Kerala, India, 1989
We (the future Mr. Miscellany and I) took public transportation, a ferry that slowly zig-zagged Kerala’s waterways from bank to bank, stopping at villages along the way. From the ferry, we watched people working in fields and yards, animals grazing, and children waving from doorways.
The boat was crowded with people and the things they carried. Some sat on top. We sat on the edge, our feet dangling just above the water. As we approached each stop, a flurry of activity would begin. People gathered their things to disembark. On shore, a line of waiting passengers took shape, some of them helping to pull the boat in when the ropes were tossed. Sometimes, we got off to look around or find a quick meal and a glass of tea. We arrived in Cochin just as the sun set, and we watched it hover over the sea before it quickly slid below the horizon.
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This photo is one of the last photos I took with a small Olympus clamshell camera my father lent me for the trip. While on the ferry, I finished this roll of film and then began another, keeping the camera in my lap when I wasn’t taking photographs. At one stop, the boat pulled up suddenly and roughly, and those of us sitting on the edge of the boat had to stand up quickly to prevent our legs being smashed between the dock and the ferry. As I scrambled to stand, the camera slipped from my lap into the water too quickly for me to catch it.
