Mangalore Diaries

The pictures above from the river fest , beautiful as they are triggered a chain of thoughts about Mangalore . I find it amazing that it is happening in Mangalore .

Mangalore for me has been an enigma. Until my wedding I used to loathe going to Mangalore . The arrogant being that I am , i always used to tell, to anybody who cared to listen , that if I ever became the prime Minister of this country I would not have sanctioned Pokhran 2, but instead have had Mangalore 1 ! Until then whenever I used to go to Mangalore  I used to stay at my relatives place where everything was bit alien to me. A brat that Iwas at that age m, A strict vigil was kept as to where I went and what I did . So much so that even though I went alone they used  to know how much time I had spent in the Venkata Ramana temple and what ice creams I had eaten at Ideals .They were often surprise that something common place for them like the sea used to an  object of fascination for us.   While I used to occasionally go to Mangalore for the Ganesh Festival, the fact that I could not gel into the atmosphere there made me stop  going to Mangalore completely . Apparently, Savoir Faire was never an endearing quality of mine . One of My Maternal Uncles  summarised it rather succinctly, that my dislike for Mangalore had its roots in the fact that I barely knew six people in Mangalore and I never could understand any of them .

My wedding changed all of that. When one is blessed with a wife, one then seeks more divine intervention and solace ! I then restarted visiting Mangalore for the Ganesh Chavathi and I started staying in a hotel . That gave me a sense of freedom and to do what I liked and as I pleased . Slowly places that I had never heard of before , leave alone visiting , became an item on my Mangalore Agenda . For the first time perhaps I visited lower car street  and the simplicity of the establishments there was truly amazing . Staying in the hotel also meant that I got to eat at typical Manglorean Konkani joints which introduced me to a menu way beyond what I got to eat at home . Biscuit Rotti for example . Though I had heard about it, I always thought it to be some kind of rotti stuffed with biscuits ! The menu at Taj Mahal Cafe and Ayodhya opened up my taste buds to combinations never eaten before. Thuppa Polo with Dhalithoy( ghee dosa with Dhalitoy a Konkani dhal curry ) Rulavu (Upma) with dhalithoy, Poori Bhaji, where the bhaji is sans onions , Khotto ( idlis in cups made of jackfruit leaves ) with chutney  and  coconut oil , thali with Channe Ghashi ( Channa Curry in Cocunut with raw jackfruit)  and Bendhi... the list can go on .  It has changed some of my legendary dislikes . I used to hate ghee , but nowadays I make thuppa polo at home with Ghee. My wife’s reaction is vacillating between utter disbelief and pleasant surprise at this development .

The legends of Fish joints like Machali and Giri Manja’s is well documented. The Manji Phanna upkari at Giri Manja’s is something you have to eat and experience . Added to this was my cousins restaurant, Mamama’s near corporation building serving outstanding traditional Konkani fish dishes. 

Food joints apart , There were many discoveries in Mangalore that caused a change in my perception. The Bejai museum , The Mukhya Prana Hanuman temple, Nayak clock works which still makes mechanical clocks with ding dong chimes , all these only added to my appreciation of Mangalore . 

Before I knew it Mangalore had seduced me and I was loving it !!! 

My Bucket list still has a visit to the Milagres Church and St. Aloysius Chapel which my father spoke so highly about, a visit to Kadri Hill ,a visit to Sultan Batteri, a visit to the Pulikula zoo, a visit to the Mangala Devi temple and most important of all , at least once in my lifetime I want to visit and see the legendary Kodial  Theru and relish the famous Dhalithoy of that festival . 

One lesson I have learnt from this is that no place  is good and no place can be labelled as bad either . What matters is what experience we take from this place. If we come with an intention to understand , with a sense of adventure, Perspicacity and more importantly a willingness to learn , Mangalore ( or any other place for that matter ) can be a truly enlightening encounter .