“There are a few journeys we take as lovers, as friends,
as family, as unknowns and as nobodies. This trip embodied all of the above in
some shape, form, and experience.“
After gaping at everything with ‘O’
shaped mouths, we quickly changed and made it to Malpe Beach Harbour, Udupi’s
main beach stretch. Pristine white sands and continuing for miles on end with Kadike
on the north and Matu Beach after miles on the south. We took a boat to St.
Mary’s Island, a place I insisted on visiting. We spent a good hour or 2 there
anmong sandy stretches followed by rocky edges. I had seen some astoundingly
beautiful pictures on social networking sites and blogs and reality seemed like
a humbler version of those pictures. I still loved it. Since the crowd was very
local and we stood out like outsiders (I was wearing some seriously micro
shorts), we broke away to an isolated spot and swam there. All the silliness didn’t
take minutes to surface. One cannot risk venturing deep and when I said swim I
meant at most waist deep water for me. It was mildly salty and the surrounding
rocks were teaming with virgin coral, tons and tons of black crabs, snails and
slugs and some surface marine creatures. There were hard rocks and porous rocks
and the shells were absolutely beautiful – a collectors haven. It was seriously
hot and even though we wished to explore more, we were time bound and to a
large extent couldn’t tolerate the heat. After chomping on some local version
of ‘bhel’ and cucumber slices, we
ferried our way back to the mainland (INR 150/head for two-way ferry). Lunched
at Malpe – nothing very special and headed home to slumber a little.
It all started with our Eco-friend Ritwik working a
lot in Bengaluru than Mumbai. On his return we spoke about the south and within
a few minutes and a lay invite after, this trip was formed. As usual, I was the
one gunning for it with dates and timelines and bookings. With the boys, well,
being boys. I decided knowing these two, planning had to be kept borderline and
not detailed. Besides I was traipsing into unchartered territory so it simply
meant keep it simple.
We took a few days off, lamented and grazed our way
finally to that fateful weekend. Abeer had faced a particularly tumultuous week
at work and he was happy to down a few before we took off. I raised my eyebrows
at the though but downed more than a pint myself. He was right – we both needed it but in the
bargain we nearly missed our train from CST. I had carried yummy
biryani from the day before I was in Hyderabad and he ate it like a hungry wolf
onboard. Post that we both passed out aboard the Mangalore Express – Upper
berth please :D
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| Shetty's Lunch Home indulgence - Pic courtesy Abeer instagram.com/tipsies |
The next day was treacherous heat and pretty bad
delays that had my temper soaring. You see, our expectation was dreamy cold
wintery weather, romantic and perfect. What we saw on the weather forecast and
faced was Mumbai-like coastal heat with some level of humidity and a
promise of coolness as the sun descended. We reached Mangalore at 3pm and
trudged to the 1st recommended eatery – Shetty’s Lunch Home. I
assured Abeer that my friends were trustworthy sources and so they turned out
to be. We were filthy from the train journey but we just plunged into our
perfectly divine meal of ghee-roasted
chicken (priority recommend), sukka masala squid (Mangalorean style), neer dosa, Kerala parathas and chicken curry suggested by the attendant. The thatch
roof and earthen interiors were perfect and calm with no crowd and we dove in
and ate more than our stressed tummies could handle. We left and wondered where
to stay the night when lo and behold there was a guesthouse just behind us. It
was INR 500/- and the friendly fella at the ‘reception’ asked us to 1st
checkout the room and then decide. We took a cue from his tone and went to check it. It was
perfect, cool with a balcony and a bathroom the size of a playground - it was a shady place and only backpackers and real travelers would take this. This was
PERFECT hahahha. We grabbed it, refreshed ourselves and took off to a
nearby mall. Some coffee and a few mins later, Ritwik arrived. He was stuck in
Bangalore for some work and was gracious enough to fly down that day itself to
Mangalore city to see us. We all giggled and laughed at our ‘guest house’ when
we met and settled in.
