Half Eaten Sandwiches: MY WIFE AND OTHER ANIMALS

Part II - Coming of Age and a Receding Hairline

........... continued from :
My Wife and Other Animals - (with due apologies to Gerald Durrel & the animals) - Part I

(photography courtesy Arunima Nair)

Gods own country gave us a wet farewell as my Daughter, my dog-Curry, my Wife and I set off towards amchi Mumbai. Our last trip down the same route, to Kochi, had been a tearing rush from point to point in the cauldron of fire, that is the Indian Summer. Our mode of transportation had been an ancient tank like car, the ever dependable Premier Padmini. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Mumbai and road trip later let's talk about Kochi.

The Sea from Vypin

The moving on of bluebells, our cat, left a void in our lives, but the most traumatised was Curry. After the Calicut pitstop, I moved on ahead to Kochi to arrange for suitable dwellings for the depleted menagerie. We moved to a humble abode at Mundamveli. Humble because our standard of living shifted downwards. Literally Floor-bound. No, I didn't lose my job, its just that we had practically no furniture except, mercifully, beds (and a few Chairs that were wedding gifts). So boxes became tables and out-of-the box furniture arrangements. Ikea - match that. Mundamveli, like all of Fort Kochi area (Cochin as it is also known - Ernakulam mind you is across the channel, we'll get there soon) is as beautiful as rest of Gods own country.
{Explore at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundamveli }.

The Quintessential Fort Kochi
Chinese Fishing Netts

My indomitable wife and spunky daughter adapted with ease. Me - I was at sea, literally. Curry was distraught. I think it is about this time that he started showing an aggressive streak. A mixed bag, as he adored the three of us but heaven help others. Beautiful and mystical mundamveli may be, but it has long lonely stretches. Here is where the tenacious curry came to the fore. The ever protective mother, my wife, swears to this day that 'her' Curry protected her against the evil designs of random hordes of drunk locals that abounded the area. Okay now let me clarify here, that logically, any statistical sample would not support the "number" of drunks and "number" of days theory. However, since I was mostly away, and for the sake of Marital Harmony,

Curry - The Protector

I will not dispute the Brandy induced haze/mob/zombie army theory. And I will put it on record, (for the truth and nothing but the truth should prevail) that during my trips away, I was much at peace with Curry protecting my family.

Fort Kochi - Old World Charm

A canine friend of curry here, was a Dalmatian called "Stupid". Stupid was a sweetheart, with a weak heart, or rather, a weak bladder. I am given to understand that the family has always had dalmatians and for some reason always called them "Stupid". So I don't know if this was Stupid the Second or Stupid the Third. Lets just stay with Stupid. Stupid would wet himself, and the surroundings, copiously, the moment anyone in his radius got angry and raised the decibel. Some found this funny and the name endearing, but well, I didn't. Firstly I'm not into Golden showers, near-miss, or of the canine or any other variety, secondly - Stupid! how can such a loveable gods creature be named that. Really!

Jew Town - Kochi

Other than a bike accident that KO'd me and our "Tank" the aforementioned adorable car slowly deteriorating in the sea breeze, the mundamveli phase passed off without any noticeable incident. Oh! Yeah the "Don hit Cully - pleeeeese don hit Cully, nooo" incident also a happened. For that you have to read my previous post. { read here : My Wife and other Animals - Part I}

In a while we moved from the languid backwaters of Fort Kochi to the hot and happening Tarangini apartments at Ernakulam. This, has been one of our favourite houses. It ticked all the boxes. It was obviously made by a guy with a tremendous sense of humor, had the best view in town and was centrally located (the icing on the cake being that it was fully furnished). Before I come to our 'Rise' in standard of living and humour I'll speak about the LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. (for a very long time I seriously believed that, that was a Quote from the Movie Godfather - but anyway). { Tarangini : Location Map - today }

Bolgati Palace
View from our Balcony - Tarangini Apartments

Tarangini Apartments are located at the mouth of the channel leading to the Kochi Harbour. Officially Off High court on the Marine Drive. It is located in a prime location in Ernakulam off Broadway and GCDA Shopping complex, next to the then hotspots of the city. Today the city has exploded with swanky new malls and new watering holes, that are symbols of India's growth. The Valarpadam Container Terminus, has ensured a road/bridge network to Bolgati Island and Vypin beyond that . At that time Tarangini Apartments were like the last bastion overlooking the beautiful channel, Bolgati Palace and harbour mouth, proverbially at the roads end. Indeed Tarangini was 'THE' place to be.

