The day started so well, with Kaveri swimming in the Kaveri.
After a quick change, that’ll. Be five rupees thank you.
Being watched by the cheeky monkeys.
Lucie was picked up much later and then wouldn’t leave the car.
Rat snakes, cavorting but not dangerous and easily managed by the snake man. She has disappeared. He was relaxing and recovering from all the hard work 🤔 so he was slow, lethargic and easily nabbbed.
After soooooo long without leading tours, they are now coming thick and fast, recently with a tour each week and for good measure a short cycle ride with a little known girl.
Grabbing a dosa for breakfast on the island is becoming popular
Todays tour was for Tilley and Jessie friends from the UK who I know through a very good friend Emma. Also on the tour was someone who will remain ‘nameless’ for a little longer.
They are travelling throughout India and I’m exhausted hearing about it, but its sounds that its been fun and as with all of us learned so much from the wonderful experiences that INDIA provides to us all.
Spotting the sheep, flowers, goats, butterflies and birds, not to forget the general craziness, has always been a popular part of the tour, a new interest has become the dung beetles. They’ve also met Kaveri, or at least the goddess, and the mini version of her will join us for breakfast.
Today we had to contend with the guide running out of petrol en route to the island, a political demonstration and our route blocked by trees. Nothing is ever straightforward in India seems a slight understatement.
MyCycle Tours will be available again in September.
Kaveri (also anglicised as Cauvery) is named after the holy river, one of the seven holiest in India, a Hindu goddess, who is known for her strength of character and giving nature. As usual the stories vary.
The Kaveri river rises in the western ghats in Kodak (Coorg) passing through Karnataka and Tamil Nadu before reaching the Bay of Bengal.
On its journey east it splits to form three islands, one of which is Srirangapatna, featured on our main mycycle tour.
The river helps feed the irrigation systems especially around Srirangaptnam and is source of conflict between the two states.
She lives in Hinkal on the other side of Mysore but I get to see her some weekends and during the school summer holiday, when she visits her grandmother, who lives opposite our house.
We’re in the midst of school holidays so she’s here everyday for a few weeks and I’ve introduced ta – ra ta -ra….
We’ve already had walking Lucie, cycling single and tandem, many trips to the cafe, the infamous holiday, games on and off screen, trips to various institutions namely the vets and dentist, outings in the Ambassador, storytelling, shopping for birthday present clothes more and more….
There’s a serious reason for all this related to MAnjula.
meet Kaveri
over the next few weeks I’ll post an evolving introduction to one of our new friends.
I can hear her now. Her bossy tone wafting over — from her grandmother’s home — on the other side of the park outside our house .
She’s already featured on a few entries on meandmycycle, most notably this month when she joined the ‘Manjula’s Mysore” outing to Kerala. Check here
We began making connections some time ago
So come and say hello to Kaveri…
Rebel Number One, ….an earlier posting saw Kaveri :
⁃ stuffing herself (under her grandmother’s encouragement we’re trying to feed her up, she is very skinny),
⁃ completing her “How to draw almost Everything for Kids’ sourcebook
⁃ playing in the park
and of course she was part of the Madness in Kerala
So why am I introducing you to Kaveri? …. bear with me, you’ll see.
We have a pomegranate thief.
Just as they ripen on the branch someone comes and steals them.
We don’t believe anyone is taking them from our side of the wall or that it’s anyone that works here or relatives of the owner that live on the roof.
No strangers have entered our property. We do have CCTV.
They are however easily reachable from the neighbours path.
It’s a recurring theme. People help themselves to flowers from the public parks. We’ve challenged people with their discreet plastic bags filling them not least from Manjula’s memorial garden.
This morning, Sowbhaghya came across one of the workers in the park who accosted a little girl who was collecting flowers for Pooja. she shouldn’t.
A lesson for Kaveri to learn.
Cause to be determined
a wonderful few days
It’s raining and pouring, thunder and lightening, most have left — the remaining fragment of Kaveri, Sowbaghya, Rhadika, SB Naveen Ks, Stephen and Lucie — are here for one more night.
Sadly one person was missing
But we all reminisced and felt her hug and presence in our hearts
The holiday was a thank you from MAnjula and I
It was a real joy spending time with good friends who are all so interesting and different.
Me and MYCycle 