The Cochin Life

About a couple of hours ago, everyone was lounging about the living room in their assorted ways and talking. My dad was across the floor, an uncle on a couch, my cousin curled up on a chair and so on. Their well configured positioning was both a matter of function, to maximize potential relaxation, and an effort to comfortably fit 8 people in a pretty small space. Everyone looked like they were about to drift to sleep but no one would. It’s kind of like the slow, sporadic conversation you have with your roommate at 1 AM when you’re tired but each of you is ok with just laying there and talking. It was all very fitting of the usual hot, muggy afternoon in Cochin.

During the little more than two hours that followed I went through the usual routine. I nearly sweated out my body weight on a quick 2-mile run. Did some pushups and a few other strength exercises. Took a long cold shower. Hand washed the past few days’ clothes and put them on the clothesline to dry. And ate a quick lunch. At the end of it all, everyone was still in the same spot, talking the same way they had been as if the two hours were nothing more than a moment’s passing thought. My grampa was drifting to sleep and that had the potential of snowballing to the group but nothing had really changed.

It’s all a long way of saying everyone was around the front room talking but that’s a pretty accurate snapshot of life in Cochin. There’s not much to say about everything that was said but it’s nice. Infuriating at times, but nice (suggested serving: taken in portions and with a grain of salt).

PS Learned how to de-husk, crack and grate a coconut

PS I found my way to Polonica’s for a haircut and bought shampoo, which feels wonderful. I even managed to avoid the usual comb over you get at the end of the haircut.