Among the destroyed negatives were of this vacation that K, our dear friend A and I had gone on several years ago. We took a road trip (K drove the entire time) to Hampi, Pattadakal, Badami, Aihole and of course Goa! We had spent three weeks traveling through villages in Karnataka taking pictures, painting and having an absolutely fabulous time. K and I were in that phase where we wanted to see and experience our country and not do anything touristy. Of course we moved to the United States so haven't had a chance to go to other parts of our country as we had planned. Now whenever we visit, it is only to see our families. It was quite an adventure as we negotiated our way through villages where the milestones were in Kannada, a language none of us could read or even speak. We found our way through because people are extremely friendly, kind and respond to furious waving of hands!
Anyway the above picture is taken at Hampi, which is located within Vijaynagara, which was the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. The above sculpture is of Narasimha, the fourth of the ten avatars of Vishnu, the Preserver and one of the icons of Hindu trinity. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the horizontal strip traversing across the knees of the sculpture. We asked questions and came to know that it was installed by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) because the sculpture couldn’t stand the test of time and this was constructed to render support so it does not disintegrate. It really bothered us because one would want to restore work so that the integrity of the original piece is maintained. This horizontal strip literally strips away the beauty. K and I are standing next to it, so you get an idea of the human scale. They also had a barrier installed because a lot of tourists vandalize these historic sites. I guess people don't value what they have unless it is taken away from them.
The above sculpture is of Nandi, the bull, which is found at the entrance to all Shiva temples. We captured locals sitting and gossiping on the steps blissfully unaware that they are being photographed. There were others who shied on spotting K with the camera. Gossiping in the compounds of temples, by wells, large trees in the center of villages are typical locations for social interaction in rural India.
22 comments:
it is unfortunate that in india we love to talk about our heritage and culture but turn a blind eye towards vandalisation of heritage structures.
@Magic eye:
After so many years of abuse; they have finally opened their eyes to the problem. The solution however is not that optimal.
Sorry about the lost pics, memories that will only stay on within us.
I have no pics of me from my teens till the point that I met *A*. There were a few esp of hikes in the Sahyadri ranges. I left them behind when I left India and my parents can't tell me where they are now.
Also it's my dad's place and I don't think I can go digging around the place for the few days we visit.
I have to agree that the disregard for places of cultural heritage are shocking. The ASI always used to be chronically underfunded. Not sure how it is now.
I have seen even less of India than you and like you, time now goes with family when we visit. But next time I hope to get out on my own a bit.
Sorry about the long rant.
@Sanjay:
Don't worry about the length of your comments. Memories do stay with us but get rekindled when you look at the images. When I look at at an old photo...I remember every little even associated with that moment.
These days I realized that I am forgetting a lot of things. I look at my class photographs and try and recollect people's names....I found out that with each passing years there are fewer people I remember.
My father lost negatives to our original photos when we moved. We never found them. Fortunately we had all the photos that I decided to scan last time I went to India. I am such a geek! Some I burned on a CD while the remaining are still on my sister's computer.
It is hard to squeeze in so many activities in so little time. There is one thing that I cannot do...thanks to the afternoon siesta hours in Pune....is to get to that store "Akurkar" that sells all classic Marathi songs. Everytime it is closed in the afternoons.
Forget the negatives for my pics. I never owned a camera till I left India. These are pics I would have loved to scan, but gotta find them first.
Heh. I don't get the whole some stores close in the afternoon thing for Pune.
BTW where are you from in B'bay, if its ok to ask?
I cannot deal with the afternoon siestas in Pune. I lived there for two years and it used to drive K and me around the bend! We were such typical Bombayites. We used to run to Bombay on friday evenings....brave the traffic and the stupid freeway construction. I hate those days!
I can email you my whereabouts in Inda. I want to maintain anonymity on the blog. I did email you where I live now so I wouldn't care to let you know where I lived before I came here!
Sandhyakali gharun leheen. Me tumchyaa email la respond hee kela. sai.speak me kvacheet vachtey hence the late response.
We have family in Pune in near Parvati and near the National Banking Institute and a couple of other places.
Sounds cool.
Mala gmail kamachya thikani vachta yet naahi.
Thanks
Krupaya "tumchyaa" cha wapar taalava. Me ajoon aajoba chya vayaacha naahi. Aani mala ithale "informality" aavadte.
Sanjay:
LOL....puneri style mhanalas...."Krupaya "tumchyaa" cha wapar taalava. Me ajoon aajoba chya vayaacha naahi"
BTW I had seen this sign outside some random home in Pune....it was so hilarious...."Krupaya padaatrane baher kadhun gharat sheeravey." and another sign below it which read "Krupaaya Bell ekdaach vajvavey amhi veejeche "bill" bharto"
K had no idea what "padaatrane" meant and we both started laughing out loud on the street.
I personally prefer saying "tu" to "tumhi" and love informality. However when in doubt I tend to be more conservative! With K I use "tumhi" only when I am being sarcastic, which being a Maharashtrian comes very easily to me ;-)
Lol@ the Pune sign. I have seen the one about footwear. But not the one about ringing the bell and electricity.
