The return and reflections…….

In my earlier blog, I had wondered about the myth of the coloured sands of Kanyakumari, a fellow blogger has provided me the story – https://brownwanderer.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/myth-about-kanyakumari/

Thanks Sugan, highly appreciated.

The damage to Kodagu in Karnataka due to incessant rains, seems to have slipped from public view, thanks to the high decibel media battle on the devastation by floods in Kerala.

The floods in Kerala have devastated the areas affected cutting them off from the rest of the nation. Despite the unseemly bickering and demands, one thing stands out, the nation has responded magnificently. Almost all the Indian states irrespective of ruling party have committed funds to the Kerala government. More important than these, Indians from India and overseas have donated material and cash to the beleaguered state. Hundreds of Truckloads of materials are waiting for roads to be cleared and for supplies to reach the affected areas. The local fishermen were the local first line of defence to commence rescue operations of the flooded areas.

As usual, our men/women in the armed forces have been magnificent, risking their lives to rescue strangers who are quite likely to be ungrateful once the immediate danger is past.

Indians have once again proved that we are capable of overcoming and handling calamities. If we can stop politicising tragedy and start accepting responsibility for our own actions or absence of action, we may even begin to redeeem ourselves as a nation.

The return to Mumbai was not direct, we halted overnight at my brother Ajit’s place in Bengaluru. He has a delightful bungalow at Lakeshore homes, once at the outskirts of Bengaluru, now very much a part of the city. I always find it very restful to stay over at his place, insulated from the traffic and surrounded by greenery.

We drove the next day to Sonde, in Karnataka, close to Dharwar to visit the Shree Vadiraja Mutt located in Sonda. A visit to Sonde is always an extremely private and spiritual journey for me.

The highlight of the drive to Sonda, was a stopover at Davangere to have “Benne Dose” – butter dosa, a unique speciality of Davangere. We normally stop at “Apoorva Resorts” just off the highway to have the Benne Dose. However, as we realised, thanks to evolving changes in Menu, this was off the menu after 1200 hrs, we therefore consulted google aunty, who led us into town, to a small cafeteria type restaurent that seemed to specialize in Benne Dosa. It was worth the time and effort, to make the detour off the highway and have the dosas here. It was the best “Davangere Benne Dose” we had in Davangere or otherwise.

After an overnight stay in Sonde, we proceeded to Goa.

Goa, the all time holiday favorite in India, is the most chilled out state in India. The state however had not escaped the monsoon fury, the intensity of the rains could be gauged by the normally good roads in Goa, battered and pockmarked with potholes.

I fear that Goa would be the next state after Kerala, to witness the devastation caused by indisciminate construction, deforestation and pathetic water management.

On the hill, @ Sancoale where I stay, all the big builders have moved in, the area has been deforested, huge apartment complexes are under construction, the developers/contractors include such respected names such as Tata’s and L&T amongst others, with no trees to retain water and no rain water – harvesting or management, I fear for the villages/communities based at the foothills. I recollect during our drive through the hills of Munnar, I saw mansions built at the edge of a cliff/precipe with no apparent shoring or piled foundations (an assumption), cheapest and fastest way to build at the cost of safety and evirnmental safety, in some areas, at some locations it appeared that the the hillsides were excavated and houses built, with no evidence of shoring of the hillside, leading to a possibility of exposure to landslides. As an engineer and a sailor, I prefer the “safe” to the aesthetic.

I can now appreciate, the precautions taken by NHAI during the monsoons, on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, and their continuous efforts at shoring the cliffside before Lonavala.

After three nights of recuperation, at our small delightful villa on a hill top at Sancoale, we left for Mumbai, back home after being on the road for four weeks.

Back home, an almost uneventful journey, except for a hair-raising moment with a KSRTC bus, driven by a gentleman engrossed on his mobile, gently drifting across the highway, on 16.08.2018 at 1328 hrs.

Tamil Nadu (TN) has been a relevation for me, a near unexplored (outside of TN) cultural heritage, an old and rich literary tradition in prose, poetry and music.

