Dropping by

Out of the blue I had this idea to have a look at my blog that has been lying dormant for more than a couple of years now. I had just wanted to have a look and then pass by. But I ended up reading the old posts, and now badly want to continue writing here.

It's nice to have a place to give vent to all that crazy stuff that often keep jostling for space inside this tiny head of mine.

So I expect to be back with a post soon..

Celebrity-spotting at Mangalamkunnu

Last Sunday I drove from Palakkad to Mangalore with my family. Started at 7 and reached Mangalore at 5:30. Had some breaks in between: for breakfast at Olavakkode (Crown Restaurant), for lunch (at Thalassery - a biggish hotel on the left opposite the City Centre mall) and for tea at Vidya Nagar, a couple of kilometres before Kasargod. Then there was an unscheduled stop at Mangalamkunnu for some elephant-spotting.

I absolutely love these kind of breaks - long drives with family. The destination should be far away, and the roads should be good, and the weather and environs should be inspiring. This day was bright and sunny (monsoon hadn't quite caught up - thankfully. It was 1st June, and I had expected torrential rains the whole day). I had trouble deciding whether to take the Mannarkkad route or the Kongad-Kadambazhippuram route to Perintalmanna. I love the Mannarkkad route because of its proximity to western ghats (and the magnificent views) and the better road conditions on offer. The Kongad route is shorter but roads are not as good. However I decided on the latter.

We were having a very pleasant and relaxed drive on this route when, just before the Mangalamkunnu junction, we suddenly saw some elphants lazing out in a plot on the left side. There were about five or six of them, all tuskers. Realizing suddenly that this was Mangalamkunnu, home to some of the better known elephants in Kerala, I stopped the car.

There were a couple of mahouts sitting near one of the big animals. One of them introduced their elephant as Ramachandran (prefix Mangalamkunnu to get the official name - Mangalamkunnu Ramachandran). Then he gave names of the others present - Aravindan, Vijayan etc. Well I was impatient by then - where are the stars, Karnan, Ayyappan and Ganapathi? To my relief he said the big 3 are also present in town, I just had to go till the junction to see them.
I proceeded, and was rewarded. Mangalamkunnu Ayyappan and Ganapathi were tied in a plot where the owners were constructing a big house. When I asked about Karnan, I was told that he was in musth (madappadu/neeru) and so tied a little away in another plot. I was introduced to Karnan's randaam paappaan (second mahout) who took me to Karnan. He was in neeru so I just watched him from a distance.

Karnan - "Na sar jhuka hai kabhi, aur na jhukaenge kabhi.."

Look at his edaneelam (body length)

Karnan, best known for his 'nilavu' (thalayeduppu - the head that's held high) stood with its head high as usual, and he seemed very peaceful though in his musth. Karnan's thalayedupu has won him prizes in many contests, and he is one of the few who can compete with the likes of Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran, currently the tallest bloke in Kerala at 10' 3"(after Kandampully Balanarayanan's passing away - Balanarayanan was 10' 8" but wasn't great in Gajalakshanams). Karnan is about 43 years old.

Ayyappan, like Karnan, is a Bihari. He was the first elephant bought by the Mangalamkunnu brothers, Parameswaran and Haridas. And he is a beautiful elephant with great features. He looked in a playful mood, but the people nearby cautioned me to not walk near him - he could pelt stones (or anything that's avaiable) at you! That seemed to be a favourite trick with him. I was told that he hit targets quite regularly too. So I took a circuitous route around him to go and see Ganapathi, the gentle veteran.

Ayyappan

Ayyappan - isn't he handsome!

