An unusual day at work

For the most part of the last 65 years, the Shiva-cum-LaxmiVenkatesha temple that I'm going to tell you about has remained submerged under the waters of the Bhadra dam.The delayed monsoon had brought it back to light and the people of the surrounding villages had decided to shift it to an accessible place & so, my services were required (I'm a Civil Engineering consultant).

The very cloudy morning of Sunday, June 28, thus found husband and me driving along areca, coffee & rubber plantations, paddy fields and lakes like the one in the pic above for about 12 km.Then, quite unexpectedly, we reached a dead end and two young men on motorcycles were waiting to take us further through 'no roads'! We then had the roughest cross country bike rides of our lives for what seemed like ages, but was actually a distance of about 3 km. At very slushy places, we had to get off and walk, looking out for leeches & co.!

Finally, we reached the temple (pic to the left). Preparations were in full swing for the shifting, scheduled to take place the next morning. The religious formalities had been completed and people were making other last minute observations. Come to think of it, I was called in at the last minute too!

The temple looks about 300-400 years old. The left half belongs(!) to Shiva and the right to Laxmi on Vishnu's lap. The dieties were lying just below their original pedestals smeared in haldi-kumkum (couldn't bring myself to photograph them. I now wonder, why?) The temple was probably built by some small-time chieftain. Since the ornamentation works are very minimal, I wonder if he was in a hurry to finish the temple. Or, couldn't he afford lots of sculptors? Nobody knows. No , these mountains know. But, they have been shocked into silence. Just look at the dead and bare tree tops and stumps. Once upon a time, this must have been a very cheerful place - trees, birds & small animals chattering, a quiet stream, people coming in to worship and then lingering on to exchange pleasantries- all dislocated by one big, ugly wall. Very quiet in our own sombre thoughts, we made the same journey back.

Meanwhile, the monsoon arrived on June 29 - the next day, making it impossible for the earth moving machines to operate. It has been pouring here since then. The papers tell me that the dam is nearing its capacity which means the temple is once again under water - till the next delay in monsoon, I guess.

Hello

A reminder from the blog administrator has sort of prompted me to write this.My hesitation in
contributing stems from the fact that I'm probably unknown to most of you. Here's my introduction- I'm Soumya, cousin to Suma, Aravind & Gayathri. I'm here thanks to an invitation from Lakshmi (M.Bhat).
This piece of writing will go down in history(!!) as the first post I've ever written and I've been thinking & thinking about something nice to write about. I've only got so far as to realise that it is easier to first put my thoughts into paper and then transfer them on to the computer! In the good old days of snail mail, I used to exchange long letters with my near & dear ones and probably, that's why I'm more comfortable with writing on paper.
The idea of a group blog is a good one. The name 'Chavadi' is good too - it creates an informal ambience. A quick look at the older entries - and, I seem to be the first 'non-MT' person to have contributed (The nice poem before this has been placed by the administrator). All right, someone has to break the ground and phew! I'm through with the 'starting trouble'. I promise to
contribute when I can think of /come across something nice. I think, as far as possible, I will avoid cricket, Bollywood & politics. Regards to all.

ನಿ೦ತಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕ೦ಬವಾದೆ

ಅರೆ ಕತ್ತಲೆಯ ಏಕಾ೦ತದಲಿ
ಗೋಡೆಯೊಡನೆ ಬೆರೆತುಹೋದೆಹಲವು
ಕನಸುಗಳೊಡನೆ
ನನ್ನ ನಾ ಮರೆತುಹೋದೆ!

ಸುಮ್ಮನಿರದು ಜೀವ
ಬಯಕೆಗಳೊಡನೆ ನಡೆದಿದೆ ಭಾವ
ಯೋಚನೆಗಳೊಡನೆ ತಲ್ಲೀನಳಾಗಿ
ಸ್ಥಬ್ಧವಾದೆ
ನಿ೦ತಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಕ೦ಬವಾದೆ.

