Yesterday we visited Kodungallur to visit my aunt’s family
and began at Cherai beach. Cherai beach wasn’t particularly noteworthy except
for the waves. The beach was fairly short and about halfway, had a pretty
sudden 3 foot drop. I’ve never seen a beach with that kind of a strange drop
and I’m guessing the defined erosion was the result of the rate and violence
with which each wave struck. The beach feels a little ominous with its dark
greenish-black waters, which coupled with the angry waves crashing upon one
another and clawing their way to shore, made for a pretty impressive sight. I
just sat by the shore watching for a few hours. As nighttime approached, little
beacons of light came into view, marking the fading boundary between the sea
and the darkening skies. Cochin’s major seaport, coupled with the plethora of
fisherman in seaside communities, results in heavy sea traffic off the Kerala
coast. Each of the ships dotting the horizon seemed like its own little island.
Just a lone star-like light in the midst of a black canvas of sky and ocean.
The thought of being on one seemed nice; just a floating light in the midst of
the angry waves. I liked Cherai at night. Maybe someday when Steph’s a marine
biologist off the coast of who knows where, I’ll join her lost in the middle of
the ocean for a little while.
Kerala’s access to the sea has meant that places like
Kodungallur have seen a lot of external influence well before the British or
even the Mughal Empire affected India. I’ve heard that roman artifacts have
even been found in the region as a result of secondary trade from the Middle
East. Perhaps the most telling consequence was the conversion of a Hindu king
in Kodungallur to Islam and the construction of India’s first mosque in the
area. Both events are particularly significant when you think about the degree
to which Hinduism has dominated India for seemingly all of history.
Aside from Islam, Buddhism also made its way here fairly
early on. At a famous local Hindu temple, there’s a holiday where everyone
gathers and chants tons of swear words as part of festivities. My uncle told me
of a few tales surrounding how the tradition originated. According to one, a
long time ago as followers of Buddhism increasingly found their way to
Kodungallur, the local Hindu communities started getting worried. In order to
scare away the arriving Buddhists everyone gathered at the temple and let loose
all the most wonderful words they could think of for a full day. The true story
originates from when the caste system played a much greater role in life in the
region. Back in those days, the temple
was meant primarily to service the wealthy class and other members of the upper
castes. Only on one day in the entire year would lower caste members be allowed
inside to see the large temple grounds and worship. On that day members of the
upper caste would vacate the neighborhoods nearby for fear of the vulgarity
within the temple. There was no literal foul language but everything said by
the lower castes and their very presence was considered vulgar in nature. In
time the temple was opened up to everyone but that single day for which the
lower castes would be allowed inside remains celebrated. Only now they stick it
to the caste system with a whole fuck-ton of swearing.
In other religious news, in recent elections the BJP won a
landslide majority of seats in the Indian parliament. The Bharatiya Janata
Party identifies itself as a Hindu nationalist group and as a result, the
current legislative composition probably has the least minority representation
of any recent government. Maybe goes to show just how heavily Hinduism has and
continues to define India’s identity.
Ps for dinner we had domino's cuz my cousin loves pizza cuz people never eat it here plus i mean it's pizza. I've lost almost 2 kgs since I came here and that weight is after consuming 5 slices of pizza. I just can't win with India. Weight loss inevitable.
