's devotion to his family,to his country and he is truly happy to be living in Cochin.
The next morning was a busy one, visiting EJ, the last of the Cochin Jews. His lamentations continued and I have to compile them for posterity, since an important part of the history of Cochin Jews would disappear with him.
The Lunch was at Metropolitan hotel, a lovely Kerala Lunch of fish curries and a varieties of vegetables and beef and chicken curries. A sumptuous feast indeed. I was in the company of S1 the owner and S2 the manager of the Travel Agency. After they had paid for the lunch, S1 announced that he could hire a car to take me and S2 to Quilon that very same afternoon and as an added gesture, he would come with us also. This is a generous gift of time and money and effort and every one was happy. 4 1/2 later as the darkness had fallen over this village, 8 pm to be exact, we arrived at the house, now lit up, with all the children well scrubbed and eager eyes peering into the darkness for our arrival.
For the next 1 1/2 hours, until 9 30pm, i spent solving the problem of Thyroid disease in the daughter and the mother and was able to offer some sound advice. As we were leaving, heading back north for the 4 hour drive back at night, the little girl came out of the house to say Good Bye, she took my hand and said, Thank You very much. I was touched and I hugged her and said, please study hard and make sure that you go to university, and who knows you could become a doctor in the future and do what i am doing.. she smiled broadly. Apart from solving the mystery of her thyroid illness, I had taken pains to counsel them and tell them that she is not abnormal in any fashion and that appropriate treatment would take care of the problem.
We left at 9 30 pm and the traffic had somewhat died down. The sense of relief was palpable, of the family, of S2 and it was as if we all had participated in a good deed. My respect for S1 and S2 increased tremendously. Unselfish and helpful.
I had dozed off in the front seat of the car, and was woken up when the car parked at the gate of a new hotel somewhere in the darkness of Kerala. The manager comes out and invites us for a drink. It did feel good. For unknown reasons, my laptop could detect a wireless signal and for the first time since arriving in Cochin, I could read and send emails with large hearts waiting and saying good byes in other shores.
I was very tired, but the lessons of Yoga was ringing in my ears. Rabbi Hillel's words came rushing up to the conscious.. If not now, when? When do we do good things, if not now...

Cleansing of Oneself in Malaysia..Mind Body Spirit Affections

FOOD FOR THE BODY MIND HEART AND BRAIN AND SPIRIT IN A MATTER OF FEW DAYS IN DELIGHTFUL MALAYSIA
I didnt begin my life as a Foodie, but it just happened after many wanderings. I will go to extra lengths to eat well and would rather go hungry than eat bad food. After having said that, have you ever wondered why the Chinese in Malaysia (not in Singapour since they eat less well there, they like the Mauritian Chinese have caught up with the Indians in the rates of obesity and diabetes) have less Obesity and less Diabetes than Indians and Malays?
The answer is very simple. They eat better. During my stays in KL, I have wondered at the retinue of ordinarily clad chinese trooping in and finishing delicious course after course of expensive food! Better spend the money on food rather than foolish, fake stuff from Luis Vuitton, I suppose. Feed the body well so that it can repay you with health and happiness and money of course, in the case of those who are interesting in following that path! I arrived just as the Chinese were begining the month long fiesta of Gong Xi Fat Choi/The New Year of the Tiger, and was amazed at the feast of food. I ate well but learned a couple of things. American Indians have always said to me, Food is not just to fill your stomach, it has much signiicance, who prepared it, with whom are you eating, has it been blessed by the spirits.. I advise you, for the sake of your health, eat with friends, eat well, dont eat fast and dont eat anything which comes wrapped in plastic or from a fast food chain restaurant (it is better to go hungry, do your body a favour)
Yee Sang ( we ate this at Hee Lai Thon restaurant) (for those who are unfamiliar with Chinese delicacies of this time of the year)

This multi-coloured raw fish salad makes its presence during Chinese New Year where it is tossed with friends and family members, and the higher one tosses, the better it is as it signifies greater fortunes. Fish, or !yu, stands for abundance or excess and surplus of luck and wealth through this new year.

