Mangalore

Tuesday, Dec. 13, Kochi (Continued)

I ate lunch late because I wanted to go to the same good place, but they don't serve a good menu until after 3 p.m. They have only a rice plate before then. Today, I had cashew fried rice--rice, carrots, green onions, bell pepper, cashews, etc., stir fried and served with both sweet and hot sauces. I drank two lime drinks, and I had a huge banana free (fritter) as a dessert. It was all delicious.

I waslked to the waterfront park planning to read. Instead, I spent the time visiting. Several men congregated around me asking questions--a young bank executive, another young man who helps in his father's business, and a man closer to my age who has lived in Italy and now serves as a tour guide for Italian tourists. I excused myself from them at 6 p.m., because it looked as if it could rain. I wanted to get my luggage on walk to the station. Just 3 blocks from my hotel, one of the guys from the park came by on his motorcycle. He insisted on giving me a ride to the station. That's good, since I was already feeling the humidity from the short walk I had made.

I visited for 1 1/2 hours with another young man at the bench at the station. He commutes 1 1/2 hours each way from Alleppey to do software development here for mobile telephones. He missed his usual train, so he won't be home until 11:30 tonight. Then he has to be up to return at 7 tomorrow morning. He, like all the others, was a nice, sincere man (a muslim) who said I should visit his home when I return next year.
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The last 30 minutes before my 1-hour-delayed train arrived, I visited with another very young and nice man on the platform. He is Rajesh from Kannur (whose family lives here in Kochi). He's a medical student in a special medical college that teaches a form of homeopathic medicine imported from Europe. The emphasis is on herbal treatments. He made sure I got on the right car before going to his own, even though he did not have a reserved seat and might have to stand if the seats were taken by the time he got there. He also surprised me by giving me a quick hug good-bye. I've never had that happen here in India. Maybe there are European professors at his school who have introduced this to him.

Wednesday, Dec. 4, Mangalore

There was an awkward interaction on the train last night. I had a lower berth reserved, and a muslim family of two men, two women, and a girl had other berths. The man asked me to give up the lower berth to one of the women and wanted me to take a top berth. Well, I had no problem ding the former, but it seemed selfish of him to want me to move to an upper, rather than a middle, berth. I asked him where he was going to sleep, and I got no real response, only "Brother, this is my family." Then I said, "You take the upper berth and I'll take the middle." Again, I got the family response. I could see he probably was in his 50s and younger than me, so I asked, "How old are you?" He became upset, so I quickly said, "I'm 60," implying that age should make him the climber. There was no reasoning with him, however. (I'm wondering if he considered it an offense for me to sleep NEAR the women. If so, he should have bought 6 tickets to assure the entire compartment for him and his family.) Anyway, I gave up trying to reason and said I'd sleep in the lower berth or the middle berth--his choice. He said something to his wife and they reluctantly agreed for me to move to the middle berth. No one thanked me then or this morning. And the man ended up sleeping in the lower berth across the aisle! I couldn't believe it. I'm still mad at him for being so selfish.

The train arrived in Mangalore at 8:50. We must have made up time during the night. I'm checked in at a nearby hotel that is one of my cheapest recently. It's fine, though, with cable TV, bath with hot water, clean sheets, and even a balcony for $5.06 U.S. per night.

I've enjoyed a lazy day. I sat on the balcony for an hour or so this morning. Then I walked to Aloysius College and explored the neighborhood there. I had my cheapest lunch EVER, I think. It was a potato-onion mixture with spices and served with two pieces of flat bread (like flour tortillas) for 6 rupees (14 cents U.S.). Then I bought two sweets for another 18 cents. I walked through the campus and looked inside the chapel which is known for its paintings covering all the walls and the ceiling.

It was a warm afternoon, and I was still tired due to not sleeping well or for long on the train. I turned on the ceiling fan, opened the balcony door to let in fresh air, and took a wonderful summertime-type nap for 1 1/2 hours.
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I went out for a nice dinner at a good restaurant (fabric tablecloth) tonight. I located a restaurant I never found last time I was here--Lalith's. I ordered chicken tikka (marinated and charco-briled chicken kebab), buttered naan, and in honor of the gorgeous irridescent turquoise bird I saw this morning frrom the train, a 650 ml Kingfisher beer. The lemony chicken came with a spicy marinated tomato-onion mixture. Ummm!