Goddess of Kollur

The once in a while a trip to your favorite temple gives you an unmatched satisfaction in terms of peace and tranquility. It is hard to define and it is beyond magical skills of the words.
The temple called Kollur, Mookambika…where goddess is worshiped is located on the Sahyadri Mountain ranges. From Mangalore it is 140Kms away and the nearest city is Kundapura and Uduppi. In terms of food the kollur is not well known but it has good facilities for boarding and lodging. The temple guest house provides good accomodation and there are few good private hotels as well. if you plan to travel by train the nearest station is BAINDUR and KUNDAPURA. The other alternatives are to travel till Mangalore by train and board a bus to Kollur or even break your trip to Udupi and stay there ata hotel. You can hire a cab for Rs. 1000/- to visit the temple and come back. The travelling time from Mangalore to Udupi is 1Hr45 mins and from Udupi to Kollur by taxi it takes 1hr 30 mins.

There are few unique social differences comparing Kerala, there are no special seats for women, people are so gentle and they coexist well with out teasing. All the buses are written EXPRESS in bold letters. The locals buses even have 2 TV sets with DVD playing some good hindi movies. The road we travel will be Bombay Highway and are pretty decent with out potholes.

The country side of Karnataka is really nostalgic, people looks very conservative as well as modern. Majority of the public are fair and good looking. Like Tamilnadu the flower is a must for a lady, hardly to find a women with out a flower on her hair. They are very devotional.

Being a vacation season I couldn’t get an accomodation this time at the temple town of Kollur, which used to be my regular plan of action. Reach Kollur by evening around 3.00pm and take a small nap and refresh and visit the temple for the evening pujas. Staying back at the temple complex till 10.00pm gives you an amazing feeling. As I said earlier this time I decided to get an accomodation in Udupi’s well known hotel called Kediyoor, which I am much used to stay.

Our regular temple priest also felt sorry that he couldn’t arrange the accommodation as it was too late to the date of journey. He was introduced to us by our relatives in Udupi.  Evening 3 pm we reached the hotel and decided to take a nap to get refreshed, the late night journey which was really record breaking.Instead of reaching tellicherry by 10.00pm the train reached in the wee hours of 3am. Almost 11 hours of journey. The very next day morning 9.00 am we caught the train to reach Managlore and it was inevitable to skip the sleep.

After a refreshing bath we took fresh Idlis and Vada ( Udupi is famous for vegetarian food) and decided to visit our relatives and headed to their home. It was really wonderful to meet them again. came back to the hotl around 8.30 pm.Arranged the cab to come by early morning 4.30am.

As decided we got up by 3.30 am and got ready and the cab was ready. I was just praying the driver should be an expert rather than the crappy one. It is hard to sit in a car if you know driving. It was a good looking Indica the new name for Taxi in India, which replaced the vintage Rover( Amby). When I came to front lobby the cab was there and security give me a Morning wish and a big salute ( which sounded from the bottom of his heart) instead of eeling sorry for him I felt he was proud of his job and a professional. he told me the driver has gone to buy the newspaper. Instead of getting annoyed I decided to wait and to my surprise I could see a white shirt and a dark  colored pant running towards me.  A man in his mid 40’s with a clean shaved face and a glass and he was having unusual Jakiechan hair style.

So he nodded his head as a signal to start the journey. As ususal I was wonderring about the language to communicate, most of the Kannadigas knows Hindi and tamil and I decided to keep quiet and was curious how he take us to Kollur. he was good and the car was going in 80 kms and majority of the vehicles in the early morning were trucks and long route buses from Goa and other states. His overtakings were some what confident and I could sit with a peace of mind. There were migrant workers getting transported in vans like cattle. All looked liked from villages witha dull face and I felt sorry. The houses on teh sides of the roads were not filled with houses like in Kerala. There were cows and a huge storage of dry grass for the cattle. There were occassional temples. To my surprise I couldn’t find and political poasters or banners and came to know the reason. The election is only in May 2009.