Mangalamkunnu Ganapathi is a nadan elephant (local elephant - captured from the Kerala/TN/Mysore forests) unlike the other two. And he has good features and is a very well-behaved elephant. One among the best nadan elephants around in terms of gajalakshanams, he is as old as the venerable Guruvayur Padmanabhan - 68 years old. Some of the other great nadan elephants are Padmanabhan himself (who is the reigning King and is considered a worthy successor to Guruvayur Kesavan), Pampadi Rajan (the tallest nadan guy around, at 9' 11". Young, tall, dark and handsome), Thiruvambadi Sivasundar(most expensive elephant on record - bought for 28 lakhs - he carries Thiruvambadi's thidambu at Thrisstur Pooram), Kuttankulangara Ramadas (who has one of the best pair of tusks) etc.. I am no expert in this subject, so pardon me for any mistakes or missed names.

Mangalamkunnu Ganapathi - a true veteran

Karnan's randaam paappan

I couldn't spend more time there, as we had to reach Mangalore by evening. So we continued our journey - I made a mental note to try and visit more places where I can get up close with other celebrity elephants of Kerala.

Scribble 10:42 AM 4/2/2008 : After the rains..

Well, the clouds did deliver after that, and we saw close to a week of rains! Not only in this part of Karnataka, but in Kerala and TN too. It was heartening to see heavy rains and thunderstorms all of a sudden. However the unseasonal rains caused great damage to the crops and crores were lost in the deal. It was nearing harvest time for paddy, for example, and imagine the plight of farmers when they see their ready-to-harvest crop washed aground in the rains. Very sad.

I drove with family to Karkala and Kudremukh on a rainy Sunday. The trip was very rewarding, the sights a treat to the eyes.

Scribble 11:26 AM 3/14/2008 : More nostalgia

This morning started with a promise and didn't deliver much. The ambience was promising to be just the type I had been longing to see. Cloudy sky early in the morning and an unexpected drizzle. But it didn't pour. It just drizzled for a while and stopped. But it gave the surroundings that dark, damp look so typical of dry earth and trees washed in a summer rain. The rain had stopped by the time I stepped out of my house to catch the company bus to office. However the atmosphere induced a lot of nostalgia. Waiting at a bus stop, water dripping on my head from the electric line above, cinema posters on the walls all wet, the road very damp and shining, buses that come and stop by wearing a clean look shorn of the usual coating of dust - I dont know what all these reminded me, couldn't pick anything specific, but I did detect some memories of the feel and smells of those monsoon days during my school and college days in Kerala.

Scribble 10:09 AM 3/10/2008 - After the bike trip

The weekend is over. And yes, I went ahead with my adventure on bike. Went all the way to Palakkad from Mangalore. It was an awsome experience, and I want to do it again! So powerful and reassuring has been this experience. Powerful because it was a good confidence booster and it gave me a sense of achievement. Reassuring because it gave me the realization that my youth isn't lost yet. I did not have a back problem after 9 hours on the bike. Ok, my bum ached a bit on the last leg (Malappuram - Palakkad), but that too was temporary. Once I was off the bike, it was gone. God I have it left in me still!

This experience has rekindled in me the desire to go for a Bullet. I have this special liking for the Royal Enfield Bullet, an emotional soft corner to be more precise. I learned biking on it, though I had taken my first lessons on Hero Honda CD100 and Yamaha RX 100. It's an expensive bike now, I will have to shell out almost a lakh for a new piece.

Scribble 1:30 PM 3/7/2008 : The idea has stuck.

The latest is that I've decided to go ahead with that ambitious bike trip to Palakkad. Alone. Will be an experience to remember. I should start early in the morning so that I can cover some distance before daybreak. Have some coffee or tea at Kasargod, breakfast at.. ok let me not plan these things, let them just happen.

Now that there is some excitement lined up for the weekend, I am already straining at the leash.

It was very foggy this morning around Mangalore. At 8 am the visibility was so poor that I couldn't see the water below from the Nethravathi bridge. It was like I was on a bridge leading to nowhere in a totally white space.

Scribble 1:38 PM 3/6/2008 : And suddenly this!

