Making Ripples
“The still lake without ripples is an image of our minds at ease, so full of unlimited friendliness for all the junk at the bottom of the lake that we don’t feel the need to churn up the waters just to avoid looking at what’s there.”
Pema Chödrön
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Pilgrims bathing in the Periyar river, Kalady.
Degrees Of Separation
Pictures taken on the “Crocodile Ghat”, Kalady.
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A Maiden’s Prayer
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Picture of Robin’s mother in prayer on Christmas evening, before the party festivities begin.
Home Before Nightfall
An often long and winding road..
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Picture taken in Chellanam, Kerala.
A Cruise For Christmas
or
Four Men In A Boat
Christmas Day was spent with friends.
Robin invited Anu and I to join his family’s celebrations.
The fun started immediately:
Robin and his brother, Jolly, took us in one of their fishing canoes through the canals and lakes which back onto the family home.
Beautiful scenery, gentle warm breezes, just a few bottles of cool beer, and a lot of laughter.
All served with the companionship of kind friends.
It’s the perfect recipe for a very happy Christmas.
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Pictures taken in Chellanam, on Christmas afternoon.
A Malabar Lunch On Christmas Eve
For our last meal together before Christmas, Dalila had been exceedingly busy all morning.
I managed to keep my own plate down to almost reasonable proportions:
locally caught tuna curry; fish molee; prawn curry; cabbage gently fried with spice and coconut; and appams (rice-flour pancakes).
All served with fiercely spicy, mango pickle and Shaji’s home-made wine!.
But there was also chicken curry, pork vindaloo and, of course, rice.
Ours was a party of eight:
Shaji, Dalila, Anu, Robin, plus our three working painters – Justin & Paul, with today’s extra hand -
who are halfway through repainting the house, inside and out.
This special lunch was meant as a very heartfelt thank you,
to them all.
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Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!
Christmas Cakes
Before the clock struck eight this morning,
Anu had summoned an auto-rickshaw to the house.
We were off to the local shops.
On Christmas Eve, as soon as the bakery opens, I buy Christmas cakes.
It’s a bulk purchase:
for ourselves
and for small thank-you gifts,
to the many people who, with Shaji Dalila and Anu, keep our household running smoothly throughout the year.
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Pictures taken in the Muslim Bakery, Kunnumpuram, Fort Cochin.
Helping Hands
Making our way to the local shops this morning, I was struck by just how many houses and hotels were being repainted:
part of the preparations for Christmas and this year’s lamentably quiet “high season”.
Fort Cochin’s economy is largely dependent on tourism.
After-shocks from the West’s economic woes are having considerable impact.
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Picture taken today in Fort Cochin, five days before Christmas.
Form versus Function
I am not quite sure where I stand when balancing form with function in my home.
A couple of months back, when I bought a veena, it seemed I had decidedly plumped for ornamentation over practicality:
I cannot play the instrument and have left it a little late to learn.
The appeal was purely visual.
But my friend Robin kept fingering the veena’s strings,
and yesterday embarked on a course of classes.
Now I find my enjoyment of the veena is considerably enhanced by hearing someone play it.
A modest perfection of both form and function:
harmony achieved.
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Home Cooking
For the last couple of years, while Shaji & Dalila take their well deserved day of rest, Anu my houseboy, Robin my good friend, and I have relied on Sri Krishna Café for our Sunday breakfast.
But Sri Krishna’s excellent chef is taking a couple of month’s leave, and its usually delicious fare has taken a distinct dive.
Step up young Anu!
This morning as dawn broke, having greeted me with my customary cup of chai masala,
Anu started preparing breakfast for the three of us.
Fresh onion oothapams and coconut chutney, alongside some fish and mango curry and dahl leftovers from yesterday’s supper.
It was truly delicious.
Fanny would have been proud of him!
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Or possibly not..
Shooting Stars
The film crew are still busy at our local faux café.
Yesterday, I passed by to see how the shoot was going.
To my surprise, this outsider with his camera was warmly welcomed.
Film crew moved aside to give me better views;
Krishna, a young starlet, broke off conversations with his team of technicians, so that I could take a picture:
I am told the movie’s working title is “Film Company”.
It comes from a team involved in one of last year’s critically acclaimed, but financially unsuccessful, local productions:
“Kerala Café“
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Pictures taken in Fort Cochin.
Make Believe
Shortly after seven-thirty in the morning, the workforce was busy.
Not the workforce attending to our annual house make-over, but a dedicated film crew,
who were rapidly assembling the simulacrum of a bijou outdoor café,
just half a kilometre from my home .
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Pictures taken in an “on location” film set in Fort Cochin.
Three Colours: White
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Pictures taken in Fort Cochin
Video clip from the “Three Colours: Trilogy“
That Special Time Of The Year
Our house is in relative chaos:
The exterior is being repainted;
Two of the bathrooms are being re-tiled and re-plumbed;
The interior must be repainted before my January guests arrive;
And family are stopping-over this month, either en route to, or returning from, our ancestral home.
But everything stops for Christmas.
Despite the sheer impracticability of it, I decided that our Christmas tree must be assembled and decorated.
This morning Anu brought it down from storage, just as he did last year.
With so many workmen in the house to feed, Dalila was far too busy to join Anu and I in setting up our tree
- for the first few minutes.
As we tried to remember how the tree was assembled, and the sound of English Christmas carols filled the house from our music-centre, she came through into the hall:
first to check up on us; then to join in the fun.
Even Shaji left supervising his workforce, to ensure our efforts were up to scratch.
During the procedure there was, almost inevitably, a power-cut.
Fortunately, the light was sufficient to finish our task.
By seven o’clock this evening, when Shaji, Dalila and the assembled workmen were leaving,
power had been restored,
And a group portrait could be taken.
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Climate Control
Very few houses here use air-conditioning.
In my own home, it has been removed from everywhere except the guest bedrooms.
Like most Indians, we depend on fans to keep us cool.
There are two ceiling fans in most of the bedrooms, four in my main hall (sitting room), and five on the roof terrace.
So much more comfortable than the AC’s icy blasts, which tend to leave me with aching joints and dry eyes.
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Picture of fan repair shop taken in Kannur.
Picture of Indian Punka-wallah taken from the web.
Sound clip from “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum” a BBC TV comedy series, set in British India during World War II.
New Every Morning
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Picture taken in the Seminary chapel gardens, Fort Cochin.