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| The South Coastal Scene from Mangalore Express- Pic courtesy Abeer instagram.com/tipsies |
There on we decided to check the very ‘happening’ Mangalorean
nightlife. It being Friday evening, we expected some crowd and our plan was to
drink ourselves silly and giggle at everyone and everything. Here is what
transpired. We traipsed through The London Street Lounge and Hi Bar. Ritwik
constantly insisted on visiting Mangala, which he compared to Mumbai’s Janta
Bar in Bandra (P.S. I do not believe there is another Janta Bar in India). We
were the only patrons in most places we entered or exited or maybe grabbed a
courtesy beer. We stayed the longest at Hi Bar and that too it was barely till
11pm and still no crowd. The day catching up to us, we dined at Shetty's and decided to call it in.
Next morning we managed to wake up early and catch a hearty breakfast in a
local hole like place where drivers and conductors usually catch their grub, we
left for Udupi by bus. The route was scenic and the journey very comfortable. Every
few seconds there were scenic water bodies, many breaking into estuaries
leading to backwaters, fishing boats and water harvesting devices, long paddy
fields and local shrimp catching methods strewn across the coastline. What
struck my seasoned Mumbaikar sensibilities – absolute cleanliness. Every
journey I take makes me feel more and more like people from around the country
come to Mumbai to treat her like the national dustbin; almost testing her to see
how much dump can she take in. Whilst these regions were beyond spick and span.
Plastic was nearly invisible and the only ‘rubble’ involved dried husks, coconut
palm leaves and coconut shells – all conveniently biodegradable.
We reached Udupi at midday and made it to Ritwik’s ‘humble
abode’ (read palatial grounds) in Ambalpadi
– a residential suburb which ends with the Janardana
and Mahakali mandir. The property lies on a large acre of land split
between numerous relatives over a period. Each one lived in row housing or bungalow
plots and were christened – most names depicted holier than thou names. Ritwik’s
grandfather, Vyasaraya Ballal, was a legend (a Sahitya Academi Awardee) and as
he later told us in conversation, “Their’s
was the last generation that produced real men.” He was a humble man who
became a literary genius and produced a family riddled in fame for arts and
culture. His most noted work was ‘Vatsalya Patha’ which was the name of Ritwik’s
bungalow that was restored by his father a few years ago. Abeer and I were
completely drawn in. The place was homely and tastefully decorated with artisan
portraits and pictures. The artwork was predominantly dated Indian culture,
some with a message hidden within, many showcasing women in shapes and forms. His
father had even carved a niche for himself literally in this property – an art
room to work in and draw inspiration. As if to make us feel any more mediocre,
there was a copy of the Mahabharatha
on the bed when we entered one of the rooms. Ritwik’s home in Mumbai is a
miniature version of this ancestral home. However, one can easily tell from the
volume of space, the silence, the clean air; which was Mumbai and which was Udupi.
This home was perfectly planned and thought out to the last detail – switchboards,
water storage, spacing and openings inside and outside. The richness of its
restoration was more inside than outside.
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| St. Mary's Island |
Then we hit Manipal town. The
much sought after tiny cosmopolitan hub hidden away in Udupi district well known
for its educational institutes, foreign gambit (a lure for the boys) and the
watering holes. Yes Manipal DOES have a nightlife. Everything was super dark
and poorly lit except a few spots. We went to the University for the lantern
festival and were instantly told it was a pay and enter event. We decided
against it and sought some local drinking spot advice. The student at the gate
stated (verbatim), “There are many places
like blah blah but if you ok with not being able to see each other’s faces
DeeTees it is.” At the time it was translated to maybe dingy or too crowded
and happening to see each other. We went to the old DeeTees and I swear we
could literally not see each other. We were lucky enough to grab the last available
table in a corner and the lighting was designed to make you feel like you are
in a place with routine load shedding. Menus were read and orders were placed
by torchlight. It was a scene straight out a movie of the dark underbelly of
cosmopolitan metros where one is sucked into a life of drug rackets and
prostitution rings. Here it was simply the ambience of choice. We giggled and
downed a few beers. Ate something that looked like food and we shone the light
on it we could eat it no more. Smog of smoke and the leer of beer were the
order of the evening. We decided to move out and check other places. We topped
our 1st dark experience with a semi-dark Big Boss where I happily
spilled beer and the boys checked ladies out and followed that up with some
seriously sad “ghaati” dancing at a
very ‘happening’ nightclub called Remix. It was thorough amusement this Remix. First
of all we did the cardinal sin of paying and entering (menial damage). Then we
noticed the crowd and realized we were so out of place here and by that I mean obviously
feeling way too superior. Our attention and source of amusement for the end of
this day was a rather large young gal who had 2 fellas scampering for her
attention and both hugged her side to side and met her backside midway – I swear
I am not being mean. This is the best way to describe it and since we were tad
buzzing from our drinks and possible sundried exhaustion, we found anything
convenient amusing. Kudos to that girl though.
