ALTER IDEM

Coffee Aayita? - 'Had your coffee?' - That's it!! This morning, as I asked my neighbour this question, I realised that I had finally become a true citizen of the Malnad region :) In these parts, a smile and Coffee Aayita? or Aayita Coffee is equal to 'Hello'/ 'How are you?' elsewhere. Walk down the street - anytime and everybody you meet will ask you Coffee Aayita? ( except lunchtime.. then the question is OoTa aayita ) :) During my initial years here, I would wonder if this is what people here did through the day... and it seemed so! Most houses had a pot of coffee boiling at all times - on a stove fuelled by coal. Every other hour, family members would dip their tumblers into it and drink - like I would drink water! Not that I mind coffee, but, I prefer tea. And, I'm no 'tea-guzzler' either - 1 BIG cup at around 9.30 a.m (when the house empties) and half a cup at about 4 p.m.- that's all. Whenever anyone asks me Coffee Aayita? ,

Alter Idem (Second Self) turns one today :) I had begun by sharing a short story. You know, I have decided - I'll mark every year by sharing a short story. This story dates back to my high school days. Back then, summer hols meant visiting grand parents - going to native place :) One corner of the attic in my maternal grand-parents' place was (probably, still is!) reserved for dumping old books and magazines. On some afternoons, this would be my time-pass haven. If it was the jokes that lured me to the college mags, it was the articles and features in English mags like The Illustrated Weekly of India , the short stories in Kannada mags,.... I read this story in Sudha , a mag that has launched so many Kannada writers, and, a mag that is still around :) The story, then ... Here's Parvati, waiting for her husband, Shankar, a Yakshagana artiste, to come home. Now, Yakshagana is one of the few surviving folk arts of Karnataka - characterised by elaborate costumes,

According to Indian Animal Welfare Laws, it is illegal to transport animals in any manner that will cause them suffering. It is perfectly all right to complain/ take the transporter to task. But, how many of us have the time and the inclination to go to the nearest police outpost and complain/ exchange words with the transporter? During a recent journey, this pair of young buffaloes were travelling ahead of us.It was impossible to ignore them - especially, the difficulty they had with maintaining their balance. A couple of times, the tether seemed to be pulling at their necks, adding to their discomfort. Obviously, the driver preferred speed to the animals' comfort. Disturbing, no doubt, but, we were definitely in no mood to pick up an argument. Soon, we passed them by and the buffaloes were out of our sight (can't remove them out of my mind though :( ). Some years ago, I had read an article by Menaka Gandhi. She had written that if animals could sue us for defamation, th

It is almost the end of the rainy season - the time when all waterfalls are at their glorious best. Even the little wayside ones, that exist only during the monsoon, have their own charm. It was around Aug- Sept, one Sunday afternoon, about 3-4 years ago that we decided to check out Sirimane Falls, a locally known waterfall. An hour's drive from home took us to the Sringeri- M'lore highway. A right turn, and, 7-8 kms later, we were at Kigga. Kigga is a town that is connected to Sage Rishyasringa. It has an ancient Shiva temple - active on important days only, I think. I vaguely remembered an Amar Chitra Katha story I had read long, long ago - about the sage with the horn. By the time my brief recollection ended, we had reached the end of the macadam road. There was no sign post around. Only, a school - which wasn't deserted on a Sunday afternoon! A group of young men had converted the corridors into a temporary adda . They gave us the directions and cheerfully added t

Check out these abandoned wooden idols. They are called Gadi Maari gombe s. Gadi means 'border', Maari is short for Maaramma , a Goddess and Gombe means idol/ doll. Part of your landscape if you live in the Malnad region of Karnataka, you will come across these abandoned figurines on the outskirts of towns and villages. Maari/ Maaramma, Chaudi/ Chaudeshwari, Gutti/ Guttamma, .... are some of the popular guardian Gods of Malnad. They are mainly worshipped for protection - from diseases, ghosts,..... Maari is usually worshipped for protection from contagious diseases. Sometime towards the end of summer and before the onset of the rains (the disease season!), a committee of villagers - belonging to various communities, decide to perform the pooja . First, the idol is carved - usually out of some holy tree like the Banyan or the Jack. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about the rituals. I have never been invited and I have absolutely no intentions of gate-crashing!

