Kochi Diary
19th July 2016
Fort Cochin, the colonial part of what is now called Kochi still smells mouldy, looks rotten but seems to be charming as it was 30 years ago. At least in the off season. Plenty of „Homstays“ and Hotels cater to the traveler. The „auto“ drivers are desperate for customers. A trip to the „Krishna Café“ is used to convince the passenger to visit jewellery- or antiqueshops. Petrol tokens will be the reward, as Josef, a christian auto-driver points out.
22nd July 2016
Mahatma Ghandi beach is not as polluted as the rest of Fort Kochis' shore. Five men with little chappaty tummies get together for exercises and an early morning swim. The light is pleasant. A hazy sun tries to fight of some rainclouds. A few blocks down, Churches, mosques, jain temples, hindu temples and a synagogue stand in close proximity to each other.
© Peter Bialobrzeski
23rd July 2016
While back home, a shooter in a Munich Mall, is all over the media, the local news is full of stories about the opening of the latest Kollywood blockbuster „Kabali“ a tale of a ruthless gangster with a good heart. The Hindu, a national newspaper finds words as the following: „Inside, as the lights faded and the words „Super Star Rajini“ were lit up in neon bulbs, a huge roar erupted!“
25th July 2016
More bloodshet news from Germany. But not only that: Two IS suspects were brought from Mumbai to Kochi for „Questioning“. Apparently the charge is „forceful conversion“ of Kerala state nationals to Islam. Maybe they just have nicer questioning chambers down here.
28th July 2016
In France a priest gets slaughtered by the so called „Islamic State“ while a Kochi student is held hostage by a bunch of radical muslims, who threaten to deport her to Syria. And: On a train in Madhya Pradesh two muslim women were beaten up by a group of „cow vigilant“ women for apparentyl illegally transporting „beef“ on a train. The police as one would assume did not rescue them, but jailed the muslimas until a test was carried out, giving proof that the women were in possesion of Buffalo meat, as they had always stated.
© Peter Bialobrzeski
30th July 2016
It is traffic day today: „The Hindu“ states that motorists on the Delhi-Gurgaon highway got stuck for twelve!!! hours in a traffic jam, due to heavy rain and a broken pipe. The city of Kochi is constructing flyovers and a Metro sytem to ease traffic conjunction, while a bus overturned because a rikshaw performed a U-turn directly in front of it.
1st August 2016
„Wear helmet, get petrol, be safe“ campaign starts today. That does of course not mean, that you won't get petrol, if not wearing protective gear. Instead you'll be handed a leafleat by the pump-operator, stating the slogan. In the Kochi-Ernakulam area 17000 two wheeler accidents occured leaving more than 1200 motorists dead. „The Hindu“ states: „Besides (poor roadcondition) the presence of young brats with snazzy new super bikes....is proving to be a major cause of concern.“
2nd August 2016
The ferry leaves every twenty minutes from the Cochin Jetty to Ernakulam. The pleassant trip costs next to nothing, 0,05 Euro. The problem: Tickets are not available in adavance, since last year 7 people died when an overcrowded boat capsized. The ticket booth is staffed by 3 people who only start selling tickets 5 minutes before departure. As a result during busy times one get stranded within a queue of sweating people.
© Peter Bialobrzeski
3rd August 2016
A couple almost got strangled riding a motorbike. An electric cable came in their way and knocked them of their two-wheeler, seriously injuring them. The unmarked cable was part of a construction site for the new Ernakualm Metro. The huge concrete pillars already cast a shadow on MG Rd, the main shopping street.
6th August 2016
I meet Arya, a 25year old indian journalist. I learn that the Indian middle classes love to eat at McDonalds, Subway and KFC, 700 Rupies on Junkfood, the same amount of money, that buys you an excellent dinner in a high-end indian restaurant. Talking about restaurants: the owner of a lovely local place, where I eat at least once a day, refused entry to that very journalist, just some month ago. The reason: He preferes western customers.
8th August 2016
Reporters claim, there is a „drug problem“ happening at city colleges. „While ganja, known as the poor man's heaven is the commonly consumed drug, the fun loving affluent teens pursue the 'king's habit' and consume high end drugs.“ , states the paper. I just wonder, what the king's habit might be? Further problems are: „..plastic refuses are threatening to choke the city.“ Solution? „The city adminstration is hoping for some technological interventions.“
© Peter Bialobrzeski
9th August 2016
All three english papers report in lenght about the first big ATM scam in Kochi, apparently tracing it back to Mumbai.
10th August 2016
The culprits have been caught! Apparently three Romanian! nationals were responsible for sophisticately manipulating Teller Machines in Kochi, recording the data and withdrawing money in Worli, Mumbai where they finally got caught. Thats what I call globalisation. Equally detailed (including graphic novel type illustrations) were the reports of a spectacular train robbery. It is said that an unknown number of gangsters have drilled a hole in a carriage and lifted roughly one million Euro (in Rupees) from the load.
