Oct 31, 2007
Oct 29, 2007
First Farewell
So it was that we cut open a Chameleon, Ravi and I. Ravi as I mentioned was a very early friend. His name meant SUN and he was very dark...these are the contradictions in naming, especially in India.
Chameleons change color, they said, according to the landscape the are in so as to camouflage. That day when we scooped out a Onion and pushed the Chameleon's head inside to anaesthetise, it turned a bright red and stayed that way in torpor...It lay spreadeagled with its legs pinned by steel rivets and panting...we could see the heart pumping. Then to put an end to its suffering Ravi took a knife from the box and cut its heart out.
And ofcourse after a couple of years we had to move from Pandavapura on account of my father's work which needed him to relocate regularly.
To this day I can recall how my heart sank on realising that I would be leaving my friend and going away ....never to see again...
Chameleons change color, they said, according to the landscape the are in so as to camouflage. That day when we scooped out a Onion and pushed the Chameleon's head inside to anaesthetise, it turned a bright red and stayed that way in torpor...It lay spreadeagled with its legs pinned by steel rivets and panting...we could see the heart pumping. Then to put an end to its suffering Ravi took a knife from the box and cut its heart out.
And ofcourse after a couple of years we had to move from Pandavapura on account of my father's work which needed him to relocate regularly.
To this day I can recall how my heart sank on realising that I would be leaving my friend and going away ....never to see again...
Village Festival at Chikkade
Pandavapura where I made many of my early friends literally means "The Town of Pandavas". They were the Mythological kings in the Indian Epic Mahabharatha.
There was a hill to one side of the town called "Kunti Betta" or Kunti's Hill. Kunti ofcourse was the mother of Pandavas.There was a stone staff at the top, standing erect about 6 feet high.The legend went that Kunti pounded Rice using this Staff to feed her children....
And many of my class mates and friends came from nearby villages. And they were prosperous villages too..they grew lots of Sugarcane, had plenty of livestock.
As is the custom in every village, one day during spring is celebrated as the Village festival day.The village God will be worshipped and there will be a feast.
Dodde Gowda, Somashekar, Chenne Gowda, Venktesh were all my friends from Chikkade, a village near Pandavapura.
People eagerly waited for the festival and started making preparations well in advance. Relatives and friends had to be invited. The house had to be spruced up. In those days they layered the ground in front of their houses with cow dung.This would keep the sorroundings dust free.
I can remember my trip to Chikkade,a couple of Kilometers from Padavapura ,very well.It was the first time I was going out of town on my own and I had a hard time convincing my mother to let me go. I don't remember if walked or took one of those rickety buses but I remember my friends waiting for me at the edge of the village .
I could hear drums beating and film music from public address systems. I could make out the dust kicked up by all the people jostling..they were selling all kinds of colored sweets..balloons..fruit juices of various psychedelic colours... in large glass pots...
There was a kind of candy, glowing a bright pink and it was rolled into a ball on a high wooden staff. It was very elasatic and the seller would break off a piece from the ball and roll it into any shape you wanted...you could have the candy rolled like a watch and wear it on your wrist before the temptation became too great and you ate it...
There was a hill to one side of the town called "Kunti Betta" or Kunti's Hill. Kunti ofcourse was the mother of Pandavas.There was a stone staff at the top, standing erect about 6 feet high.The legend went that Kunti pounded Rice using this Staff to feed her children....
And many of my class mates and friends came from nearby villages. And they were prosperous villages too..they grew lots of Sugarcane, had plenty of livestock.
As is the custom in every village, one day during spring is celebrated as the Village festival day.The village God will be worshipped and there will be a feast.
Dodde Gowda, Somashekar, Chenne Gowda, Venktesh were all my friends from Chikkade, a village near Pandavapura.
People eagerly waited for the festival and started making preparations well in advance. Relatives and friends had to be invited. The house had to be spruced up. In those days they layered the ground in front of their houses with cow dung.This would keep the sorroundings dust free.
I can remember my trip to Chikkade,a couple of Kilometers from Padavapura ,very well.It was the first time I was going out of town on my own and I had a hard time convincing my mother to let me go. I don't remember if walked or took one of those rickety buses but I remember my friends waiting for me at the edge of the village .
I could hear drums beating and film music from public address systems. I could make out the dust kicked up by all the people jostling..they were selling all kinds of colored sweets..balloons..fruit juices of various psychedelic colours... in large glass pots...
There was a kind of candy, glowing a bright pink and it was rolled into a ball on a high wooden staff. It was very elasatic and the seller would break off a piece from the ball and roll it into any shape you wanted...you could have the candy rolled like a watch and wear it on your wrist before the temptation became too great and you ate it...
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