I have a bike in Mangalore and I have to send it to its owner in Palakkad. I will get it done through one of those parcel service people this weekend.

Suddenly I am overcome with tempting thoughts of riding the bike all the way to Palakkad. Won't it be an experience to remember? Will my body permit it? I mean, I am 36 and overveight and not quite used to such long bike rides. My back can act up. I am not even sure if I will be able to finish that journey. What if my back and bum start aching so much by afternoon that I can' t ride anymore for the next two days? I will have to park the bike somewhere in Calicut and come back home!

But I know one thing for sure. The ride won't be boring. Let it take a whole day, even then. Only physical fatigue and pain can make it uninteresting.

Scribble 10:48 AM 3/6/2008 Nigh-impossible thoughts ;) Or are they?

A small take from the above stream of thoughts. About being healthy, energetic, enthusiastic.
My top priority right now should be to get back in shape. In really good shape. The kind of shape and fitness that only hard work can bring.
From 86 kg to 75 kg. From soft and fluffy to hard and muscular. From lethargic to energetic. From laidback to enthusiastic.

Scribble: 10:15 AM 3/6/2008 Summer Rain

I'm sitting at my desk in the makeshift work area in the basement of the building. I am completing 6 months here in another four days. That's good enough time to become integral with the organization, and to have enough work to fill all my time if I so choose.

But my mind is elsewhere. The inability to focus on office affairs have been with me since I started my career in the basement of a small private company's office in Baroda twelve years back. I keep drifting away from work unless there is considerable work pressure to keep me pinned on work.

I want to be elsewhere. I had downloaded one photo of Uthralikavu near Vadakkancheri from an online forum, and have been engulfed by a strong sense of longing to be in similar environs. To be somewhere in a Kerala village, when dark rain clouds gather and the strong cool winds announce the onset of summer rains, sweeping dry leaves all around and making more of them wither down from the trees. Dry teak trees against the backdrop of a dark cloudy sky. Giant evergreen trees dancing in anticipation of the rain.

And I soak in the ambience, I am part of it all, with not a worry about the world's affairs. I am healthy, energetic, enthusiastic and happy, and in complete oneness with nature.

Then it rains. Like never before.
I soak in the rain.. that's ultimate deliverance, salvation, nirvana.

Scribble, scribble

My blog isn't growing. I hardly sit down and type anything for my blog. So why not use those randoms scribblings that happen when my mind wanders away from work? You see, I have this annoying habit of letting my mind wander when it is least desirable. At work, for example.

Sometimes I scribble down my thoughts in a notepad (I mean the virtual type). Mostly crazy, nonsensical stuff born out of boredom and frustration or the 'desire to be elsewhere at the moment'.

I will post some of these here.. hoping it will add some content, though it's all nonsense.

Testing the waters

I have been away for long. Away from this blog, that is.


It would be nice to post something once in a while, but finding time for it is a difficult task.


Ok, let me post an image. Taken at Mangalore last Saturday:







An abandoned boat on Gurpur river. Backdrop: Mangalore town.

Singapore Sling

I was puffing and panting even before I could reach half way up. The pagoda stood seven storeys high, and the spiraling stairs inside seemed endless. It was at times like this that I realized that I have come past my glorious days of fitness and endurance.

Not surprisingly, Esther had none of my difficulties and she made it to the top in good time. But Tay did surprise me, as he was pretty comfortable with the task too, in spite of his age. He must have seen at least ten summers more than I have. That is, if there was a summer season in Singapore. To me it looked like the summer and rainy seasons were one, and it prevailed throughout the year.

