Wander Woman

Fort Kochi has a lot of good cafes and eateries.Some of them are by the channel and some are located on Princess street and adjoining lanes. I love going to Kashi Art Cafe . It generally hosts some artiste for a month, but more on that later. The other day while walking around Fort Kochi I felt hungry and my feet naturally gravitated towards Kashi. But due to some renovations going on, Kashi was closed. So I went further, crossed the road and found the TEAPOT cafe. Its a small cafe with teapots all around. The owner apparently likes to collect teapots from all over the world. I really loved the yellow walls and antique teapots. The food is average(typical fare, sandwiches and like) but the best part about this place is, its not crowded. You can sit for hours with a masala chai and read your book or do your work.The yellow walls, the high ceiling makes me feel as if I've come to some really old building. It must be a very old house. I wish I'd asked how old.

Today morning I saw these two charming girls dressed alike in Pattu Pavada. The Pattu Pavada is the traditional dress worn by young girls before marriage. Pattu means silk. My friend tells me that these girls are from the Ezhava community. Communal feelings run very strong among malayalees even if they claim to be very liberal. The dominant caste group are the Nairs . In my sociology class, I read that Nairs were the warrior class of Kerala. When the men went out to war, the women stayed behind and looked after the property. That is why the Nairs are matrilineal. The Nairs trace the ancestry to to Nepal. The Ezhavas, to Ceylon.The main occupation of this Ezhava community was toddy tapping. Among the Ezhavas is a sub group(caste???) called theeyas . They claim to have come from Kyrgystan.Theeyas were well versed in the science of medicine. And from them originated the dance form "Theyyam".The famous director MN Shyamalan belongs to this community. My source of knowledge is my

When I first heard o Fort Kochi , I thought of it as a real fort. I was so used to forts of Rajasthan.The rajasthan forts are magnanimous and is a pure display of wealth and power. Fort Kochi was a far cry from that.There was no fort at all!! It was a peaceful little place with a hip crowd,mostly tourists. You could lose yourself in the place and nobody would give a damn. And then I discovered Jew town, snaking my way through bazaar road. The walk is lovely flanked on both sides with age old buildings and quaint eateries and curio shops tucked away in obscure corners. Every visit to that place opened up new vistas for me. Jew town currently has five or six Jewish families living there and thousands of Kashmiris who have set up shop and who sell the most awesome antiques. On Bazaar road(which extends from fort kochi to Jew town) is the famous spice market. The entire road is filled with the wonderful smell of spices and you can see the famous spice merchants at work. Jew town itself has

I was going to office one day when I noticed a number of people clad in saffron walking in a single file on the road. They were chanting something and were also carrying something on their shoulders. On closer inspection, they turned out to be wooden crosses. I asked my friends about it and they said that these people were pilgrims to the Malayatoor church and that every year they make a pilgrimage bearing these crosses and walking the whole way from wherever they are. It surprised me to hear this because #1) They were saffron clad(saffron, btw, is a colour denoting Hinduism) and #2) They looked like the " bol bam " pilgrims of the north(of India) who also undertake a similar journey to a temple of Lord Shiva every year. Every Year thousands of devotees in the Northern part of India will take water from the Ganges and walk thousands of miles to pour that sacred water on a shivalinga. How come these customs are so similar when the people themselves are so far removd geographic

I'm so excited by the bloom of my lilies that I have to show them. These lilies I had picked up from the wayside from Munnar. They were growing randomly by the roadside. I brought them and planted them in a wide tub. They didnt bloom for nearly a year. I kept tending them with water,  manure etc. When my husband wasnt looking, I sometimes sang to them too :). And finally it bore fruit and what beautiful flowers.See for yourself.Arent they beautiful? And the fragrance is out of this world. I'm so happy.Also I think the rains had a major part to play in their flowering.

When I first came to Kerala, I used to see these round vessels (of various sizes) kept by local people, mainly at doorways or gates. And I thought to myself "such aesthetical people.So nicely they adorn their doorways with fresh flowers".I asked the name and came to know that they were called " URULI ".It was much later I found out that these vessels are actually used for cooking. Fish and other non vegetarian items are cooked on Uruli . Earlier these vessels would be put directly on the fire on an earthen stove. Now they use it on gas stoves too. Most Malayalis do not cook in urulis anymore.Rather they fill it with water, put some flowers and put it on the doorstep. You can buy small earthen or brass urulis from Broadway, to take as souvenirs. The largest Uruli is displayed at a shop in Fort Kochi.