It's a hot and sunny afternoon on the Arabian coast. The power has gone out so the fans are off in this little internet cafe that overlooks the dusty street below. I hope the power comes on again soon because my fingers and wrists are sweating like mad! Computers are run on generators so they always work, lucky for us.
We woke up earlier than usual this morning and with our eyes only slightly open, made our way out the door and to a cafe for some liquid stimulant. We had less than a half hour before it was time for our appointments and we wanted to exchange one of our books beforehand. The local book exchange is in a small tourist office room. A friendly man waits there anxious to pass out brochures and literature on Fort Cochin. You simply bring your read book in and exchange it with another book some other traveller has left behind. The books, regardless of condition, are valued the same so there are no rupees involved. It's a change from other places we have been where our books are always valued less than the one we want.
After making the trade; The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy for a book on women's role in Indian society called May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons; A Journey Among the Women of India by Elisabeth Bumiller; we walked along the hot, white road to the Cochin Cultural Center. Both yoga and Ayurvedic massage are important aspects of a Kathakali actor's life so it is not surprising that both these are offered at the center in addition to the nightly performances of Kathakali. We had not experienced an ayurvedic massage before and Krishna had never had a massage outside of North America so we were both in for some surprises.
First off, here is a brief definition of Ayurvedic medicine: Ayurveda is an Indian healing science which is over 5000 years old. It is a holistic health system based on human harmony with nature. Ayurveda is a complete way of life. It is not only about treating sickness - it is based on preventing disease and enhancing health, longevity and vitality. The goal of Ayurveda is to achieve harmony and balance. This is attained without drugs or invasive treatments. A balanced diet, herbal remedies, gentle exercise and physical therapies (such as massage) are the main methods used.
Without passing judgement on whether it was better or worse than a North American massage experience, it was nevertheless unique. Here is how it all went down (I'm taking the liberty of assuming that most of you have, at one point or another, had a professional massage of some sort). We were led into small rooms, not to emerge for another hour. The sunlit room was taken up mostly by a large and heavy brown plastic bed with a small, hard pillow on it. The masseuse said politely, "Take off your clothes" and stood there waiting with a small piece of white cotton in her hands all the while making small talk about our names, our places of residence, which hotel we were staying at.. etc. Once completely naked, she wrapped a thin band of cotton around my waist and then strung a thicker piece of it from the front, between my legs, and to the back. It was, essentially, a loincloth. After I laid on the table, she dribbled a large amount of aromatic (coconut and herb) oil all over my arms, legs, and torso and began the massage (adding plenty more oil as she went along). The technique of massaging in long, fluid strokes is very fast and actually left the masseuse out of breath in the end. Some attention was paid to the spine, the feet, the shoulders, the palms and in the end, a head and face massage was administered with a thicker, pastier oil. After the massage, I was given a bar of Medimix Ayurvedic soap (Magi's absolute favourite) and a small packet of shampoo. Magi's massage ended first so she was showering while I sat there in my oily loincloth talking to my fully-clothed masseuse and Magi's masseuse who had come in from the other room for a chat (it felt just a little awkward!). In a shower that only provided cold water, it was very difficult to get rid of the coat of thick oil that was on my skin but I did my best, wiped a bit more off with the towel, got dressed, and met Magi in the lobby. Overall, it was not as much a relaxing event as it was invigorating. We can both still smell the oils on our skin. We are rubbery and happy.
We had lunch at a very chic little cafe. The set menu consisted of garlic toast, pumpkin soup, and bean & potato salad. It was unusually delicious Western food and we gobbled it up with delight. Tonight we went back to our usual Indian joint and had masala dosas. We finished the day off by reading on the beach and watching the sunset. We were joined by about three hundred Indians, four foreigners, and three dogs.
tothesea,
k&m