Day 5 Somreeta

Madhumalati.

A 7 year old is on a vacation, with her family, visiting her grandmother, at a small village, 6 or 7 kms away from Udupi.

And that day, there is an excitement in the air. She and her family, are off to visit her aunt, her bua - her father's eldest sister.

'Ghat vaili' she is referred to as , sometimes... the one who lives up the ghat.

They wait outside their home, to board a bus that will take them to Udupi. "The bus is here," she squeals in excitement. 'No, silly', says her father. 'This bus is going to Udyavara. That is the last stop. From there it will start again, and on its return trip to Udupi, it will pick us up'. This was the father speaking

The buses had names. Manujatha, Amba, Durgamba...

The bus takes them to Udupi. From their it's another bus ride. In a smaller bus, the front of which reminded me of a lorry. It was called the taxi.. if I remember right. The conductor at Udupi would try and fill the bus with as many people as he could. cram them in. The more the people, the more the tickets sold, the more money he would make. The frequency of this little bus was far and in betweeen and it was a long journey of about 4 hours.

The bus was small, so that it could navigate the hairpin bends of the Agumbe ghat. My aunt was referred to as the 'Ghat vaili'', she had her home, up and beyond the Agumbe ghats. Agumbe village was made famous by the makers of Malgudi Days, when they shot the series here.

The crammed bus would mean that many people sweating, that smell, mixed with that of the hair oil, talc, the fragrance of various flowers the women wore in their hair - champa, mogara, aboli..., then acrid smell of the bidi ... Oh it was overwhelming...

Adding to that were the sharp curves of the hairpin bends,. One was climbing up the hill.. steep roads, tight corners at the bends.. at every bend the standees would sway and end up leaning on one side and then the other.,, my nose would sometimes be hit by the little bags they carried on their wrists.

And then there was the retching!

The torture would end at Tirthalli,

From there, another bus ride to my aunt's village - Bileshvara. An hours ride. But no more hair pin bends now.

Bileshvara is a km or 2 away from the town of Humcha, known for its Jain basadis. Shimoga is the closest city to this village of Bileshvara.

The village of Billeshvara is beautiful . Every house has gardens and plants are laden with colorful flowers. Bell shaped flowers in colours I had never seen before, Hibiscus flowers - red, pink, orange, Ixora. and many many other ..most of whose names i do not know. But along with these there was one very overgrown lush shrub, full of little bunches of pink and whitish flowers which graced every compound. Some a pale pink.. the others -a reddish pink. They looked pretty as they swayed with the breeze, the little bundles.

It was only very recently that I got to know that it was known as the Rangoon Creeper or the Madhumalati.

And yes, I had it in my wish list, and yes, it became part of the wish list tackled in the lock down of last year, and yes, it has not flowered in the 7 months that it has made my home its own.

But somehow, whenever I look at it, it seems like a happy little plant, sprouting bigger leaves now, the thin branches, spreading out a little wider now, and one branch has even grown taller in the past 10 days. It now has fresh pale green tender baby leaves.

Some day, it shall flower, or maybe not !

I enjoy having it around me....... and see it thrive!

Revisiting the happy old times., recalling happy moments .. and in a small way re-creating little bits..reliving them!

 

 

 

Day 5 Somreeta

Madhumalati.

A 7 year old is on a vacation, with her family, visiting her grandmother, at a small village, 6 or 7 kms away from Udupi.

And that day, there is an excitement in the air. She and her family, are off to visit her aunt, her bua - her father's eldest sister.

'Ghat vaili' she is referred to as , sometimes... the one who lives up the ghat.

They wait outside their home, to board a bus that will take them to Udupi. "The bus is here," she squeals in excitement. 'No, silly', says her father. 'This bus is going to Udyavara. That is the last stop. From there it will start again, and on its return trip to Udupi, it will pick us up'. This was the father speaking

The buses had names. Manujatha, Amba, Durgamba...

The bus takes them to Udupi. From their it's another bus ride. In a smaller bus, the front of which reminded me of a lorry. It was called the taxi.. if I remember right. The conductor at Udupi would try and fill the bus with as many people as he could. cram them in. The more the people, the more the tickets sold, the more money he would make. The frequency of this little bus was far and in betweeen and it was a long journey of about 4 hours.

The bus was small, so that it could navigate the hairpin bends of the Agumbe ghat. My aunt was referred to as the 'Ghat vaili'', she had her home, up and beyond the Agumbe ghats. Agumbe village was made famous by the makers of Malgudi Days, when they shot the series here.

The crammed bus would mean that many people sweating, that smell, mixed with that of the hair oil, talc, the fragrance of various flowers the women wore in their hair - champa, mogara, aboli..., then acrid smell of the bidi ... Oh it was overwhelming...

Adding to that were the sharp curves of the hairpin bends,. One was climbing up the hill.. steep roads, tight corners at the bends.. at every bend the standees would sway and end up leaning on one side and then the other.,, my nose would sometimes be hit by the little bags they carried on their wrists.

And then there was the retching!

The torture would end at Tirthalli,

From there, another bus ride to my aunt's village - Bileshvara. An hours ride. But no more hair pin bends now.

Bileshvara is a km or 2 away from the town of Humcha, known for its Jain basadis. Shimoga is the closest city to this village of Bileshvara.

The village of Billeshvara is beautiful . Every house has gardens and plants are laden with colorful flowers. Bell shaped flowers in colours I had never seen before, Hibiscus flowers - red, pink, orange, Ixora. and many many other ..most of whose names i do not know. But along with these there was one very overgrown lush shrub, full of little bunches of pink and whitish flowers which graced every compound. Some a pale pink.. the others -a reddish pink. They looked pretty as they swayed with the breeze, the little bundles.

It was only very recently that I got to know that it was known as the Rangoon Creeper or the Madhumalati.

And yes, I had it in my wish list, and yes, it became part of the wish list tackled in the lock down of last year, and yes, it has not flowered in the 7 months that it has made my home its own.

But somehow, whenever I look at it, it seems like a happy little plant, sprouting bigger leaves now, the thin branches, spreading out a little wider now, and one branch has even grown taller in the past 10 days. It now has fresh pale green tender baby leaves.

Some day, it shall flower, or maybe not !

I enjoy having it around me....... and see it thrive!

Revisiting the happy old times., recalling happy moments .. and in a small way re-creating little bits..reliving them!