ನುಡಿಯತೊಡಗಿತು
ಕಲ್ಲಿನೊಳಗಿನ ದನಿ
ವರುಷಗಳ ಹಿ೦ದೆ
ನಿನ್ನ೦ತೆಯೇ ಯಾರೋ ಜೊತೆಯಾದರು
ಕೆಲಕ್ಷಣದಲಿ ಮರೆಯಾದರು
ನೆನಪಿಸಿತು ತನ್ನೊಳಗೆ
ಕ೦ಬನಿಯ ಕಾಣಿಸದೆಕರಗಿತು
ಕಲ್ಲು ನನಗರಿವಿಲ್ಲದೆ
ಮರುಕ್ಷಣವೇ ಮರಳಿದೆನು
ಜಗದೆಡೆಗೆ, ಪೂರ್ಣ ಬೆಳಕಿನೆಡೆಗೆ...


-ಲಕ್ಷ್ಮಿ ವಾರಣಾಶಿ

VENICE

Venezia or Venice, often cited as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, has been seducing visitors for its beautiful watery setting and fairy-tale appearance. This Italian ‘city of water’ will undoubtedly create a restless magic on visitors from around the world.

The city sits at the heart of a lagoon, its many islands, alleys and canals divided into six sestieri, or districts, three to the west (Dorsoduro, San Polo and Santa Croce ) of the Grand Canal and three to the east (San Marco, Castello and Cannaregio).

San Marco is the busiest sestiere and is the commercial centre of Venice. One of the main attractions in this region is Piazza San Marco, Venice’s main square. This area houses the tallest building of the city, Companile. Other points of interest in San Marco are Basilica di San Marco (one of the world’s greatest medieval buildings) and Palazzo Ducale (a beautiful gothic building).

Castello and Cannaregio are Venice’s quietest districts. It is good to be in this area when you are tired of crowd and want to sip cappuccino sitting in a quiet cafe.

Grand Canal, or Canal Grande, snakes for 4 km through the heart of Venice and it divides the city. This may well classify as the world’s most beautiful ‘street’ and trip along this fascinating canal is a pleasure in itself. Journey along the canal offers superb views of the city’s buildings, houses, shops and an insight into Venetian world.

Dorsoduro, the most distinctive sestieri, embraces the southern part of Grand Canal and is mostly residential. If one wants to wander at random, Dorsoduro is the place to be in.

San Polo and Santa Croce are the two remaining districts of Venice. The famous Rialto market is in this part of Venice. Early in the morning or late in the evening, whether you want to shop for souvenirs or clothes, buy fruits or fish, Rialto has it all. Beautifully crafted Maschere (traditional mask) is the one of the ‘must buy’ souvenir when you are shopping in Rialto.

When you are finished visiting all the districts and its attractions in Venice, it is worthwhile to take a trip to nearby islands like Lido, Murano and Burano. Lido has a beautiful beach while the lagoon island Murano has been the historic heart of Venetian glass production. Burano, mainly consisting of fishing community, is famous for brightly painted houses.

If Venice is beautiful beyond description by day, it defies description by night. It is an enchanting experience to take a trip along the Grand Canal under starlit sky. The combination of – Candle light, Italian Food & Wine in Venice (of course with your partner) – makes this the most romantic dinner to have on this earth.

Planning a visit to Venice in April or May would be ideal. Temperature will be around 20 C, not too cold or hot, sunny bright days of spring. Getting to Venice is easy – there are two international airports with direct flights from worldwide. The best way to explore in and around Venice is by foot and boats. Vaporetti (water buses) are the most common mode of public transportation while Traghetti (ferries) provide invaluable service in connecting few important places which are far away. Motoscafi (water taxis) are fast but very expensive.

And there are Gondola’s...Hiring a gondola is an expensive affair but it is worth to have a ride for an hour in this historic gondola. One can bargain for price with a gondolier before hiring, an average price for a forty minute ride in a gondola is €60.