The car was moving pretty fast lot of rivers and bridges it crossed. The towns we crossed were few in my mind and got unusual names with historical touch, Pidibidri, Surathkal…The reached Kundapura the next big town before our destination. Kundapura has some good hotels to stay and it takes only 40 minutes to reach Kollur so it obviously came to mind for a stay for my next visit.

From Kundapura ( 5.10 am) the road takes to the right and it goes through the real villages and paddy field and occassional forest area. Nearing Kollur there is a village school and the walls were painted with the images of Gandhi and Nehru. People were very less on the roads and occassionally few kerala registered were heading for the temple. The road was zig zag but well maintained. By 6.00 am we reached Kollur. From the bottom of my heart I felt it has been due for long and happy to be here at the most peacefull place on earth according to me.

Political ring!! 2009 Elections

The media is having a big feast of  General Elections in India. The alliances and broken alliances are at the centre stage. The largest democracy is going for the polls. The big political guns are forming their strategies to be succesful. Big questions is about the public verdict.

For the Congress it is going to be progress card time and for other it is the time to snacth the opportunity. Seems the Congress is much better and much impressive in their rule. Other looks for some startegy and 3rd front is also trying to gamble.  Allegations and counter allegations confuse the public. Some say the politics has lost its value. If you look at the southern state of Kerala considered as the best state in terms of Education and healthcare macthes the standard of life in health and education to western countries.

But the big question.. Are these politicians capable of understanding the development, that is required for the state. And if what is that blocking their moves…Aren’t they aware of the traffic blocks and aren’t they thinking of the alternatives? Who has to take inititative..the public or the elected representatives? Somany questions we have..

Majority of the time we see the allegations and denial… I feel the politicians should shed the neagtive mindset and work towards the proactive ways.. When many of us will read these small write up..you will tend to say that I am day dreaming…!

But i feel the politicians are changing…but the only thing is to shed the outdated ideas.. work towards improvement of the public..

Hope the change can be little bit more faster..

Summer Again

As we expect a raise in temperature due to the biggest threat of global warming, it is already showing the signals. These days the temperature has climbed more than the natural levels. The newspaper these days shows the alarmingly lower level of water in the reservoirs.

Interestingly the lunch break and tea break when we take a small walk to the canteen, we experience the impact of summer. From the chilled Air conditioned office to the raw world of nature gives a contrasting experience in terms of whether as well as the nature.

The good part is the small break away from the computer and get a chance to enjoy the trees and birds and falling leaves and grass. It comforts your eye sight and bad part seems to be the extreme level of summer in the initial month. Normally in the south Indian peninsula the peak summer appears only in April or May. Right now it has crossed above 36 degree Celsius.

The beautiful trees started looking pale and branches become naked. Ground is more of dead leaves and small shrubs try to survive some how. The birds looks very tired and they songs are pretty sarcastic..Could be they lost their partner or their family… The occasional watering from the maintenance authorities gives a good antidote of water to the plants and grass. Lucky the one who is with in their range rest is considered as wild bushes.

I belive this is time to think of the Monsoon days.. I feel the rainy days are better than the hot  summer days.

black and white

After a long long time the mood was up to take up pen and start skethcing few characters..As ususal the starting was bit shaky..ideas didn’t come well..thought its the time gap.

Started thinking few characters and try putting them on paper, but not sure they really came up well or not but I am not happy. Seems I should be sketching more to come back to form.

New Year Again!!

New Year comes with a landmark date where we all try to make plans and thoughts to live a better life for the whole year ahead.
2009..numerically I am not sure how good or bad but still we can hope it should be better than 2008, a bit proactive thoughts and understanding of our own introspection can refine us further. I know it is hard to change all of a sudden but it is not impossible.
so smokers..try quitting it…!
big tummies…try avoiding fat!!
married men…try stopping bird watching!!
angry faces… keep a big smile..!!
So cheers for a better tommorow and good wishes!!

Festive Mood!!

