1993 Mahamasthakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola

Anish said “Hey Sidda! Let’s go see Mahamastakabhisheka”
I: let me check at with parents
Amma said “no” as usual. I persisted. Appaji said “Let them go or they’ll have to wait another 12 years.” I was all smiles.

December 19, 1993. Anish and I left home at 2am on my Kinetic Honda. The night chill was bearable within city limits but once on the highway it was freezing, especially while riding in the front. Fingers became numb, nose would freeze… The ride was somewhat lonely, hardly any traffic on the highway, which in a way was good. Somewhere near Kunigal, we saw a car with a smashed front with a sole occupant seemingly waiting for help to arrive.

The chill factor got worse as we rode on, at times we shivered. After Channarayapatna, we left the highway at Hirisave and took the road to Shravanabelagola. Last 18km to our destination. A few kilometers before Shravanabelgola we saw a huge camp. rows after rows of tents, hundreds of them. That was the camp setup for devotees from other places, mostly out of Karnataka. People were up and getting ready for the grand Abhisheka which was due to start in a few hors. Small groups were huddled around fire trying to keep the warm in the freezing cold. We rode slow, looking at the sights… then we saw a row of shops set up for the camp. We stopped as soon as we saw a tea-shop. As I remember it took us a minute to get off the scooter… our joints were frozen stiff. We stood close to the coal stove trying to soak up the warmth. The first few minutes we had difficulty holding the glasses because the finger tips had lost sensation. After three glasses of tea we felt a little better but it was still cold. 

At Shravanabelagola we parked my Kinetic Honda in the town bus-stand which is close to Chandragiri. Gomateshwara statue stands on Vindhyagiri and we wouldn't be allowed up there since we did not have the required passes for the event. However public was allowed on Chandragiri, we positioned ourselves on some rocks which had a clear view of Vindhyagiri. Gomateshwara's head and shoulders were visible. A huge scaffolding had been erected around the statue.

Cold was giving way to sun’s heat now. The place was getting busy now with people filling up the hill we were on and we could see the privileged ones, mostly in white, slowly trudging up Vindhyagiri towards Bahubali. Down below, police had barricaded the streets and vehicles were off limit and we suddenly realized our scooter in the bus-stand would be difficult to take out. We moved it to a different spot and came back to our place on the hill. The hill was almost full now. The time was nearing… I’m not too sure the order of colors, we saw water, milk, sandal paste, turmeric, vermilion, flowers… Just imagine the quantity of liquids required to bathe the almost 18m statue! It was a sight worth looking at. 

We watched just the first one hour of the event and decided to leave… we did not have plans of getting stuck in the ever increasing crowd. We said bye to Bahubali, Shravanabelagola and the people and moved towards Channarayapatna where we had lunch and started off towards Bangalore.

Four years later, Gulveer and I visited Shravanabelagola during a weekend. We reached late afternoon, checked into a hostel, a simple little place, went for a walk, saw Bastis… it was relaxing, silent, peaceful and serene. Morning, we woke up early, bathed and went up Vidhyagiri and stood before Bahubali’s feet. Wow! What a statue it is! I was wondering how it was created, how much it weighed, there was no chance for any mistakes while the artists sculpted... We spent about an hour looking around the cells where the monks used to live. As I type out the words, I feel I should revisit the place.

India is full of such wonders, be it natural or man-made. There’s so much to see; our temples, forts, towers, wells and what not. What kind of talent and skill gave such wonderful forms to stones! Truly amazing!! Surely people of those times had put in lot of effort and time to create these wonders. They also lived in synch with nature. Modern man somehow ends up messing up with Mother Nature… sad but true.

PS: 3 days after publishing this post i.e. on Dec 31st, I visited Shravanabelagola. This time with Durga, Deepak and Gulveer.

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Jesus Christ, Altinho, Panaji

The picture's not so clear but you have to see this statue if you ever go to Panaji, Goa. This statue is situated at Archbishop's Palace, Altinho, Panaji.

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Chilamkur night sky

One night, after dinner, Praveen and I were walking within The India Cements Limited, Chilamkur staff colony... And suddenly there was a total black-out. Absolute darkness! The first few seconds we just saw black every where, then slowly, as our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we could see thing in the faint light coming from the sky. I looked up, to the sky, it was packed with stars; tiny, small, big and large. This is the first time I saw such a scene- jet-black screen with twinkling, shiny dots. That's when I realized the beauty of the rhyme-

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky!