Food and eating out....A ristorante offers good ambience and hence expensive, whereas the trattoria is less formal and less expensive place to eat. Pizzeria or Spaghetteria are take-away sort of places where one can enjoy a slice of pizza or bowl of pasta for a very cheap price. Cappuccino and a bruschetta are perfect for mid-morning or early evening snack.

"A realist, in Venice would become a romantic, by mere faithfulness to what he saw before him." - Arthur Symons

Appa and amma ,50 years together

A great marriage is not when the 'perfect couple' comes together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences.
Dave Meurer, "Daze of Our Wives"


Appa and amma celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 1st.
The previous night, we sat talking about old times.
Amma was just 19 when she got married.
Appa was working in the Indian Railways.
Amma had just seen a train, but never sat in one. Ajja had taken the family to Mangalore to see a circus ,Kamala Three Ring circus. Then he had taken them to the Railway Station to see the train!!
Appa and amma got married on May 1st'1959, and amma who had till then only seen a train, had to travel all the way to Kharagpur!!
Ajja sent Gopalamava and Ranichikkamma along as company. While in Kharagpur appa made them eat egg omelette, telling them it was dosa!! They ate it with great relish and came to know what it really was only after they finished eating.
On May 11th, they left for Madras from Kasaragod by Madras Mail. It seems in those days, when the pantry car had not yet come into existence, the train stopped at Kannur for ½ an hour. People went to the platform to eat or food was brought into the train in tiffin carriers and banana leaves.
The next day they reached Madras then they had to take the Madras Howrah Mail to Kharagpur and reached there on the 14th.
Indeed a very long journey for a person who had never been on a train before!!

Some time in 1965, appa and amma with anna and I decided to go to Darjeeling for a holiday.
They had to go in the train and then at one place they had to cross the river by steamer and then take the meter gauge train.
When the Ganga enters Bengal, it splits into two, the Hugli and the Padma.
Just before the breakup, a barrage was constructed- Farakka barrage. The train stopped to the south of the barrage and they had to cross the river by steamer.
They reached that place quite late in the evening.
In those days there were trunks and holdalls, no suitcases.
Appa went ahead with the coolie who was rushing. Amma followed with two of us. At one place, some people went to one side and others to another. Appa was nowhere to be seen so she followed with some ladies and climbed up the waiting steamer. To her dismay she saw appa nowhere. She immediately climbed down and saw appa coming towards them anxiously. He had gone to the correct steamer and after paying the coolie saw that his wife and children were nowhere to be seen.
That was a happy reunion.
The steamer on which amma had gone left soon , God knows where it was going.
Many,many incidents have happened along the way ,these fifty years, some sad some happy.
I read somewhere,
“ We see in life what we want to see.
If you look for the extraordinary in the ordinary,
You can see it.
Life is precious and extraordinary.
Put your attention on this fact and
little ordinary things will take on a
whole new meaning.”

my news

Hi,
Shailakka here.I liked the name Chavadi for this blog site.It is very hot in Hyderabad.We have finished our voting and waiting for the results.Ani has finished his 1 year inter exam and preparing himself for his fiitjee shuffle tests.
Ila is also busy with her tests(pilani).I think most of you may not know that I was brought up in Puttur,I have studied in Maide Devu,s and Victor's school till 7th class.My home was just in the end of Police quarters near Gopal Mava's office.I was learning music from Narayana Bhat along with Veena ,Raju and Rohini.
I'll contribute myself whenever I like to.
love,
Shailakka(?)

Funny Exam Answers

• Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert and travelled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.

• The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a female moth

• Actually, Homer was not written by Homer, but by another man of that name.

• Socrates was a famous Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. Socrates died from an overdose of wedlock. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.

• In the Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled the biscuits, and threw the java.

• Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: "Tee hee, Brutus."

