This was a comment in an article on Mysore by Viky. Everytime I read it, my eyes turn moist. Any true Mysorean will see what I mean.
Thanks Viky and Anu for allowing me to post this here!
Mysore cannot be experienced in holidays or weekends. Like a creeper
growing and encircling the staff, you have to live, and grow with Mysore to
experience it. You have to be with the ajjis who have seen you from the time you were soooo small, where the maid who works in your house is your family maid, your ajji had “recruited” her mother.When you go on an evening walk, and the poojari of the Ram mandir, stops
and chats with you, and moves on saying there is a pooja at 5 next morning,
that’s Mysore for you. When you walk a little ahead and the librarian says he
has the latest copy of “Kasturi” or “Mayura”, that’s Mysore for you. When the
milkman sees you on a walk, and delivers an extra half litre without being
asked, that’s Mysore for you.Mysore is when you board a bus at the bus-stand and conductor-uncle gives
you a ticket without asking. Mysore is when you collect little red ‘gulganji’
seeds on your way back home from KukkarahaLLi lake. Mysore is when you come by the Tippu express, and you find someone going in your direction to drop you off.Mysore is when elephants are marched in from the forests for Dussehra.
Mysore is when you wait for your copy of “Star of Mysore”. Mysore is when the
English movies are only at Rajkamal. Or Sterling. Mysore is when you look for
your KEB uncle to book tickets at Woodlands. Mysore is when there are student body elections in Sarada-Vilas. Mysore is the eternal SJCE-NIE feud. Mysore is when Jayciana is. Mysore is when you got your project report bound at Venkateshwara Binders in Saraswatipuram.Mysore is having grape juice at RTO circle. Mysore is buying vegetables at
Agrahara. Mysore is buying plantain leaves in NanjumaLige, savoring the aroma of the agarbatti factory behind. Mysore is eating ice-creams at Penguin. Mysore is eating dosa at Mylari Hotel. Mysore is having biriyani early in the morning,
near Philo’s church. Mysore is drinking sugarcane juice near kukkarahaLLI lake.
Mysore is munching corn-on-the-cob in the palace foreground.Mysore is when I grew up in Mysore. My Mysore.Mysore before GRS, before the
underbridge in front of Saraswatipuram Fire Brigade, before Infosys, before
Ring-Road. Those who grew up in that Mysore, will relate to me more than those who came to Mysore, for a three-month stint in Infy. Than those, who think Mysore is a good place to invest. Than those, who think chilling out in Mysore is just CCD or Pizza Corner. Oh, How they misunderstand my pretty home !!!
Nice post. My sweet memories of Manasagangothri are rekindled. There was a famous Bajji maker in Saraswathipuram. My god, he was brilliant, and I was a big fan of his. The bajjis used to disappear in a wink!
kishor:
Yeah I remember. Those big BaaLekaayi bajjis were my favourite! Amazing I tell you!
Thank you, Adi, for making my comment a post.
Very well described. I am now sore at not being able to visit mysore. Mysore has become my sore.
Mysore has this charm and appeal that B’lore can NEVER get! And this is even after neglecting the tourist attractions..
it is the perfect place to settle down..
what a coincidence! I have the same in my blog today….:)
Got it from Sutejas…:)
Viky:
My pleasure mate! It’s just a brilliant piece of writing!
hiren:
That makes the two of us! :(
pa 1:
Perfectly agree with you! Bangalore and Mysore can never be compared! :)
shark:
Sutejas sent it after taking it from my blog only! :)
Viky:
Maga, you are getting famous!
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Adi: Thanks, mate. That’s just another attribute of my city. Whatever little you give to her, she gives it back multifold.
And to repeat my reply to your comment on Shark’s blog, we can never be larger than the city itself. It’s just a small ‘thank-you’ to the city which has been woven into our every breath.
Another tribute to Mysore, here
Viky:
Agree with you mate! :)
But just one doubt: If we cannot be bigger than the city, how can the city be inside us?! LOL! ;)
Adi: ROTFLOL… super PJ. I will use it elsewhere…
I stayed in mysore for four years for my engineering and I prefer to call myself a Mysorean. Then I moved to bangalore, but nothing can replace the charm of mysore.
Viky:
You have my permission to do so! LOL! ;)
Manoj:
NIE or JCE or VVCE or VVIET?
Your second statement is a well-accepted truth!
Mysore is also a place where you get cold coffee, cold horlics… for 10Rs. Its a place where you can feast with your friends in one of those dhabas (pallavi, Delhi…) for 50Rs :)
Mysore is a place with KD road :)
Mysore is where you have my school, Marimallapas :)
chethan:
Mysore – just the name makes us smile :)
Very Nice post.. saw it on Churumuri first…
My happiest holidays were spent in Mysore (Yadavagiri)..
Mysore is also about Raju Hotel (Iyers Lunch Home).. and yes Phalamritha..
Other lesser known places Marimallappa’s Canteen (benne masale)..
vijay:
Do we know each other? When and where were you in Yadavagiri? I stayed there for 7 years from 1988 to 1995. And am generally in touch with that place! Whoa! What an area! I would rate it as the best area in the entire world to go and stay in.
Phalamrutha..oh yeah.. definitely! :) Raju hotel, of course.
Adi, I didnt actually live there.. my Grandfather’s house was in Yadavagiri (behind AIR).. down from the old Sankalp hospital and Iyengar Angadi :-)
My cousins lived in Yadavagiri though… all went to NIE…
My Grandad passed away in 1991 and the house got sold… something I regret to this day.. as for me I left for the USA in 1985 to study.. only came back to India in 1995..
Vijay:
Sold the house?! :( Saddest thing to happen. What a wonderful place it would have been today to stay in.
I might know a few of your cousins! ;)
Thanks for your comment! :)
Awesome post dude !!! Saw it first on churumuri and then at a few other blogs. Every word is so true. I lived pretty much my entire life there, until I left the country. Kudos for an awesome read bud !!!
December stud:
Thanks! Thanks a lot! I know that every mysorean really relates to this post very well! It is just so true!
I have found one more good site for the mysore tourism I was in Mysore for 2 days for dasara and I have just returned to Poona. One talking website they have introduced which I have seen it for the first time http://www.mysoretourism.org it has virtual pooja of the God Chamundeshwari, fantastic work for Mysore. I was earlier staying in mysore when I was doing my Mtech. Keep it up, Mysore is a King City
Kiran:
This seems to be a good website. All mysore-based websites seem to have good ideas but they fail to update the content regularly. I don’t know what could be the reason. Even in the website you have mentioned there are sentences like “Resource is not available” on their homepage. Pathetic!
Good Work http://www.mysoretourism.org keep it up we all are with you, we remember mysore very much we are all missing each movement we had in mysore. We in UK are missing mysore but mysore is not missing any one, it is good place with all natural tourism resources, We are proud to be Mysoreans.
Akka
Wow. I visited Mysore when I was 12. It was bee-yoo-tee-ful! Hope to visit it again! :)
This is nice one. That is the original Mysore…
Thnxs
Beautiful description of a beautiful city.