At the Spice Warehouse, Fort Cochin ...

We asked Azad to take us to the Church of St Francis - he took us instead to the Spice  Market - what could these pale creatures know of Cochin's tangled streets?

We drove past Jew Town, crossing a canal brimming with evil looking water - when I was young, this water used to be pure -

We stopped outside a once noble building, now half derelict - a tree filled a ruined chamber - dark halls were filled with the scent of ginger -

Sinewy men carried sacks of spices to monstrous lorries -

I stood in the courtyard - there were murals of splendid gods upon the shattered walls - 

I gazed upwards at slanting ancient timbers - once there were ginger barons here -