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.
Showing posts with label Karnataka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Karnataka. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
To the coasts of Karnataka (Day 1)
12-7-2008
I was not into blogging these days as I was busy with my counselling. I had been to Manipal for my counselling. It was a 2 day procedure but to be on the safer side dad took a time of 4 days. I was wondering as to what we would do there after counselling. We were in Chennai and from there we went to Mangalore first. I must tell you all that this was the first time I was traveling down south farther than Tamil Nadu. I had been to Palakkad in Kerala just once and I don’t remember anything as I was just 7 years old then. All trains to Mangalore took this route, that is , they travelled from Tamil Nadu and then entered Kerala and then taking a turn as the western ghats came in the middle, it entered Karnataka.
After Chennai the first station was Katpadi and before the station came it was my college, VIT. I was feeling really bad when I was passing by. The huge buildings seemed to question me, “You are leaving me and going?” I gave a sigh and replied to myself, “I really don’t know what the answer to this question is. I will not think much over this. I will do as things come by.” Actually there was no use thinking as no one knew what was going to happen. I was keeping my fingers crossed.
We reached Mangalore the next day. The whole journey was really good. It was beautiful to see only water everywhere with coconut trees and palm trees and I could find only lush greenery there. It was raining also as Kerala and Karnataka had been experiencing the monsoon rains still. Well, the weather was actually welcoming. We had to go to Udupi station which was the nearest place from Manipal. There were plenty of buses plying from Mangalore to Udupi at only 33 rupees per head. It was an economical ride but the journey was full of bumps and jerks. There were bridges on at every step as I could only see the green colour of the moss covered river bed that was hitting my eyes. I could see the tradition of Kerala with a mixture of Karnataka. I was observing the people of Karnataka closely for the first time. I had been to Bangalore twice but never had a chance to spend much time there. It was a 1 hour 45 min journey. My dad wasn’t happy with the bus journey but I didn’t know how time flew by. I was observing the local resident’s life, the culture and the houses also were of a different construct than one could see in Tamil Nadu. To tell the truth, I myself didn’t like bus journeys. I always preferred to travel by train but here we had only connections by road so there was no other option but I loved the journey( only as it was the first time for me). We reached Udupi. The bus had to pass through the city and it looked good. A small place tough but I found the life different. I was wondering, as to what could be the occupation of the people there. I could see mostly garment shops and shops will lots of umbrellas, indicating that it was a place rains were seen quite often. Our hotel was in Udupi and we found that it was the central place. We could explore the area better and just by talking a walk. That was the best part. Talking about the food, I had never tasted the proper Mangalorian food. It didn’t taste so good for my taste buds but I got used to it later in my 4 days stay.
I was not into blogging these days as I was busy with my counselling. I had been to Manipal for my counselling. It was a 2 day procedure but to be on the safer side dad took a time of 4 days. I was wondering as to what we would do there after counselling. We were in Chennai and from there we went to Mangalore first. I must tell you all that this was the first time I was traveling down south farther than Tamil Nadu. I had been to Palakkad in Kerala just once and I don’t remember anything as I was just 7 years old then. All trains to Mangalore took this route, that is , they travelled from Tamil Nadu and then entered Kerala and then taking a turn as the western ghats came in the middle, it entered Karnataka.
After Chennai the first station was Katpadi and before the station came it was my college, VIT. I was feeling really bad when I was passing by. The huge buildings seemed to question me, “You are leaving me and going?” I gave a sigh and replied to myself, “I really don’t know what the answer to this question is. I will not think much over this. I will do as things come by.” Actually there was no use thinking as no one knew what was going to happen. I was keeping my fingers crossed.
We reached Mangalore the next day. The whole journey was really good. It was beautiful to see only water everywhere with coconut trees and palm trees and I could find only lush greenery there. It was raining also as Kerala and Karnataka had been experiencing the monsoon rains still. Well, the weather was actually welcoming. We had to go to Udupi station which was the nearest place from Manipal. There were plenty of buses plying from Mangalore to Udupi at only 33 rupees per head. It was an economical ride but the journey was full of bumps and jerks. There were bridges on at every step as I could only see the green colour of the moss covered river bed that was hitting my eyes. I could see the tradition of Kerala with a mixture of Karnataka. I was observing the people of Karnataka closely for the first time. I had been to Bangalore twice but never had a chance to spend much time there. It was a 1 hour 45 min journey. My dad wasn’t happy with the bus journey but I didn’t know how time flew by. I was observing the local resident’s life, the culture and the houses also were of a different construct than one could see in Tamil Nadu. To tell the truth, I myself didn’t like bus journeys. I always preferred to travel by train but here we had only connections by road so there was no other option but I loved the journey( only as it was the first time for me). We reached Udupi. The bus had to pass through the city and it looked good. A small place tough but I found the life different. I was wondering, as to what could be the occupation of the people there. I could see mostly garment shops and shops will lots of umbrellas, indicating that it was a place rains were seen quite often. Our hotel was in Udupi and we found that it was the central place. We could explore the area better and just by talking a walk. That was the best part. Talking about the food, I had never tasted the proper Mangalorian food. It didn’t taste so good for my taste buds but I got used to it later in my 4 days stay.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)