After leaving Mumbai, India the ship stopped at Goa and Mangalore. My experience at Goa was to visit a beach resort and in Mangalore I stayed on the ship.
Our final stop in India was the southern city of Cochin (or Kochi), which was on May 4 (Day 111).
I chose an excursion to a traditional village. We took a bus to a little port area near a lake/lagoon. It was a sizable area of water, but shallow.
All the guests were loaded onto boats like this one.
Each boat had a boatman who poled the boat across the water. The boatman started at the front, planted his pole and then walked on the gunnel toward the back to get us all across the water to the island where the traditional village is located.
On the way we passed another similar boat propelled by two boatmen.
On arrival, we got a demonstration of a local villager catching fish from the fish pond by casting his net.
We got a demonstration of how the coconut tree fronds are stripped to free up the stick-like center that is used to make brooms.
A local potter showed us how this pot was made on his wheel.
Baskets are made for many purposes.
Rope can be made out of the outer fuzzy part surrounding a coconut. First it needs to be soaked and processed, then several villagers make it into rope with this simple machine.
We also saw how a fermented alcohol drink comes from the process of Toddy tapping. The expert goes up the tree and taps on it to help the sap settle, then collects the sap that has collected from the previous time up the tree.
For those of you who might be wondering, I did have the infamous tuk tuk experience from the village back to the bus. Turns out this island was connected to the mainland by a bridge, so two by two, we were loaded onto tuk tuks for the ride back. The driver went quickly, with some swerving and I just hung on. I survived, but some of my fellow passengers reported that their tuk tuk hit a bicyclist, although it didn’t seem to have been serious.
Back in the bus near the end of our tour, our guide began to tell us that the villagers who we had met during our visit were part of the lower castes in India. The traditional village we visited was formed as a type of ecotourism to benefit the villagers. We were invited to contribute toward the villagers at the end of our time in the village and many did.
The guide used a name of this caste that was not familiar to me. I think it was something like backward caste, but I am not sure. I have tried looking this up and have not found it. I did learn that there are a number of lower castes including Ezhava, Thia, Nadar and Dalit communities. So, again, more questions than answers for me as I continue this journey.
After telling the story of the village we visited, our guide told about a time not so long ago when women of the lower castes were required to go around without covering their breasts. This was enforced by a law that allowed them to cover up if they paid a tax. A brave woman protested this by cutting off her breast and offering it in lieu of payment. This story was disturbing and graphic and our guide was passionate. He also told us that he was also part of this lower caste. I am very grateful for this glimpse into a concept I had only read about and could feel at least some of the pain and resilience from our guide.
I love hearing about your fact checking and ongoing questioning. Keep it up
I also thought of the book “Caste” when reading this. The book looks at caste systems in three countries, similarities and differences – India, Nazi Germany, and the US. To Gary’s point, the experience of minorities in the US, especially Black people, is a caste system as discussed by the author.
Your experience in India certainly was an eye-opening one, and I look forward to hearing more about it. I just read a book Caste about the ‘caste system’ in the US (a worthwhile read).
i have trouble understanding the “caste” system of privilege…..and, how much it differs, in practice. from what minorities experience here.