Staying calm when life gets crazy Our visit to Mysore started with an autorickshaw debacle in which Glen, Sasha, and Anita were whisked away by an auto that simply disappeared. Working out where they were and why they hadn't followed our auto, involved punctured tires, an irate driver, and finally our driver taking all 7 of us into his auto. Then somehow, instead of the relatively short ride to Chamundi Hill to see the temple and the Nandi monolith, we were talked into a 30km drive out to see the old Hoysala temple at Somnathpura (check out earlier blogs on that) and our auto driver was calling a friend to take Glen and family. So our couple hours away from the hotel turned into 12 hours away but, perhaps all the best days are unplanned. Us at Kesava Temple Somnathpura is home to a gorgeous temple so we didn't mind visiting a second time and Glen and Sasha were suitably impressed by the grandeur and style (tho we did wonder how much has been reconstructed over the centuries since it was first built). Kekai and Tim still found new things to photograph and we had a good time. On the drive out to the temple, Aslam, our auto driver pointed out the side road that went to his village then asked if we would like to visit his home. He tempted me with the promise that his sister was known for the henna designs she did for weddings. I mentioned this to Sasha and we were on for a visit to Aslam's house. This was, perhaps, the most interesting part of the day. Aslam explained that his family had a regular-sized house but it was being painted so we entered the tiny house he had built for his sister and was now living in with his wife, children, and mother (plus the sister and her family). It was about 2x2x2m and about 12 of us crowded into it to have sweet milk tea that his wife prepared and watch Sasha and Anita have their hands and feet hennaed. Tim and the boys lasted for about 30 minutes then wandered out to see a cricket match that our other driver (Firoz) was playing in. The village appeared to be mostly Muslim and the cricket pitch was dotted with brightly dyed sheep (yellow or orange) that were already readied for Id-Ul-Zuah sacrifice. They were gone for over an hour, during which time I was talked into also having my hands painted. By the time we were all (beautifully) decorated with henna and we managed to extract the boys from the cricket match (extracting Firoz was the most difficult since there was money riding on the game) it was getting dusky. On the way home Firoz drove over a nail and we had to get the puncture repaired so while that was happening the 7 of us walked to the nearby St. Philomena's Cathedral which is beautiful. Then we went to the (seemingly) obligatory incense-making house and then finally back to our hotel. We had meant to purchase tickets for the Jamboo Savari parade but didn't make it to the ticket house and Aslam said that they were sold out anyway but that he had a friend who could find us tickets. The friend didn't call back that evening and so the adventure continued the next day.
2 Comments
Diana Scheffler
10/31/2012 03:29:18
I love the ladies' fashions! Will I have to (hopefully!) get some new clothes when I visit? And Tim playing cricket!
Reply
Mela
11/2/2012 11:55:48
We'll go shopping when you get here!
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
Click Title (or "Read More") to read the full text
|