The trusted Kochi channel Ferry

Our 'Standard of living' rose considerably as our house was located on on the penultimate, viz the 10th Floor. The enclosed balcony held a panoramic view right upto vast expanse of the Arabian Sea. Soon we shifted our dining table and vast array of plants, that my wife has always had the propensity to collect, seawards, and the balcony became our living space. Trangini brought forth my wife's attempts to colonise our zoo. Bluebells still fresh in our minds and Curry becoming even more possessive, we set up a fish maternity ward. Too small for me to steal and cook. But I swear they were breeding faster than rabbits. Maybe, just maybe, they were being replenished at a fast pace. I still wonder. The place had added benefits. Party Zone, a fantastic set of neighbours and friends at close call and our daughters play school located at the ground floor. This was the place where she went school for the first time and began the process of growing wings that will one day take her on her own journey. I remember the day when she went to kindergarten by bus. My wife tearfully holding onto a stoic and beetroot red, me. The official married-man story is that "we" held onto each other. But anyway thats life.

Poetic - Gibran in our 'Living Space'

Humour or weird? The apartments were designed with two towers at both ends like a folded hands, Indian Namaste, connected with a long stretch of a lower 4 story (or was it 5? - I forget) complex. The weirdness extended to within! Each floor had a differently designed floor plan and size. The top floor in the towering Namaste having the worst deal. A kind of two storied house, with a staircase within and a seven-dwarfs like attic sized bedroom, with skylight kind of windows. Yeah and the - more often than not - phenomenon of the lifts breaking down was another bonus. But we loved the house, curry learnt how to navigate lifts and we learnt how to climb 10 flights of stairs without having to break into a sweat (ideal pit stops with friends at various floors and coaxing cajoling the lift mechanic and inducing him with the local favourite - 'braaandie') .

Languid Backwaters

One of our buildings fitness enthusiasts learnt the tenacity of curry the hard way. One day (maybe that was his first and last day at this experiment) he decided that climbing the stairway to heaven and health lay through the 10th floor landing. Curry my wife and I had just returned post a leisurely stroll (a venture timed with the life cycle of the elevators). By the time our adventurer reached our doorstep he was almost wiping the floor with his knees. "Be forewarned", I said,"the dog bites" and turned to unlock our door. However, our exhausted, sweaty, floor wipe, threw caution to the winds, and, as we approached our house door, he stretched his hands out for some support(crazy huh!?) and caught a handful of Curry. I swear, I've never heard a man YELP so loud. Curry defty nipped the offender in his luscious bum. I guess he sprinted down faster than he had ascended. News spread fast. My family was safe again.

Ferry Ride in the new car

The sea weather caught up with our beloved Tank - Premier Padmini - car. One day in the middle of the jam packed "Jo's" Junction we heard a loud explosion that was followed by a louder rattling and screeching sound accompanied with minor coughs and spurts. Quite surprisingly no matter how fast we drove the sounds followed us and grew persistently louder. Everybody including us, tried to locate the source of this commotion, till we all realised, that, it was us. A part of the exhaust manifold and pipe had collapsed and given way. The car was being held together by paint, rust and sheer will power. The purchase of a new Air conditioned car was thrust upon us. The buying decision rested solely on the fact that it was tall enough to house Curry and big enough to hold luggage for a road trip. Thus we set up for another round of adventures in and around Kerala in our brand new Wagon-R. We gave the food and geography of gods own country our abundant attention and were getting fat and content. Pause - I was getting fat, "we" were content. As the hairline receded the time came for us to pack our bags and move again.

Off to Mumbai, the beaches of Marve, Malad. A stop-over at Karwar. Gabbar the gigantic Boxer, the warm hearted hosts Ami and Teddy. But that my friends is the next story. So long..........

I leave you with photo essay that can help one catch but a glimpse of Gods own country