The Visit that wasn't...

So we finished Chandragiri and our lunch etc and started back around 3 p.m. We were debating if we should cook or eat our dinner out when our driver suggested we visit Melukote. Others hadn't heard of it but I had and I said fine, when he said it wasn't far. But soon we googled it and found it wasn't near either(50 kms) and P wanted to go back. But I stuck to my guns because I thought there was hardly any chance of our doing a standalone Melukote ever. Anyway...we crossed over to Mandya and finally landed in front of Cheluvanarayanaswamy temple which is at ground level. It's an enormous task to wake a child up from her sleep and make her stand in a long queue to see the god, especially when she thinks she's seen enough gods for the day. I managed it somehow, swallowing her insults that I was a lover of all temples in the world, trying to reason with her and in the process attracting all sorts of unwanted attention from people around. We managed to pull our zombie-like figures in front of God in due time and I was praying that he didn't mind.

We got into the car and realised that by some divine design, my greed and indecision, we had agreed to also visit the Yoga Narasimha temple on top of the hill. Steps weren't many but it suddenly felt like we all had left our legs back in Chandragiri! Every step looked gigantic and now the whole of household was against me, giving me piece of their mind. I was feeling guilty(towards God), I got angry and said they could forget it happened and I would go up alone. But guilt is contagious and very soon I had Rishi joining me. I know that P would've been there too but he had to give company to Anu, who was happily sitting there and she doesn't know the word guilt.

So Rishi and I trudged up and reached the top braving the meddling monkeys but God was having the last laugh. The temple was not open despite the time and there was already a long line waiting outside. You should be there to understand what that feels like. Anyway, we were done. Rishi said, "Aayi, it's best we pray right here and return" and I couldn't agree more.

Our driver was flabbergasted at our attitude and like a tour guide he pointed in the direction of some more places. But I could do no more and I just swept my hand towards Anu and said let's go home. I've lost the ability to generate devotion towards kalyanis(temple ponds) if they are not clean.

Aasman ke Neeche...

Recovering from our trip to ShravanabeLagoLa. But no complaints, really. Just the happy feeling of having cramped calf muscles after a long time, that's all. I wasn't sure if everybody would make the 600-odd steps to the top and back in a good shape but we did well. Of course many senior citizens to inspire and shame us if the need arose but we were quite self-sufficient. The thing is the first few hundreds are very steep and uneven so most of us lose our breath in that stretch itself. But the population wasn't much so we could take a break occasionally and look back and feel good and then proceed. Steps beyond the Vadegal Basadi are better for foothold and we reached Bahubali fairly quickly after that. That's the only place which feels congested and crowded but it is still much more peaceful than a regular Hindu temple. But either I had overestimated the height or the construction happening around the statue for next month's festival hampered the effect, Bahubali still looked small to me.

I liked Chandragiri more. Not because the climb is smaller but may be because it's much more secluded, if that's possible. There are Basadis to many Tirthankaras and each one is different, with some beautiful carvings. It's a vast area with these ancient small constructions scattered here and there and it is a happy feeling. I guess spending evenings there would be a beautiful experience, only we didn't have the time. Anu was tired by now and even the sight of an artist drawing the monuments couldn't keep her enthused for long. I met a group of North-Indian Jain women who were mostly reverential, chanting something every time they entered a Basadi. I think one of them also muttered, "All gym-going Tirthankaras!" but I'm not so sure.

Akkana Basadi and Shantinatha Basadi still on the to-do list. Next time.

After all this, we come back and read the next day that some of these Jain monks are loath to use toilets so there is manual scavenging to help them. This is shameful and disappointing.

Freak Control

Yesterday's conversation at More superstore -

Anu : Baba...
P : Yes Mum...
Anu : Can we buy this juice bottle? We'll need it for the journey tomorrow...
P : Hmm...But did you check with Aayi? What did she say?
Anu : But Baba, you are the eldest in the family. You should decide what can be bought, right? You just tell her we are buying it!
Baba : Ha ha, but I'm not so sure!

Then the 'request' was duly brought to my notice and was promptly rejected.

