Tag: Mysore

Life abroad

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no no it’s ……. life aboard.

As you can see, It’s a hard life ‘on the cut’

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As part of Manjula’s BIG Trip we’ve spent four days on the Kennet and Avon Canal.

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Organised by Sally it was an opportunity to test out whether  we’re made out for life on the canal. Sally is a previous guest of Mysore Bed and Breakfast who has become a great friend.

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Mike, Sally’s parter has lived and worked on or near the canals, all his life. So we had an experienced team in charge helping Manjula and I get a proper introduction to life on the waves!

 

Manjula’s helping us through the locks to take the narrowboat up and down the hills.

Cooking Mysore specials on board

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and taking a well deserved rest!

and Stephen was even allowed to steer the boat on his own, without crashing it and there were only one or two near misses!

There was plenty of time for stops at the Pubs.

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Farrell Factoid

In England and Wales there is a network of canals through much of the country. The first to be opened was the Bridgewater Canal near Manchester in 1761 to transport coal. As an integral development of the industrial revolution it became a successful network for transporting goods and living on board. It has a great history and strong community. At its peak there were 6,000 miles of navigable rivers and canals. Now there’s maybe half that number after many fell into disrepair. There has been a tremendous effort to rebuild and reopen after significant investment and the tremendous involvement of thousands of volunteers. It’s now an invaluable resource for holidays and home for many people.

Manjula’s BIG trip

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I wake alongside a babbling brook. It’s early and I can hear the trickling of the stream alongside my head. I quickly orientate myself. We must be camping although surely that’s planned for a few weeks later at the WOMAD festival.

It’s  Poppy!

we’re staying at my eldest son and his partner Alice’s, who are my granddaughters mum and dad and therefore personal assistants.

Poppy has brought her potty to the living room alongside the futon (I.e. close to the floor) just  to the side of my head to have her early morning pee 😉

So that’s me up, empty the potty, wash it out, welcome to Poppy’s world.

manjula manages to sneak a couple of extra hours sleep, her legs are aching after all the walking…..

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by now Poppy is an animal! 😉

 

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Chamundeshwari fought the demon

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It’s early in the morning, a little after 7 am. I cycle up to the brow of the hill and can hear a drumming in the background. Maybe it’s a significant day, a Mela or something else to do with the local goddess.

This is the home, of the goddess Chamundeshwari, her temple and effectively, her woodland garden, the hill is one of the most sacred in the whole of South India.

As I get closer, I realise it’s not what I first thought.

The ‘drums’ are the sound of the diggers breaking up the stones as part of the redevelopment of the hill top.

The hill takes its name from Chamundeshwari the local goddess (aka Durga) who lives on the hill which is just behind Mysore Bed and Breakfast. You can just about see the temple Gopura in the main picture in the far distance.

DSC01379Chamundeshwari is famous for dispensing with the demon: Mahishasura after which Mysuru or Mysore is named.

It looks to me that there is a new demon that she’ll have to deal with and the demon is development.

A few days later I join a walk up the hill to find out a little more…..

 

Hundreds of people walked up the hill as part of a demonstration against the planned development. For those of you who’ve visited you’ll realise its a bit of a mess up there. God knows what it would be like it if wasn’t a plastic free zone….. so there is no doubt  the need to do something

But does it need a new guest house? (there are already two that are not used), a shopping complex? a mulit-storey car park? and a four lane highway? In our view all these plans will devastate the hillside, damage its bio-diversity and make matters so much worse but do the local powers that be give a damn?

Hence I think there is a new demon in town that the Goddess needs to sort out!

Its that magic word development that they keep throwing around. Politicians use it as a catch-all phrase to defend all sorts of unsuitable decisions. Are we against development? by which they must mean progress… well erm yes, if it means destroying the lungs of the city and decemating the woodland, yes if it means worshipping and promoting growth regardless of the consequences.

It has the potential to be an amazing place, not least for the views of the city.

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But for that to be realised, we must have: some participation of the people in this thing called democracy, an end to mindless development and some sustainable and practical proposals to deal with the problems. These are currently  unfettered illegal growth, litter and too much traffic. These are practically and relatively easily resolvable with the right approach and many local organisations have come up with suggestions. In my view, it isn’t about grand schemes as they will not work and are, in any case, designed for the short term gain, with money going into a whole range of pockets and the needs of the people and the environment completely neglected..