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| Woodlands Lunch Thaali |
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| Fishing village huts |
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| Marvanthe Beach - Pic courtesy Abeer instagram.com/tipsies |
We wound up after Ritwik and I
danced and Abeer looked on in sheer regret that he made us share his Urza
energy drink. Found a rickshaw back into the city and crashed to rest. By Mumbai
standards we were really good children this whole weekend. Our choice of food
was at Woodlands during our stay in Udupi. Fantastic Udupian cuisine and I
could just take the train for more of that. We sampled everything on the menu
to the point of stuffing ourselves. Uttappams,
idlis, vadas, dosas, upmas, sambhar, rassam, chutney, kaapi, everything. I
realized Ritwik was more eager to stack up on his hometown than we tourists
were. Before that we started the day with a brief walk through of the Janardana and Mahakali Temple. We indulged
and took off to Maravanthe Beach. Another famous must visit town come fishing
village come miles of the most gorgeous beach ever. Here is where we finally
had our 1st naariyal of
the trip – shocked and disgruntled as I was. We had a bit of a faux pas about
the beach and just followed Ritwik wherever he took us. Unfortunately, due to miscommunication
we landed up walking almost an hour under the hot sun across the main NH and the
beach at bank midday. Abeer and I felt old and worn out but we comforted ourselves
that this was a workout. A few hydrating options after, we passed a lovely raw
fishing village, crossed through a muddy path that divided young paddy fields,
met the cutest calf that Abeer exclaimed, needed time to fatten up for a juicy
steak (drawing questionable looks from Ritwik and me and a loud moo from the
calf’s momma), and reached the main highway. 2 buses later we were back in
Udupi and at Diana lunch home – Ritwik claimed that back in the day this was
THE place for lunching. Sadly it was commercialized and we were sad to not get
our order. We left and ran to Woodlands just in time to devour large thaalis. Before that we contemplated our
routes back; acknowledging sadly that this was the near end of a glorious and
very organic trip.
Ritwik took an overnight bus back
that evening after we ate at an obnoxiously OUT THERE outlet called Kediyoor. He was gracious enough to let us stay the night over in his place
as our train was a 5:45am tatkal booking from Udupi station – the Maru Sagar Express. We stayed
the night wherein I had the weirdest and scariest dreams and kept waking up. A
sinister surrounding and the deafening quiet doesn’t help a bustling city gal. Abeer
assured me that there was a temple around and nothing would happen. We woke up
to get dressed and at stark 4:30am all lights went out. I was freaked out to
say the least. Lights, camera and an available torch was our weapon of choice
and I was too scared to even check if all switches were off but we moved in
pairs and we ensured all was shut. Lights came back on and as if it was toying
with my fear, went out again in a minute. We packed up and left at 5am. The
street was well lit and we walked looking for a rickshaw. 15 steps ahead and
lights went out AGAIN. This was plunging darkness and I just wanted to leave.
Abeer indulged my fear and caringly took me to the main motor stand. Phew. At
the station our already delicate tummies played havoc but my traveler’s soul
was sad. Back to noisy, polluted and reality Mumbai. Yes home but away from
dreamy places like this. Thanks to Ritwik and his hospitality and his presence
and language guidance, we ever planned and made this trip.
Hoping to make many more such
backpacker diaries J
A brief on Ritwik’s grandfather’s story in The Hindu
newspaper: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/vyasaraya-ballal-passes-away/article1190262.ece