Chilamkur is a remote village near Yerraguntla in Cuddappah District of Andhrapradesh. Between 1993 and 1998, we used to visit the cement plant quite often and got a chance to see the beauty of interior Andhra. We traveled the stretch between Chilamkur and Kurnool few times and every time it was an adventure. Flash floods forcing us to take long detours, road blocks, our Maruti Omni having trouble with lights and once hand-brake jammed... I remember seeing a small spot full of date palm giving an effect of an oasis in the Mid-East. During another visit, we drove next to red colored hills which looked like a picture out of Texas.

I love to see sunrises in Andhra, there's some special effect in them.
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Four shots from Jamkhandi

Here are a four of my favorite pictures from Jamkhandi shot in a film-roll aim-n-shoot camera.

spiral staircase at Jamkhandi Palace

This ancient sculpted idol is at Rameshwara Gudi which is a part of the palace complex. Of course the temple is older than the palace. It is said that any person who can pass through that narrow gap with a wish, will have that wish come true. It seems the original gap was larger, the paving slabs have reduced a few inches. I don't think even a 6 year old could pass through it.

A rock face on the hills seen early morning

a Peepul or a Ficus on the eastern edge of the hill

The tree spot is a great place to see sunrises and sunsets. It was peaceful and tranquil up there.

Jamkhandi is a small town but a prosperous one. It still has that rural touch and there are several interesting places nearby. I had stayed at a cousin's place here during the 14-day biking tour across Karnataka.
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Faces in rocks

Rock formations are amazing sights especially when one looks at them with a touch of imagination. There are rocks or hills which look like Shiva Linga, for example Shiva Gange near Tumkur. Here are a couple of rock formations in which one could see human faces.

This rock is like a dead man's face, as though its sticking out of its grave. This rock is at Koongal Betta, near Ramanagara on Bangalore-Mysore road.

The second one looks like a British cop wearing a custodian hat. This sandstone rock is at Badami, the Chalukyan capital from VI to VIII Century CE.

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Scooter-Bicycle Tow Trips

Looking back into the past, I could call this the craziest and the scariest acts.

Jayanth and I used bicycles to commute to college or tuition classes and on the way back, we used to get towed by one of friends who had bikes or scooters. Tow-riding went on for few months and both Jayanth and I got pretty good, even in traffic. We knew when to hold hands and when not to, we were experts at managing the momentum we had picked. At times we rode confidently at 50khph.

One day after college, we (Nagaraj was the third guy) planned a ride to Bannerghatta, which was about 20km from our college SSMRVC. Nagaraj and I on my Bajaj Super (Bajaj Chetak’s younger brother) and Jayanth on his bicycle. Nagaraj was riding pillion and towing Jayanth. The first 5-6km we did 20-30 kmph beyond which the traffic was lesser and the road was ours now. We gradually went up to 50s and Jayanth was cool and confident. Nagaraj was doing his job nicely. “Faster?” I asked Jayanth, “Yes” was the reply. Open the throttle little more, 60, 70 and 80! I was amazed at Jayanth’s control over the bike with just one hand on the handle-bar. We did 80s for almost 2km in a stretch. I wonder how the tires took the beating. The ride back home was not so fast but not too slow also. We had discovered a new kind of adventure.

After few days, Jayanth and I decided to go to Nandi Hills (the main reason was to enjoy beer in cool weather) and Nagaraj also wanted to join us but we had only my scooter. We looked at each other… why not??

Atlas cycle. CAL 150, gas tank full, bag with packed food and few beer bottles. And high spirits. We started early, rode slowly and carefully, dodging pedestrians, cattle, traffic and cops. Soon we were out of city limits and on the highway. We rode with lot of care… we had to cover 60km, one way. And parents and home did not know about our new found method. 4km beyond Devanahalli, we went off the highway on to the road to our destination. Now the traffic was sparse and our speed went to 80s. The road was a straight line for almost 8km, riding at an average speed of 60kmph. That was fun!