• Joan of Arc was burn to a steak and was canonised by Bernard Shaw. Finally, Magna Carta provided that no man should be hanged twice for the same offence.

• In midevil times most people were alliterate. The greatest writer of the futile ages was Chaucer, who wrote many poems and verses and also wrote literature.

• Another story was William Tell, who shot an arrow through an apple while standing on his son's head.

• It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of the blood. Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking

• Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf he wrote loud music. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died of this.

• During the Renaissance, history began. Christopher Columbus was a great navigator who discovered America whilst cursing about the Atlantic. His ships were called the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Fe.

The sun never set on the British Empire because the British Empire is in the East and the sun sets in the West.

Funny Science Exam Answers

• # When you breath, you inspire. When you don't breath, you expire.
• # The pistol of a flower is its only protection against insects.
• A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
• When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
• For head colds, use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops into your throat.
• The moon is a planet just like Earth, only deader.
• Artificial insemination is what the farmer does to the cow instead of the bull.
• Dew is formed on leaves when sun shines down on them and makes them perspire.
• To collect fumes of sulfur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube.
• Equator: A managerie lion running around Earth through Africa.
• To remove dust from your eye, pull the eye down over the nose.
• Momentum. What you give a person when they are going away.
• Nitrogen is not found in Ireland, because it is not found in a free state.
• Magnet: Something you can find crawling over a dead cat.
• H20 is hot water. CO2 is cold water.
• Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot.
• Vacuum: A large, empty space where the pope lives.
• Respiration is composed of inspiration and then expectoration.
• For a nosebleed: Put the nose lower than the body until the heart stops.
• To prevent contraception use a condominium.
• Blood flows down one leg and up the other.

A trip to Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta

Hello Guys!
First of all let me wish u all a “Happy New Year” and all the very best, have a Gr8 year ahead. It’s been long and I was bit busy with the new job, so pls forgive me for not keeping in touch. Panna thanks for initiating this new way of communication. So let’s start BLogGinG

6 guy’s.……….1 Bike 1 car and absolutely no plan what so ever.

A trek/Long Drive was long due for me n my buddies. So last week was the opportunity we were waiting for. After celebrating Ugadi with the family, as it was a mandatory rule for every one of us to stay back @ our respective and most respectable homes. With satisfied tummies and no plans (after a heartily meal’s brain doesn’t work you know rgt ). So we planned to leave Bangalore next day, early @ around 4am. With much more confusions about the number of ppl, place and the means of transport, it boiled down to 6ppl, a car (Ikon) and a bike (Discover). It was the 1st time where in we had no clear cut plans whatsoever. The Team was-> Shashi, Garuda Dwajan (Gd), Rohit, Deepak (self proclaimed biggest fan of SRK), Vaibav (buss aka vai aka watermelon) and myself. Somewhere someone’s brain started working, I don’t know how or why but the place was decided as Himavad Gopalaswamy Betta (HGB).
Lo behold, these pal’s of mine we there @shashi’s place bang on time. So were able to leave Bangalore at 4:15 AM. With me leading from the front in my Discover and rest of the guys in Ikon. We opened the throttle to the max once we hit the Mysore Road as we had decided earlier itself to take a break once we reach McD @ Chanappatna. The early morning drive, on a deserted highway, with no lights is something that needs to be experienced. I can’t explain it. It’s a heady feeling, that total calmness engulfs u. This was one of the best drives I ever had. We refilled our vehicles with the petrol and our system with burgers. Then there was a swap, it was Gd’s turn to drive the bike. We were able to maintain a good pace and we were there in Mysore in no time. Later Gd enquired with his grandpa about the route & so he was our guide from then on. We reached HMD at 9 am but the scene was not as we had expected. Many ppl were there and most of all there was no fog as we had expected. With a bit of disappointment and after some small walk we headed for Bandipur as we came to know that booking for the IB needs to be done at Bandipur itself. We drove there came to know that concerned person would be back in another 2 hrs time. So went for lunch @ pug Marks.
After lunch we saw the notice board put up at the entrance which listed the recent sightings of wild animals at the safari. Totally impressed by the numbers, we decided to go on a safari, even thou we had disappointing experiences previously. After a long wait in the queue we got the tickets to what was expected to be a safari like never before. We were totally stunned by what we saw on this safari, we spotted deers, peacock, rabbit and the best of all a WILD… COCK!!!  So it was another futile attempt and count increased by one number (bad luck++). So headed back to HGB. Came to know that there is a shortage of food and water in the IB, so the gang was split into 2 parts with me and Vai on bike headed towards HGB and rest of the gang to Gundlupet.


