To the coasts of Karnataka( Day 4)

15-7-2008


It was quite a relaxed day and dad and I walked around Udupi just to get some idea about it. Our train was at night and we had the whole day. I kept searching for some good book stores where I could get some story books and colouring books for my 4 year old cousin Aditi. In that exploration I found that Udupi did have some good collections and unique ones which I wouldn’t get in Jamshedpur or in a metro city. I wanted an umbrella for myself as they looked very colourful and attractive. Colour has always attracted me but there was no use as I already had one for myself.

In this exploration I found a distinguishing characteristic in the women there. I had the ability to find out the place from which any person would belong just by looking at them as people from different place had their own style. Either it is the way they speak, the clothes they wore, the dressing style or behaviour.

To be precise, Bengali women who were married generally wore red and white plastic bangles and they had a shine on their faces, women from Bihar wore a thick line of sindoor with red bangles generally, and women from Gujarat could be distinguished by the kind of saree they wore. They are very neatly clad in a light weight cotton saree. Women from Tamil Nadu usually put flowers in their hair and they are mostly leaden with gold jewellery which is generally very prominent contrasting the look of the women from Andhra Pradesh who dressed up in the same way as the former but they generally had a yellow tinge because of the turmeric applied on their face. They had a kind of calmness in their faces. Women from Kerala had a very simple yet confident look. They mostly leave their hair open and knot it at the end. To go to the far north, women from Punjab had contrasting characteristics. They always kept a rich look on their face.

So, women in Karnataka also had something different. They wore a mangalsutra around their neck which had black beads on either sides and there were beads of gold in the middle in contrast to the women from other places who differed with this one. This was a bit long and it looked the same when I saw some of the women residents there. They had a very soft accent which was dragging yet pleasing to hear. I liked the look and the mangalsutra made them look more beautiful.


That evening was great. The weather became very nice in the evening. The cool breeze made me realize that I was in a coastal area.

So, here I end my short yet refreshing first time visit to Karnataka. I have to live here for 3 more years and hope I can learn Kannada soon.