This will be an interesting story to follow to see how local politicians and the civil servants manage to properly manage the conflicting priorities and show how well they are suited to representing the interests of people and the environment whilst  maintaining long-term sustainable development when and where its appropriate..

 

an invitation arrives……

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No it’s not from the queen to invite Manjula to the UK!

It is however related to royalty…….

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This very week Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the latest in the long line of Mysore Maharaja’s (a previous one was amongst the richest in the world) will be married this week.

The previous Maharaja died a couple of years ago and there was no heir to the throne. This being India there are, of course, flexible ways to deal with such problems. So after a dignified period his widow the Maharani chose to adopt a relative to be the Maharaja. He’s already been crowned and this year gets wed!

The invite to the wedding because that’s what it is, was received by our new friend Dr Pai.

It’s told that a Queen from a neighbouring state, after losing a battle with the Wodeyars, cast a curse on the royal family that in future there would have no children so no natural heir to the throne. The law was therefore changed many years back to allow them to adopt the next Maharaja.

Here’s Dr Pai with his personal invite to THE event.

There is always a back story and in this case, a member of the Wodeyar family is challenging the adoption in the courts, nothing straightforward eh?

 

Rewards

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image.jpegI have three rewards!

No 1 is sharing the absolute joy of Manjula who seems to have won the lottery! Well she has got a visa for the UK… in her terms its a VERY  VERY BIG win.

Rewards 2 and 3 are the beers I’ve brought from the US and tonight my celebratory tipple will be the first since I returned from my amazing holiday in the US and Canada, with my youngest son Oliver.

But this affair has been a long and arduous journey, firstly (four months) sorting out the inaccurate and inconsistent forms of Manjula’s ID before we were able to apply for her first ever passport (three months) and the grand finale: two applications (six weeks, at least they’re fast!) for the UK visa

But all that quickly and quietly recedes into the distance as the appreciation of Manjula shown by the intensity of feeling bouncing around our home at the moment 🙂 makes it all worthwhile!

lets introduce some brevity

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Slogans, pithy sayings, brands gone wrong… there must be tons of humorous examples. I’ve spotted a fair few in my travels and many more since I came to live here in India. So let’s have a break from all this boring stuff about IDs, bureaucracy, passports, visa. Can you find examples from here in India or elsewhere? of often unintended or everyday humour?  So the gauntlet is down, let’s see your best examples. …..I’ll start us off….. Here’s a couple on T shirts, to get us going

for me it’s not just the slogan but the context, often poor innocent guys who may have little idea what they’reDSC00985 wearing.

 

 

don’t get me wrong. I’m not putting the guy down. just the whole idea that there’s a leap quantum or otherwise, just seems so funny.

 

 

 

 

Now the next one knew exactly the nuance of the message, I met him on a cycle tour up Chamundi Hill and he was interested to know its origin with the band: Pink Floyd. Now some smart alec is going to inform me it originated somewhere else!

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So this is an open invitation, give us your suggestions.

Its well and truly in…

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Manjula (53 Saris) Vellada, in her latest stunning blue outfit is seen out in the BIG city (Bangalore) with the accessory of THE season: a fetching green plastic folder complete with one hundred and sixty-five pages of documents to try and prove she lives in India and wants and has to return here after her holiday in the UK. Please note the smallest detail. That is the Indian passport for which blood, sweat and tears have been lost in an earlier ten episodes of this story.

 

Yes, the second application for a visa is now complete. The online from was submitted almost two weeks ago and the starting gun officially sounded on the 6th when Manjula went back for an appointment at the visa processing plant (assistants not allowed in, of course) in Bangalore (eight hour round trip with three hour processing).

Everything is crossed and we’re told we should probably know within fifteen working days if she’s successful. That sort of takes us to the 26th June and if we get it, we fly out on the 29th. Close eh?

We’re used to living close to the edge 😉  and remember those flowers?