India is a land of colors and festivities and the beauty lies in its differences. The different part of India has different culture and languages and its an amazing fact that the diversity makes it more united. As I belong to South India, the important festival of Kerala is called as Onam. The biggest moment of any Keralite is to be at native for the holidays. Like all other Keralites I too made sure that my train tickets are booked in advance. kerala again had a difference among it culture and custom. The down south to middle of kerala were ruled by Kings and the northern part of kerala were mostly ruled by Britsh, French , Dutch or Portughese. I didnt mean the whole of north Kerala. There were small kingdoms too.

If I take as an example of my native Telicherry, which had a big impact of the british rule. The custom got much liberalised. On the Hindu festive days majority of keralites go for Vegtarian dishes but in North part of Kerala the dominating part is Non Vegetarian food. The famous Biriyani from Kozhikode and Thalasserry is always so special. It can defnitely challange the hyderbadi dhum briyani. The fish is the another amazing item on the dining table. Comparing life in Cochin the fish available here are fresh and almost live. I love to buy the fish from the sea shore when the boat is just back to the shore with a good catch.

As usual on the Onam I decided to roam with my close friends and they decided to pick a fish and I too thought of joining the drive. The scene is set at a place called Dharmadam , where you have an Island and beautifull beaches and creeks and river. As we need to be back home for the Lunch we rush to see the Onam special fish. My cousin was the key contact for the fishermen and who arranged this deal. We were so thrilled to conquer the place. it is a placid river side joining the sea. The sand was much visible with much green coated bushes. The coconut treen are all over. From the narrow road we walked through the noodle stirng path which took us to the house where the fish is kept, we could feel the breeze and freshness. The monsoon was settling down, last 2 days didnt rain. so it is neat and dry land and we decided to march towards the sea shore. The narrow path took us to the huge rocks which were laid long back to protect the shore from the sea. After climbing the wall it is an amazing view of the Island far away and the shore is so plain and far….. It was an amazing panorama. We too few snaps and decided to get back to the deal as time was almost reaching 11.00 am. To our surprise the fish looked astonishing. The huge fish with a monster mouth open as if it was going to swallow some thing big. All were curious to see the details and I too clicked many photos of it gigantic mouth. wide open.. It was a really a rare view. I was curious to ask the fishermen of the whereabouts of the fish. He was well informed and has got much knowledge about it. he said this fish they calls KOLAVAN and it is a type which lives near to the shore. They like playing around the stones and cliffs. The whole group was so excited. It was an unforgottable moment for the Onam break. I could really felt it was like a National Geographic documentary.

Enjoy the snaps.

Idle Brushes

It has been many weekends i could make those brushes wipe through the canvas. They all stand like the armoury kept for action. The mood not settled to have a take off to the wonderfull world of colors.

Time is shared for many things. The priority of painting some times takes the backseat but still want to be in the front row. I am trying to do some thing really good. The thoughts really roam around to settle down to an idea which has to be visualised and implimented to perfection.

The green color really grabs me.. Check this out of my few collections

http://www.jithuaravind.com/paintings/

Wish this weekend is a colorfull one….

Glimpses that rewinds the past

It was the last day of my 3 day visit to my native. The beautiful seaside land once ruled by Britishers has left the legacy of its past. If you are hooked to history and past It has few good places to visit inside the town.

Old Bridge

past

The refreshingly cool morning was lazy and moody as I was suppose to leave for Cochin. I decided to do a small drive towards the sea side. The Sunday seems to be silent, morning prayer were just over as I could see few people walking near by the Holly Angels Convent (My sister Studied there).I decided to go beyond the Court road near by Josgiri hospital and towards mangrove shore, which is behind the Cooperative Hospital.

Decided to park the car near as I saw some boats on the shore. It was the place where the river joins the sea. There is an old bridge and thought I could get some interesting snaps of the morning. The view was interesting, half part of the bridge is not there and the public rebuilt it with coconut pillars and some wooden planks. It looked like an adventurous bridge to cross. Next part is the solid steel beams which still looks strong. below the silent river flows to the sea. It was a nostalgic view. The past still hesitating to erase it memories and mind superimposes with old people. You feel the old lost days of the glorious days of the bridge is back. Once it could have been like our present bridges, strong and healthy.

