God’s own…spoon!

There’s art and more all around Fort Kochi — graffiti on walls, obscure and unattainable works by renowned artists in galleries and exhibition spaces, and sometimes installations in Vasco da Gama Square and Parade Ground. A more accessible form of art is a by-product of tourism — souvenirs available in the rows of street side stalls all over Kochi. But, as I discovered on a walk from David Hall to Vasco da Gama Square, the best of such works are available on the tiny wooden carts that some artisans put up outside the galleries. Rows of fridge magnets in a myriad colours and shapes, cigarette-holders made of whittled sandalwood, hand- and foot-massagers carved out of rosewood, and an array of faux bejewelled jewellery boxes held my gaze. I, however, gravitated to the corniest of the lot: this patriotic spoon that scoops up the waters, the greenery and a houseboat of Kerala. And it was mine for all of Rs.50 after much haggling in broken Tamil.