'What?! Have you forgotten Bangalore?!' - this was my dad's neighbour, Mr.Sheshadri, greeting me one evening, with that familiar, teasing tone! Laughing 'No, uncle', I spent some time talking to the Sheshadris by their gate. Some time later, it rained heavily. To top it, we had a power cut at 10 in the night. The weather hadn't cooled down and I found it difficult to go to sleep. After some tossing and turning, I went through my day and remembered Shesh uncle's words. Suddenly, it struck me that, actually, I hadn't forgotten Bangalore at all! For starters, I remembered the Bangalore, where, the fan was not used at all. Even during the peaks of summer, the nights would be so airy and cool. Then, I remembered, - the Bangalore, where travelling around was not a nightmarish experience. - the Bangalore, where walking, be it on Commercial Street or our own I Block, was such a pleasure. One didn't have to watch one's step, or, purse. - the Bangalor

'Naayi - Neralu' - the first time I came across this term, about 3-4 years ago, I was in Puttur, a town near Mangalore. Everyone I met was talking about this film unit that was shooting for a Kannada movie of the same name in a heritage house nearby.The movie went on to win awards for the director, Girish Kasaravalli. I don't know if the movie did well at the box office, but, it was shown on TV, more than a year ago. My dad, who seldom watches movies, had just finished watching it when I had called him. Dad had liked the movie and even recommended it to me - unlike my husband's friends. They had watched it in the theatre with their kid when it was released. Turned out to be an embarassing experience for them - the kid insisted on yelling 'What a boring movie!' every now and then :D Sri.S.L.Bhairappa, now in his seventies, is a Kannada novelist who enjoys enormous readership. All his books, including 'Naayi- Neralu', have seen several re-prints and trans

Sometime, early last year, the 'MT' set of cousins decided that a group blog was a good platform to exchange views / ideas and keep in touch. They extended their invitations to their cousins 'on the other sides', and, that was how, I came in. Of course, I knew my cousins and had heard of/ met a few of the others as well. I liked the idea and accepted the invitation. While accepting the invitation, I had half-decided that my participation would be limited to commenting on what the others wrote! Soon, e-chaavadi was born. Chaavadi , in Kannada, is an open veranda. Now seen only in large, ancient homes, chaavadi is an informal, relaxing space for the family members/ friends. Unfortunately, e-chaavadi didn't take off as expected. Only a couple of folks - folks who already had their own blogs- had contributed. The administrator finally sent a mail to the rest of us - asking us to contribute something. I do not know how many of us responded, but, I promised to wr

Kuppalli, in the heart of Malenad (rain country) is the birthplace of Kannada poet Rashtrakavi Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa (1904 - 1994).Popularly known as Kuvempu, the highly revered poet has won the Jnanapith Award, Sahitya Academy awards, Padma Vibhushan, honorary doctorates,..... (Kuvempu's pic, courtesy Wikipedia) A few years ago, the tourism department made some renovations and converted Kuvempu's house into a museum (The surrounding few hundreds of acres of greenery is also protected by the department). Ever since, Kuppalli has become a favourite picnic spot for the people of the surrounding region. Kuppalli is within 50 km from our home and, for no particular reason, we hadn't been able to go there. On a recent Sunday afternoon,we decided to check it out since everyone had been giving us the 'Oh?! you haven't been there yet?!' treatment. A small break post-lunch, and an hour later, we were there.On entering the yard, this poem greeted us, and I

It is summer and one of my favourite flowers, Crossandra, is in full bloom.During this time, it lives up to its popular name - Firecracker flower. Known as 'Kanakambara' in South India, I'm not sure about its presence in the North.During my growing up years in Bangalore, some street hawkers would give a twist to the name and call out 'Discoambara' while pushing their carts :) Like the bouganvillea, this plant loves the sun.Since excess watering encourages foliage, watering should be done only when there are visible signs of drooping.Propagation is very easy - cuttings / seeds & not much care is required. The cultivated flowers are in different shades of orange while the wild flowers are in shades of green. Crossandra has no smell and there are no visible flower parts like pistil, anther, etc. Hence, traditionally, it is not offered to God. Once upon a time, there were a lot of cultural prejudices against wearing the flower. Identified as the scarlet wom

Temple ponds, or, 'Pushkarni's are such an integral part of ancient temples. I just can't get over the idea as well as the efforts that must have been made to build them.  Often, these ponds are quite polluted. But for the presence of some stagnant water, some of them look like dump yards :(  So, it was a pleasure to come across this clean one at the Janardhana Swami Temple at Yermalu on the Udupi- M'lore highway. Dakshina Kannada & Udupi districts can be called the temple districts of the world- there are so many temples that one would need a lifetime to cover all of them! So, not surprisingly, this was our first visit to this temple. If the M-S wedding didn't take place here, we would have missed this one. The idol here was installed by Saint Madhavacharya- social reformer & philosopher who lived 700 years ago. This pond has obviously been renovated since, but, surely, the origins date back to the 13th century, or, earlier? You know, according to t