Nian Gao (Sticky Cake) – (WE ATE THIS AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL- THE STICKY PUDDING WAS FRIED AS DESSERT)
Other delicacies on this visit include the simple spiritualy nourishing South Indian food at AG/BT house to complement our spiritual journey with Yoga. A Penang Nyonya dish at a restaurant in PJ. the last supper fittingly was at Restoran Oversea, with a mouthwatering steamed Fish

I am not an ascetic and take full pleasure of the body, but to do so, it has to be in a fit state. During the years in Cuba, each night was a celebration which included dancing, so no one thought of exercising or keeping the body in shape. It was naturally in shape. Long flights, this time I left Paris at 11 pm on Day 1, with a long break in Dubai, arrived at KLIA at 0600 on Day 3. From Miami it is usually a 30 hour journey, and it does take a toll on your skin..
This is where Miss A of Guinot Salon at KLCC comes in , she works, it seems any way at every pore of your face and painstakingly and at times painfully attends to the blemishes created by the sands of time. Then A Cut Above and GS, the best pedicurist I have encountered, she is so thorough and believe it or not, one hour treatment of your legs, leaves them fit enough for more walking through the paths laid out for you in life.. Feiwen, the chief stylist, walks around and graces the waiting heads of hair, with his scissors, like an acrobat in circus, gently and elegantly and then walks off, giving your hair to the pretty maidens waiting with their brushes and fans to sculpt the hair.. I spent two hours at Guinot, another two hours at A Cut Above at Bangsar.. an extremely good investment in time and otherwise...
Malaysia is an up and coming country, and more and more people have the means to attend to themselves, this is not pampering, this is not luxury but a necessity if your face has to look forward to the trials awaiting thee! I truly look forward to Guinot at KLCC and A Cut Above at Bangsar when I am in KL and thanks for that indefatiguable friend, YMC, for organizing this in advance!
Miss VY took time off to come to KL to be with AG and Us. Each one of us is a journey, and as Ju/Huaxi San people say: I am waiting for my story to come back to me. Because when we loose our stories, our thinking stream is lost. it was Anton Artaud, who himself ended up in an asylum, who said: Madness is the loss of ones oeuvre!
VY comes with her story, one of victory and vanquishment of physical and emotional ailments, victory over the traditional path laid out for her, to carve out an individual niche in this wonderful world of ours. She came and enlightened up, and slowly it begins to sink in, the philosophy of Yoga. I like most people who live in the west, think of yoga as twisting postures, much like tortuous (for me) exercises such as Jogging or going to a Gym ( neither of which I have ever done in my life).. but Yoga, like the Lakota word for Healing, Wapeeyah, is Union... bringing together, and in American Indian tradition, the word would have the meaning of inclusion rather than exclusion in to the society in which you live; in Jewish mysticism, it is a bringing together of the broken pieces of Shehinah, the wisdom of the universe which was broken but still reflects the power and glory of the Universe...While VY was talking I was amazed at the similarity of many of the Yogic precepts and those of the Native Indians of North America..
I am profoundly influenced, and so grateful that in a short period of time, steeped in caring and love, surrounded by friends, I was ever so gently introduced to the Yoga.. some concepts I will bring to the tribes I work with.. May be, who knows, Inshallah, Ojala (the spanish word derived from the previous one), our Gang of Four (AG BT SSIL MC) could once again be led by VY in the company of the Indians under the warm but isolated skies elsewhere... with drumbeats as clear as our hearts in the background...
Those who are reluctant about Yoga, because they are not malleable of bodies or flexible of limbs, I beg you to get a taste of this ancient wisdom.. Reading about Asanas does not allow you to understand the depth of this philosophy, which would definitely influence you. Like American Indians say: we have much to say, it is up to you to listen.
Intelectual Feeding.. A Hungry Man is an Angry Man.. said one modern Prophet, Bob Marley. But what do we hunger for? For me, there is no greater pleasure than preparing to give a lecture, this time, I spent better part of two weeks, preparing for a lecture, the contents of which were mostly newly learned ( about health and disease in Malaysia! and especially among Chinese and Indians). As one cannot be a Jew without a community, one cannot be an intellectual without being motivated by others around you. Like the Newspapers of today, your friends would reflect the demands of your Intellect. I have been very lucky to have been introduced to many in KL, who can match up any one in other parts of the world, for their intellectual acumen and ferocity of thought. BT/H come to my mind, in this visit BT/AG provided the spark while YMC prepared the fodder. What is amazing is that the four of us are so complementary in our thinking, each one of us having our own niche in the world of thinking.. it is nice to recognize that, a short plane ride away to Bombay or KL (a little bit more difficult to get to), one weekend of food for the mind and the body, one can return to the cold, snow and sleet and isolation of ones work. I have never worked in the corporate world, but by counselling so called "successful" corporate insiders, I realize that my personality has no place in that world. I live in a rather gentle world, and believe you me, you need friends like the ones I have in KL to continue that emotional/intellectual equilibrium.. Paris and Havana are peaks in my intellectual world, and they come wrapped in other skins and other affections.. I am glad to have found in KL its own peculiar version of what one longs for.. It has become my second home, and from now on, when people ask me where i am from, depending upon the continent they ask me in, I will say, Kuala Lumpur!
The most important cleansing of yourself, is the Emotions.
We dont live in a vaccum, we need connection to the outside world, not only through trees, animals and birds but also by experiencing LOVE at the purest form. Children are born Yogis and you will realize it if you spend time with Meerah or Archichah or Sophiya or the Three Butterflies of Petaling Jaya. They willl teach us how to love another without any conditions, giving more than receiving and clearest of all brooks in the world are their laughter.
On this visit, the two stars in my sky were YMC and AG, their sweetness to me was like a bakery in the sky.. like the poet Neruda once said: Of all the fires this alone is inexhaustible. I felt that I was in front of a spring which will quench my thirst into the next millenia...
Human mind especially that of a Man does not have a capacity for deep and intimate friendships ( why do you think the letters between intellectuals get published? they too only have few friends), count your friends, if you can count TEN friends (I mean friends!) you are indeed lucky. We all have tremendous capacity for having acquaintances, even that capacity is limited to about 120-150! BT stokes the fires in my brain, A/S H ignites the passion for arts and the written word and MC/AG give me that inexhaustive fire, that makes me feel warm in my travels, colours my nostalgia (more correctly saudade, a portuguese word which defies definition! a sweet painful longing for something you have just lost..), adds impulse to my next actions ( which is always concerned with giving of myself and the little expertise I have in Health Care/Counselling)..Thank you, Thanks to all of you...
Pascale at Monash U for organizing the lecture; Anna/GS/Feiwein for improving my "looks", all those unseen chinese cooks, V for coming from Bombay, SSIL for giving the best CNY gift by getting hold of herself and integrating herself to our inner world..

