where time stands still...
Mysore. where, in a large, many-roomed house, live an able and efficient 'nani' with hundreds of recipes up her sleeve and a gentle 'gran' (for grand dad) with as many stories up his. where large mango trees dot the garden and loud koels (cuckoos) infringe rudely into many an early morning conversation. where the tea is milky and the milk is slightly salty. where the rasam is redder and just a little tastier than my ma's. where the masala dosas have to be the color of tiger's skin (huLi banna, in kannada) and dehra dun friendships are stronger and more sacred than god. where cricketing days and club tennis rule empty electricity-less moments on the front porch steps... and the aroma of toasting fresh bakery bread and khara bun steal slumber each morning from the weariest of eyes.
yes, mysore is like that for as long as i have known it. the house has changed now to an older one (rk narayan used to live in this one) and the mango orchard is next door, but the conversations, the smells and the activities are still familiar and well beloved.
and so i headed to mysore for it was my nani-gran's 64th anniversary. yeah. 64th. amazing, no?
and i loved the fact that little had changed. my trip is never complete without a trip to the city market. a teeming, obnoxiously dirty place with rotten fruit, vegetables and floral refuse of all kinds at your feet, thank you. but i love the place. i shoot to comments like "hello, madam. where u from?" and i answer in kannada to their bewilderment. "nodo, picture naale paper nalli baratte." (look, man -- the picture will be in the papers tomorrow). no, no paper will be carrying the tomato seller's picture, sorry. i move on... a flower-seller eating from under a basket while she sells strings of jasmine to women and bargains at the same time. a basket of un-stalked asters of all colors sat right next to unnamable garbage, also of all colors. rows of rainbow hued rangoli powders skirted shops selling everything from diyas to supari. bananas on stalks hung from the ceiling on vines sanjana yelped in delight on seeing... "mummy, look! vines for swinging." no, doll. "mummy look! oranges. please buy some mommy, please please please." ok, Rs. 40/ kg. she ate 6 at home :) well worth it, no? she was tired tho and i aborted the trip and walked out home, making a mental note to come back one day with covered shoes to walk each aisle.
there is a change in sameness as well. each time i see mysore i notice more, something i did not pay attention to, before. this time it was the mosques. wow, didnt realize there were so many! mental note 2. come back and look at this side of mysore at leisure.
i loved looking down small alleyways in china & tibet. somehow i found evidence of reality there rather than in the manicured roadside houses. and i find myself having retained those eyes here in india too. small gullies fascinate me. mental note 3. collect all gully pictures and shoot more.
t.s. satyan. hey -- if you havent seen his photographs, i suggest you do. i went and met him. bought "alive and clicking" -- his autobiography and he autographed it for me. i was thrilled to bits. even at 81, his eyes danced and ideas skimmed in his head, igniting inspiration in me. "dosa in lhasa?" he asked, referring to my recounting... "you must write about it." mental note 4. write about the tibet trip before you forget. for those of you who were with me in tibet -- remember the little diary i was constantly writing in? well, i lost it. rats.
june 4th. time to get back to bangalore. sigh. mental note 5. come back to mysore with more time and more battery life in your camera.
and while i was away, many milestones happened.
June 2: Suche-Ashu and Shruti-Manish: Happy Anniversary!
June 3: Leya dolly, happy birthday -- wow, you are 2!
i guess time doesn't stand still for long.
yes, mysore is like that for as long as i have known it. the house has changed now to an older one (rk narayan used to live in this one) and the mango orchard is next door, but the conversations, the smells and the activities are still familiar and well beloved.
and so i headed to mysore for it was my nani-gran's 64th anniversary. yeah. 64th. amazing, no?
and i loved the fact that little had changed. my trip is never complete without a trip to the city market. a teeming, obnoxiously dirty place with rotten fruit, vegetables and floral refuse of all kinds at your feet, thank you. but i love the place. i shoot to comments like "hello, madam. where u from?" and i answer in kannada to their bewilderment. "nodo, picture naale paper nalli baratte." (look, man -- the picture will be in the papers tomorrow). no, no paper will be carrying the tomato seller's picture, sorry. i move on... a flower-seller eating from under a basket while she sells strings of jasmine to women and bargains at the same time. a basket of un-stalked asters of all colors sat right next to unnamable garbage, also of all colors. rows of rainbow hued rangoli powders skirted shops selling everything from diyas to supari. bananas on stalks hung from the ceiling on vines sanjana yelped in delight on seeing... "mummy, look! vines for swinging." no, doll. "mummy look! oranges. please buy some mommy, please please please." ok, Rs. 40/ kg. she ate 6 at home :) well worth it, no? she was tired tho and i aborted the trip and walked out home, making a mental note to come back one day with covered shoes to walk each aisle.
there is a change in sameness as well. each time i see mysore i notice more, something i did not pay attention to, before. this time it was the mosques. wow, didnt realize there were so many! mental note 2. come back and look at this side of mysore at leisure.
i loved looking down small alleyways in china & tibet. somehow i found evidence of reality there rather than in the manicured roadside houses. and i find myself having retained those eyes here in india too. small gullies fascinate me. mental note 3. collect all gully pictures and shoot more.
t.s. satyan. hey -- if you havent seen his photographs, i suggest you do. i went and met him. bought "alive and clicking" -- his autobiography and he autographed it for me. i was thrilled to bits. even at 81, his eyes danced and ideas skimmed in his head, igniting inspiration in me. "dosa in lhasa?" he asked, referring to my recounting... "you must write about it." mental note 4. write about the tibet trip before you forget. for those of you who were with me in tibet -- remember the little diary i was constantly writing in? well, i lost it. rats.
june 4th. time to get back to bangalore. sigh. mental note 5. come back to mysore with more time and more battery life in your camera.
and while i was away, many milestones happened.
June 2: Suche-Ashu and Shruti-Manish: Happy Anniversary!
June 3: Leya dolly, happy birthday -- wow, you are 2!
i guess time doesn't stand still for long.
posted by ara at 5:54 PM
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