Kunta Kona Mooka Jaana

"Kunta Kona Mooka Jaana" is a Kannada comedy play enacted by a team of actors for over a decade. I heard of this first from Pushpa, who had seen it in 2012, she had asked me to see it but somehow it never happened. This play is quite popular, it has a fan following with fans having watched it several times over. This play has eleven roles played by ten actors, six male & four female actors. The play duration is approximately 165 minutes without a break. Most of the scenes and dialogues are funny, people watching them will forget everything else and laugh their hearts out.

This troupe camps at a place for few months, may be three months, the play is enacted 2 or 3 times per day depending on the permission granted by civic authorities.

As I remember this troupe has camped in Dharwad since mid March 2022, playing two times everyday. Ticket cost is ₹100, tickets are issued just before the show. I guess the troupe will be at Dharwad for two or three more weeks. Do watch the actors' awesome performance once, its worth every minute the time spent.

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red Hibiscus

Hibiscus is one of the flowers offered to Hindu deities. It is considered to possess medicinal properties, I think the petals are consumed orally. Unlike jasmine, rose, kakada or kanakambara, Hibiscus flower is not worn by ladies however ladies of the Konkan belt are an exception.

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Spiked Bulbul

Bulbul seen in our utility area on Apr-26-2022. I was barely six feet away, Bulbul remained there for two minutes or so. Of the 20+ shots, these two were the best. I think this bird is generally known as Red Whiskered Bulbul.

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mobile advertising on a cycle-trailer

Happened to see a unique way of advertising on a Sunday morning at Dharwad market. Some brilliant mind came up with an idea of modifying a bicycle into a tricycle-trailer loaded with a frame & billboard advertising courses offered by an educational institute. The idea offers a non-polluting low cost way of publicity.

The cycle-trailer was run by a teenage boy. Going by the way he was riding, it looked like this was a maiden run. The tricycle's chain was coming off the free-wheel frequently. It was an alignment issue- the crank and free-wheel were not inline with each other. Hoping the fabricator has made provision for adjustments.

From my experience of cycling, this cycle-trailer can be ridden on flat roads or downhill roads. However, it would difficult or impossible on uphill roads. Most of Dharwad is hilly terrain, hardly any level roads. The operator will have to push it on uphill stretches. The other disadvantage I see is the possibility of toppling over in windy conditions. Summer winds are quite powerful in Dharwad. The operator must be alert, when wind starts blowing in, the cycle-trailer must be parked and harnessed to prevent it from falling over. 

Wishing and hoping this idea becomes successful.

Edit1: last week October, another cycle-advert vehicle was seen in Dharwad market. See the article mobile advertising on a tricycle.

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60 km ride between Dharwad and Hubballi

Ever since we took to cycling in March 2021, most of our rides have been on the northern and western sides of Dharwad, except for one ride to Hubli and a few rides towards IIIT which is in between Dharwad and Hubli. Mid of April I got an idea of going towards Kusugal and Byahatti. I was familiar with the roads out there but I checked the distance on Google Maps to fix the start time. The route: Dharwad to Hubli to Kusugal to Byahatti to Dharwad. It would be a 60 km ride, I decided to start around 3-30 am on April 30th.

I woke up at 3-00 AM, ready to leave by 3-35. As I stepped towards our building gate, I could feel rain drops, little wet patches were seen clearly on the ground. It was windy as well. For a moment I thought of waiting until rain ceased. No, let me proceed. Rainfall was light. Two minutes later, on the Dharwad-Hubli road, the intensity increased. I stopped under a petrol bunk shelter. It was confusing... is it raining widely... one look at the sky... no, it's just passing rain. I resumed. 3.5 kms further i.e. as I passed by SDM Dental College. Glad I left the rain behind :)

The road to Hubli was a familiar one, well lit and mostly downhill, it was a easy ride. As I exited Hubli, I stopped for a minute to have a sip of water. The road to Kusugal was flat, I maintained a good speed. I entered Kusugal, rode through the narrow streets, villagers were up, sweeping the fronts of their homes, and dogs were still on duty. A few dogs gave suspicious looks, some growled, some chased a few meters... part of riding through a village. In a couple of minutes I was out of Kusugal, heading towards Byahatti. Weather was cool, more or less flat roads, progress was consistent. As I entered Byahatti, I got a glimpse of the village's iconic clock tower. This village is a junction of four roads... Kusugal, Hebsur, Tirlapur and Dharwad. A stretch of pot-holed road is a permanent feature of Byahtti-Dharwad road. The other feature of this road is its straightness. A kilometer from Byahatti, started feeling the resistance of headwind, it blew head on. After a few kilometers I realized the road was a constant uphill stretch. I was hoping the wind ceased but there was no let up. I wanted to take a break but continued until a Neem tree was spotted. Around the 42nd kilometer I found a Neem tree on the edge of a field.

looking towards Byahatti

looking towards Dharwad

My leg muscles relaxed during the short break. I sipped water, got a rainwater washed Neem stick, stuck it into my mouth and resumed the ride. The bitter taste was a pleasant diversion from the exertion of riding into the wind. I chewed on the stick for 15 to 20 minutes. I remember throwing away the stick just outside Somapur. The uphill continued and the wind got stronger. At times it felt as if I was wrestling with Vayudeva. With some 10 or 12 km to go, I took another break. This was mainly to get a shot of this green tunnel.

I was hoping to cover the last bit non-stop but the force of wind got stronger as I came closer to Dharwad. With 5 or 6 kilometers to go, the wind was so forceful I almost came to a standstill. I stopped in front of a fabrication unit, stretched my legs and sipped water, Within couple of minutes I resumed the ride. Once inside the city effect of wind was not much. I took my usual route back home which includes passing by Line Bazar Hanuman Gudi. Back home, I hurriedly parked, locked and covered my bike. My left foot was hurting because of the tightness. The side of left foot starts hurting after 3 or 4 hours of intense pedaling. The only way to relax is remove shoes.

Sipping hot tea I went through the 3 apps- Zeopoxa, Google Fit and Zepp Life. Below are the screenshots of the ride summary from all three. I had enabled auto-pause in Zeopoxa and Zepp Life. No such option in Google Fit.

Notice the straight line in my route- that's the stretch between Shivalli and Dharwad.

Zepp Life records heart beat rate through MI smart band - a gift from my brother.

Almost a kilometer difference in the distance between the 3 apps. Need to research more on this aspect. Anyway, for the record, I go with Zeopoxa data since that has been my first tracking app.

This ride is the most difficult of all my rides. Even my 70 km Dharwad-Kittur-Dharwad ride wasn't so tiring. Wind has been a major resistance factor. Talking of wind reminds me of Madhugiri hill climb back in December 2011. Do see Madhugiri and read about my experience at Madhugiri fort.

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