This visit to Cochin is turning out to be beyond expectations.
Mr Ranjit and Mr Vertivar, both from Pondicherry, the administrative team at TOWER HOUSE hotel in the heart of Fort Cochin, has been more than gracious in their hospitality.
Mr Ranjit is a good conversationalist and being open minded adds to tha charm of the conversation. The interior decoration is congruous with the age of this Heritage Hotel, the building dating back to the 17th century.
These Hebrew Inscriptions caught my eye. The large size indicated they must be from a TORAH. on the right hand side there are stitching to indicate that indeed it might have been from a scroll. My brother in Haifa helped me, saying it is the story of Noah and the Ark.
This was the representation on the wall of all major religions. .. here in Cochin.. Hindu Christian and Muslim and until recently a very small jewish community which had been here for centuries.
Mr Ranjit and Mr. Verti are good examples of the best of Indian hospitality industry, and this hotel is a well hidden gem in the heart of Fort Cochin.
Uber is now easier to find in Cochin than before, and also I have noticed that telecommunications have also improved. A short ride across the backwaters to the commercial town of Ernakulum to the offices of my dentist friend Dr Seby. Everything is courteous and professional.
In Cochin, the professional tries to fit into the schedule of the patient and not the other way around like in the western countries. In Miami, people and their religious affiliations are at the leisure of the "believer", here the pious are at the disposal of the wishes of their Spiritual Master. A nice observation.
He assessed the covid state of my dental anatomy unattended for two years. He drove me to a fashionable coffee shop where we spent more than one hour chatting with another common friend of ours. It is so good to be with these people, who are not represented in their behaviour by their professions but they are successful which has not inversely affected their human behaviour. I am glad to be their friend and enjoy meeting them.
I took Uber back to Fort Cochin, giving me a little time to talk to the Hotel Manager who seem very knowledgeable about the history of his people and his part of the country. I reminisced pleasantly of the time I had gone to Pondicherry, enjoyed staying at the French Quarter and a nice meal at Appachi Chettinad Resto!
In a wonderful BBC series with Michael Wood on India, so crammed with information, it was mentioned that the original DNA of the first movement out of Africa to this geographical entity was found near Madurai, the place where from the manager hails. His proto dravidian with a hint of Australasian features bear witness to this.
There was a plant in my room in a bag with a local motif to remind us that today is the Earth Day. a nice little touch.
Mr RM and I go back many years when I accidentally met him at his business in front of the Synagogue in Mattancherry. We have kept in touch all through these years and once I even came when he had a fall and fracture. With each visit our friendship strengthens , sharing good food also is conducive to this.
He had chosen the Yacht Club in Ernakulum as the site of our encounter tonight which turned out to be more than excellent. He had picked me up at my hotel at the appointed hour and we talked non stop for hours to come: aided and abetted by a drinkable sauvignon blanc from Hills of Maharashtra and typical tasty food of the club kitchen.
We dropped by his house to say hello to his wife and his family. What a lucky man, who lives with his wife in this large house but as he said it is necessary that his two sons and one daughter, married and with children, drop in daily to see their parents and during the weekend all of them have descended and decided to stay!
I told him that from a western standpoint, he is a very lucky man whose children come to see him and his wife on a daily basis. His wife, a very pious woman, once taught me about Prophet Job after a visit to their home soon after my visit to the tomb of Prophet Job in the hills over looking Salalah in Oman. (I did say the Kaddish at his tomb)
I couldn't even fathom how joyous i had been feeling. Relationships with meaning triumphs everything and it allows you to cleanse your own mind of the pollutions of living in psychologically conflicted societies such as Miami.
I am grateful that such a happiness comes my way from my dear friends in Cochin Kerala where I am now. I made mental plans to visit other cities which afford me such pleasure, Havana in a very intense fashion, Siem Reap and Kuala Lumpur in mellower forms. I am looking forward to humanitarian medical help associated visits to the Amazonian town of Leticia as well as the border town of Lau Cai on the Vietnam-China border.
Thank you my dear friends, I am glad you are in my life. To those who came in for short periods and left, I am sad at your departure, whether Iran or Brasil, but grateful for the fragrances you left in my life.
As the song goes
a manha sera outro dia
Tomorrow is another day