THE NIGHT PART….

We had to wait for 2 hrs or so for these guys to return back from Gundlupet in the mean time we had to run on errand for Mr. Forest Guard, ie getting a bottle of Rum for him. We got him that, Next thing is Olage seridare gundu…. & bhumi yaake tiruguthaytheyo maga yenne hodthaithe maga yenne hodthaithe….those were the songs that came to my mind as soon as Mr.Kumaraswamy started to chatter, courtesy of Mr. Hercules. And we had to bear with him for half an hour with stories of his bravados, i.e. freeing HGB from poacher’s n all, n also had to hear, that too from him “Yen hudurappa kudiyalla cigarette sedalla pakka Gandhi galu”  when he offered me n Vai a peg. Anyways it was a total time pass for us. These guys turned up few mins short of 8 Pm and Mr. Kumaraswamy told us, that it was not safe for me to drive the bike at this point of time so I parked it @ checkpost itself. Somehow 6 ppl squeezed into Ikon and with the guidelines for Mr. K that if we encounter any wild animal we should not switch off the lights and shouldn’t move until the animal moves away. When we crossed 3rd hairpin curve, what we saw in front sent a shiver, it was an elephant, Shashi jammed on the breaks and waited as instructed by the by Guard (kumaraswami) the elephant din move a bit, we din move either, we were damm scared and din know wat to do. The elephant came near the car and moved round, we maintained pin drop silence thru ought. We waited for about 20min’s praying, after which the elephant moved slowly towards the woods. Then we proceeded with heart in hand till we reached IB.
We were allotted 2 rooms in the IB. Let me tell you something about this IB, it was really good, I had imagined some old hut kind of structure but this was new one inaugurated by our Ex CM namma Mannina Magana maga ie Mr. Kumaraswamy; it had all the basic amenities, rooms and bed were clean. Most importantly Toilets were sparkling clean. There we encountered Mr. Kulappa the Caretaker of the IB. After much of pleading he lighted a campfire for us, where we were joined by another group from Bangalore. All these ppl were working as personal trainers in Bangalore. In that there was a guy named Bipin, who tld us about his experiences in the forest as he had spent about 14 years in visiting various forest reserves across the country. And also he narrated the exp that he had when he had visited HGB couple of months back. So now let’s move to Bipin………….
Bipin: I am regular visitor for this IB; I could say this is my 6th or 7th visit over here. Last time wen we were here with my cousin’s we didn’t stay inside the IB rather we preferred to put up a tent and sleep outside. While we were about to sleep we heard a sound of leaves getting crumpled. We were curious and when we went investigate we were shocked to see a tusker, standing on the other side of the IB. It could sense our presence and it started chasing us. We went around the IB onetime and somehow we all managed to get into the IB. That tusker stood there for couple of hours and finally just before dawn it went on its way. This is one incident which I can’t forget. He also said that Bear is the one animal that we should be careful of as it is the one animal that is not afraid of fire.
So this is one of the few incidents that Bipin shared with us, with the similar environment surrounding us, and our imagination was running wild, guys were beaming the torch in every possible direction once in a while. Much to the relief of Deepak when Bipin suggested that it would be great if we go to the roof and sit silently without uttering a sound, we might be able to hear the sounds of jungle. He was the first guy to say yes and ran towards terrace.

