Fort Cochin

Today was our last full day in India that didn’t involve being in an airport. That all starts on Monday.

I was a bit of an emotional mess today. I’ve figured out that it was a combination of feeling sad that our journey is over, elated that we’ve experienced something so incredible and meaningful, and really homesick and missing my dog. But I am also full of a sense of renewal and hope and optimism for the year ahead. So yeah, a wonderful mess.

We got up early and visited the National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Ransom, Vallarpadam, which was a short drive from our hotel. That’s a long name. Here is the story.

The Shrine is a major Christian pilgrimage centre and the most important Marian shrine in India. Around 5 million people visit the basilica every year. The Blessed Virgin Mary is known here as Vallarpadathamma, hence the name.

The original church was built in 1524. In May 1752 a miracle took place which made the Shrine a centre of pilgrimage. In the local community there was a young lady named Meenakshi Amma, who was a member of a noble family. As she was sailing across the bay with her her son to Mattancherry (a local fort) a storm came up and the boat capsized. Meenakshi Amma and her son went deep down into the backwater. She promised to devote the rest of her life to the Virgin Mary’s service if she and her child were saved. Three days after the storm, the parish priest asked a local fishermen to cast a net in the river as he had been instructed in a dream, and Meenakshi Amma and her son were rescued. She and her son spent the rest of their lives in service to the church, sweeping the floors. Today people can pay to get a little broom and sweep the floors in their honor.

The church and the environment there were incredibly peaceful and uplifting. We listened to the mass in Tamil and enjoyed the singing.

After that we drove the rickshaw to the old town of Fort Kochi. We had to drive onto a little ferry to get there. Fort Kochi was the first European fort on Indian soil, ceded to Portugal in 1498 by the Raj and controlled by the Portuguese East Indies for many years. Prior to that it had been part of the spice route for centuries.

While Joe was getting the tickets, an elderly man with a bad limp and a cane walked up to the rickshaw and asked me for money. I gave him the few coins I had in my purse. He kneeled in front of me and made the prayer sign with his hands and pointed up the sky as a sign of gratitude.

We spent the day in Kochi doing some shopping and seeing the myriad of churches there. There were at least 10 of them. One had this huge, weird angel statue on the front of it that was actually pretty creepy. I mean, if you are going to build a statue thing that is supposed to be an angel, at least make it look angelic?

We thought the official Rickshaw Run finish line was back near our hotel off the island, but thankfully we came across some other people doing the Run who told us that the finish line was actually just around the corner from where we had parked. We were so lucky that we figured that out! If we hadn’t we would have had to drive several hours back to our hotel and then all the way back to the island. Relief. We headed over there, driving Gina for the last time.

The finish line experience didn’t disappoint. Everyone was there celebrating the achievement of making it to the end. Each team drove their rickshaw up a little ramp, had photos taken, received a model of their rickshaw, and handed in the keys. There was a little band playing drums and the mood was very festive. It was all kind of bittersweet and wonderful.

After we were done we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the finish party, which was just down the road from where we were staying. We had a celebratory gin and tonic in the hotel bar, where we learned the life story of Noyal Joseph, the best bartender in India. He had been in a bad accident when he was 22 and had spent months in a coma and then being cared for by his community. He was a young man of deep faith in God who was full of well wishes for us and loved our rickshaw story. And he made one really good gin and tonic.

All in all, a fitting last day filled with joy and connection that will live in our hearts for many years.

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