News about Malaysia in the French Press.. how unfortunate

Unfortunately, news that comes out of Malaysia, stress upon the unsavoury or ignorance.. the struggle of the country to remain peaceful, prosperous and progressive is never given notice.. but notice about using the word Allah or the minister for religious affairs threatening to visit candle lit dinner places and cheap hotels to castigate Malay couples on Valentines Day or the following .. gets attention.

First of all they make no note of the fact that it took place if I am correct in Sabah and that the accused were judged according to the tribal rules. It comes across as if the price of adultery in Malaysia is just four buffaloes plus fines of 210 euros each!

But the Press coverage is never impartial, they cater to the mindset of the reader. Recently I had a long arguement in India with a friend who contended that Israel is the largest arms trader, which he had read in the local press which is friendly to Hamas and Hizbullah! I tore into him, quoting facts about the Arms traders in India and the Indian government who pop up cruel governments like that in Burma (arms supplied by India) among other countries supported by India. I have noticed that news about Israel is almost always one sided in Asia, with sympathy towards their arab brethren! but the south asians and south east asians only have to go to the Gulf States or Arab states to see how quickly the "brotherhood" disappears. I have never seen anything so close to modern day slavery as that of the South Asian and South East Asian "coolies" in Dubai!
So, when you visit Malaysia, dont bother about Buffaloes (by the way they are Indian waterbuffaloes and not the North American Bison!) but enjoy the hospitality of the multiracial society, excellent food and varied wonders of Nature in Malaysia.. Welcome to Malaysia.. a top 10 destination for tourism in the world in 2010..

Malaisie : ils sont condamnés à payer quatre buffles et un porc pour avoir eu une relation illégitime

Malaisie - La justice malaisienne a condamné un couple, soupçonné d'adultère, à céder cinq animaux, en plus d'une amende.