All of a suddenly my curiosity focussed on to the iron pillars buried just exposing 2-3 feet. there were 2 with hole to tie iron chain to block the entry. Behind that an engraved marble stone tells the history of the bridge.Renovated in 1937 by St. Vincent Company , Calicut. It really tells it was renovated 10 years before the Independence. Oh the time this land might have been having many Britishers. The history is always interesting to me. The photo of it really makes me feel so excited and I would say, it has become one among my favorite photos.

Weekend Glimpses

It was a short lived holidays at native from the tedious city life. The enchanting monsoon is not so far enchanting as predicted by the scientists. My mind was loaded with my weekend plans with my tiny camera, train was running perfectly matching its schedule time and as usual I praised Laluji and his bureaucrats for face lifting the work culture of Indian Railways, and I got a warning from my better half” Stop praising the timings, it is going to have a delay soon” It was the practice, believe it or not. When ever I praised the railways the train stops like a lazy snail on tracks. It was reaching Shornur Junction. The Bratha Puzha ( biggest River in Kerala)seems to be becoming as if she has joined VLCC. I have read few lines in some hardcore literature magazines of Kerala by M.T..that Bharathpuzha when it reaches towards those places which are at the entry points of sea…the river becomes lazy and slow in flowing as if it doesn’t want to get lost in the sea.

Photography was always and is always my favorite hobby. As I always mentioned it is not the extreme instruments that gives me satisfaction but it is always limitations to be crossed over with the small cameras. The lighting, colors and vibrancy drive me through the passion of composing.

Train stopped at the Shornur Junction for almost 35 minutes instead of 15 minutes, train was loaded with vendors who always exhibited their selling skills. I wanted to buy some thing, couldn’t see a good one to choose. Lays and fruit juices were all over along with Chicken Biriyani and porratta. Seems the calorie and fat are too high and it became the reason to avoid them.

The came the chutta Andi Parippu (Roasted Cashew nuts), I decided to go for it. Even my wife said yes to the deal. I t was a good time pass to chew the crisp Cashews. It seems to be 100% locally grown it was not huge and very medium looking but very tasty.

Train started running, the temperature seems to be too low. I was also feeling freeze but luckily some one raised the issue to increase the thermostat. Calicut was reaching and it was 30 minutes late. Still the station seemed to be very dry not wetness of monsoon days.

I was waiting for fast forward the journey towards my destination..Tellicherry. Time to be with my dad and mom and to see my good friends and hang out with them. Lot of things to be done.

Back to Cochin

The last day of my 3day holiday break to my native happened to be a Sunday, I was in a hurry to get back to Cochin. On the way to the railway station,my mind was loaded with visuals, The Monsoon still shy to appear, A/c in the car seems to be so ineffective to the outside temperature.

As always my favorite topic used to be nature. The railway platform looks so dirty as few renovations was going on. Looks like since the Britishers left, this is the first time such things happening to this side of the platform. I am much familiar about this station. So many memories passes through my mind. From my childhood to the present day i have lot of them.

There were days my grandfather used to be there at the station to receive us for the summer vacation, which was grand beginning of the fun and enjoyment. It was an awesome moment to see the smile and happiness in those face when they see their grand children. The return journey after the holidays almost ended up in tears. This time the train carries a rude face… taking back to those schooling days to come.. the days of home work and studies going to take the front seat.

Still I remember the star faced trained called ” Jayanthi Janatha Express” which used to be the fastest on the route going all the way to Delhi. It was my favorite comparing all other steam engine trains in those days. It has a silver star fixed on it’s face comparing a blue big dot of all other steams and it looked more aero dynamic than the other flat faced blue dotted train engines. The whole body was painted in the terra cotta mud color.The massive pushing of their arms and the decompressing of steam, all made me so curious to observe to the core. I feel that is why I still remember their details. It was hot and humid with dust and black flying all over. If you are in the first few compartments make sure you wipe your eyes often.

