Essential Malayalam phrases

The standard respectful greeting. English works effortlessly in Kochi — Kerala has India's highest literacy — but Malayalam is noticed and appreciated.

Are you well? The everyday 'how are you'. The answer is 'sukhamaanu' — I'm fine.

How much? Useful at the fish market on Fort Kochi's beach, where the price depends entirely on what came in that morning.

Elder brother and elder sister. The default polite way to address almost anyone slightly older, from an autorickshaw driver to a shopkeeper. Using it correctly changes the temperature of an interaction.

A general strike. Kerala's political culture produces them, shops shut, transport stops and the day is written off. Courts have restricted flash hartals, but they still happen and you cannot argue with one.

The Kerala State Beverages Corporation — the state monopoly retailer of alcohol. Queues outside its outlets are a genuine Kerala institution, and there are no ordinary off-licences.

The vegetarian feast served on a banana leaf, twenty-odd dishes eaten in a set order with the fingers. The Onam version in August or September is the year's defining meal.

Pearl spot fish from the backwaters, and the red coconut-and-tamarind fish curry that comes with almost everything here.

The backwaters — a connected network of brackish lagoons and canals. Kochi is built across islands in them, which is why the Water Metro exists.

Kerala's ten-day harvest festival in August or September, celebrated across religions. The state genuinely stops; plan nothing administrative in that window.

112 is the national emergency number and 108 the free ambulance line. Kerala's emergency response and public hospital network are the best in India.