Un homme et une femme ont été condamnés par la Cour de Penampang à payer chacun une amende de 210 euros environ, pour avoir eu une relation extra-conjugale. Le tribunal a également ordonné que les deux contrevenants dédommagent les parties lésées en leur donnant quatre buffles ainsi qu'un porc. La valeur de ces animaux a été estimée à environ 1.260 euros.Il y a un an, l'épouse de l'homme infidèle avait porté plainte, après avoir découvert les deux tourtereaux en tenue légère dans leur maison secondaire. Les deux amants s'étaient défendus en expliquant à la Cour être juste de très bons amis. Mais cet argument avait été rejeté.

Back Home in Paris.. but with the Glow of Asia

It is nice to be able to cross Continents and World Views in a matter of Hours.. at Midnight one day, you are at the Oberoi Lounge at the Bangalore Airport and within hours, you are sipping Cafe and tasting pain au chocolat at the Air France lounge at CDG... with it comes a tremendous deep change, thinking has to change, I am not a visitor to the west, I have lived in the west almost all my life but with forays in various other cultures, disovering Asia only since 2002, when my brother, deeply dedicated to good asian food, wanted me to travel with him. Since than I have enjoyed visiting Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia and Burma. The most surprising gift of all was Malaysia, which has become like a second home... Somehow the spirits wanted me to compensate for the loss of Cuba in my life.. No, I have not lost Cuba, but not able to go there as frequently as before (once a month, you would have found me in Cuba, unbroken for ten years!)..
This visit to Asia ( I dont include India here, which is a Culture and Nation on its own) was very good: as usual, the gracious hostess, MC and the House of Glass; the Diamond in our skies, AG from Bombay and her lovely two children and VY, a very good teacher from Bombay who took time to come and introduce us non-Indians to this ancient indian philosophy.
Within days I could see the effects of Yoga, not in my body but in my spirit. I could see myself becoming more tolerant ( i travel frequently and was intolerant of ignorant travellers, but this time at KL departure lounge I didnt feel it) and also more accepting of the situation. As my UmonHon Indian friends have always said: Be happy with what you have..
I am.
KL: A lecture which went well. four days of Yoga with complementary atmosphere of the house of AG/BT, whose birthday we celebrated... seeing the eclectic mr H and his delightful wife S and their infant daughter with a whole head of black flowing hair, Little S.
Each night, our palates would lit up with the Chinese food, the chinese who know how to eat, who rather forego buying new things in favour of eating good tasty meals. I remember clearly a chinese avising me in those early days in Brunei. For us, the food has to look good, smell good and taste good ...
On my last day, the wonderful DimSum at Hotel Oriental and the dinner at Restoran Oversea, were exceptional meals..
it is nice to feel enveloped in this net of affections in Malaysia, which has truly become my second home.. or more truthfully to be added to the emotional homes I have.. Paris, Miami and Havana..now add KL.. Even when I was a student, I thought of more than one place as home Melbourne and Miami, Melbourne, Miami and Kingston... London and Kingston... Now add KL to that list.
I wish to thank all my dear friends, now separated in distance but not in thoughts, who made my life a little bit sweeter, to give me the strength to face the ice and the snow of the MidWest and comfort and counsel the American Indians, to whose welfare I am dedicated to.
Hope the winds bring me back to KL, my home House of Glass, soon enough. My Kickapoo sister from Mexico begged me not to travel to Asia between mid may and mid august, so after that premonition is lifted, you will see me... at the arrival gates of Kuala Lumpur international Airport.. Until then, Teremah Kaseh and Arigato Gozaimasu...