That one hr, without uttering a word 12 of us sat silently listening to every possible sound that was coming out of jungle that surrounded us. That one hr was really amazing with no moon light as it was amavasya night, only stars to gaze at. And I saw a bizarre thing I didn’t mention it to anyone, somewhere in the jungle I saw a flicker of light it was there for few seconds then it vanished it happened couple of times over different places. The thing that came to my mind was Kolli Devva that puttur ajji used to tell me when I was small kid. I might be wrong it might be due to my weary eyes as I hadn’t slept properly from past 2 days so its left for u ppl to decide. Anyway it had been gr8 day for us we were totally exhausted and retired for that day. We jumped onto respective beds trying to catch some sleep, hoping that at least next day we could see the fog surrounding the temple area.

But that didn’t go as planned I couldn’t sleep properly cos my buddy Vai was snoring like hell. He was like blowing a whistle thanks to his blocked nose. Somehow I had managed to doze off, but was awakened by a loud spine chilling shriek from the next room. I woke up but the guys in my room hadn’t twitched a muscle. So I thought I must have dreaming and tried to catch up with some sleep.

The Next day:

Got up next day with Rohit banging on the door pleading with us, that he wants to use the toilet in our room ASAP, as King Deepak had acquired the rights of that one from previous night only (thanks to his loose bowel movement) and he had made that as his HQ. Now as I was getting fresh, Gd came along and asked me whether I heard a scream yesterday night or not. I said yes but as no one in my room woke up I thought I was dreaming. And he went on to explain it. At 2:30 in the morning rohit’s mobile started ringing and that awakened Deepak who in turn tried to wake up Rohit, I don’t know what Rohit was dreaming of, he woke up and started screaming like hell and reciprocating to it was Deepak who in turn started screaming, this commotion woke up GD also. He was able to put an end to this n these 3 ppl were fast asleep in no time.
Anyways getting fresher we went for a walk around the IB, I can call it as a walk as it was only about 8 to 10 km’s one. On our way we came across an Elephant and its Calf and a heard of deer’s. it was a nice walk with bit of mist surrounding us and birds chirping which we all miss in hustle bustle of city life. We were able to spot sparrows which we hadn’t spotted in Bangalore. When we use to live in mahalaxmi layout I still remember as a kid I used to feed sparrows with rice which I used to get after pleading with dodamma.

We were running out of time as Shashi had to get back to mysore to pick up his parents who had come from Bangalore to visit Infy Mysore campus. So we hurriedly got refreshed and paid the rent and bakshish for Mr. Kulappa. With Gd and vai on bike as they had to give back the Bubble top water can back to the owner at Gundlupet, we were on the road in no time. One thing worth mentioning is ppl are more trusting and kind in small towns, that shop owner gave us the water can without taking the deposit amount. Saying that “makla, naale wapas hogbekadre can tandu kododu maribedi”. Anyways we didn’t wait for Gd and Vai as Shashi was getting late. When we came near Nanjangud Gd called up and told us that he has encountered some minor problem in the bike so told us to wait near the mysore bus stand. Shashi dropped us off and went on his way. We had a light lunch at Vishnu bhavan and started waiting for these two guys to turn up n eventually they did and we wished Vai good bye and caught a Volvo to Bangalore. Vai took my bike to infy saying that he will get it back next week end. So the journey now was in its last leg, ie the trip back to BANGALORE. We had “ALOO CHAT” on the way. And we reached our destination at 5 PM. The 4 monkeys took different paths with saddened face thinking about getting back to the same old routine work from the next day.

So that’s how it was, felt like sharing it, and that’s how it goes. We are planning to visit some place near tumkur this weekend so lets see how it goes.Anyways its incomplete if I don’t take the name of our Mr. Infy aka Shashi for pulling some stings and arranging us an IB. Thanks maga n god bless ur childish heart :)….