Myriad Impressions

A group of American travel writers talk about their experiences in South India, while on a visit to Kochi 

Caption: From left: Cynthia W Dial, Janet Rae-Dupree, tour operators Nirmala and Deepika Sen, Veronica Rodriguez, Iona Brannon and Bea Broda  

By Shevlin Sebastian 

On a cloudy morning, a group of American travel writers entered the Indian School of Art in Ravipuram, Kochi. And it did not take them long to express their wonder and appreciation at all the mural artworks on display along the walls. Many depicted scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabaratha. They were done by school owner Sasi Warrier and his late father KK Warrier. In the next room, a veena class was being conducted by Sasi’s wife Usha. The visitors watched with appreciative looks as student Geeta Jayarajan played a tune. 

All of them -- Cynthia W Dial, Iona Brannon, Bea Broda, Janet Rae-Dupree and Veronica Rodriguez --were on a fortnight’s tour of South India led by the California-based tour operator Debika Sen and her Chennai-based colleague Nirmala. 

Soon, they sat around a table. Sasi, along with his friend Prof R Sasidharan, gave a talk about the history of mural art in Kerala. And they listened attentively. 

It had been a good experience for them at Kochi. A day earlier, they also witnessed an act of honesty which gladdened their hearts. When the group had departed from the St. Francis Church at Fort Kochi, Janet had left her expensive camera behind. She only realised it two hours later. But when Debika, the tour operator called the church, they were informed the guide had kept it with him. Soon, calls were exchanged with the guide and he brought the camera to the Jewish synagogue at Mattancherry where the group was on a visit. “That was phenomenal,” says Janet. 

Like most first-time visitors to India, their initial experience was one of shock. “I was surprised how, at 3.30 a.m., the city of Chennai was alive,” says Janet. “Lights, sounds, honking, cars and people everywhere. The initial impression was one of chaos. But I was warmly welcomed everywhere, so that each step of the acclimatising process became smooth.”  

Adds Cynthia, “When we are on the road, I am thinking, ‘The traffic is crazy but in the end, everything gets sorted out’.” 

And they liked the people. “They are generous and friendly,” says Veronica. “Everywhere we went, everybody was so nice to us and curious. They would take photos of us and also come up and talk. Everybody wants to know more about you. And they were so eager to show their world.” 

Iona experienced this in Pondicherry. One evening the group was walking along the beach. Iona separated from the rest and sat down on a bench where she began talking to Prabha (name changed). “Prabha told me, ‘I have been praying to meet someone who is a writer so that I could tell my life story’.” 

Iona replied that she is a writer. “I can write your life story,” she said. 

Prabha replied, “To do that, you have to see where I live.” 

Iona agreed. And Prabha took her on a bike to a slum, where on the terrace of a government-made house, she was running a school. “She is doing great work,” says Iona. “I established a connection with Prabha. It was a cool experience.”  

As for Bea, she loved the live-and-let-live culture of the country. “I don’t think anybody was trying to convert me to any belief system,” she says. 

As for the big difference from the US, Iona says, “Family values. In India, a lot of decisions are based on the interactions between the father and mother as well as the extended family. There is also an intermingling of different generations and different age groups. But in the US it is all about the nuclear family. The youngsters do not have conversations with the elders. And so they miss out on the wisdom that is passed down from generation to generation.”  

 

Janet, on the other hand, discovered something unique. “In India, people live their spiritual life out in the open,” she says. “It is a huge part of their daily life. In the US, this does not happen.”  

As for Veronica, she found the concept of arranged marriages mind-boggling. 

“That is so foreign to America,” she exclaims. “But I did meet a bunch of Indians who had arranged marriages and were happy. We Americans would have too much to process if we had to meet somebody on our wedding day without hardly knowing the person.”  

As for Bea, she gained a unique insight. “Sometimes when I go to a country which has the poverty levels that India has, you see groups of miserable people standing around,” she says. “But in India, poor people hold hands with each other, they smile and laugh, they are so curious about you. There is happiness all around. There is something about the country that exudes peace. That is why all of us find it so welcoming.”  

However, no place is perfect. When asked about the negative aspects, Veronica says, “The thing that bothered me the most about India was the trash. I come from California and we are so much into recycling and moving away from plastic. I feel more effort should be made regarding conservation and trash disposal.” 

Adds Janet: “The debris is everywhere, between shops and homes. There is a beautiful oasis, when you are in somebody’s home, but when you step out into the main road you are immediately surrounded by concrete slabs, trash or something else.”

Adds Bea, “Getting rid of the trash should be a national priority.” 

(Published in The New Indian Express, Kochi)