Mangalore - 2

Continued from here.

So, like I said, we travelled to a lot of places from Mulki. And the first of them was Moodabidri.

Moodabidri is a Jain populated place and it has a lot of Jain temples, schools and community centres. Saavira Kambada Basadi is one such Jain temple renowned for it's structure.

"Saavira" means 1000 in Kannada, "Kambada" means "pillar" and "Basadi" means "temple". So, it's a temple that has 1000 pillars.

No pillar is similar to the other i.e. all of these pillars are unique and they have been placed with the help of elephants alone.

The fact sheet outside the temple also said there are 1000 pillars but I didn't think there were as many. 

(You may open the image in a new window and zoom to read the entire script.)

Then again, I didn't count but it didn't seem like there were so many!!

If you look closely, you will find that all these pillars are different from one another.

The ceiling was done up very well too..

 

And that's my sister Anagha :)

 

List of Jain temples and community centres in Moodabidri :

Our next destination was also a Jain place of worship in Karkala, a little away from Moodabidri.. Will cover that shortly :)

Mangalore - 1

Back from Mangalore on Sunday and it was one relaxing week. It's funny doing a travelogue on Mangalore considering it's my own hometown.. I just never spent a lot of time there as three generations of our family have settled here in Bombay. But this time, I stayed for a whole week and I really liked the place & the people there. Clean beaches and pretty, pretty (though in a traditional kind of way) women! Eye candy for a lot of guys planning a trip there..

Tell you the truth, I was a little apprehensive on the day I left for Mangalore. Something had really gone wrong back here and I was scared of spending 15-16 hours on the train, not doing anything, allowing my idle mind to think.. think about all that had gone wrong that morning! That too, I was accompanied by  dad and uncle (his friend) .. people I couldn't talk about my troubles with. I decided to go along anyway because it was too late to cancel then. And I am so glad I did. The train journey wasn't troublesome at all. In fact it was fun. I met a really interesting person on the train because all of our seats were different. Her name was Izabela and we had such a lot in common. The conversation was really relieving and gave me a lot of insight. She kept me company all the way to Goa and I went to sleep only after that. Needless to say, I slept quite peacefully. I really think God has a way of making the most scariest of situations a lot more liveable.

Mangalore was awesome too. I would have missed meeting such wonderful people had I cancelled my trip. I met my second cousin Anagha for the first time and she was such a delight. Though I love children, there are a few kids I realllllllyyyy enjoy spending time with (spending time = playing) and she was one of them. Just the sight of her makes me forget all my troubles. Here's presenting Anagha and her crazy/cuteness :

Note: These pictures were all her idea.. clicked by herself. I came only later. This reminded me so much of my own self!! Sometimes, when I am really bored, I click random pics of myself in weird expressions :P

and this is us:

I'm totally in love with her!!!

I stayed at Mulki (about an hour from Mangalore) and travelled to Mangalore, Moodabidri, Karkala and Udipi.

I will write a little about these places in the following posts to come.. so stay tuned!!

2013

New Year!! The day was just like any other day except that I really liked spending time with a friend today ..it feels nice when you go out with one of your everyday friends.. because you don't really *talk* to them as they're always around anyway.

2012 was a bad year for me in terms of relationships and personal growth. I do have some regrets and it feels like I have been seeking closure for the longest time now.

I did experience what it was like to stay away from home though and though it did get lonely a few times, I would say it was a good learning experience.

This year, I just want to be able to let go.. and feel free. I want to cry my heart out.. and FORGET.
I want to be able to think for myself again and look forward to newer things. I want to be able to trust again, to love again, and just be happy.

I miss being me.

so many questions unanswered,
some important and some frivolous ones,

scared of letting go and hoping against hope..
for a certain future,
where i can dream again..

Shave or Crave!

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

After having written a post on the "fairer" sex some time back (on whether the world is really "fair" to it), this is how it can actually make the members of the opposite sex dance to its tunes..

