Monday, May 04, 2009

Postcards from Kerala - Day 4

Lobby of The Brunton Boatyard, Cochin.
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We had booked 1 night at this lovely hotel, but ended up staying 2 nights. The rooms are large, with interesting old furniture. Both our rooms had large sitting areas, old four-poster beds and great views of Cochin harbour.
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On our very first lunch overlooking the sea, I spotted a pair of dolphins making their graceful way into the harbour. I was jumping up and down with excitement: "Look, Dolphins! Oh my god, Dolphins!!!". The two guys were more interested in the wine list.

I bought several spices for my kitchen at this co-operative store run by women. And I bought jewellery as well, an onyx necklace and a pearl necklace.
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We watched an excellent Kathakali performance at the Cochin Cultural Centre. They enacted Putana Moksham (The Salvation of Putana), a story where the demoness Putana tries to kill the infant God Krishna by feeding him poisoned milk from her breasts. Instead, Krishna kills the demoness. The photo above is from the section where the demoness appears as a gentle-woman and deceives the household into letting her suckle the child.

Mandatory Chinese Fishing Nets photo. Our guide explained how they work. Simple but effective engineering!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Deepa,

that's wonderful that you got to buy some jewellery as well!!

New Delhi Bed and Breakfast said...

The last time I went to Cochin & saw the fishing nets, I was told that they have been there for hundreds of years and still they are being used to catch fish!

It is nice to see something eco-friendly, in these trawler infested waters!

BTW, love your blog!

Abhishek

Haddock said...

Its really fascinating to stand and watch them pull up the net with simple leverage mechanism.
How it works:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joezach/1626111433/