Another feature of TN, the local people work, I noticed that in Bengaluru and Kerala, substantial part of the labor work-force are from outside the state, more so in Kerala, where I believe the entire labor are either from UP, Bihar, Orissa or North Eastern states.

TN, except for the bhojanalayas’ in Kanyakumari, seemed to have all local work force and this is probably the reason why the Tamilians have such a pride in their state, at every social and economical level.

Kerala, the trip was a bit of a disappointment as the rains prevented us from any of the activities that we had planned apart from driving back to Tamil Nadu on the return leg. I hope that the Coastal states of Kerala, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra heed the 2011 “Gadgil Report” and start protecting the environment and not play “vote-bank” politics that is costing the nation and its people dearly.

Just thinking – can passages/tunnels be created/drilled in the Western ghats so that some part of the rain water be diverted to the parched regions of the Deccan plateau and the plains of Tamil Nadu. WHAT AN IDEA SIRJEE!!! Knowing Indians, I am sure that this idea may have occurred decades ago and also very efficiently shot down by self serving politicians and bureaucrats who profit more from human suffering than their well-being.

Karnataka, the state that has everything except, snow clad mountains. Not in the limelight like Punjab, TN, West Bengal – but in its own way far more important to the nation than it takes credit for. The IT revolution started here, (the rest are followers not creators) and so did the transformation of the image of the Indian from a dirty starving beggar (snake charmer) to a Tech Savvy Innovator. As an overseas traveller since 1979, I can personally vouch for the change in attitude at customs and immigration the world over, it is far better to be an Indian traveller in the 21st Century than in the 20th Century. Thank you gentle, soft spoken and cultured Kannidagas, the nation owes you.

Do not be taken in by a few loud mouthed local Chauvinists, the Kannadigas are the most hospitable and accommodating people on the sub-continent, you can guage it by the reaction you get from a Lucknowi/Patnaite when you ask them if they plan on going back to their hometown to settle down, the reaction is louder and more voluble if it is a lady who has been asked this question. I think the least these “migrants” could do is learn to speak the local language, in return for the hospitality they enjoy.

Speaking of learning the local language, I have the highest respect for the Sikhs and Marwadis/Gujarathis, I have run across these incredible people in the remotest corners of Karnataka and even Tamil Nadu, they speak Kannada fluently even better than I do and Tamil flawlessly. I know Sikhs who speak Marathi and Bengali fluently, this is probably the reason for the global success of these hard working communities.

I will return to Karnataka and it’s history in a later blog, this incredible state and its contribution to the nation is oft forgotten, and we need to remember and acknowledge.

But how can I leave Bengaluru, without a mention about its chaotic traffic, made more torturous by the eternal “Metro – work in progress”. Most of the major signals here last upto 180 seconds, this creates a huge backlog, it would make better sense to have signals changing every 45 – 60 seconds, this will keep the traffic moving and reduce the logjam and road rage. Also the two-wheelers are consistent in disregard to their own safety as well as the rules of the road, the four wheelers in retaliation appear to have forgotten that they have a turning indicator that they can use to signal the changing of lanes.

After four weeks of weathering a combination of suicidal and homicidal motorists, it was calming to get back into the relatively safe driving haven that is Maharashtra.

Maharashtra – translates literally as “the great state”, my karma bhoomi, is the state that best represents – India – not in terms of the parliament seats, or the most commonly spoken language but by her ability to take in people from all over the country and give them a livelihood and a means to live with dignity. The Deccan plateau, comprises a large part of Maharashtra, and the history of the Deccan – the Chalukyas, Vijayanagar Empire and the Marathas – Shivaji and the Peshwas, and in the near past Tilak, Gokhale is closely linked to the Indian cultural identity and resurgence against foreign domination.

I thank all my friends – viewers and followers, who have given me encouragement to keep writing, I intend now to cover my older trips, Rajasthan, Leh, Dharamshala, Bhutan – if I am a bit fudgy about my dates please forgive me, but the photos are timeless.