Soon we were right below Nandi Betta, looking up at the road snaking up the hill ahead of us. Now our worry was how I would be to tow uphill on twisting & turning stretch of road. What would we do at hair-pin curves? Jayanth, was cool, as usual. We decided to ride slow since Jayanth needs to be in contact at all times. The moment he loses contact, he would loose momentum and might come to a stop. And to tow from zero is tricky for the one riding the bicycle, especially uphill. We were fast learners and mastered the technique. We reached the summit without much difficulty. People were giving us looks…

We explored the hill top- ruins of a fort, ancient stepped wells which were actually birthplaces of rivers, temples, Nandi idol and a big stepped tank. Then we relaxed in the cool shade of massive trees and enjoy the cool air. Beers vanished, then food finished. Time to head back now. This trip was all about riding and beer.

Downhill ride was fun and Jayanth enjoyed it immensely. 8km of freewheeling is not something we could do everyday. Once back on the plain road, we touched 90s, that’s before we hit the highway. We were getting bolder and scooter was capable of doing 110kmph but we did not wanted to put ourselves in danger or spoil the fun. It was dark when we reached back home.

Following day, back at the college our adventure was the talk of the day.

PS: Talking about cycling, I had done a Bangalore-Bannerghatta-Bangalore bicycle ride with two of my classmates during 1984 summer vacation. Two years later i.e. after PUC-1 exams, I did a Bangalore-Mysore-Kallur-Bangalore bicycle ride with another classmate. These kind of adventures were uncommon in my friends circle. I was fortunate to have friends like Skanda, Babu Prasad, Jayanth, Satish and my brother Deepak; and my parents who allowed such freedom.
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Nandi at Chamundi Betta

This was third visit to Chamundi Hills. On that day my cousin Vivek and I had visited Chennakesava Devastana at Somanathpur and then come here. Purpose of the visit was to see the big Nandi. We got off the bus on the main road, walked 2 km to reach the steps connecting the base to the hill top. We climbed the steps under a blazing Sun.

My wish to see Nandi closely was fulfilled. It's truly a magnificent creation. Seated on a pedestal, the giant Nandi is a sweet looking calf with a chubby face and big eyes. Unlike other the other big Nandi idols such as Lepakshi Nandi or Basavangudi Nandi, this Nandi seems to be soaked in oil. I think Nandi is bathed in oil during some festival, probably a Enne Snana.

To my knowledge, Lepakshi Nandi is the largest monolithic Nandi in southern India (if not the whole of India). The next largest seems to be Chamundi Betta Nandi followed by Basavangudi Nandi and Nandihalli Nandi.

After Nandi darshan. we went up to the summit, visited Chamundi Devastana. I think we had to wait for an hour or so to get a darshan of Chamundidevi.

From Chamundi Betta we returned to Mysore and took a bus back to Bangalore.
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Gokak Falls

November 19, 2000

We were at Gokak for a day for a cousin's wedding. On the wedding morning we planned to see the famous waterfall. The town's KSRTC bus-stand was almost opposite to our lodge. We took a bus to the waterfall. Even though its such a famous tourist destination, the place wasn't tourist friendly. We moved around a bit and found a good view point. That's Deepak pointing out birds to Appaji.

This is the hanging bridge; it was a different experience to walk across it, swinging lightly as we walked along with local people. I feel it's a great combination of nature's wonder and man's creation; a lovely water fall and a beautiful bridge.

People say that Gokak Falls is Niagara Falls of India. While Niagara Falls is U-shaped, Gokak Falls is almost straight. Sizes are incomparable. The only common feature is both waterfalls are sheer drops.

We got off from the bridge and went down to the riverbed which is a massive bed of rocks. It was scary to stand on the smooth rocks and look over the edge.

There are plenty of cotton gins on this hill and cricketer Sunil Gavaskar’s father used to be an employee of one of the mills here.

The visit was a short and sweet one. I think that was the only time Appaji and Deepak visited this place.

PS: I revisited this in Sept 2010 with a colleague. The places we saw that day were Belavadi, Sogal Kshetra, Gokak Waterfall and Sirsangi.

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Volvo FH12 and MAN Tractors

I'm an admirer of big machinery, mobile or stationary. Even as a kid I would be captivated by trucks, trains, planes, industrial machines and what not. On the road I would look at trucks more than cars. And if the truck was a long one, I mean a trailer with a lot of tires I would forget everything else. They are beautiful sight to look at; either parked or while they crawl or cruise on a highway.

The first time I saw a Volvo on road was in the year 2000 on NH4 near Chitradurga. It was an handsome looking machine, nothing like I'd seen earlier. We stopped by to see it closely. Many years later, I got a chance to visit Volvo factory at Hoskote near Bangalore… not once but many times and an opportunity to work with the engineers there. I also got an opportunity to see a fleet of Volvo tipper in action at a coal mine in Ramagundam area. This tractor is Volvo FH12, FH12 means high cabin, 12 liter engine.