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we are seriously invoking the Gods for their assistance in the matter of the visa. We’ve already reported on the astonishing display of these ‘one-night-only’ flowers that first came when we completed the online form and that kept coming out with more of these aromatic beauties for three nights. Here are some of the photos to show what an exceptional thing this is!

Each are probably larger than two of my clenched fists. (there is no significance in the chosen analogy) We counted a total of fifteen when mostly you’ll be lucky to get one!

So here in hope!

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Let’s give Manjula a Break

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Yes, let’s give her a break….. A new visa application is IN.

She needs one, who wouldn’t, after being with Stephen for OVER six Years?! yes Six years!

We’ve been overcome with the support, since the news got out about the rejection, from our wonderful friends, many of whom are visitors to us here at Mysore Bed and Breakfast.

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Thank you, it means a lot to get that encouragement and emotional support. We’ve also had tons of invites for holidays elsewhere. Top of the list at the moment (from the no. of suggestions) are  UK (ha ha thanks for that ), Australia, Canada, Europe (we’re voting to stay IN) and Israel.

So the thing is, the new application is submitted and we think we’re providing firm evidence on the main issue. She just wants a holiday and she really isn’t trying to slip into the country and stay there!!! She doesn’t want to move to the UK

Can you send an Email to Manjula?

Maybe emphasising something on the lines of:

  • how she really is Mysore Bed and Breakfast and is critical to its continuing success
  • how and what you enjoyed about your stay
  • that you’ll be back
  • and any other way you can demonstrate your support

Every little might help, who knows?

Manjula@mycycle.co

She has an established life here, a job, she’s critical to the BnB, we have invested in our life here with a dog, a redecorated five bedroom house, a bike, a car, a successful business, a lovely garden that’s taken an age to create,  has dependents who rely on her, such as her mother and she doesn’t wish to move to the UK.

So why the photo of the Brahma Kamla flower?

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These flowers are very auspices. Each flower only lasts one night. It is at it’s best at midnight and the aroma is beautifully overpowering. They are not at all easy to grow. They are therefore considered very lucky. On the past three nights we’ve had a total of fifteen, yes fifteen of these flowers. So we hope the Brahma is with-us on this next bit of the journey of: ‘The Passage from India!’

 

 

The Tiger bit me!

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Which Tiger bit you? Where?

Ok its not a real tiger, but it did bite me!

I’d called at the shopping mall and parked the Enfield (aka CE) just outside on a grotty verge near to some street food stalls. I couldn’t have been much more than twenty minutes, time to grab a snack and Nutella stuff for the children for tomorrow’s pancake breakfast. (the Maple syrup fresh from Canada will NOT be opened).

I’m trying to write this at the dining table and Manjula has just brought tea and biscuits. I’m on a fitness and not-eating-crap period and she knows it. She’s trying to entice me with the biscuits. Now she’s got one half in her mouth and waving it in my direction. She’s a minx!

back to the nonsense of today….

On finishing shopping and returning outside, it all looked odd and I felt seriously uncomfortable. The verge was completely empty and there was no bike to be seen. Sugar! I also couldn’t find my keys…… nicked? God knows!

It’s then I saw the Tiger.

Its a pick up truck operated by the Police that goes around the city lifting illegally parked two wheelers. The policeman and I didn’t really understand each other but if they had it, it was at the Transport Police depot on my way home. So I trudged off……. waaaay!

IMG_5904She was there!

You can see her peeking out from the corner of the police station, with my red helmet still on her seat.

What a relief, she hadn’t been stolen!

So I turned up with my documents. They knew nothing about the keys. so actually its quite a relief that the Police picked it up, otherwise someone might have found the keys and nicked it!

Things work out in the end, or so we need to tell ourselves in dealing with the OTHER big issue in our lives, at the moment.

I paid my fine of 200 Rs and an additional 100 Rs charge to pay for the Tiger, picking up and transporting it. So that’s no big deal. but hang on a minute. The minimum pay which many people don’t even get is 200 Rs per day. So it has cost quite a lot of money to someone with little. To them itsIMG_0925 the equivalent of a day and a half’s pay!

But then again they  probably wouldn’t have been an idiot and got the bike picked up in the first place! 🙂

So why am I telling you all about this? Maybe it’s distraction therapy…. eh and guess what happened when I got back to the bike…….

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