From the top of the pagoda we got an excellent panoramic view of the Chinese Garden and its neighbourhoods. The garden was lit up beautifully, with a number of bright and colourful models of the wonders and cultural symbols of the world erected amid a sea of glowing lanterns. This was the Chinese mid autumn festival. Singapore was alive with three colourful festivals all being celebrated at the same time. If you went to Little India, you could see the magnificent Deepavali decorations featuring a thousand glowing peacocks, and elsewhere you could see equally impressive displays of colour and light welcoming the Malaysian Islamic festival of Hari Raya Puasa and the Chinese mid autumn festival, aka the mooncake festival. There were mooncakes everywhere, in shopping malls, hotels and on billboards all over the city. Orchard Road, the numero uno shopping district of Singapore, had all its trees decorated with their trunks wrapped tastefully in red silk with beautiful white dots on it.

I have been here for two weeks now and there is one more to go. While here, I am enjoying the gracious company and hospitality of my hosts Tay, Ram, Lawrence and their colleagues. And so is Esther, who had flown in from the USA a week back. Work has been satisfying too, with deadlines being met and goals achieved with only a few minor hiccups here and there.

I experimented quite a bit with food, trying a different type each time. Tay helped me decide whenever I blinked at the menu. At the Long Beach seafood restaurant, I ate lobster meat raw. Yes, raw. I also ate the meat of Canadian Geoduck. I had never heard about that creature before, but here I could see a number of them alive in a glass tank before choosing to eat one of them. Tay said it’s a kind of crab, a huge one at that, but it didn’t look to me like a crab at all. It looked like a portable vacuum cleaner at best. It had a roundish body with a shell covering it, and then a long trunk that resembled an elephant’s trunk. And I ate it raw as well as cooked. It was actually served raw, shredded pieces of meat on an ice platter, and you had the option of dipping it in boiling soup that was kept on the table. Metal strainers were provided for this purpose. And when I dipped a piece in the soup and held it there for a couple of minutes, one of my colleagues said I was spoiling it by overcooking. Then the waitress brought a big bowl of prawns, each of them at least six inches long, all alive. They stared at us from the bowl, and hustled and jostled to get out of it. I was wondering how we were going to eat them. Luckily help was at hand. The waitress transferred the entire live lot into the boiling soup bowl, and held them down with the lid when the poor souls thrashed about violently in their death throes. It lasted for only a few seconds though. After about five minutes, they were ready to be eaten, all hands and legs and antennae. I have to admit that the meat was delicious. And so was the soup it was cooked in, which we devoured after finishing the meat part.

I have had a number of such interesting experiences during my visits to this country. Last time, a Sushi restaurant at Wisma Atria served me wasabe, which I hadn’t known about. I thought it was a kind of green chutney, which probably it was. What I did not know was that it was a close relative of RDX. Esther warned me that it was too ‘spicy’. My immediate thoughts were in the lines of ignoring it, as an Indian didn’t have to take seriously an American’s warning about the spiciness of food. But I let better sense prevail and took only a very little measure of the seemingly harmless paste with the tip of my chopstick.
It is hard to explain what happened in the next few seconds. My tongue was partially paralyzed in the first second, but what followed had more spectacular results. Its vapours went up my sinus cavity, or in that general upward direction, and exploded there. My face went red; I dropped my chopstick and covered my lowered head with my hands as I got a first-hand experience of how it would be like to get multiple short circuits on some gadget that was implanted in my head. Later I learned that wasabe wasn’t supposed to be eaten like that, you had to mix it with soybean sauce and have small dabs of the mixture with the meat and fish that you ate.

Among the many ‘touristy’ places that I visited in this island country, one that I liked most was the botanic gardens. I had thoroughly underestimated the place when I stepped inside, expecting to see something similar to what we have in Ooty, minus the nice, foggy atmosphere. But the gardens here occupy a much larger area and are more beautifully landscaped. Good roads to walk and jog, serene lakes, lawns, different types of gardens including an exclusive orchid garden, and large trees. The best of them all is the patch of tropical rainforest that you can trek through. I was caught in awe, left staring, by the giant Jelawai tree that towered over the other tall trees around it. This was a place where I could spend whole days, doing nothing but taking the nature in, and reading a good book. More than the lawns and artificially done gardens, which this park had in plenty, what attracted me was the raw, wild beauty of the tall trees, creepers and undergrowth. Unfortunately I couldn’t spend enough time here, but this is one place that I would return to if I get a chance later.