The economic success of Indian Railways is exploring more and more opportunities to tap. According to the recent survey IRCTC became the leading e commerce site. The innovation with sensible approach has made the railways to become a great success. Wish this same politician had such vision for his great state. It is a debatable topic. From the common man’s perspective is this just a magic vision of railway minister or is it the skill sets of those bureaucrats.

All of a sudden the recorded voice started telling the train is nearing the station. My eyes were looking for those outdated less aerodynamically shaped boxed engine. Usually the dust and oil use to have an outer coat. Is it the Indian way? We never like to maintain.. we never like to keep it clean. The heavy diesel engine started appearing on the extreme north end of the station. As usual, nothing against my surprise the faded orange colored engine started to slow down. Next suspense tome was about the compartment the C1 or C2.

To my nightmare the C2 is a good old compartment with broken tables and broken seat levers. No one including me has raised any questions to the authorities why this train is like that? I have seen many well known politicians and personalities commute the same train. Still the train looks like a junk which still carries the Tamilnadu tourism posters. The roof near the A/c duct is full of greasy hand marks and fungus, it has been painted many years ago. I wont be able to finish this if I continue describing more and more about the train. Some times I feel the most educated and intellectual people in India don’t know how to react to such common issues, which includes me as well!!

Lucky this time I was in C1 and it is a better compartment but to my shock the table in front of me can”t be unfolded, it is tied up with a plastic rope. It seems this boggy also started to worn out. Once I got settled down the next step was to look out for some familiar faces. My better half was scanning as usual through some magazines. I guess this is the only place where people are compelled to read. But the latest experiments for DTH transmission on rail in association with DISH TV might reduce the reading habits. We might again get hooked to TV on trains.

The train was more spacious and looking much fresh. Every one looks hurrying up for getting back to work. There were few familiar friends on the train which often used to meet while traveling. Seems these days they are all vanished or I doubt they might have migrated to some other city. . Once the train reached Calicut there was a heavy flow of passengers. There were different faces and different types of people, few were panically searching for seats and some arguments about their seats and seat snumbers. The person sitting on the seat try to convince him about the seat that it belonged to him. Later the fact came in the he was suppose to be in C2 instead of C1. After few minutes everyone started to settle down.But this time there was familiar face a lawyer based in Kochi. As usual had some formal interactions and introductions about my life partner as well.

To my surprise there were some famous personalities were there as well. The famous Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi, she was on crusade against the oppression surrounded by few well known malayali intellectuals. I could see the excitement of the subordinates, the inspiration they are getting from her was amazing. They were all in great mood, they all were non stop. There were hardcore discussions about globalisation to the price of petroleum products to chevron…. it goes on and on!! for the common man with less digestive mind set could have made him feel like killing to listen to such conversations.

There were some open hearted talks and casual tit for tats… some times I thought they are thorough with their master plans for promoting their creative freedom for the right cause. There were some who talked from the bottom of his heart. He sounded like a rebel who spoke with out any cover. He cirticized what ever he felt wrong. He suggested how to beat the globalisation. The simple formula from him was not to participate in the market which reminded me of the old methods of freedom struggle. He says just to boycott the products. Sounded little funny but the it was the fact.

It was some thing interesting to see things in a different perspective than a normal middle class consumer mindset. The driving force of business which caters to their requirments as well as make them consume the unwanted above their purchasing power. The smart man won’t spent unwantedly and wise man carried less credit cards!!!

Seems the train was passing through the Cochin Airport and could see the tower lights glowing in golden colored sodium vapors. Time to put things back to your bags and the intellectuals seems to be planning about their next day of action. Mahasweta Devi was curious about Cochin. she was asking is it a sea side city? As Bengali’s favorite dish being fish the fellow creative thinkers telling her about the variety of fishes available in Cochin.

They are all heading for an agitation, where the people are affected by the development programs of the state. Some times it is confusing to see the difference between the socialists and capitalists of the present world!!

It was a good experience in the list of my train journey.!