Far from the Madding Crowd

I'm wary of crowds. But it's tough to escape from it while traveling locally or even walking on the footpaths of Kandivali. I have scraped through in all these places but my worst encounter happened when I was about 13, in a religious place. I had gone with my neighbours to Karinja and there was some festival that day. It was second half of the day and by the time we decided to head back, it was sunset. There was a big crowd descending down the steps, all in a bit of a hurry but not unruly. Poornakka and I were separated from others but there was no need to worry; we knew where the car was parked and we just had to join the others there. So we were cautiously moving along with the crowd when I felt someone groping my chest. First I thought it was by accident; there were just too many people around. But it wasn't because it happened again! I was shocked and I moved myself here and there but there wasn't much space anyway. But the hand just wouldn't go away and I couldn't even make out which face it belonged to. I desperately clutched Poornakka's hand. I don't know if she understood but she moved me ahead of her now and we descended the remaining steps quietly. I was shaking all over when we reached the car. The day hadn't ended , though. The driver of the car was a distant relative of our neighbours, a young man who had taught us a few new games also. Now either he went crazy too or he was responding to some pathetic look on my face, he squeezed my palm as I was boarding the car. I looked at him without comprehension and sat inside limply. The next day I was down with fever.

Crowd also gave me a big fright this time around when we went on holiday. We were at Kacheguda station waiting for the train at 7:10 in the morning. The fools didn't announce the platform till 6:50 and once they did, the whole of Janata Janardan was on the overbridge, in a hurry to reach the train. We were just some 15 feet away from the steps to the platform, lugging the luggage when we realized it wasn't going to be easy. A train had just arrived on the adjacent platform and the crowd from there was climbing up the same steps and jostling with us to get to the exit! For a few minutes the whole of the place was in utter chaos, angry words flying in every direction, every step taking ages and there was no escape. I didn't care if I missed the train, I even wanted to throw away the bags but there was no space for that too; all I wanted was to go out of the crowd unharmed, which looked so tough. All the stampede incidents I had heard of were dancing in my head now. And the kids! Rishi was somewhere ahead and I could barely see his head if I craned my neck long enough. Anu was clinging to my arm but she looked better than me. I managed to pull ourselves to the side, near the wire mesh for support and it felt a little better. I even shouted badly at a burly man trying to push others and go ahead. I must've really panicked because I don't remember doing that to a stranger ever before. Anyway, after a while things looked up a little. Somebody ahead held the people from the opposite direction at bay and I could see from up that people had started reaching the platform. But it still took me another 10 minutes to be there and with people breathing down my neck, it took all my strength to climb down those 30-odd steps with a bag on my shoulder, another in one hand and Anu on the other hand. We reached our compartment at 7:10 and the train started some minutes later.  But I am really proud of the crowd that day; things could've been far worse otherwise.

We are going to meet the great Bahubali tomorrow. 

Lost Connections

Whenever I think of this song, I think also of Yashodatte, who was our neighbour for a part of my childhood. Her husband, a banker, had moved to our place a couple of years ago from Sirsi and may be because she was naturally a friendly person or because the dialect was the same, she soon became  my mother's best friend. This was the time when Pappa was a highly active member of Junior Chamber(JCI) and occasionally even the family would attend some of the meetings. Most of them were all talk and we children spent the time playing outside the hall but this one time there was a singing competition. It was across age groups and yet I would've fancied my chances as I finished my song but unfortunately, the congregation was larger than usual that day. And most of the new faces turned out to be excellent singers and I was steadily downgrading my ranking when I saw Yashodatte get up to go next. I was shocked and looked at my mother for support but she was only smiling indulgently. But what the hell, I hadn't known Yashodatte to be any singer except to make something sound funny and here she was, smiling, going up there and singing "Ede tumbi haaDidenu..." in front of this august crowd! But she wasn't too bad after all, seemingly happier being there and singing for herself than giving me any competition so I had kind of settled down, subconsciously lip-syncing the familiar words when she dropped another bomb. She just stopped after the first stanza, having forgotten the next one's wordings! Soon people started giggling but I just couldn't. I was seriously humiliated now; she was like family and I was almost cursing her for standing there scratching her head(really!), smiling sheepishly and making a fool of herself instead of just removing her sorry figure to her place. It was not to be. Somebody prompted the words and she came back only after finishing the song, not really aware how much she had mortified me in those five minutes and made me forget all about the damn outcome. Anyway, as we were returning home my mother and her had a good laugh and I think I laughed too, finally. 