I can go on and on, touching upon everything I saw, liked and disliked here. The near-perfect metro transit system that consisted of trains and buses, the vibrant malls of Orchard road, beautiful slant-eyed girls wearing minis and shortest possible shorts, hawker centers and food courts, the 280-metre skyscrapers of the central business district, the merlion, fun boat rides at the Boat Quay and Clark Quay, the omnipresent durians, tourist attractions in the overhyped Sentosa island that include underwater aquariums and artificial beaches… well, I better stop before my readers desert me.

Weekend

The jeep takes an hour to reach Bharuch. I sit in the middle row, packed with my colleagues, trying not to feel cold. It's getting darker and colder. We had stopped for tea at Bhensli, but its warmth is wearing out fast. Maybe we should have stopped again at Bhadbhut.

Tea at Bhensli tasted heavenly. The music from the nearby shop was nice - old Mukesh songs. And the girl at the tea stall was lovely. She can be seen there only occasionally - only her mother sits there usually.

That was half an hour back and we are entering Bharuch now. The jeep turns left to the Dahej bypass. Past Manubar road. Past the small railway gate at Jambusar chowkdi. Finally we reach the junction we call Mughal Sarai. A couple of my colleagues get down here. They stay at nearby Mangaltirth society.

The jeep turns right into Bharuch town. Past the Jakat Naka. The next stop is at Ayodhya Nagar. Tripathi gets down.

We stop next before the Siva Temple. There are only five of us left in the Jeep. On has to get down at Panchbatti, so we go straight. Past the level crossing.

After dropping off Pandya at Panchbatti, we turn left. Head straight towards the railway station. We speed past Shalimar Theatre.

Reach the station ahead of time for Sayajinagri Express. There is enough time left, so we decide to have a go at Bihari Samosa at the laari in front of the station. The Samosas taste wonderful. And these will probably be my only dinner today.

I buy tickets at the counter and walk to the platform. The others are season ticket holders. I haven't bothered to take season tickets since I travel only on weekends.

We step down on to the track from the first platform, and jump on to the second platform. From there, we walk to the third platform and wait among the crowds. I can see hundreds of Mynah birds perched on the inside truss of the big roof.

There comes Sayaji. We all get into a crowded coach.

Off to spend another lovely Sunday at Baroda!

Mango Tree Musings

Sitting atop the mango tree, I looked around. This was a good vantage point. There weren't many openings in the foliage while I climbed my way up, but when I pulled myself up to the top the leaves cleared a bit and I could almost see the entire southern half of the large compound. The other half was blocked from my view by the big house and the trees around it.

The branches swayed in the afternoon breeze. Leaves rustled. When I stood up, holding on to a branch, I felt as if I was standing on the bridge of a ship. I could almost smell the sea. Then I remembered that the sea was hardly a couple of kilometres away.

The elders were probably snoring away the afternoon. And the other kids in the house would have found something interesting inside the house itself. I could see no one around. Well, if I strained enough, I was able to see some moving figures on the railway platform not very far away, although it was hidden from my view fairly well by the tall trees that lined the western compound fence.

The railway station was small, and was a quiet place. But the afternoon was far from silent. I could hear the breeze and all the sounds it made when it passed through the branches and leaves. And I could hear the sea. Can you believe that? The sea wasn't very far off, and on quiet afternoons you could hear it if you paid enough attention.

And there were the calls of kites. The bright sky was dotted by these birds, visible in various sizes as they circled in different altitudes. But they didn't call when in flight. The ones that called would be perched on some high coconut palm, or on the giant paala tree on the far end of the compound.

