Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Forlorn Mornings and Evenings Alone!

Well, Ma Baba left for Delhi last night leaving me pondering on my predicament! When the Ma Babas (ie my parents or in laws) come then I can enjoy the morning and evening cups of tea with a little bit of adda and a few biscuits. Now I do not make the morning cup at all and the evening tea is also very boring as there is no adult conversation! I am the person spending the most time with Ma Baba, somehow after the initial shedding of tears and whining the kids settle down well into their former routine but I can still feel the emptiness. It is true that I loved to do some independent house keeping in Bangalore after staying with my in-laws for 10 years but still, I basically like to have people around me, and I hated to see Ma Baba go. However it is a fact that this time I was able to take them around the city without the help of the Mr and they enjoyed thoroughly! We went to Bannerghata on our own, Ma and I went to Chikpete one afternoon, we also went for the Lal Bagh flower show and we also spent an evening at Brigade road.
The Mr took us for the Nandi Hill expedition and on Republic day we went to Shivasamudram and spent a day visiting the 'Gagan Chukki' and the 'Barra chukki' falls. It is not the right time of the year to visit these falls as there was hardly any water but whatever there was gave us a good idea of what the place is like during the monsoons- simply breathtaking!
At the burra chukki falls we could walk down 500 or so steps to the water. Ma Baba waited at the top while we got down to where the water was falling in several strands. We immersed our feet in the little pools that the water was making. However I noticed something alarming people were washing clothes in one of the pools and when one obnoxious character started scrubbing himself with a kitchen scrubber after lathering himself with a packet of clinic plus shampoo, I could not stand it any longer and left the place. Then I noticed that the stony bed of the pool that lay exposed due to the receding waters was full of such sachetes, the rocks also had socks, underwear, pieces of glass (from bottles of booze), baby diapers, items of clothing and even an ST ! I am sorry to say this but at this rate this beautiful spot is going to turn into a garbage dump. We hurried up the rocky steps, I nearly killed myself trying to clamber up at breakneck speed. The mite was hollering because we did not take the coracle boat ride there and the Mr climbed the steps with the bawling baby. There should be some laws against contaminating these beautiful places. I have taken photos of the washing and bathing that was going on and I seek your help in showing them to the proper authorities. Firstly no soap should be allowed here. The tea stall at the top of the hill was selling shampoo sachets! I have seen waterfalls like this in Malshej ghat in Maharashtra where people bathe in the gushing waters but they do not litter the place. Then there should at least be some sort of law and order authority to curb such filthy practices.
This morning I was pleasantly surprised to see how the Mudiwala lake has been cleaned and improved in today's Bangalore Mirror newspaper, I am sure that something can also be done for the glorious barra chukki!

5 comments:

~nm said...

I agree with you about no trashing such beautiful places.

I so hate it when people bring soap and shampoo to such places. Even in Haridwar when I saw them doing this I was like you can do that in your bathroom. Why here??

Indian in NZ said...

awwww....I can understand the feeling of emptiness.

and I soooo hate when people litter- I too hope that the govt does something to discourage littering.

diya said...

Naval Langa- Thank you and do visit again. I will surely visit your sites.
-nm Yes, they have turned the Ganges into a filthy mess, I hear that the money for the clean the Ganges project was also scamed away.This is how we treat a river that we call our mother!

2b'smom- I wish I could do something about it. If I gave Usha's 'look' (which I am practicing for sometime) to these guys it wouldn't have worked for there was no law/rule stating that what they were doing is banned!

Anonymous said...

these places are all around bangalore? how come no one took us anywhere when we visited? all we did was the central mall. blah. boring.

diya said...

Too bad Roop, next time you come just let me know- I'll take you around or give the correct information. Bangalore is known as city of gardens and city of lakes so you should not leave before visiting some gardens and some lakes too!