Graffiti with...Pu..nct...ua..tion...

There is a Bollywood saying that if you sneeze, it means someone is thinking of you. The way I'm sneezing right now is like someone is willing me to fly to her side at this instant. This is not done!!

Boxed

I don't know why people have to presume that South Indian women do not understand Hindi. Yes, I don't speak it outside home, I have problem figuring its Ki and Ka and I may struggle against complex words but the guy doesn't know any of this and yet he translates "yeh screen chalega ki nahin" in the next breath for me.

There is no better confidence-booster than Anu. Her praises are only in superlatives, like "Aayi, your this thing is the best, you are the most whatever, you have the sweetest..." and stuff. I know this shall pass but for now, I'm making hay.

Hind-sight

Child1: What did they teach you in today's music class?
Child2: Some song which is supposed to be very famous. But the lyrics are so silly I really don't know how it became so famous!
Child1: Must be because it is so silly.

My backside is putting on weight. Of course other places too but...anyway, very disappointing considering how I was just some time ago...I guess 5-6 years already!!

History tells you only one outcome. Others are only possibilities.

Dressing for the Occasion

If you wear your dress inside out by mistake but then you find out and yet don't change it the whole day, it must mirror the colour of your mind, right?

Staying Positive

Thanks to a spate of health worries, Anu seems to think that she is a weak person. I've got to make her feel better.

Anu joined keyboard classes last week. But her expectations are very high and my biggest challenge is to keep her engaged.

Selfie-Doubts

My selfie camera has stopped working. May be out of boredom because I may have taken 10 selfies in a year. I'm in awe of people who take one for every other activity of theirs. I'll never have that confidence.

As a step towards my new year goals, I thought I should watch Republic TV. I found the channel with trouble and I really had trouble keeping my cool for 10 minutes! I presume it'll be a life-changing experience for me if I keep up with it. The one plus was that I discovered a junior of mine on a panel! It seems he's now the national spokesman of SP! I have a hard time believing it still.

I start the new week with an escalation call tomorrow, though I don't know why I should be on that call. My life seems full of such happinesses.

Reactions

Rishi is angry with us that we didn't vaccinate him for Chickenpox. It opened up the pandora box, which is his vaccination record, a big showdown happened and finally it came down to who shouted the loudest and my husband always wins hands-down in such cases. But I am feeling guilty nevertheless.

I'm feeling pretty inspired by this Lisabeth Salander. Inspired to do what? Mmm...may be it's jealousy. What are you jealous of? ?? Her bike-riding skills I guess. I don't know...

Talking of Bond-girls, a part of my brain was screaming something was wrong when Daniel Craig was calling the bullet-graze painful. 

Blistering Day

Third day of chickenpox and Rishi's older blisters have begun to dry. Anu, for who her brother is friend, entertainer, mentor and tormentor, is finding it hard to cope with his confinement. Her legs wander listlessly towards his room every now and then, only to be rudely told by him to keep out. Today she pulled a chair near his door and they had some lengthy discussion about diseases and planets and don't know what else.

It seems V went to a Bata showroom nearby and asked for Hush Puppies. Don't know what the guy figured, he said they didn't have them because they were a family showroom!! 

Aching to Sleep

Rishi has got chickenpox, finally. And I'm so tired, I want to crash like Lawrence, after he brings Ghasim back to the camp.

Starting on the Wrong Note

The kind of negativity that is shown towards everything that journalists like Sagarika, Barkha, Rajdeep and writers like Guha post is just mindboggling and also a bit scary. It's like the social media has given voice to all the Mr. Hydes of the world and one just hopes they are Jekylls too.

It now brings me to my new year goals. I will try my best not to be biased against the current disposition and its supporters. I will try to see through their glasses. I will also be disciplined, will manage my time better, will take the kids out more, will eat and sleep better. And yes, all these things start from tomorrow because 5 days have not gone according to this new script but the next 360 will. Optimism!

Eye for an I

Padmavati is going to be renamed and released as Padmavat. In hindsight, it should have been the name in the first place considering that the 'legend' of Padmini started with Padmavat. But who knew, right? I was very angry with all the noise till I saw this photo where protesters are saying 'band' the movie. Now I understand their side of the story I think.