During the same journey, on the same stretch, some-where near Hiriyur, we saw two MAN tractors. These tractors looked like ancient warriors compared to the FH12.

These powerful tractors were towing 16-axle (8 wheels in each axle) trailers loaded with massive transformers weighing close 100 tonnes, more or less. The average speed at which they travel could be 10kmph. They are led by scouts on bikes and trailed by an escort car. These things don't cruise, they crawl.
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Bathi Hill

Davangere’s my father's home town. This house was built by my grandfather in the early 1960s. Now, the house is not there, I mean it was demolished couple of years since I shot this picture.

This is Sri Revana Siddeshwara Devastana, also called Bathi Siddappa Gudi since it's situated on Bathi Gudda. This picture was shot in 1995, before the temple's renovation.

The temple is located half-way up Bathi hill. At the hill's base is the village of the same name. This place is about 6km from Davangere on the way to Harihar. Davangere & Harihar can be called as twin cities with just 12km separating them. The hill offers a nice view of the surrounding mostly flat terrain. Green fields, few ponds and lakes and more hills in the distance. Evenings are good time to spend there; enjoy cool breeze and sunsets.

Below photo was shot during the renovation, probably early 2000s.

During one of the earlier visits when I was about 6 or 7 years old, Appaji, Dipi and I had walked half way around the hill to a cave. It's a small cave, seemed like naturally formed, at the same elevation as the Siddappa Gudi. On the way, I remember Appaji telling us that a lion lived in the cave when asked if any animal lived there. That was the first time I ever saw a cave. During another visit with a group of relatives, we went up the hill beyond the temple. The upper part of the hill is ragged with a lot of outcrops, making the climb unsafe. We weren't dressed for that kind of an adventure. We gave up after a 15 minute climb and returned to the temple.

Here's a short video of the temple shot in March 2013 and the link to the blog post published in 2019 - Doddabathi Revana Siddeshwara Gudi.

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The Power of Dreams

I love this song!



To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know
If I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
To reach the unreachable star!

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bicycle ride to Bannerghatta

May or June 1984

Skanda, C V Nagendra, and I planned a trip to Bannerghatta, a 44 km ride, in the first week of our summer vacations. This would be our first trip outside Bangalore on our own.

I had an Olive Green colored Humber bicycle and my friends had their Atlas and Hero bicycles. We planned a great deal and worried what we would do if we got a flat tire or a brake failure as they were a big problem!

We packed bread, home-made tomato jam and water in glass bottles. We left early, riding leisurely occasionally stopped by to catch our breath. Beyond the city limits, road was flanked by woods. It was peaceful and the air was fresh. The peace was occasionally disturbed by dark smoke bellowing buses and, trucks laden with sand, granite or bricks. We reached Bannerghatta by 10 or 10-30 AM. First thing we did was to park he bicycles and eat breakfast. Then we spent time looking around the zoo and then we left to the small granite hill near-by. We explored the small granite hill near by with an ancient temple (Champakadhama Devastana) at the base (this was my second visit). By 3 or 3-30 we decided to head back home. We reached home safely and without a flat tyre... not really an adventurous trip.

Looking at the traffic now on the same stretch of road, it’s a complete contrast. The green jungle is concrete jungle, peaceful ambiance has been replaced by chaos & noise and the air laden with dust & smoke. How man destroys tranquility in the name of development!

In the summer of 1986, a week or two after PUC-1 exam, another friend and I did Bangalore-Mysuru-Bangalore on our sports bicycles!

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NCC Camp at Annie Besant Park

It’s a permanent venue for NCC camps. I spent 11 days here with my friends and PUC I class-mates from PES College. This was an opportunity for us to learn life away from the comforts and luxury of home. We reached Doddaballapura by train and from there we were transported to the camp area by one of the military trucks.

Tents big enough to accommodate 15 grown-ups were pitched in a huge square with an open ground in the center. Every tent had a snake pit around them. The first day, we were read out the camp rules and allowed to settle in our respective tents. We explored the park out of curiosity. Found a couple of bore wells and water taps, our source for water to drink and wash. We discovered there were no bathrooms or toilets, Indian Army wanted us to be real close to nature.

