Chapter 6: Cochin Kangaroos

Everyone's coming to the airport to welcome Sophie Mol

"Then the Bombay-Cochin people came out. From the cool air into the hot air. Crumpled people uncrumpled on their way to the Arrivals Lounge" (134).

「然後，孟買飛科沁班機的乘客出來了。從涼爽的空氣進入溫熱的空氣。儀容不整的人在前往旅客休息室途中整理衣服。」

"And there they were, the Foreign Returnees, in wash'n'wear suits and rainbow sunglasses. With an end to grinding poverty in their Aristocrat suitcases. With cement roofs for their thatched houses, and geysers for their parents bathrooms. With sewage systems and septic tanks. Maxis and high heels. Puff sleeves and lipstick. Mixy-grinders and automatic flashes for their cameras. With keys to count, and cupboards to lock. With a hunger for kappa and meen vevichathu that they hadn't eaten for so long. With love and a lick of shame that their families who had come to meet them were so ... so ... gawkish" (134).

「他們到了。那些回國的旅客，穿著免燙的衣服，戴彩虹太陽眼鏡。拎著貴族階層的行李箱，前來結束惱人的貧窮。水泥屋頂換成茅草屋頂，父母的浴室會裝熱水器。帶來下水道系統跟汙水處理設備。還有馬克思主義與高跟鞋。蓬蓬袖與唇膏。密克希研磨機與相機自動閃光裝置。人們有鑰匙可數、上鎖的櫥櫃、品嘗到好久沒吃的樹薯與加椰子的煮魚。伴隨著愛與羞恥，他們看到來接機的家人竟如此...如此...笨拙。」