Happy New Year and may 2004 be bright, get your resolutions right and work with all your might. My new year started by being awake through the wee hours of the morning and then sleeping the rest of the day. Only to be woken up by the sound of chendas and trumpets which meant the Cochin carnival was on its way.
I live opposite the Basilica, so I’m totally in the middle of all things exciting not to forget the crazy crowds outside my gate. There was excitement, madness, thrill and thank God not much unruliness.
The elephant, the giant Portuguese puppets with humans in them, year after year enthrall all who come from near and far. The floats were beautiful, some in form, others in content.
However, there is this huge obsession for men to dress up like women and strut their stuff which I find extremely offfending. A few men dressed as women looked lovely and graceful. But most of them seemed cheap and vulgar. There were around eight floats with men dressed like women and dancing like junkies to the latest tunes. There seems to be a perverse pleasure in transforming into a woman and encouraging the other men to touch and stare. For me this kind of cross dressing done in such bad taste just reflects what these men actually think of women. For them, women basically wear skimpy clothes, ill fitting lingerie and jump and bump into whatever they can. I think it is disgusting and revolting. In the past, there have been men dressed as Parvathy Omanakuttan, Shobhana of Manichitratazhu, goddesses and even Usha Uthup. That was a treat and had a sense of humour to it. However, the rest was beyond crass. All in all, this year’s carnival left a sour taste in my mouth. When these mediocre floats and people are juxtaposed with really beautiful floats and ideas, it’s sad. The Cochin Carnival has grown to be a landmark event and I truly feel certain norms and traditions should be maintained. Mimick and masquerade as whoever but please let there be some class... I mean after all we live in God’s Own Country.
The writer is a Kochiite and you can contact her on anjali.kurian@gmail.com