This was the first time I slept in a tent, with just a mat on the earth. Wind was blowing like crazy through the night and our tent had a nice tear in a corner, right next to me. I hardly slept through the night. The next morning, we were woken up early. It was cold and we had to wash with cold water… ooohaaahah! What an experience!

We all assembled in the quadrangle, dressed in our uniforms. We went for a cross country jog and then exercised, after which we had a short break during which we had breakfast and relaxed. Then came the drill session… Attention! Baye mood! Dhaine mood! Piche mood! By the left quick march!! left-left-left-right-left... look straight, swing your arms high, left-left-left-right-left... keep your knees straight, dig your heels into the ground… Oh man! The Gurkha officers made us spend double the energy of what their food gave us. The sessions never seemed to end. Most of us were just waiting to hear 'squad-halt!', 'stand-at-ease' and 'disperse'. We were served three meals a day and we could choose between veg and non-veg. Food was no way near to home food but not bad too.

Most of the officers were friendly but strict. I remember there were three ‘Chatri’s. And in our college group, there were three Prasads. Babu Prasad, Skanda Prasad and me. The Gurkhas asked us if we were cousins and we asked them if they were brothers. My other tent mates were Gurudutt M P, Ramesh P, Bharath, Sridhar...

One morning, our officer made us jog down to the Doddaballapura Railway Station, it was a deserted little place with hardly any activity. We exercised on the tarmac road with a few local people watching us with amused expressions. On the way back to the camp, again jogging, we stopped every half kilomater and made to push ups or sit-ups or any activity to sap our energies out. Most of us were hungry and just waiting to reach the camp food area. What a morning that was! The camp was not just drills or exercising, we were given tasks to make us get used to hard work like watering plants, levelling the dirt path within the camp area for which we had to dig with spades and move dirt from a near by spot. We fetched water from a bore well and sprayed the dirt path we had repaired. The officers never ran out of ways to kep us busy... One of the nights, four of us were asked to watch the food material store room. I remember how we struggled to stay wake in the cold weather till morning.

After a week or so, one after-noon, I got a surprise. Dad, Mom and Dipi had come to see me. They stayed for few minutes, 15-20 minutes and left. Dad gave me a bundle of snacks which got over in no time.

One of the days, a day trip to the near-by Nandi Hills was organized. We were dropped off on the main road at the base of the hill, given breakfast and asked us to take the road up. A 8km trek. It was fun! We made it to the summit in about 2 hours. We explored the hill and it’s fort and ruins and assembled back at a pre-designated time and spot expecting the trucks to be there to take us down. No! We were asked to climb down the steps!! Most boys started complaining pain and few experienced cramps by the time we reached the base. That was not the end, we had to trek 4kms of rough terrain to reach the trucks. With the sun blazing down, mouths dry and stomachs growling… You are in the army now!

Our camp had a small open air theater in natural settings with granite slab benches for seating an audience of about 300. The stage area was sheltered with Bougainvilla creeper and other small trees. On the tenth evening, couple of senior army officers were present for the closing… not a ceremony, whatever you call it …who gave away prizes and gave short speeches. I revisited the place sometime 1996 with Gulli.

No beds. No electricity. No hot water. No bath for eleven days!! When I got back home, my hot water bath lasted one hour.
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Bhagawathi Tea Estate

Sometime between December 1985 and February 1986

I got permission from my Dad to go on a business (actually a service trip) with two uncles and a service engineer to rectify a nagging problem in a weighbridge supplied by our company, EFGE Load Cells to Bhagawathi Tea Estates, Wynad, Kerala. EFGE is pronounced FG, which means ‘foil gauge’, a delicate little strain sensor.

We left Bangalore in our HM Ambassador Mark III by 6 30 pm heading towards Mysore. On the outskirts my uncles picked up few beer bottles. After a while, one of my uncles, handed me an open bottle and asked me to have. What?? I was like… Anyway, I tasted the cold beer and liked it. I went real slow. I enjoyed my first bottle of beer. We broke our journey at Mysore and decided to continue the next morning.

The next morning, we had dosa for breakfast at a real tiny place in the narrow streets of old Mysore city. The dosa just melted the moment it landed on my tongue. This is the most memorable dosa I ever tasted. We got with our journey… Gundlupet, Sultan Battery… and we reached Wynad some time afternoon. The weather there was hot and humid… typical for a tea estate. I guess we did not work much, may be just a cursory check of the weighbridge. That night we had wine, and I had some and liked the taste. The color was wonderful and taste was excellent. As it is, grape juice was one of my favorite. We had a good dinner and peaceful sleep in the silent hills.

