Clay and stones

It has been quite a long time since I posted travelogues. Although, there are quite a few to add, thanks to our wonderful vacation in Australia, this post is not about it, but a quick trip planned with the family.

Since the kiddo and his cousins did not have any good outing together, this summer, we decided to go to 'Our Native Village', near Hesaraghatta for a day.

Well, it was terribly hot, but the place had shade, thanks to the trees, and was full of engaging activities to keep us occupied, for the most part of the day. The highlight of the place was all the rustic games - Kite flying, Laggori, Gilli-danda, catapult, tyre-racing, spinning tops. There were added attractions too, in the form of pottery making, garland making, rangoli making, cow-milking (yeah, you heard that right!) and a bullock-cart ride! A few indoor games, like carrom, chess, snake and ladder were also present.

Through the bullock-cart ride, I was trying to recollect the bullock cart ride songs in Hindi/Kannada movies that I had come across! Some of the ones I remembered were 'Oh re taal mile' and 'Janumada jodi' songs.

It was a return to our childhood seeing the games, and the village ambience and the other activities made our parents nostalgic! Needless to say, the kids enjoyed thoroughly, making the most of the time we spent there.
The adults had fun too, although, there were pockets of time, when we did nothing, but just slept/sat on the mats/benches and talked. Well, doing nothing was fun too, I guess, if you could excuse the heat!

Food was very good, and the buttermilk was just what the doctor ordered for a hot summer day!!!
We even got to buy some organic vegetables, that were grown in the resort.

All in all, a good place to spend a day, esp. with kids and if you enjoy playing outdoors.

View greeting us on the way to the resort.

Inside the resort. The fruit ladden mango, sapota, lemon trees were a beautiful sight!

And so were the flowers!

Decorative door

Ajjayya

Saturday was Ajjayya's (my grandfather's) 19th death anniversary. He was 91 when he passed away. He had a heart-attack in the wee hours of one winter morning. He got up, went to the loo, drank water, sat beside his wife and withdrew from this world, just like that.

It was as if he knew he was going. Strange, because just the previous night during dinner, he was telling my father that in the next elections, he would vote for so-and-so party. :) Very politically inclined, and very oral about it too! I remember, on every festival or gathering, we would have quite a few uncles (his sons) and him arguing about the diff political parties and people, state of the country and such stuff.

He was a health-inspector in pre-independent India and would travel around Karnataka (maybe other South Indian places too, not clear on that) for the same. He finally settled in Bangalore after retirement. We (my sis and I) grew up with him and my dynamic grandmother (a joint family, if you want to call it that). He was a man of rules and had a strict time table everyday, and he followed it religiously too. Even when he was 90 years, apart from being a little short of hearing, he didn't have or complain of any ailment. He was solving Deccan Herald's crossword puzzle and word jumble every single day even then! And that he did without the aid of spectacles! He did not need them for watching anything or for reading!

Other than the above, there are lot of observations, talks, interactions that all of us in the family remember. But I have 2 cherished memories (one of which i quite don't remember that clearly, but have grown listening to it). He used to play building blocks with me when I was maybe 2-3 years old. Whenever we played, apparently he used to only make Tulsi katte out of the blocks, and I used to protest "tulsi katte beDa!'

The other memory is very dear to me. Education was always given a very high importance in my father's family and my grandparents were very particular that all the kids, grandkids study properly! So it used to be that after every test/exam that i would attend, my grandfather used to quiz me on the paper. He used to have this reclining chair and i used to come from school after the test or exam, give him the question paper, and stand behind him. He then would start asking all the questions again, and I would rattle away the answers. Except Hindi, which he din't know, he used to cover all my subjects. :)

I still don't know if he knew all the answers (he must be knowing, as he wouldn't quiz my sister who was in a higher grade, and he couldn't comprehend the syllabus), but it generally made me alert and more studious. Even if i had not answered a question right, after the test, I would make sure I found the correct answers, so that I could tell it to Ajjayya! He then would declare that I did well (or not) in the test to my father!

Fond memories of growing up and now back to the present. Who knows, I might just create some (good) memories for people to remember me by too!

yuhi chala chal rahi

We went to Brindavan Gardens during the long weekend (but just for 1 night). We drove and that meant having the kiddo trampling on me for a good 3-4 hours! :-) Was fun showing him cows, birds (even imaginary ones to distract him!), trees, cars, buses etc.

We stayed at Royal Orchid Hotel, which is inside the Garden itself. So you get a good view of the garden from the sit-out area of the hotel. It was a pretty good place and decent food, so no complaints! Although it rained in the evening, which meant our trip to the garden to view the musical fountains was washed out! (literally ;-))

The garden was in full bloom, and the colors were very pretty. Couldn't dedicate much time to photograph them though, so managed a few quickly before leaving the next morning.

Some pics from the trip below.

Patthar aur paani!

Relatives visiting from the US meant a fun day out visiting places near Bangalore. So, on a saturday, we, a merry gang of 11, went to Shivanasamudra, Talakad and Somnathpura on a Saturday.

The weather was awesome throughout the day and made up for the pityful water level that Shivanasamudra has right now! This place can be totally avoided until the monsoons come and go.

Some of the monkeys there kept us on high alert what with their food-grabbing spree! They however made good models for portraits. :)

Next we went to Talakad. The peaceful and surprisingly clean Cauvery river invited us and some of us (excluding me of course) went for a brief trip in a coracle. It looked like fun :)

After a brief stop at a Tea shop where we had a refreshing break, we went to visit the 5 temples at Talakad. On the way to the second temple, we saw this structure being restored.

We visited 2 out of the 5 temples of Shiva, and continued our journey towards Somnathpura.

Aah! The Somnathpura temple.


Brilliant architecture very similar to Belur/HalebiDu. The entire temple is built with sandstones and there is a unique lock mechanism to join 2 carved stones together. For the first time, I actually realized the value of a guide (certified by the Archaelogical Survey of India, I think) while visiting places of historical importance. Very enlightening it was.

All the deities carved had their noses broken! The result of plundering by the Muslim invaders.

The symmetry of the temple is mind-blowing. The temple is on a star shaped platform and the entire structure converges at the top of the temple in perfect symmetrical lines.

Made a mental note to take the assistance of guides during temple and monument visits and also read up on it after coming back. :-)

Then we headed back to namma Bengaluru. On the way, we saw this lovely lake filled with lily (i think) leaves glowing in the setting sun's rays. Apt end, I must say!

Glorious Ruins

Well, that's Hampi for you. Watching the sun set over these ruins is an overwhelming experience. The end of a rich and prosperous era retold day after day after day...