Air Asia to Cochin.. From Kuala Lumpur

arriving at the LCCT at KL International Airport with a heavy heart, always sad to leave this country which has become dearer to my heart. Sad good byes remind us that joyful Hellos are waiting... right at this very same airport... Ojala!
Every one was wearing buttons declaring I Love India.. no they have not suddenly become enamoured with the ancient country but it is to publicize Tony Fernandes' pioneering decision to introduce flights to Cochin, Trivandrum, Bangalore, Madras, Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay, Hyderabad and Trichy from Kuala Lumpur. The Economist once descriebd him as the person who has brought South East Asia together more than any one else.. true, when i began travelling in SE Asia in 1992, Vietnam Cambodia Laos were not in the travel maps of an average Malaysian... that is history now.. My brother hotel in Siem Reap, The Mandalay Inn has become a gathering spot for the Air Asia travellers to Siem Reap to watch sunsets over the magnificent archeological ruins of Angkor..
I am sure, in one year from now, an average Malaysian would think nothing of taking a long weekend holiday in India, something not conceivable now...
How to make your flight comfortable and enjoy your trip.
Tony Fernandes runs a budget airlines but his ways are anything but budgetary.. he charges for everything, which is fair enough.. but this is what i advise so that your flight is without hassles and enjoyable.
For 40 RM you can increase the luggage allowance to 30 kg! so even if you dont use it, why face any hassle at all at the checking agents encounter? Nasi Lemak , preorder it for 8 RM, so dont have to feel hungry as the smell of malay cooking wafts through. 25 RM guarantees you the first row in the plane... and let me tell you it is the best 25 RM i spent on that fare..
I took my seat 1C and expected some other soul to have dished out 25 RM to come and claim !A adn 1B... but no one did. and of course, if someone eyed an empty seat and claimed it, i am sure they would be promptly told, 25 RM please.. so here i was sitting with three seats to myself and enjoying Nasi Lemak and reading and listening to music. which made the four hour flight little less cumbersome.
The flight landed at 4 pm local time, i was out of the plane at 4 05 pm being the first person leaving the aircraft. I have my own pace of walking to the Immigration desk, having to do that ritual once a week.. as I got down after going through the Immigration, who were only cursorily interested in me, my passport, my visa etc..the luggage was ready and i was out of the hall at 4 15 pm. at 4 20 pm I was sitting inside the prepaid taxi heading towards Ernakulam, one hour away.. Was that 25 RM worth it? to me yes it was...

Forty Eight Hours in Cochin.. Love in the time of ..?

I spent exactly forty eight hours in Cochin.. from arrival from KL on Air Asia (good flight) and then leaving by train to Bangalore ( a comfortable journey)
What all happens in the course of this time?
As I enter the offices of India Tourist Land run by my friends Suresh and Sunil, the usual laughter greets me, they are truly happy people, despite the stress of having to answer mobilephones constantly from customers wanting a thousand things..
Before the invitation for a cup of tea came along, Sunil mentioned: Yehudaji, would you have time to go to my native village near Kollam and advise my sister and her daughter about their Thyroid Problems?
What should I do? I have just arrived in this noisy city with ancient amnesia for me, I am a serious student of the history of Jews in this city.. I am to meet for long discussions on the history of this city with both Babu, the Last Jew of Cochin and also Mr R, an erudite man from an ancient christian family with a charming smile and a generosity to match. Then there is Sarah, the ageing jewess, the last of the 9 jewish inhabitants of the famed Jew Town of Mattancherry.. also to meet with Densal the genial host of Ft Cochin.. perhaps a lunch at Fort House Restaurant? another at Hotel Metropolitan?
All these things flashe through my mind. I have just come back from four days of immersion in the Yoga philosophy and an ancient way of balancing your life. Then I thought of American Indians, my teachers. They would say exactly this: your services are needed by a young girl with a medical problem you can take care of, the drive there is tiring and it would take up most of your precious time here in this city, but without sacrifice, you will loose the power you have to heal people.
I said: we will go tomorrow.
The phone rings, it is Mr R, in his sing song Malayalam accent but impeccable english, he would be there in a few minutes to pick me up to take me to his home for drinks and then dinner at Lotus Club of Cochin.
I will not waste time on Clubs, as they are not my particular interest, but I have to include the fact the first president of the club was Mrs Bristow, Lady Bristow to be exact, 1932, the wife of Sir Robert Bristow, the father of modern Port of Cochin.
So I shall post details of:
The remarkable Mr R of Cochin ( owns a factory that makes coir mats that can be bought at Walmart in the USA)
Our excursion to ancient Quilon, once a seat of a thriving community of Jews but now the journey is to diagnose and treat a thyroid condition in a thirteen year old.
After meeting Babu, whose daughters have similar names to children in my own family, Avital and Lea.. i even thought of a title of a book to write down all the lived in knowledge he has.. The Lamentations of the Last Jew of Cochin..
A wonderful Kerala Lunch at Hotel Metropolitan, the three lovely sari clad ladies who can brighten up any one with their seductive smiles...