We started the new day with typical Kerala style tea served in glasses and after a while was Kerala breakfast. I think it was ‘Pattu’ with Bengal gram and 'Appam'. Every morning our guest house cooks served us different dishes of Kerala. Real expert cooks they were. For me it was more of a holiday… while my uncles were trying to sort out the weigh bridge problem. I walked around the estate through the tea shrubs, up and down the slopes. From one point I looked down towards our guest house and then to its left further down the hill, a little stream flowed in the valley with little houses next to it, children played around while the women washed clothes in the stream. Typical story book scene it was.

This is where I first saw tea leaf picking. It was a women’s job, they carried huge woven cane baskets on their backs and dropped leaves into them as they chose and picked the leaves from the shrubs. Once the baskets were filled, they carried them down to the factory area where the leaves and weighed and wages paid accordingly. One of the days, the factory manager showed us around the plant. It was interesting to see how raw leaves were washed, dried, dehumidified and turned into dust and then graded and packed. The place was full of managers… AM, DM, EM, FM, GM, etc. I can recall few; Accounts, Deputy, Estate, Factory and General.

Not sure if it was the second or third evening at the estate; we were invited to the GM’s bungalow for drinks. Whisky was offered and I declined it, I was not sure if I could handle it. The GM was an ex-army person and cordial to us. I think, the same evening, my uncles decided to go to a nearby town to fetch drinks and on the way back a big stone hit the underside of our Ambassador damaging the oil sump. Back at the guest house, the booze session was little wild with one of the uncles in real high spirits.

Work on the weigh bridge was going nowhere and the managers were getting impatient with us. After several rounds of discussions over phone with my Dad, it was decided that we head back home, leaving the job incomplete. Somehow nothing was going well… no progress on work, bad remarks from the customer and a damaged car. Our journey back home was a real drag; because of low oil pressure the engine was damaged and we drove real slow... literally limped back.

If not for anything else, this trip introduced me to the world of booze. I had the confidence to handle it while most of friends had not even touched it. Years later I gave up drinks, have remained a teetotaler.
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Bridge across Tupri Halla

Tupri Halla is one of the tributaries of Benni Halla which in turn is a major tributary of river Malaprabha. This bridge is situated across Tupri Halla besides Sri Madiwaleshwara Mata near Garag. This is a relatively recent construction yet it looks like a bridge built during British rule. The arches give the bridge a majestic look.

 

These photos were shot in August 2008. Good rainfall had fed the stream which had eroded its banks at quite a few spots.

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Naldurg Fort

Riding between Bijapur and Bidar (I think some where after Solapur), Gulli and I stopped by to talk to these local kids. They were walking back home after school. Our conversation was ragged with broken Marathi and Hindi.

In the background is the formidable Naldurg fort. Even though we passed by its entrance we did not venture inside. I regret my decision to skip it. Hoping to visit this fort some time in the future.

That's my Hero Honda Splendor. Great bike it was. We got 70+ kilometers per litre of petrol riding mostly between 50 to 60 kmph and occasionally touching 80 kmph. Splendor was smooth, effortless and efficient through out our 14 day trip around Karnataka covering 2500km.

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Kittur Rani Chennamma memorial

Once while passing through Bailhongal, Mahadevappa Gajarappa of Hangaraki showed us Kittur Chennamma's memorial. People believe that this is where her mortal remains are buried. However, I'm not sure if this is the brave queen's tomb, or if it just a memorial.

180 years after her death, it is still not clear if she died as a prisoner in 1829, or if she was let off and died at an old age.

To see paintings of the brave warrior queen visit this post- Kittur Rani Chennamma.
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Byadgi Chilly Market

I used to frequent Byadgi APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) with my colleagues during the years 1999 & 2000 to setup an electronic weigh bridge. The work dragged on due to the staff's pathetic attitude. Many times I felt they spoke as though carrying out their duty was like doing a favor. We had to put up with a lot of nonsense. Anyway, this is the weighbridge site, one corner of the market yard. 

Under normal circumstances, a weigh bridge could be installed in 3 months but here it took almost a year and two dozen trips to the site. This picture was taken after handover.

