When I meet someone from the West who says, I know India, I would know what they mean, usually, they have travelled to India for an extended period of months, have stayed in an ashram or two, delved into some form of the mysteries of India.
What does this erudite author who had spent years in India preparing to write this book and documentary say:
As the town of Bhitra, recedes in the rear-view mirror mirror, I can only reflect that the riches of Indian history are a subject that needs several lifetimes to unravel.
The Northern part of India was in the path of the Greeks, Iranians, Mongols and other Turkic invaders, who built incredible empires with far reaching influences.
When I wanted to learn about India, I adopted the aussie axiom, it is better to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big pond.
Even Tamil Nadu would have been a task to undertake not too lightly .. especially when your interest is a hobby as a voyager.
Why not study the small piece of land where everything is relatively new comparatively speaking? Kerala , and a pretty state to boot ?
but with its eyes and heart connected to the Middle East and long connection to the Jewish People of the Orient ?
Cochin was the ideal place..
the history of Cochin is concise enough to comprehend and less complex. No mongols came here, except the inveterate Navigator of the Seven seas, Admiral Cheng Ho /Zheng He..
Jews came, Arabs came. trade in the hidden granary of spices and tea attracted merchants from Gujarat. Christianity was here long before it was in Europe. Muslim converts from here converted other natives of Malaya and Indonesia into Islam.
A very orderly history, no great upheavals and learning to live together..
One year ago this day I was in Cochin ..
When would Qatar Airways take me there again?