Come tests and exams, and my neighbour's kids are at their studious best. They love to read their lessons loudly.Their study is about forty feet away from mine. Since the windows are usually open on both sides, I can hear them quite clearly. Often, I'm tempted to yell out, 'Read softly' or mention about it when I see them. But, something holds me back. What, if their marks come down because of reading softly? I would feel very guilty :( So, I simply shut the window and switch on the fan! Sometimes, I wonder about what the Americans would have done. The other day, a US- based relative was telling us about how, one of his neighbours, a dog owner, had to get the voice box of his dog removed. Thanks to the dog's constant barking, a lot of people were deprived of their sleep. Someone started a signature campaign and got the minimum number of signatures required and the poor dog lost it's voice :( Parents of wailing babies are not spared of complaints and that'

In the Udupi - Dakshina Kannada - Chikmagalur region of Karnataka, Dr.Veerendra Heggade of Dharmasthala has been setting up and promoting women's self-help groups as part of his rural development programme. It is an initiative meant to make semi-literate/ illiterate women economically independant. Women's self-help groups in other parts of the country are not unheard of. A lot of them have been started by & spear headed by men. I think, initiatives like this bring more power to women, than, say, reservation of seats in the Parliament. The basic principle of these area- based, self-help groups is some sort of a fund that is set up from which loans are handed out for small- scale industries (chiefly food items like pickles, squashes, chips), dairy/ poultry farming, etc. Easy repayment schemes & money- saving schemes have successfully lured a large number of women, irrespective of caste/ community, to these groups. Thanks to this, there is a BIG shortage of domestic help

My worst fears came true yesterday morning :( When I discovered broken eggs and lots of feathers near the shrub, I didn't have to check in to realise what had happened. What a bad start to my day! A few minutes later, I heard the continuous cry of a bulbul. Was it the male - searching/grieving? Or, was it the female, who may have fought before flying away? I will never know. Hopefully, these bulbuls will not build their future nests at low levels. Anyway, my attempt at getting to know about a bird's life had come to an abrupt end. :(

Tomorrow is International Women's Day and every year, at least one woman I know, wonders, why only one day out of 365. Well, people pray to so many Gods every day, but have one special day every year, like Ganesh Chaturthi, Shivarathri,.... somewhat like that, I guess :) I have always treated Dasara/Durga pooja as a celebration of womanhood. Durga is usually depicted as having many arms - each holding different things. I like to think of it as a tribute to a woman's multi-tasking abilities. Ditto with the many avataars of the Goddess. Right from the woman who cleans the streets to the President, each one of us multi-tasks, be it in our relationships or in our range of duties. Giving equal justice to everything takes a lot out of us. To all those men who understand this and give us our space, thank you - may your tribe increase :) According to one report, this year is the 100th year of IW Day. Wishing us more strength to wipe out female foeticide/ infanticide and other cr

Here is a peep into the life of the Red Whiskered Bulbuls who chose to make a part of our garden, their home :)   This is one of the bulbuls - I'm assuming it is the female. To an amateur eye like mine, the male and the female look similar. Even the creator seems to have taken gender equality seriously here! The shrub the bulbuls chose for building their nest is so low and accessible! I'm praying that the cats and snakes that move about freely don't come to know about this. Though, how, I don't know :(  Animals are so sensitive. I'm sure, like me, the snakes & cats have been keeping an eye on the bulbuls - for different reasons, of course! 3-4 days of hectic activity by both birds and their cosy home is ready :) It looks to be made of dry twigs only, but actually, they have lined it with large quantities of soft stuff like spiders' webs, etc. No fuss and frills, no disagreement, no third person's help required- excellent! I wish nest

Thursday means, I have to go to music class in the evening. It also means, another piece of Kannada movie to endure during my half hour bus journey. That's OK- after 6 months, Iam an expert at shutting out things I don't want to see/ hear without physically closing my eyes/ ears :) Yesterday, I sat at my usual place and looked out of the window, a little worried, because I hadn't had the time to practice my lesson. I was wondering if I should feign a throat pain. I dismissed that thought...my teacher's a nice man. He understands if we sound unpracticed once in a while. As I was thinking about honesty being the best policy, my attention was called to the TV screen. The hero was shouting at the heroine (in Kannada) 'If one has never fallen in love, one is a sinner'! Wha-----t???!!! Hey, that's offensive - at least, to some of the 'never fallen in love' members of the audience! On second thoughts, no, it isn't offensive. Because, in my opinion,

Memories of an hour's brisk walk, early in the morning at 'End Point', Manipal.  Lovely weather, good company- would love to repeat this experience :)

