Travel: Some Cochin photos

When I came across these lovely photographs in the Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons, thought of sharing them with you. To the best of my knowledge they are in the public domain.

Out of the twelve (?) basilicas in India, three are at Cochin. (‘Basilica’ is a canonical title of honor bestowed by the Pope on distinguished churches.) The photo here is of one of them, Santa Cruz Cathedral on KB Jacob Road, Fort Cochin. Originally built by the Portuguese five centuries back, the Dutch who captured Cochin in 1663 used it as a storehouse for weapons. During the British annexation of Cochin in 1795 the building was destroyed. It was rebuilt in 1905.
Also see: Churches on demolition line.

This photo shows the interior of the world famous Cochin Synagogue.
Also see: Cochini Jews – Dreams don’t die

This is a view of the Marine Drive on the Ernakulam waterfront. I hope it is always kept clean and picture perfect.

The terminal at the Cochin International Airport. It is a beautiful example of combining traditional Kerala architechture with modern requirements.

Please click on the images for enlarged view.

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Taliat - a clarification

Responding to my post The greatness of human nature – a true story a viewer who was in Trivandrum during 1930s and 1940s sent me an email stating that a Taliat was Chief Justice of Travancore

There were two Taliat brothers, Joseph and Jacob at Trivandrum those days. The elder, Joseph, was the Chief Justice. Jacob became the Surgeon General of the State around 1947. I think that he was also the Surgeon General of the integrated Travancore-Cochin State after Independence.

Jacob’s son George emulated his father by becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was a well-known specialist in pediatric surgery and was with the Trivandrum Medical College. He died rather young.

Joseph Taliat’s daughter Lucy was a doctor too. She was with St. Martha’s Hospital, Bangalore and, if I remember right, was also associated with the St. John’s Medical College, Bangalore during its formative years.

Taliat is an ancient Syrian Christian family from the present Ernakulam District. During the time of the maharajas too, citizens could reach top positions irrespective of their religion.

Another interesting detail – the Maharajas of Cochin had the title ‘Protector of Christians’.

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Also see: The last of the Travancore Maharajas

Nostalgia: The romance of India/Indian Coffee House

What’s the difference between India Coffee House and Indian Coffee House? I shall come to that shortly. What is important is that both together have been serving Indian coffee with the same aroma and taste for seven decades. And three generations have enjoyed it.

In the post Some memories of WW II, Cochin and the 1940s., I mentioned India Coffee House on Broadway, Cochin. My maternal grandfather (KC Abraham, Kallivayalil-Konduparambil) took four of us siblings there when we were children. It was a great experience which we enjoyed thoroughly. We had coffee and glucose biscuits. I don’t think they served stuff like masala dosa those days.

Again I mentioned India Coffee House in the post Bangalore memories. That was a place I loved during college days in the early 1950s. The laid back atmosphere, spending hours over a cup of real coffee, small talk which one forgets even before leaving the place, diverse people – students, journalists, elders. Something that belonged to another era.

Or so I thought, till I came across an article ‘Coffee, tea and memories’ by Priyanka Haldipur in the Deccan Herald. She says: ‘Walk into the place for a feel of what Bangalore would have seemed like almost five decades ago. Nothing has changed in this humble coffee place... not the style, and certainly not the coffee.’

Another Coffee House I remember from my school days is the one at Trivandrum, opposite to the present AG’s Office. They used to serve excellent masala dosa as well. But we mostly patronized Connemara Café, next to Sridharan’s General Store (started by his father Kesavan) and owned by the same people. The favorite there was cutlets with a salad of curry cucumber and a cold, non-aerated orange drink.

These places (other than Connemara) were ‘India Coffee Houses’ to start with. The first was opened in Bombay in 1935 by the Indian Coffee Cess Committee. The objective was to promote the consumption of coffee. Subsequently, Indian Coffee Board took over and built up a chain of 72 coffee houses. But in the 1950s the Board closed down most of these cafes and sacked the workers.

Enter AK Gopalan, the famous Communist leader from Kerala. He organized a worker’s cooperative by the former employees of the Coffee Board and started the first Indian Coffee House at Trichur, Kerala in 1958. It has now grown into a chain of nearly 400 outlets all over India. I believe that Coffee Board still runs about a dozen India Coffee Houses.

This is written over a big cup (a birthday present from my grandson Adithya) of strong black coffee. Good. The coffee, I mean. Whether the article too deserves that comment is for you to judge!

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Photo credits: Coffee beans - BackgroundBoy, Cup of coffee – PDPhoto.org

Note: The cup shown in the photo is not the one I use