Wandering thoughts........
Well, I guess writing while on vacation is considered a sort of the snobbish nature typical of the I-know-everything types. But I could not resist from describing a few instances of this incredible journey. As we skirted through the suburbs of Bangaluru and moved towards Ooty, some aspects of the lives of the people there could not escape my eyes.
First, all the billboards lining the highway carried advertisements of only either of these three items – sandals, biscuits and jewellery (not necessarily in that order). Superstars like Upendra, Sudeep, etc. (names courtesy my brother) grinned happily from the huge boards with a pair of sandals adorning their feet and a beautiful lady in their arms. Kareena Kapoor, decked with jewels probably weighing more than her body weight, smiled down coyly.
Then there were the “Daba”s (read ढाबा). Yes, there were ‘North and South Indian Daba’, ‘Panjabi Daba’, ‘A1 Daba’, etc. to name a few. The phonetic sound “Dh” seemed to have no identity; it just does not exist. “Sunitha Travels”, “Jayanth Store”, “Parvathi Electronics” and the similar lot cemented my belief that there was no place for the letter “T” either in these parts of the world.
Next, another type of posters, huge cut-outs and banners almost knocked me out. A particular middle-aged man, whose name I am not aware of, was grinning at me from atleast a thousand banners/boards/cut outs. He was omnipresent – in front of movie-halls, in malls, market place, near the fruit and vegetable vendors, even on the tall peepal trees! In some, he posed like a tinsel town megastar with a hi-tech mobile handset on his hand, and standing with almost an entire village. In another, he was striking a typical Rajnikant pose, flanked by a dozen people grinning away to glory. Still another cut out showed him putting his hand patronizingly on a young man who quite suspiciously looked like his son. As we approached another town, the same type of sight greeted us, though the face of the man in question was different. Who were these people? They didn’t look like movie actors, nor did they seem to be politicians as there was no logo or slogan in the display media. I got more and more curious. My brother told me that they were the ‘happening’ people of the particular area. They may be local leaders, legislators or the like. This fact was corroborated by the cute cashier of the roadside Café Coffee Day where we had stopped by for a cup of coffee. I wondered if the people who were engaged in making these posters/banners/cut-outs were the busiest people in town!
Huge peepal trees (Ficus religiosa), blood red Delonix regia (Gulmohar/Krishnachuda) and tamarind trees decorated the roadside. The road is in excellent condition, very smooth and tidy. The people are welcoming with an easy smile that plays on their lips all the time. Wide lakes, ponds with ducks (and believe me when I say this; at a particular pond, the ducks were sitting on the tree branches near the ponds. While many of my friends may be aware of this, this is the first time in my life till date that I saw ducks atop trees!) complete the scenic beauty of this place.
I also had the good fortune to cross through Ramnagar, the place where the epic “Sholay” was shot. Looking at the distant rocky hillocks, I imagined that it must be the place where Biju Khote sat with MacMohan and Amjad Khan to churn out the best loved dialogues of Hindi cinema till date. Close to four decades back (and my God! Doesn’t this sound ancient, reminding me of my advancing age?…A few years more, and I will be almost as old as the movie is now! Uff!!!!)
And last but not the least, there seemed to be curious penchant to add the sound of “a” after most words. So you see, sandal is ‘sandala’, cycle is ‘cyclea’, Mayur is ‘Mayura’, etc. So when someone asks you, “Aarama?”, it implies that you must reply to the query which asks “So, all is well?”..
Now, who was it who remarked “The difference between you and him and him and me isn’t different at all: we’re all different.” ????
First, all the billboards lining the highway carried advertisements of only either of these three items – sandals, biscuits and jewellery (not necessarily in that order). Superstars like Upendra, Sudeep, etc. (names courtesy my brother) grinned happily from the huge boards with a pair of sandals adorning their feet and a beautiful lady in their arms. Kareena Kapoor, decked with jewels probably weighing more than her body weight, smiled down coyly.
Then there were the “Daba”s (read ढाबा). Yes, there were ‘North and South Indian Daba’, ‘Panjabi Daba’, ‘A1 Daba’, etc. to name a few. The phonetic sound “Dh” seemed to have no identity; it just does not exist. “Sunitha Travels”, “Jayanth Store”, “Parvathi Electronics” and the similar lot cemented my belief that there was no place for the letter “T” either in these parts of the world.
Next, another type of posters, huge cut-outs and banners almost knocked me out. A particular middle-aged man, whose name I am not aware of, was grinning at me from atleast a thousand banners/boards/cut outs. He was omnipresent – in front of movie-halls, in malls, market place, near the fruit and vegetable vendors, even on the tall peepal trees! In some, he posed like a tinsel town megastar with a hi-tech mobile handset on his hand, and standing with almost an entire village. In another, he was striking a typical Rajnikant pose, flanked by a dozen people grinning away to glory. Still another cut out showed him putting his hand patronizingly on a young man who quite suspiciously looked like his son. As we approached another town, the same type of sight greeted us, though the face of the man in question was different. Who were these people? They didn’t look like movie actors, nor did they seem to be politicians as there was no logo or slogan in the display media. I got more and more curious. My brother told me that they were the ‘happening’ people of the particular area. They may be local leaders, legislators or the like. This fact was corroborated by the cute cashier of the roadside Café Coffee Day where we had stopped by for a cup of coffee. I wondered if the people who were engaged in making these posters/banners/cut-outs were the busiest people in town!
Huge peepal trees (Ficus religiosa), blood red Delonix regia (Gulmohar/Krishnachuda) and tamarind trees decorated the roadside. The road is in excellent condition, very smooth and tidy. The people are welcoming with an easy smile that plays on their lips all the time. Wide lakes, ponds with ducks (and believe me when I say this; at a particular pond, the ducks were sitting on the tree branches near the ponds. While many of my friends may be aware of this, this is the first time in my life till date that I saw ducks atop trees!) complete the scenic beauty of this place.
I also had the good fortune to cross through Ramnagar, the place where the epic “Sholay” was shot. Looking at the distant rocky hillocks, I imagined that it must be the place where Biju Khote sat with MacMohan and Amjad Khan to churn out the best loved dialogues of Hindi cinema till date. Close to four decades back (and my God! Doesn’t this sound ancient, reminding me of my advancing age?…A few years more, and I will be almost as old as the movie is now! Uff!!!!)
And last but not the least, there seemed to be curious penchant to add the sound of “a” after most words. So you see, sandal is ‘sandala’, cycle is ‘cyclea’, Mayur is ‘Mayura’, etc. So when someone asks you, “Aarama?”, it implies that you must reply to the query which asks “So, all is well?”..
Now, who was it who remarked “The difference between you and him and him and me isn’t different at all: we’re all different.” ????
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