Churches and Chaaya

I spent this year's Good Friday - Easter weekend in Cochin/Kochi, with SM and her family at their beautiful new home.

In the three years since my first visit here, I seem to have lost my tolerance for sitting down to sketch in extremely sunny spots - the yellow face... it burns our skin it doessss - Bangalore has spoilt me whattodo.

This year I finally learnt about the Way of the Cross, although I decided to stay back at the church and draw other Ammachis who weren't up for braving the sun either.

The heat notwithstanding, the weekend was full of hot, sweet chaaya, in mugs and cups and coffee pots. Thanks to SE chechi and Don saare, we took a loooong drive to Fort Kochi, to see the Santa Cruz Basilica (which was closed, for Easter) and Teapot, a cafe I have been wanting to visit for a very long time.

I wonder when I'll next get to spend time on a breezy balcony overlooking a never ending canopy of coconut trees...

Kochi

I finally made my way to Cochin last week. Internet Kerala was actually all around me and I got extremely kicked when I saw an endless canopy of coconut trees before we landed at the airport (the inside of which smelled of sandalwood). On the car ride from the airport, I counted Kallu kadas, lost track of coconut trees and attempted to read Malayalam. I can actually make out a lot of the characters, so a game of fill-in-the-blanks usually worked for the simpler words.

It was all so oddly familiar.
Except for the accent, which was extremely surreal.

Drew Mohiniattam and Kathakali dancers in the dark, sniffed at spices and stared at windows in Jew Town, saw how fish is caught in Cheenavalas and watched fishermen mend nets, and sat at random places in the sun to draw.

Airports and Sleepyheads

Bengaluru, Amdavad, Kochi

*new notebook: A gift from long ago, and a format that I ought to learn to use better me thinks.