A lot of women like the clean shaven look to the stubble or a full beard. Personally, I am fond of a stubble.. I think it makes a man look rough and tough! :D However, for an occasional evening out to a classy French restaurant, I'd prefer him to don a clean look.. :)

But if I was challenged to get my guy to shave.. how would I do it? Hmm..

For one, I can make him read my post on what women have to go through to just go grocery shopping let alone meet a guy!!! Honestly, if women were to go without grooming at all, it'd attract a lot of judging eyes..

Secondly.. I'd take eons to dress up for an evening out with him.. would keep him waiting till he took some efforts too :)

Will un-mute every Gillette advertisement when we are watching television together.. so that he gets the hint :P

At the end of the day, if he still doesn't get the hint, then I'd pretend to like his well groomed friend better, and compliment his clean shaven look publicly! That should definitely scare the daylights out of him!! :D

questions

today has got me thinking a lot about life .. and the way people function.

a lot of times i doubt myself (my heart).. i fear doing the wrong things and keep myself grounded even when i don't need to.

in this week, i came across two people (one of them just today!!) who completely changed the faith i have in people with regards to how much they are true to themselves. and i feel proud of myself that i am naturally tuned to listen to my heart and to follow my principles.. yet i doubt myself every second! (which causes all the trouble) how silly is that?

and i'm glad that in my real life too, i've always been surrounded with people who are just as strong and morally grounded..

i wish i could make peace with my past totally somehow though.. i wish everything seemed okay to my soul. i've discovered that the more you stay connected to your present, the easier it is to make peace with your past. i am trying just that but the mind keeps taking me back to the past and making me do things that are bothersome to not only me.. but to everyone else too!!! i don't wish to be the cause of anyone's unhappiness and yet i end up doing just that..

my crabby mood doesn't help my mom either - who's always trying to get me to help her with her errands or trying to talk to me about something important that goes on at her workplace. i don't like spoiling her mood because it in turn affects her health too but it all happens when my mind makes a trip to the past and makes me crazy.

praying for faith!

P.S: Please treat this like a midnight journal entry and excuse bad punctuation & use of small case.

felt some courage after a long, long time today..

a walk (coupled with talks) from nariman point to churchgate,
having a friend over for tea and snacks,

it's nice knowing you'll always have people to spend time with, to love.. it's all about whether you're willing to.

nothingness

i long for nothingness,

as nothing shall bring me peace..

Happy Endings

I like happy endings. (who doesn't?)

Movies that end happily, novels where everything falls together on the last page.. they give you a sense of completion.

And that's what happy endings are about.

It's not always two people ending up together.

There is that man who gets to change the world before he can bid goodbye to it forever, there is the woman who sees her son finally achieving his dreams and in turn, her own too. Someone gets to say goodbye, someone is forgiven after years of living with guilt, someone moves on, someone finally gets to escape getting all the freedom they had yearned for.. And someone gets that closure they spent restless nights looking for..

It's no wonder we like happy endings. They aren't exactly "happy". They are "complete" and they bring with them a sense of calm being "complete" gives you..  After all, we're looking for it ourselves. All the time.

Starry Night

This post was written on Friday, 8th Sept 2012 but could not be published because of a technical issue. :(

Late last night, after a low moment, I stood in the balcony to clear my head a little. Looked up to see the sky brightly lit with the moon in the center surrounded by hundreds of stars.. and the clouds coming to life in the moonlight.

And I could hear my heart singing to me.. "Look at the stars.. Look how they shine for you.. And everything you do.." :)  (Ref: Yellow- Coldplay)

Nothing or no one can console you better than the universe.. On a serious note, everything else seems so unimportant in front of it..

I'll have to say, the good thing about Hyderabad is that I get to see stars in the sky.. so many of them! Will miss this when I go back home.

I tried to capture them but no matter how good your camera is, you can never really capture what you see through the naked eye.. that too, I used a phone camera!!

(couldn't get the stars at all :( )

 Maybe it's good that you can't capture it.. that makes the experience all the more special !!

And just today, I got this in my inbox.. from Sakhi:

Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson