Malabar Diaries: First impressions of Calicut

This fine city on the Malabar is full of treasures that are waiting to be discovered.

I stand on the South Beach looking at the horizon and thinking of the traders and tyrants that came to these shores from across the Arabian Sea. Looking at an empty beach that was in all probabilities made smaller to accommodate a promenade, I wonder whether this is indeed the same famous Calicut that was once the most important port on the west coast o…