35 To Cochin and Back

So I was back in Bombay from my holiday in Delhi and this first maiden solo trip had stirred my wanderlust. As I mentioned earlier, there was a Family Wedding happening in Cochin immediately after my Delhi trip and I was all eager to go and attend this event! Along with my aunt and uncle and my cousin Sudha, we left Bombay by train to Cochin via Madras.

My Uncle was a Railway Board Member and he was entitled to travel in a saloon car which was then duly attached to the Madras Express from Bombay. So there I was, travelling in colonial luxury which had its own living room, bedrooms and a small pantry manned by a waiter who travelled in the saloon with us. It was a remarkable journey as at every important junction, railway officials would visit our saloon to greet my uncle who, as a Railway Board Member, was high up on the totem pole.

We halted in Madras for a day and had lunch with a close relative in the city, after which we boarded the Mail train from Madras Central Station to Cochin. I loved the train journey and early in the morning, we crossed through the Palghat gap and soon entered Kerala crossing the expansive Bharatapuzha river near Shoranur. We steamed past Thrissur and Chalakudy, where one could see elephants hauling logs from the river running along the railway line – what a picturesque sight! It is still etched in my memory!

Soon we reached Cochin Harbour Terminus where we were received by my grand uncle who sent his car to pick us up. Whilst we were crossing the Wellington Island on our way to Mattancherry where my uncle Dammanajja lived, we saw at a particular point three modes of transport running parallel – the railway line, the airport landing strip and the ships in the harbour!

I fell in love with Cochin including Fort Cochin with its spacious British and Dutch Bungalows – henceforth I made it a point to visit Cochin every summer during my school and college holidays, for the next 10 years right up to 1974. Once the marriage was over, I returned to Bombay along with my grandmother – we were chaperoned by my uncle Ganpatmam who decided to take us by air to Bombay.

This was my first air travel experience – I remember it was a Fokker Friendship plane carrying around 40 passengers and it was indeed an unique experience travelling through the clouds; and suddenly within a couple of hours, landing at the Bombay airport. It was sometime in May 1965 and soon in early June I would be starting a new chapter in my life including joining a new school in the 8th standard!