India through my eyes - A sneak preview

A window opens out to give me a glimpse of life in Arekere,a small village which is hardly 5 kms from Javagal . This is the main street that ends in the Hoysala temple there. The doors to this house were closed though .

I will be posting a picture or two every week which will be titled the same as above..It is mainly a perspective of rural India and the people Ive met in many of my travels..most pictures like these do not carry any text..I do hope you will appreciate the beauty of real India, the way I see it.
Ravi Kashyap , a gentleman from the US commented a couple of days ago (after almost a year) that the house belongs to his ancestors and was built in 1680.This is what he said in his comment which Ive published below.

"This is our ancestor home, was built around 1680's by my great great great grand father (Shanboug Rammanna, also know as saraf Ramanna), my relatives lived in this house till 1970's .

Most of our relatives have migrated to UK & USA and thus the state of the house, recently last month (aug 2009) we visited this place and have plans to renovate the house to maintain & keep the heritage."

A local market or Sandai

In villages, the word Sandai stands for a local market which opens probably once a week and the entire village gathers . The local fares are all sold here , from cattle to vegetables and all the local produce . Its full of life, colourful and vibrant.It is an important day for the entire village, not only does it display their bargaining powers, but the entire village gets together on that day.



We were in Javagal on a Sunday morning when the Sandai was in full progress. Well, all sandais do not take place on a Sunday , it could be on a regular weekday as well,as we found out at Haranahalli, another hamlet where there is a Hoysala temple .


In smaller hamlets the wares are usually restricted to vegetables , cereals and local produce and cattle, but larger towns sell virtually anything from bangles to clothes.
I was told by my uncle that this was market was popularly referred to by the British as "shanty " and sometimes the market opens out in the evenings.

Besides the local wares, one can see nomadic skilled and unskilled craftsman walking from village to another. They mostly are like cobblers, or they sharpen knives, repair household items and even polish your old vessels. You may catch a few of them in some old localities in small towns and cities even today. When I was a child, Ive seen them and their particular cry is very distinct as they advertise their services and go from door to door advertising them. This is a tribe which is fast diminishing today.

And back on the trail

A sudden assignment took me to Javagal in Hassan district and thereafter to Coorg yet again and I am now back, finished with the article and the pictures..We are working on a special on homestays and discussing the merits of homestays wrt resorts. While I do think both offer unique experiences , I prefer a homestay for the local connect and the personalised service and the fact we get an opportunity to meet some great people ..

So..what do you all think ? Do let me know..In the meanwhile here is a glimpse of rural Karnataka and the Coorg trail resumes in the next post