Malenadu- A feel

Hailing from Malenadu (the regions around the Western Ghats in Karnataka) no matter which part of the world I'm in, there always is this longing to return to my roots.

But after many years of being outside, I realised that it isn't the longing for a particular place but a feel. Malenadu is a feel. 

The lush green paddy fields, the silent streams and roaring rivers, those foggy winter mornings when coffee feels like a drop of elixir, Malenadu has everything that can bind you for a lifetime.

It's difficult to explain to a city dweller how natural it is to spot a peacock in your backyard on a chilly December morning or how a green snake coiled around a hibiscus plant doesn't even elicit a cry of alarm from us.

The talks of a tiger being spotted near Thyagarthi and how villagers were scared to step out after dark is still etched in my memory. Climb the hill in the backyard of my Granny's house and a cliff is named as Huli Bande meaning Tiger Cliff named so because of a tiger which was spotted on top of it, lying lazily, sun bathing I'm sure on some winter morning eons ago. 

A herd of wild oxen destroying the crops was a daily headache for the farmers. There is also this curious incident of a wild jackal, a baby jackal infact which lost it's way and ended up in our front yard. Having mistook it for a dog by it's small size I approached it only to be welcomed by the ferocious teeth baring by the animal!

Wild encounters aren't very wild for us but a part of our lives. In this age where girls scream and run at the sight of a cockroach, I'm a super girl to them as I can actually catch a cockroach and hold a lizard! Snakes are very much considered a part of life and people brush off an encounter saying 'Ohh! It was just a water snake'!

Rain brings only slush, overflowing gutters and more traffic in a city but the rains of our Malenadu? A sight to behold. Once the Monsoons start it pours for days continuously. The ever screaming jewel bug well known as ಜೀರುಂಡೆ becomes a lullaby in the night. 

Souls which live in tiny boxes in a city can never fathom what an open sky is or what's the real meaning of a horizon. Those sultry summer nights with clear skies which offer a spectacular view of billions of stars makes you wonder about your existence.

Sadly the global warming seems to have affected even our pristine, untouched Malenadu over the years. It doesn't rain as much as it used to. Winter is a tad less cold every year. Tourists throng every nook and corner making it disorienting for the locals. But before our forests disappear completely, before all the rivers are poisoned and before even our Malenadu loses the charm why not plan a visit this Monsoon? 

Drop me a line if you happen to pass by and ya, look out for those leeches!

Note: Pictures are from our plantation near Sagara, Shimoga.