Till my only child started school, I was a full time mom. Looking back, I would call it the most blissful part of my life. I have also realised that one of the best things about bringing up a child is learning new things yourself. One routine that Y & I would always look forward to was our daily evening ramble. Chatting our way along a lot of greenery, we would come across playful dogs, grazing cows, butterflies, snakes, ants and lots and lots of birds. For Y, every bird had to have a name and it was here that I would feel thoroughly challenged. Brought up in a big city, my knowledge of bird identification was limited to crows and sparrows. Of course, I could tell a pigeon from a peacock! After Y was born, a visit to the book shop in big city meant a browse through the children's books section. During one such visit, we came across a book in Kannada called Pakshi Sankula (A collection of birds) by Mr.Suresh Kulkarni - a book with paintings by the author of commonly seen bi

Ours was a marriage arranged by our families and we hardly knew each other before marriage. It was that era not-so-long ago when there were no mobile phones, letter writing was out and men were conscious of the may-be-hovering-around- after-taking-the-call dads, to talk for more than 2 minutes :D A couple of months after the wedding, Valentine's Day was nearing and I was wondering if I should be gifting something or ignoring? During my growing-up years, V's Day was something that Archie (of the comics) had to deal with. Just as I was getting out of college, Archies - the greeting card folks had begun to target the college crowd here, in South India. Strictly speaking, of course, V's Day is to acknowledge passing fancies/ one-way love/ romance that cannot happen (like St.V's), etc. That's why, the traditional V's Day gifts are perishable goodies like chocolates and flowers. Clever marketing has now turned the gift giving thing into a serious, expensive affair -

Some time ago, I had written about one of the best coffees to be had when one is in these parts of Karnataka. Now, let me introduce you to one of the best teas. AGUMBE.....The place reminds one of so many things..... Second only to Chirapunji, it receives the highest rainfall in Karnataka. One of the best views of the sunset can be had here, especially during the 'minimum mist season' (February). One can actually see the sun sink into the Arabian Sea some 40 km away! It is THE place to study king cobras. Romulus Whitaker of the 'Madras Snake Park' and his team of herpetologists have set up a research station here to study the less known and highly revered king cobras. Agumbe is the 'Malgudi' of Shankar Nag's famous TV serial of the 'only Doordarshan' zamaana - 'Malgudi Days'. If you are looking out for them, you can recognise some of the buildings from the serial, like Swami's home ( a 'home stay' tourist spot now!), sch

A farmer is someone who 'grows food' - everyone knows that. Food is one of our basic needs- everyone knows that too. Farming is therefore, a profession on which the very survival of human beings depends on. Inspite of that, it isn't the chosen profession for the vast majority of us..... All these thoughts came to me as I was reading http://www.civilsocietyonline.com/jan10/jan101.asp . Adike Patrike ( http://www.adikepatrike.com/ ) is a magazine in Kannada written by & of agriculturists for everyone. As a regular reader, I am often in awe of the agriculturists featured. These men and women defy all the common, negative perceptions of a farmer as illiterate/uneducated/ someone who is forced to take up the profession because he isn't fit for anything else. Thanks to the magazine, I know that a lot of people have come up with their own ideas to face hurdles like water shortage, labour shortage, lack of marketing support from the government, etc. What's more, th

This morning, I had a surprise phone call- from my dad's sister. Yesterday, while spring-cleaning her attic, she came across a sackful of old letters written by her relatives and friends and like any other normal person, she took a break from cleaning and went through some of the letters. She came across a couple, written by me, dating back to 1976 (I must have been about 5)!! She read out a few lines, and I can tell you, we were in splits :D Before she hung up, she threatened to keep those letters - to be read out and laughed at when there is a family get-together. OK aunty, go ahead, I am sportive! Make sure your brother is around - I must have been guided by him! That talk put me in nostalgic mode and, here, I must confess that I have my share of letters - collected through the ages. Going through them gives me lots of cheer, especially, when I'm feeling low. Curiously, my collection doesn't have a billet-doux. That is, because I haven't received one :( True! Nob

Barely a week after I wrote the previous post, a touring amusement fair decided to make a brief halt here! However, instead of the shopping types that I was hoping for, this one was of the fun and games types - hoop- la stalls, merry-go-rounds, etc. So, on Sunday evening, we went & found 75% of the town already there!! We are really short on entertainment here! Kids between 2 & 5 made the most of the rubber slides and the merry-go-rounds with seats shaped like cars, boats, planes, etc. The bigger kids went in for the ubiquitous giant wheel and rides with names like 'Titanic' & 'Tora Tora' (For people like me, observing the flirtatious mood among the youth was added amusement!!). There was a freak show- advertised as Naagin- supposedly, a creature with a woman's face and a snake's body (A dwarf forced into a skirt made to look like a snake's body? - Probably). We decided to give it a miss. And then, there was the dog show - managed by 3 dogs &a