The state that was Mysore

Mysore, that’s where I was in the weekend that went by. We friends had gone there to attend a wedding. Though I have visited Mysore a few times before, it had been quite sometime, since the last visit.

Mysore, a part of Karnataka, which was once known as Mysore state itself, is sadly known only for it’s Infosys campus by the youngsters nowadays. It was famous for it’s royal family, cultural heritage and mythological stories. It is located at the foot of the Chamundi Hill and was previously called Mahishuru, supposedly named after Mahishasura. A daemon, who was killed by Goddess Chamundeshwari, whose temple is located atop the hill.

The state was ruled by the royal family of Wodeyars. The curse on the Wodeyar family, is as famous as the royal family itself. An idol of Alamellamma, who cursed the family, is still said to be worshipped by them. The curse was –

“TalakaDu maraLagali, Malangi maDuvagali, Mysooru doregaLige makkaLagade hogali”.

I’m using the wiki translation here, with slight modification –

“May Talakad turn into a barren expanse of sand, May Malangi turn into an unfathomed whirlpool, May the Rajas of Mysore not have children, till eternity”.

The curse holds good till date. There have been no children in the Wodeyar family and the kingdom/heirloom was passed on to adopted children. From what I have heard from my mother, the adopted child grows up to be a King, has a child, but the child in the successive generation has to be adopted again. The other part of the curse is also said to have come true. The temples of Talakad are buried under sand and dug out once in twelve years and the Malangi has deep waters. Isn’t it so miraculously strange? Read more about it here – Curse on the Wodeyars if you are interested.  The current King, Srikantha Datta Wodeyar is also childless.

Visiting the palace and the temple again was something that I was looking forward to. But, I was hugely disappointed with the current situation. The crowd to view the palace on a weekday, was close the crowd seen in the Tirupathi temple. I was shocked! We couldn’t take a look at anything in peace or get to know more about it, as we were being pushed around in the crowd. The temple visit was great though. Re-lived the childhood memories by taking a pic in front of the Mahishasura statue.

Mysore is also very well known for sandalwood and it’s products, for Mysore Silk sarees. A visit to the shopping store owned and run by the Government, shopping these stuff, was fun! 🙂 Also seeing the tree lined streets reminded me of how Bangalore used to be a few years back and how drastically things have changed now.

Mysore Zoo and the KRS dam, with the Botanical gardens was something we had to skip due to lack of time. If you like travelling and have an interest in visiting places and knowing more about them, Mysore can be added to your list. The Mysore Dasara is something that needs no mention. You have to see the lighted up palace, in all it’s glory, atleast once. 🙂

Jaago re!

It’s madness, utter madness!

We compare ourselves to the big nations, talk about getting there, talk about how much progress we are making in technologies and urbanization. Yet, there is a lacking in the basic civic sense in human beings. We are all aware as to how some people live totally oblivious to the fact that their surroundings aren’t clean or that they are spitting on the same roads that they would be walking on. No matter how much the Government does wrt such issues, unless the people themselves feel the need, I don’t think anything will change.

The Government of Karnataka and TamilNadu (I speak for these states only, as I have lived there) have hired professional painters and got the walls along so many streets painted with beautiful paintings depicting the state’s customs, art and other cultural facets. All this done because there are people who go around sticking bills/posters on every free wall, there are people who care a damn and pee on every other wall. This was done to prevent them.

Two incidents today left me enraged! Both related to the crowd in the major bus stands. There’s a huge rush during the peak hours at bus stands, esp for the buses going towards IT Parks, situated in different parts of the city. I try and start early to beat the heat and avoid the crowd. Today, I was late by 15 min. The crowd on my platform was high. I missed about four buses waiting for the crowd to reduce. But people just kept coming and coming. Finally, when I decided to get on a bus, there was a mad rush at the door with people shoving and pushing each other. I was feeling helpless just wanting to get out of it. Then, someone pinched my backside. Bloody hell! Being a woman, I’ve seen many such situations. It’s not the first time when some stranger misbehaved with me. Generally it’s some for of eve-teasing, trying to come close in a crowded bus, trying touch when in a crowd. But this was outrageous!

I turned around and instantly recognized the jerk from his expression and body language. I punched him once on his arm and before I could blast him or give him a few more punches, he started making his way out of the crowd and ran. I followed him, but he escaped. If I had caught hold of him, I would have gotten him beaten black and blue.

The thing of utmost disgust was that he was a professional, probably on his way to office, with a neat laptop backpack on him. It’s a shame on such people and their behavior. Not for a second do they stop and think about the girl. Wouldn’t the same sort of things be happening to their sisters/mother. If their family is of concern to them, aren’t other girls also a part of some family. I am totally disgusted and tired of people behaving in such a manner with women. Instead of handling such situations, political leaders comment about the dressing sense of women. Harayana women and child development department recently declared that jeans and t-shirt is an indecent form of clothing for their women employees. What such people need to realize is that, a salwar-kameez or jeans-tshirt is not a criteria for such misbehaving people, they will continue to do the same.

The evening crowd was equally maddening, with the people not even letting the others on the bus alight. They were pushing their way amidst that. I was pushed to the edge of the bus door and nearly crushed. I was left with a red mark and pain for quite a while on my arm. I would say, the queue system has never been followed or respected in our country. People don’t realize that being organized will get the things done faster and better. The Govt. has provided numerous buses for the busy routes. The buses are of great quality and scheduled at regular frequency. Yet, the rush for the seats and the unruly behavior doesn’t stop. If you are a person, who thinks about the system and rules and how to behave, all that happens to you, is that you get crushed. Nobody would even bother about it. Saddening, but true..

Really, will India ever be developed, in the true sense? 😦

>Happy Republic Day

>The best video I’ve ever seen. Brings tears to your eyes… No words to explain it… Just watch it..

Proud to be an Indian!!

>Mile Sur Mera Tumhara

>A Song which describes Unity in Diversity of the Indian culture. I love both the old and the new versions of the song.

The Old Version

The thing I like most about the old version is the focus on featuring more common people and the various diverse cultures in India.

The New Version

The thing that I like most in the the new version is the various artists playing different instruments and that it also features players from different sports. 🙂

Jai Hind!!!