A TRIP TO KOCHI

I was in my native place, Thrissur last month. I decided to give Iqbal bhai, an acquaintance of mine who stayed in Kochi a visit.

There are many options to reach Kochi from where i reside in my native place. I selected the one which would make me reach Kochi in the least time and with minimum expenses. So by around 7: 35 a.m. I caught a bus that took me to Urakom centre. From there I took another bus to Kodungaloor. I reached Kodungaloor by 8:20 a.m. Then I took a bus to Ernakulam Boat Jetty by 8:45 a.m. Reached Menaka Jetty by 10:00 a.m. As Iqbal bhai was staying in Fort Kochi it took me some 45 minutes more to reach the place.

I had never met Iqbal bhai, but knew that he was 55 years old from the email communications we had. I contacted him on reaching Fort Kochi. Iqbal bhai came and took me around the place. I had a close look at the Chinese fishing nets. In fact I even pulled the rope which acted like lever so as to haul the catch.

Iqbal bhai briefed me about Kochi's history. Although I was aware that Kochi was a natural harbour I came to know some new facts about Kochi through Iqbal Bhai. Iqbal bhai later informed me that the fishermen generated some income from tourists by calling out to them and showing them how they caught the fishes and getting some money in return. Later we strolled along the beach. Iqbal bhai made me listen to his friend, Rafique's voice over his cellphone. Rafique was singing a Mehdi Hassan non film song.

We later visited an art cafe which had paintings by amateur artists and a cafe that served dishes in a very nature-friendly way, using earthen pots etc. Then we met Ivan D'Costa, who lives in a more than 200 year old house. He had received an award for his contribution to the Anglo-Indian community. The furniture at his residence was very antique. He recalled how his father had served the Imperial Bank, which later became the State Bank Of India as we know now, till 1931. We took his leave and continued our journey through the Anglo-Indian settlements. Most of the houses were constructed in a typical Dutch style. We also visited St. Francis church. It was one of the earliest churches built by foreigners. Vasco Da Gama's remains were kept for some time in this church before being sent to his birthplace. I never had been inside a church. I had only seen how it was in movies. We walked in circles after coming out of the church and were soon walking the promenade, which was unlike the one in Mumbai. One could find couples huddled, very much reminiscent of the sightings in Mumbai. We had lunch at Krishna Cafe and were walking towards what was an unknown destination for me. We met Naushad, organiser of many a musical events in Kochi. He wanted to organise an event on Sachin. Dev. Burman. He wasn't getting much support. Iqbal bhai ensured him that he would help him in whatever way possible. After taking leave of Naushad we made our way to Azad's hair-cutting saloon. I had no idea what surprise was in store for me. As it turned out, Azad was a part-time singer too. He sung some Mohammed Rafi numbers like "Kal Raat Zindagi Se", "Hum Bekhudi Mein Tum Ko" & "Kabhi Khud Pe Kabhi Haalath Pe". There was nowhere the Malayali accent in his pronounciations. Iqbal bhai mentioned that this was the pecularity of singers from Mattamcherry. Iqbal bhai had mentioned that H. Mehboob, a singer who used to sing for films in early 50's for Thikkurishi, Satyan etc was also from Mattamcherry. I also came to know from Iqbal bhai that renowned singer Yesudas, belongs to this place. Likewise many musicians and singers,including Music Directors like M K Arjunan and Jery Amal Dev. M K Arjunan is the legendary one.


Azad's shop is located in Gujarathi Road. Iqbal bhai mentioned that one could find many communities like Gujarathi, Marwari,Kutchi and Maharashtrians staying in Fort Kochi.In fact he remarked that an event called Bharat Fest was conducted three times here by the Department of Culture, Government of Kerala and one time by Corporation of Cochin, whereupon 16 linguistic communities of Mattancherry-FortCochin (West Cochin)area participated with their Music,Dramas and Folk items.

For all the four programmes Iqbal bhai was the General Convenor. Maharashtrians, Gujratis, Kutch, Urdu, Bengali, Marwaari (Rajastanis), Anglo Indians, Tamil , Telugu, Kannada, Tulu, Konkani etc were some of the linguistic groups.

Moreover, for each linguist group, there were different sub-latern groups or religious groups. For example, Kutchi Muslim,Kutchi Jains, Kutchi Hindus, Konkani Brahmins, Vysyas, Saraswats, Sonaars, Kudumbis etc etc.This had added up to uphold the Unity of the people of this historic place.

After having tea we made our way towards Iqbal bhai's house. Iqbal bhai had uploaded songs from the film 'Rattan' at e-snips and was showing me his earlier uploads. I was impressed by his collection of Talat Mahmood And Mohammed Rafi songs. Our talk veered to a singer who never got his due, viz, Manna Dey. We listened to his songs such as "Aaj Mile Mann Ke Meet", "Chham Chham Baaje Re", "Hato Kaahe Ko", etc. It was around 6 in the evening when I bade Iqbal bhai good bye.

As I was used to night life in Mumbai, I was of the opinion that I would easily get bus to my home. But I was wrong. I had to take a rickshaw home upon reaching Thrissur. And since it was night time, the rickshaw charge was doubled. En route the rickshaw driver saw another fellow rickshaw driver waving towards him. He stopped the rickshaw for a while but was off in a jiffy. He later explained that the driver was bleeding from the throat. I reached home by 12 A.M. What a Day !