Nandibattalu Hoovu

Nandibattalu Hoovu also called Crape Jasmine and Pinwheel flower grows on a evergreen shrub with thick dark-green glossy leaves. The white flower has a mild fragrance and used in Hindu rituals i.e. its offered to the deities.

.........

PooranChandra of December 2021

 The last full moon of this year...

.........

Tangawala Babu Sheikh

This picture below was first published in March 2009 in the post titled Babu Sheikh's Tanga. As per Babu, about six or seven tangas plied on Dharwad roads. Babu ferried children from their homes to their schools and back home. His tanga would be filled with primary school kids.

I was away from Dharwad between mid-2014 and mid-2021 barring a few short visits. Since 2020 and 2021 were Covid-19 years, schools were closed, I have no idea how Babu Sheikh earned his living. I saw him again, may be August 2021 near Shivaji Circle on Saundatti road during my cycling rides. Apparently he's a regular at one of the eateries.. I would see his tanga parked on the side. I decided to talk to him and get another picture. This picture was shot on December 11 2021.

He seemed to recognize me when I told him about taking his picture near KCD Circle. His cart is the same but the horse is different. Now since the schools have reopened, hoping he's back to ferrying kids. Wishing him good health and good business.

.........

a mesmerizing morning sky

 The dawn sky of December 4th was bearing down with heavy looking clouds. 

The dense clouds slowly dispersed as Sun rose over the horizon.

.........

Home - Kyarkoppa - Mugad - Kelageri - Home bicycle ride

A few days before this ride, I had visited Kyarkoppa and I badly wanted Pushpa to see the place. We decided Sunday we would riding towards Kyarkoppa, Mugad and Kelageri. It would be long ride but we were prepared to do it. We left home at 5-27 AM, headed towards Karnataka University. passed through the campus, entered Choudeshwari Nagar, touched Haliyal road and entered Kyarkoppa road. Weather was cool and it wasn't light yet, we rode in lamps attached to our bike handle bars. Soon Kyarkoppa came into view. The last 100+ meters is an uphill stretch which gets steeper at the top. The last few seconds my legs screamed but I made it to the top riding. So did Pushpa who was riding after a gap of two or three weeks. We rode around the temple- Kyarkoppa Basavanna Gudi -went to the backside and parked our bikes.

The first thing Pushpa did was stand the cycle and lie down. The first 100 meters took her breath away! Herons were taking off in groups from their nesting trees. The groups flew towards east, probably headed towards agricultural fields in search of bengal-gram crops to pick worms.

Pushpa was back on her feet in minutes. We both took turns going inside the temple. Here the morning pooje is performed by an elderly lady, a friendly person.

A canine was hanging around the temple. Good we had biscuits in our bag and the canine was friendly. Our newfound friend was a young fella, very playful. He would jump around a little and eat. Finally when he knew he could trust us, he laid down. We spent half an hour here. Time to leave, we still had most of the ride ahead of us.

Instead of going thro Mugad, we went around it by taking Mugad-Kalakeri road. We missed a turn and overshot by nearly a kilometer. We rode back, found the turn and came down here... plenty of paddy fields, almost ready for harvest.

Instead of going towards Mugad, we rode back towards Kyarkoppa and turned back again. This is the flowing road towards Mugad. Around here we a hare jumped onto the road and hopped ahead of us for 100 meters or so. then it vanished into bushes. Then we saw a very handsome peacock at a distance, it was on a cultivated land, probably looking for insects. I did not bother to shoot with my DSLR lest I disturbed it.

The approach road to Mugad is a long downhill stretch with a school & playground on the left. At the point where the road levels, Mugad tank comes into view. This tank is manmade, road to the village runs on the bund.

A peaceful sheet of water. I heard plenty of migratory birds nest here during winters.

Road on the bund leading to Mugad village. Both ends of this road have a temple each. One of the temples is dedicated to Durgadevi.

Sun was rising fast and it was getting warm quickly. We had to get going. Our plan was to take Mugad to Goa-Dharwad highway. The road from Mugad to the highway was steep, it felt never ending. Once on the highway, we had both uphill and downhill stretches. After a particularly long uphill stretch we took a five minute break.

We continued... passed through the upcoming toll gate. This was the first time we rode through a toll gate, though a nonfunctional one.

We passed by Kelageri and took another short break just before Bendre Bhavan. The rest of the ride was on Poona - Bangalore road. We reached home at 8-04 AM. Here's a screenshot of the ride in Zeopoxa.

Hoping this post inspires people to take up bicycle riding, or any other form of outdoor physical activity which is much needed for upkeeping personal health.

.........