Over the months we saw different seasons of the market. I think  the peak is during the last quarter i.e. Oct to Dec. The market traded in other food grains but chilly was the king here. During the peak of the chilly season, it was red everywhere; massive heaps of red chilly, women sitting in groups cleaning & sorting, and men filling, weighing sacks, and loading the sacks into trucks.

This is my favorite picture. This young man has climbed into the sack so that his weight stuffs the sack densely. Despite the pungent odor, he was all smiles when I aimed the camera at him.The place, not just the market, the entire town buzzes with activity; trucks, bullock-carts, material, people, dogs, pigs... The market air itself is chilly flavored.

This where I first saw how tough a farmer's life can be. They toil and sweat in the fields for months to get a good yield. Then bring their produce to the market to be harassed by the heartless APMC staff. Everyone of us, should know what a farmer goes through to feed the country and learn to value food. Never ever take food & water for granted.

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Horsley Hills

This was one of the wildest trips I'd ever been. I picked the place out of Andhra map and planned the trip... route, schedule, logistics & all. The planned route was Bangalore - Kolar - Madanapalle - Horsley Hills, approximately 160 km, estimated travel time was 3.5 hours. Plan was to reach our destination by 9-30 and have dinner there. The group: Satish, Prithvi, Ganesh, Mama (my maternal uncle Praveen).

We took off at 6PM on three two-wheelers- my Kinetic Honda scooter and two Yamaha RX 100 bikes. We were carrying one 3-person tent, booze, soft drinks, and a 12" Rambo style knife. We had hardly travelled 60km, these guys stopped (against my wishes) at a road-side bar & restaurant on the outskirts of Kolar. The booze session started, followed by dinner. When we settled the bill it was 10PM. Great!

Our journey resumed, we continued towards our destination... Madanapalli & Horsley Hills. We crossed Karnataka-Andhra border and after few kilometers, we had to stop at a fork, unsure of which road to take. And the map was confusing me even more. So we waited for some vehicle to come by... a KSRTC bus came, Satish waved his arms at the driver but the bus didn't even slow down. We were puzzled at the driver's behavior. After a few minutes, an Ambassador car came by, this guy stopped but a good 30 meters away from us. Satish ran towards the car and yelled which way to Madanapalle. The driver quickly told us to take the same road he was on and sped away. We were wondering at the drivers' impatience... it was Mama's doing- he waved the knife at the car driver and done the same at the bus too. Also, who would risk stopping for a gang on a desolate road? Trusting the Amby driver's response, we took the right side of the fork.At 2-30 AM all of Madanapalli was sleeping except for two guys loading some stuff from a shed into a car on the main street. We asked them directions for Horsley Hills which was easy to remember. The road to Horsley Hills was superb, we rode like maniacs, my Kinetic Honda maxed out in 90s, the bikes cruised at 100. Road on the hill was narrow, full of turns and hairpin curves, we rode carefully. We reached the hill-station around 3 AM, the place was sleepier than Madanapalli, not a soul to be seen anywhere. Not a single sign board saying "lodge." The hill was dark, cold & misty. We were exhausted, gave up looking for a lodge. We found a level grassy patch next to the road, pitched the tent.

Prithvi, Ganesh, Praveen, Satish

The tent was too small for five grown-ups and especially with four drunks. I did not sleep at all... foul air, snores, stones poking from beneath and cold air. I was just waiting for dawn and the moment I saw light, I asked these guys to wake up. No response. I just crawled on them out of the tent! Freshened my mouth with 'Sprite' and started looking for a tea-joint. Nothing in sight. We rented a guest house for few hours, had tea and freshened up. By the time I finished my bath, Mama, Prithvi and Ganesh had started a booze session! At 9 30 AM!

Drunk at 10-30 AM

We rode around the place... not a very big hill-station but a beautiful one. It's named after a British collector W. D. Horsley. Andhra's highest point is situated at Horsley Hills. We climbed up and finally reached a point where we had to climb through a tree's branches to cross-over to another rock. Only Prithvi and I went right to the top. Mama and Ganesh were too drunk for the adventure and Satish isn't a sport for such adventures.

We did some more sight-seeing before we decided to head back. The down-hill ride was fun, we free-wheeled most of the way, leaning heavily through the curves.

Dog eying Prithvi

This time, we took Madanapalle-Chitamani road instead of Kolar. At Chintamani we stopped lunch, we tasted one of the best Andhra meal at a mess. Our return journey had plenty of stops, there was no dearth for reasons to stop.

