Picto Diary - 15 December 2023 - Kochi

Above: Ernakulam., Kerala. Marine Drive. 15 December 2023.

TIMDT poses. TIMDT's fourth, my third, visit to Kochi.

Above: Bolgatti Palace and Island Resort. Kochi, Kerala 15 December 2023.

Serendipity experience. Another Indian assault on the senses. We gate crashed a colorful wedding. Ladies in their colorful silk sari best! Amplified, exotic music charged the atmosphere. Indian rhythms make you want to wiggle your hips. Guide Sabu recommended this stop after coming up with a list (at our request) with Kochi sites we hadn't seen in our three previous Kochi visits. We stayed on the periphery of the celebration. The guests were very friendly. We didn't get the sense that our presence was an intrusion. We've found, over 25 years of living in and travelling to India, that Indians are always very pleased to share their always colorful celebratory experiences with outsiders.

Above: Lulu International Shopping Mall. Kochi, Kerala 15 December 2023.

You can get your car washed while you shop! You cannot come to India without seeing something you haven't seen before and this underground parking garage car wash service was one of them.

Above: Lulu International Shopping Mall. Kochi, Kerala. 15 December 2023.

Lulu is not on the usual Kochi tourist run. But this is our fourth visit to Kochi, and we wanted to see something we hadn't seen before. We noted Lulu's claim to be the largest shopping mall in Asia in the Kochi blurbs on the internet. Sabu, our guide, hired for us by TravelScope India, was happy to take us, at our request, to Lulu. You didn't have to squint a lot to see the highest of quality of mall that you would see anywhere in the world. Rolex. Starbucks. And a long list of other recognizable brands. TIMDT and Mwah (sic) discussed the contrast between this top-class mall and the shopping that we remembered from our experience of living in India in the 1970's. That is not to say that "1970's India" isn't still the norm in most parts of the country, but shopping on the level of what we saw today would have been inconceivable in the 1970's. The existence of a mall like this is testimony to the reality of India's growing middle class and the aspirational aspect of an India seeking to grow and progress in the world of nations. The mall was all decked out for Christmas (see image). I noted in my earlier piece about Dubai how Indians of all religious and cultural stripes revel in celebrating the religious holidays of all resident religions.

At our request, Sabu joined us at lunch. He takes a bus two and a half hours from is home to get to work in Kochi. His home, he says is modest. 350 square feet. He, his wife and sixteen-year-old daughter share the home with his brother and brother's wife. Home has all the amenities. Septic tank, hot/cold running water, electricity and a two-acre plot surrounded by lush trees and tropical flowers. Sabu is a private contractor. He was personally acquainted with the myriad of Indian tour guides that have squired TIMDT and her friends around India over the last two decades.

Above: Anokhi. Kochi, India. 15 December 2023.

Inconceivable would be a visit to Kochi without TIMDT buying more tablecloths at Anokhi.

Above: Fort Paragon Restaurant. Kochi, Kerala. 15 December 2023.

Our usual lunch stop in Kochi is the Brunton Boat Yard. This time, we told Sabu that we wanted to try something different. Sabu scored a home run on this restaurant selection.