We left beautiful Goa and headed further south to Kerala. Men still seem soo gay, now even more than before: over here they wear skirts and listen to Glen 'Nothing's gonna change my love for you' Medeiros. But that's ok. It's friday the 13th after all and everything went smooth until now.

The small town of Kochi is really nice, and people are so polite! 'Excuse me for disturbance' they say before they start with the usual rip off. Very nice. The selling conversations are still hilarious though, people here just won't take no for an answer. Ridiculous. I tried everything: ignore them, tell them politely that I'm not interested, tell them impolitely to stick the whatever they sell where they would least like it... Nothing.
Typically it goes like this:

(Bored rickshawdriver sees energetic walking and handsome Koen in a distance, and shouts:)
-Aaaah yes! Rickshaw Sir? (Imagine a John Cleese in Fawlty Towers)
-No thanks, I'm feeling very energetic today and I've decided to walk.
-But the cathedral is 3 km away, and is very hot sir.
-Yes, but I'm not going to the cathedral, thank youuu.
-Look I have Ferrari, very fast sir. 3 kilometers, only five minutes!
-Not going there, thank youuuu.
-Very cheap sir, 20 rupies.
-No rickshaw, walking.
-15?
-Nope.
-Tomorrow sir?
-Maybe next year, thank youuuu.

By this time of course about three other guys tried to sell you everything you really don't need. Or invite me to their shop.
-Come here sir, come in my shop.
-No thanks, it's my "no buying day" today.
-Haahaa no probleeem. Just look, no buy! Come come!
-But if I'm not buying, why would I want to take a look?
-... (the silence sometimes replaced by: 'But is very cheap?!')
-Thank youuuu!

Yes, elementary logics sometimes help to fry the mind of an Indian shopkeeper. But usually they'll fry yours with their art. I don't think there exists any book on selling techniques for indian shop keepers. (But they'll sell it to you if you ask for it!)
Overall, the south of India is so much more relaxed, greener and richer than the north. You notice it in everything. Cleaner streets, no beggars, there's order in the train stations, ... Today I read in a newspaper that the minister of traffic is going to prohibit people without a valid train ticket in the train stations. This for safety reasons. Those safety measures don't include metal detectors, but I see his point. When we took a night train from Delhi to Varanasi, that must have been one of the freakiest experiences in my life. The amount of people... what your eyes get to see in a three hours train delay... For the first time I felt what chaos is. It makes you feel tense and freightens you because you are expecting the unexpected. Which is impossible, but not to do it is impossible too. You want to protect your own small safe space, but aren't sure how to because you don't feel at ease for some 'outside' reason, but that outside is too much to control. It's the heat, the constant changing smells, the contstant changing sights... in a situation which is supposed to be static: waiting for a train. But no, you see (and hear) policemen beating people our of the station, you see women fainting and the way they are being taken care of. You see beggars. Porters agressively and loudly make their way trough the crowds. In the crowds sou see holy men, you see cripple. There are business men and children, families sitting on the floors which are dirty and wet. The locomotives with loud engines making non-stop noise. People sell you things, golden watches or... you try to hear the announcement but you can't. People look at you! All the time, what are they doing there? (but you're not sure what they're thinking). You don't see any white people, but you do see all ranges of black.
And all this, in itself... it's not bad or you can deal with it. But all together... for us it had this unsafe feeling yes. And feeling unsafe is not something I'm used to. Now, I don't think that the ministers new ruling is going to change that, and I don't think that this was his goal. It certainly is part of India's 'couleur locale'.
But today, we're in beautiful south India, and it's a peaceful friday the 13th. And the sellers in the treets are gay, but that's quite okay.