I have one more friend – Deepthi. She stays in Manipal. Last year sometime, she sent me a video of her place. Of how it looks in monsoons. Ever since I have wanted to visit her.
Manipal is 1.5 hours from Mangalore. So, today I had planned to visit her. She is my work friend.
There is a philosophy to keep personal and professional life separate. And I believe in it. But there are people for whom you chuck the modern wisdom. Deepthi is one of them! 😀
We started from Mangalore at 8: 30 and reached Manipal at 10. Mrinal told me the famous Kanakdasa story for which the Krishna temple was famous.
It basically goes as–
Kanakdasa was a Krishna devotee. He was a poor and dark person and so, not allowed in the Krishna temple! Out of his love and devotion for Lord Krishna, he started singing songs for his lord outside the temple. And the Krishna statue turned towards him. And that is how this temple got famous.
At the bus stop, Deepthi came to pick us up. And from there she showed us around the famous Krishna-Udupi temple. She also showed us around Manipal. Her school, college, Manipal colleges and famous eating outlets. On the way Mrinal and Deepthi spoke about their familial roots and were surprised how much they had in common!
On the way back, we stopped by her aunt’s place. Here I met her mom, aunt and granny. As we were leaving, I again witnessed the traditional greetings offered by young ones to the elders. Saashtaang Pranaam.
I usually don't feel like doing it for anyone. But I wanted to offer it to her granny. Because after we did that, she would offer us cute cheeky cuddles! She was sooooo.. happy to see us.. I was happier to see someone treating us like kids again..
Then we went to Deepthi’s place. It was similar to Mrinal’s Surathkal house. And it was very cool inside compared to outside. Traditional architecture!
We met her dad, who had kept fresh coconut water ready for me from his garden’s coconut trees. Deepthi had told him how much I loved coconuts! And what’s more, Mrinal and Deepthi being traditional south indian kids, didn’t want it. So, I got Mrinal’s portion too. -😀. It was so damn sweet and refreshing! These fools have no idea what they take for granted.
How can people take the best things in life for granted. Only people who dont get them can tell! And how we take all the things we get for granted. Mental note to not take the good things and people in life lightly -😀
Deepthi’s mom, our aunty took random pictures of us. And granny was just happy seeing us. I have not seen an elder so happy to be just around kids.
Then Deepthi showed us around her place. The place where she had recorded the video! It was refreshing and beautiful even in summers. And again- the difference between seeing things in videos vs for real. And we sat there chatting and lost track of time till we started feeling hungry.
So, we went down for lunch. Where my friend had made “koorma” for me. It is a nutritious south indian dish with veggies and curry. Ingredients I am yet to decode. I like how my friends know cooking and cook for me! To make me feel special and welcome -😀
After seeing them, I too want to learn to cook with ease! -:) I guess that goes on the new year's to-do list.
I tried all the pickles too. Then we spoke about the brahmin rituals. Deepthi and Mrinal come from similar culture families. So, they could relate to each other’s customs. To me they were all new.
I also like how these south indian folks who can speak English and Hindi as well as I can, just switch to Kannada and Tulu effortlessly.
After having lunch we chatted and fell asleep. And woke up to more conversations and carrot payasam.
We said our goodbyes to aunty and went into sashtaang pranaam for granny. She cuddled our faces and cheeks like before and gave us 100 bucks each. This was a ritual a long time back. And we didn’t have the heart to tell her- We are not kids and this is not really done! We took it like our childhood days and our small cute home trip came to a close. I did know this would be my favourite part of my Udupi-Manipal trip.
I have kept that 100 bucks separately! That is a blessing, never to be spent!
Off to the Malpe Beach
A lot of people had recommended this beach. So, we went to Malpe. It was around 10km from Deepthi’s place. After we arrived, we could not get parking for a long time.
Eventually after we got in it had a lot of things going on! Water sports, speed boats, food stalls, camel rides, lighting..
NITK beach was isolated after sunset and it had a night life vibe. It was festival season too and hence the festive vibe. So, this one was fun too -😀in a different way!
I liked both the NITK beach and the Malpe Beach! Which had a festive feel! Though I preferred organised festivities to be like the Melagres compared to Malpe.
I personally prefer quiet beaches more!
But comparing a quiet beach to a festive beach.. I guess we need both. Quiet and festive! Low and High! Night and day! Life is like a sine wave and we need both.. After every stressful and high time, we need to calm down and hence the need for vacations. And once we have our vacation time, we are excited to go back to our high voltage life.
As much as I thought that I wanted life to be settled and the same everyday, yes but beyond a point I need this periodic work and peace. Both of them have their importance because of their counterpart.
And then after seeing Malpe, Deepthi dropped us to the bus stop. Seeing her, I could only wish to be able to get over my inertia of practising driving a car and reach the next level of independence in my life!
It was only last year she was talking about getting back behind the wheel and before this year ended she was driving us around her city. #goals.. -:)
And so, we said our goodbyes, hopped on to a bus and back to Mangalore. Wondering if I would be able to give these friends half the experience and love they were giving me!
--manu
--twwg
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