The paala tree was actually not in our compound, but just outside it in the next compound on the northern side. There were many other trees there, and lots of undergrowth and creepers. Creepers that went all the way up the giant trees, resulting in great formations of thick rope-like intertwining stems and leaves that seemed to pour down like waterfalls. That compound was called a kaavu, and no one went there. It was an old, abandoned kaavu where deity worship was not done anymore, and the place was left undisturbed. My uncle once said that the place was a natural ecosystem in itself, whatever that meant.

There were snakes in the kaavu. The kaavu was meant for worshipping the snake-gods in earlier times. The idols must have been there still, hidden somewhere in the dense undergrowth. But I never dared to venture and find out. Once I had just gone as far as the fence separating our compound from the kaavu, and had stared at the place in wonder. My mother should have seen me! She would have shouted at me to come back to the house and then given me some spanking. Because of the snakes, and jackals. I had never seen a jackal in the kaavu, but they said there were jackals. But I could see birds of all colours and sizes. I didn't have to go near the kaavu for seeing the larger birds. From our house I could see black kites and brahminy kites perched on one of the top branches of the pala that went almost horizontal and then curved up. Parakeets and other smaller birds could be seen too, flitting about in merriment. One could also hear the spine-chilling howl of the mottled wood owl almost every day at dusk.

But the most mysterious character in the whole area was the civet. I didn't know how many were there actually, but I always thought there was just one as people spoke about it only in the singular. It visited our attic at nights and made strange noises. I didn't know what it did in the day time, or where it was. I had climbed up to the attic a few times to see all the interesting stuff there, but never saw the civet.

From my position on top of the mango tree, I could see that I was almost at the same level as the attic. The attic was at the third level of the house, and had small horizontal windows that had no doors. But the house was too far away for me to make out anything in the dark insides of the attic.

I couldn't see the pond from my current position. The pond was in the north-east corner of the compound. It was not a proper pool with brickwork and steps as you would find in the old houses in this part of the world, but just an open pond dug up in the sandy soil. It dried in summer, and filled up during the monsoons. We never bathed in it, but it was fun catching fish there. Catching fish with the help of a bath towel, and then transfering them to a large-mouthed bottle. Thinking about it, I couldn't wait till another vacation arrived after the monsoons.

This was summer vacation time, and mangoes were aplenty. My tree was no exception. The fruits were dangling everywhere around me. Some were almost ripe. Soon we would see mangoes bitten and half-eaten by squirrels, hanging on their sorry stems.

I could hear more activity at the station, and soon a train arrived from the south side making a lot of noise. When trains passed, we could feel the vibrations in the house, particularly if we were upstairs. But not on the tree. Perhaps trees were able to absorb vibrations better.

Only parts of the train could be seen with all the leaves and other trees in between. I hoped more releatives were arriving by this train. The big house was my mother's ancestral home, and we all got together here during summer vacations. So many uncles and aunts and cousins. It was fun and excitement all the way, every day. And when I wanted to be in my own world, I could always walk out into the big compound and climb up one of my favourite trees. Like I did now. Being on top of a tree gave me a different view of the world. Everything around me became smaller. Even the large house.

Soon enough it would be tea time and someone would come out looking for me, calling out my name. Everyone knew where to look for me when I was missing.

Out somewhere in the large compound, or high up on a tree.

Entry, a bit discreet.

I'm just looking around to get a feel of things.

My load chart indicates that I am overloaded at the moment. My to-do checklist runs into a few pages. Lots of work. Dreary, tedious work. Work that I don't really enjoy. Lucky are the ones who enjoy what they do. To be able to get counted in that group, I will have to get back to doing something I enjoy - drawing, painting, reading, the works.

I got to be kidding. These things don't replenish my bank balance every month. My job does.

What I was driving at is, I don't have much time for blogging.

And so it's going to be in bits and pieces. And some lengthy ones when the time permits.

In no particular order. And sometimes illogical.

I am not an organized person anyway.