Is this Puneri too?
"Jevun ala asalach?
Oh ya *A* also uses tumhi when she is mad or being snarky! lol
Hey my peeps!! I can understand some Marathi you know:D I used to live in Belgaum with plenty of Marathas but cannot speak though!
I didn't know Pune and Mumbai Marathi are little different but there are many accents in Kannada too.
Hi Sai, how are you? I am back and dog tired.Who invented these "vacations"!!We have 100yr old temple in my grandfather's place but full of bats!It has beautiful carvings but if you try to go near it ,it stinks!I know what you mean.
Happy 2007!
LOL to *A*....when I am really mad I also address K as "Aaho aiklat ka".....which in reality is so polite but he knows exactly what that means!
Yes "Jevun ala asalach?" is puneri and so is "Chaha ghenarach na?" I am telling you it was hilarious living there! There were so many but I don't quite remember them now.
We lived very close to Film Institute. We had friends from Bombay who lived in Koregaon Park. The guy was a maharashtrian and his wife a Punjabi....she never got the marathi jokes (despite being fluent in marathi) that made the three of us laugh so much!
@Asha:
I am doing very well! I hope you enjoyed your vacation. Looking forward to more amazing recipes on your blog.
Speaking of Belgaum....you just made me crave for some "kunda."
On the above trip we went to Goa via Dharwad, where finally some guy on the street saw our license plates and gave us directions in Marathi! The route to Goa from the Dandeli forest is like paradise. I am such a huge fan of the Deccan!
I have driven by the film institute, more like driven by, since I don't drive in India.
Never lived in Pune, all associations are via *A*'s family.
I can imagine your friend not getting soem of the jokes. I am sure I won't get some of them since I have not lived there.
I have had Kunda once. I don't remember exactly what it is, but I loved it. It's also the name of a woman, a very Marathi name.
I don't drive in Mumbai at all...makes me nervous especially the rickshaws. K does as soon as he reaches there, which I think is amazing! What I love about Mumbai is the ability to take public transport. Of course I do that off-peak hours ;-)
LOL....Kunda is indeed a very Marathi name and Mukunda for guys. Another popular marathi name for guys is Makaranda.
I love Kunda too Sai!We used eat Bhelpuri and buys 1/2 kg Kunda and go home after a movie in Belgaum!
I haven't eaten Kunda in a long time but may be I will make some to post!:D Dharwad has the most famous Kunda makers and sometimes it's sold before 10am!:D
This place looks very calm &
quiet to me in pics....was it?
I would love to see rest of the
pics from your trip :)
Stay Beautiful...!!
@Asha:
I have never combined bhel puri with Kunda. Yes I have had "kunda" at Dharwad.
@Sugarlips:
Yes the place is very quiet and so beautiful. I heard (I may be wrong) that they shot part of the film "Guru" there.
Sai, first off, despite the horizontal bar, the pictures took my breath away! We always visit Bangalore on our trips back to India, so I will make sure I visit Vijaynagara the next time I'm there.
Secondly, how sad that K lost most of his precious pictures in the Mumbai floods, I have other friends that did, too and they are devastated! Makes me treasure the few pictures we have even more. Ever since going digital I find I am careless with our pictures - I don't always print copies and I don't have backups, all it will take for me to lose my pictures of the past 6 years will be a computer crash and I certainly don't want that.
Finally, so great to read some Marathi "spoken" between you and Sanjay- although I don't really understand or speak it, it makes me so darn nostalgic! I'm sorta familiar with Pune, lived at the Rajneesh ashram as a child for a short while. I remember eating a ton of shrewsbury biscuits!
Sorry for the ramble, Sai!
Hey Lotus:
Were your parents a part of Rajneesh commune? K and I used to go to eat in the vicinity of Rajneesh Ashram and we also used to go to Boat club for lunch every other day.
I absolutely love shrewsbury biscuits from Kayani Bakery. It is so funny...K and I would wake up at 6 AM, go for a walk and then get to Kayani as soon as it opened to get our shrewsbury, ginger biscuits and of course "kharee" biscuits too! The other thing I absolutely loved to do was go to "Vaishali" opposite Fergusson college for a Udipi breakfast!
Come to think of it....I seldom cooked in India. I knew how to but just never cared about it. K learnt how to cook when I came to the US to study and he had to fend for himself in India.
I must say US though taught me how to be self-reliant! In India if things were not going right, like for e.g. if I would fall ill, I would run to my parent's home.
Hi again, Sai!
Yes, for a very short while...I was very young then, but I do remember how beautiful Pune was and somehow the food always seemed to taste better there! :) When I travelled to Pune in my 20's many years later I was quite taken aback by the changes - it was no longer the laidback, calm Pune that I remembered but busy, trendy and also quite crowded. I would love to go back there for a visit some day. I can't remember trying ginger biscuits from Kalyani's - must put that on my "to do" list if and when I visit Pune again!
Lotus:
I agree, Pune was really beautiful in the 70s and 80s. BTW as a young kid I was so fascinated by the Hippies around the camp area.
Pune is still laidback compared to Bombay but is losing its charm. K and I go for a day or two everytime we visit.
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