Kochi

Late last month, I spent four days in Kochi, an ancient port city on the Arabian Sea and still a trade center for cinnamon, cardamon, cloves, sandalwood and of course, pepper. That explains my name in peppers on three email attachments from Peter Panathara, my guide for a day in the region's backwaters.

Piles of peppers 

Paddling by longboat through Kerala's lush network of natural canals.

 A longboat with sail fashioned from an advertising banner.

Once,  Kochi had a thriving Jewish community; now perhaps five or six Jews remain. in what is called "Jew Town," with no apparent offensive intent.

Somehow, there's still enough for a minyan for services at the synagogue on Friday nights and Saturdays.

Tipped off by a newspaper article, I learned that another synagogue, nearby, has not been preserved and is used as a cowshed.  Supposedly, this was the synagogue (see above and below left) for the community's "Black Jews," whose roots in Kochi precede those of the "White Jews." I stumbled upon this synagogue with no help from locals, who weren't aware of its existence.

                     

          Entrances to  synagogues for Black Jews (left) and for White Jews (right.)

Women sifting mountains of ginger  in a warehouse on the waterfront. 

A sea of ginger  dried white by the sun. The women said the ginger will be shipped to Mumbai. 

Fort Kochi waterfront, where fisher folks, tourists, ferry commuters, an Indian navel base and merchants coexist. In the middle distance, there's a sliver of  Chinese fishing net, an ingenious contraption still used to haul in catches without leaving shore.

Waiting for the ferry. 

Drivers go all out to appoint their rickshaws.  This is the interior of a rickshaw I caught a ride in.