An unforgettable trip!!

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Tungabhadra at Hampi

These two pictures were shot in Feb-1996, during the biking trip around Karnataka.

A lonely Basava watching Tungabadhra. The hill on the horizon is Anjanari Betta the birth place of Hanuman.

This is the still waters at Chakra-Theerta.

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Shishunala Sharif's tomb, Shishuvinahala

Santa Shishunala Sharif's mortal remains are buried in this grave at Shishuvinhnala village in Haveri District.

Shishunala Sharif, the was a XVIII Century philosopher and poet. His compositions conveyed profound messages, they were easily accepted by common people. Sharif was a disciple of Guru Govinda Bhat, Sharif's dedication towards his Guru was an example to look upto.

I visited Shishunala again years later, see how Shishunala Sharif's tomb had changed.
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a collage of Journeys across Karnataka

This is a collage was created sometime 2003 with pre-digital era photos shot by me.

Going clockwise, starting from the top left image-
1. Savandurga as seen from Bangalore
2. Rapids in Cauvery at Mekedatu, 100km from Bangalore
3. Sunflower, somewhere between Badami and Jamkhandi
4. Bidar fort
5. Three friends at Chikkasiddarabetta
6. Ramdevarabetta, Ramnagar near Bangalore

I had made a photo gallery and run a slideshow with Irfanview. These images were part of the photo gallery.

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memories of Ramagundam visit

This was sometime in 2003.

Praveen and I had come to Ramagundam to try an experiment on Volvo tippers operating in one of the coal mines of Sengareni Colleries. We got a chance to ride in one of the tippers.

We rode an unladen tipper when we went into the open-pit mine, had it loaded with dirt, and returned to the surface. While we waited for the tipper to be loaded, I looked up at the walls of the pit, 100m high, it was scary when a couple of pebbles rolled down. The tipper was loaded in a couple of minutes- quick job by a Volvo backhoe loader. The return ride was slower for obvious reasons... a loaded truck climbing steep gradients. With both side-screens raised shut, the cabin was silent, engine sound was a deep hum.

In the below image, the black stripes are coal deposits.

The objective of our visit was to weigh the tipper and find a way to prevent overloading. The solution we were trying was rather complex and unsuccessful.

We went up a man made hill created by dumping the OB (over burden). The tipper has to reverse very carefully, stop at the edge and lift the bucket... a very risky job.

During the three day stay, we took off few hours to see Godavari. The water, as you see was less flowingly sparsely creating tiny sandy islands. We waded through the thigh deep waters and reached one of the islands. To my surprise I saw a Shiva Linga made of sand. The night before it was Maha Shivaratri, some local person had made a sand Shivalinga in a river dune. Having seen our legendary heroes worship sand Shivalinga in Amar Chitra Katha books, it was my childhood dream of making one. However, I was happy one. A Shiva Linga made of sand is called Valukeshwar.

It was a great feeling to be walking halfway through a mighty river like Godavari. Of course it was a season when the river was timid enough. On the left is my maternal uncle Praveen and on the right is Manikantan, a colleague from Volvo India.

I picked small white pebbles unique to this river... smooth surface, white and light. I noticed my shadow under water... it had a ghostly aura. If you observe it, you can see part of me, my reflection and my shadow.

Though our experiment was unsuccessful, the trip was not a waste since our ties with Volvo got stronger.

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Pink trumpet bloom at Bangalore University

We were on the way to Savandurga that afternoon. Gulli and I had stopped on the main street of Bangalore University waiting to catch up with Deepak, Girish and Rajesh. We had tender coconut water and chatting away when these flowers caught my attention. The blue-white sky-cloud was a great background for the pretty pink trumpets. Pink trumpets can be seen in many parts of Bangalore. The most popular spot being the circular garden close to the State Central Library inside Cubbon Park.

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Monkey mums and babies

Here we have three monkey mothers huddled together with their babies. This picture was shot sometime in the last quarter of 1998 at Badami cave temples site.

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flora at Ramakrishna Ashram, Bangalore

I had stepped into Ramakrishna Ashram after many many years. Amma was with me that day. We spent about half an hour at this serene place. The garden is well maintained with a lot of colorful flowers. These pictures were shot in Sony Ericsson mobile camera and uploaded to Flickr.

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