Had been to Mysore – left on Saturday morning and came back yesterday night with Gajanan and some others.
Was an excellent trip… will update with more details if and as and when I find time.
Talkaad
On the way back, we visited Talkaad . It was a nice place – huge expanse of water and sand though nothing overly spectacular. There were plenty of temples covered by sand dunes but barely exposed, but we decided not to visit them. Others swam in the murky water but I preferred to take a ride on a coracle due to a slightly bleeding cut on my toe.
The boatman was a 73 year old man Mahadeviah with a toothy smile. Moving away from the shore, the water below had a lot of beautiful plants that looked like miniature trees – it looked just like flying over them in a helicopter – with small fishes darting around looking like birds. Mahadeviah had a very serene temperment – seemed to be very very content. He could speak and understand English as well, had passed SSLC “old scheme” [which Gajanan later said was pretty tough – a person failing one subject had to take all the subjects again].
I asked him about his lifestyle and he spoke about a lot of things – I could not help feeling a deep affection for him. I told him that my dad’s name was Mahadeviah too. He had been rowing people to and fro from 6 AM to 6 PM every day for the past many decades – no holidays – 7 days a week. They have a group of oarsman (ok actually they used poles as the water was shallow enough) and people take turns to ferry people around, and finally all the money is split among everybody.
When we came back, I insisted that he come with us again, though it was somebody else’s turn – later I wondered if I was being selfish because it might be too much of strain for two consequtive rides. Later on one of my friends insisted that he wanted to try controlling the coracle by himself – but Mahadeviah wasn’t very comfortable with it – I had to interfere as I had myself asked him myself earlier and got the same reply. It was Rs. 5 per person, but I was quite generous to him even though knowing it get pooled together for everybody. In a few moments he had dragged his coracle and disappeared among the crowds..
How I got to Mysore:
This is from the newsgroup, actually on Friday I had asked for a lift to see if anybody was going, nobody replied, but still…
———————-
22-Apr-2005, 1:40 PM
“Sanjay M” wrote in message
> I’m taking a wild gamble here since I dont lose anything – by any holistic
> chance if someone is travelling anywhere in this direction this
> evening/night…
>
> Neragathanahalli, Near T Narasipur (10 km from T Narasipur), Mysore
>
> …and can give me a lift – just one slim (…er… ok compared to a sumo
> wrestler) man with one backpack – please email me. I’ll be happy to share
> fuel expenses.
>
> As I cant leave office early in the day today, it would be a bit more
> challenging than I’m prepared to take on at the moment (maybe signs of
> aging), to go by public transport in the evening to Mysore and find my way
> around to the village at night.
>
> I’ll be meeting some friends and returning with them on Sunday.
>
> Cheers,
> Sanjay
>
> PS: needless to say, nothing will happen if I dont go also.
>
>
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22-Apr-2005, 5:46 PM
“Sanjay M” wrote in message
btw, holistic theory in action:
a colleague in my very own cubicle happens to be going to Mysore… but
tomorrow morning… still its ok 🙂
Cheers,
Sanjay
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