A colourless sky and the moody twilight hour is all that I got when I landed in the Fort of Kochi. The monsoons are here and sheets of rain persistently have been tearing down the settlement, leaving puddles and slush all around. It was a steady downpour and it felt like the clouds were on a mission finishing off a particular ritual to precision.

1. A colourless sky and the moody twilight hour is all that I got when I landed in the Fort of Kochi. The monsoons are here and sheets of rain persistently have been tearing down the settlement, leaving puddles and slush all around. It was a steady downpour and it felt like the clouds were on a mission finishing off a particular ritual to precision.
A short hiatus and children jump onto boats as I watch the silhouette of fishing nets against the grey skies. Just as I decided to leave the shores I watch a tiny peep of crimson reflecting through the nets. It was the sun who probably wanted one final moment in a day that wasn’t his.
Just a light pink glow was the only speck of colour that stood out in the monochrome landscape, before he vanished into the horizon.
This journey seemed promising all the more. Online bus ticket booking never seemed this promising as now.
Walking aimlessly into the by-lanes of Fort Kochi, I stopped by at an art café to watch a Kathakali performance, before tucking in for a quiet dinner in an old colonial building. Characterised with a simple courtyard filled with pillars, and listening to the rumble of the skies in the night, I realized that the essence of Fort Kochi lied in the mosaic of cultures – some of which remained as different as chalk and cheese. The antique shops and the art cafes are the blend of tradition and contemporary. It is the potpourri of nationalities and a blend of histories across different timelines that lends itself to the Fort Kochi.

2. I woke up to the fury of monsoons in the morning as the rains tumbled down. Taking shelter in a 16th century St Francis Church, which was originally a wooden structure built by the Portuguese inside a fort, I realized that it formed the very nucleus of the Fort Kochi. There may be no actual fort in Fort Kochi today but the tomb of the great Vasco da Gama here has always drawn tourists from all over the world. Centuries have passed since the Portuguese explorer breathed his last on Indian soil, but the locals still pride over the fact that he has been buried here for fourteen years before his mortal remains left the country.
In the rains, I get my morning dose of history . As the church changed hands from the Portuguese to the Dutch to the British, the patron saints changed as well.
The rains didn’t hamper my route as I headed for the whole sale market in Mattancherry and lost myself in the old architectural spaces of warehouses and shops. The local traders are a mishmash of various Indian communities and you see them hovering around piles of dry fruits, spices and tea transported and sent to destinations away from the portals of Fort Kochi. The warehouses soon give way to bustling shops with colourful walls as pretty doors and windows open up to various aromas of spices. I walked towards the Pardesi Synagogue, which is one of the oldest in the world and gasped at its sheer beauty. The collage of the hand painted blue and white tiles made of Chinese porcelain blend with the brass columns and the Belgian hanging lamps. But it is the Dutch palace that turns out to be a showstopper which is the perfect symbol of that blends histories and cultures altogether. A typical Kerala architectural style with a courtyard, transformed into a virtual art gallery filled with colourful murals that depict scenes from Ramayana. The local lore is that it was gifted to the King of Kochi by Portuguese after a soldier had destroyed a temple in the area.
Like i said my spontaneous online bus ticket booking for a place that would help me reach Fort Kochi has never been this mesmerising ever!