Thursday, June 22, 2006

My Parents' 25th Wedding Aniversary


My parents have completed 25 years after their Marriage on Wednesday, 15th June, 2006. I thought it will be fantastic for them to have their children around on that V V S (very very special) occasion. And I applied for 2 days leave well in advance which my manager kindly approved. Also booked a night bus to go to my hometown Puttur for the day before.

On 14th, with the ticket safely in my purse, I reached the KSRTC Bus stand by 9.10 well in advance to catch the 9.45 Bus. Had some snacks and was heading towards my Bus. I met my college Junior Narendra(fondly called as H1 Bioler Narendra) there, Oh, what a surprise! And we started conversing as follows

Keshava - Hi Narendra!!, looong time since we have met?

Narendra - Hi Keshava, yeah, long time, in fact 3 years, the time since you finished your college.

Then we talked about what happened in that period, which companies we worked, how many times we tried CAT etc. I changed the topic and the talk went like this...

Keshava - So, how come you are here? Going home is it?

Narendra - Yes, going home and about you?

Keshava - Me too, going home for my parents' 25th wedding aniversary, applied 2 days leave.

Narendra - Ooohh, me too for the same reason.

Keshava - So, what is special, How are you planning to celebrate it?

Narendra - We have a pooja at home, my brother is also coming.

Keshava - OK. fine. My brother is already at home. We are planning to go to a hotel at night and party. And are you presenting anything?

Then came the best part.

Narendra - Yes, I am gifting a Mobile Phone.

Keshava - Wow! I am also gifting Mobile Phone. 2 of them 1 for my father and 1 for my mother. That is the height of co-incidence isn't it? Our parents married on the same day, we are presenting the same thing and we have met after a long time.

Narendra - Yeeeaaah! This is a great co-incidence. We should add to this co-incidence by getting into IIMA this year. We have been dreaming about this for a long time.

The exitement got settled as I looked into my watch showing 9.35. We took each other's phone number, wished each other for the occasion and waved bye bye.

My brother had bought 2 Nokia 6030 Handsets, one black and other silver from a shop that he knows in Puttur. Agreed to pay for it the next day after I come. He bought it home safely so that the parents could notice it at all.

I reached home early morning on The Day. I settled down at home and after some time. We took the Gift Wrapped HandSets from the Hiding place, gave them to my parents and wished them. Gifting mobile phones, thats all we Rich Bangalore based IT professionals can do, isn't it? ;-( No where matches with what they have done for us everyday in the last 25 years. Still they had no expectations of getting a costly(?) gift, all that they wanted were the children to be around them and love them. They took it very happily expressing happiness over the gratitude shown by us. They replaced the SIMs from their Old Handset and we inaugurated the Sets by simply calling within ourselves.

Like we children had planned the parents also had a plan i.e. to visit the famous nearby temples Subramanya, Dharmastala and Southadka.

Subramanya's popularity as a temple has improved tremendously after Sachin Tendulkar's visit. Although it was a Weekday, devotees like us had to stand in long queues to get Lord's Dharshana. I am very fond of Thirupathi Laddu (only for its taste and nothing else), so I bought 2 laadu prasada. To my disappointment its taste no where matched that of Thirupathi's Laadu. We also visited Aadi Subramanya later.

The journey from Subramanya to Dharmasthala was fantastic with the Road going through the thick Rain forests. Bridges and Rivers occuring at regular intervals, Kumara parvatha and other peaks often visible. Road was also good and driving was smooth. It truly was a dream route. I wasn't happy that the vehicle was moving , I wanted it to stop at all view-points available, take few snaps so that I can see it again and again later. At one spot I was so desperate to stop and I told my father about the nature's call and demanded him to stop immediately. That was just before a bridge, River Kumaradhara flowing accross, Kumara parvataha and its reflection visible on the right side of the bridge to make it a spectacular sight. I managed to take a few photos at this place, the photo shown below is one of those memorable photos. But we could not spend much time there as we have to reach Dharmastala before 1 O'Clock after which entry to temple is suspended.

We just managed to reach there some time after 1, still we could manage to enter as my brother knew somebody and he influenced him to let us enter. I prayed for myself and family. Silently prayed for my mom "Dheergha Aayushman Bhava, Dheergha Sumangalee Bhava", Hope you live long healthily, happily with your Husband and Children. Then we decided to have Lunch in the temple itself. We thought of having special Brahmin's Lunch. It is supposed to have more food items, supposed to served with more respect in a cleaner settings. To our disappointment all our expectations were reversed. Our topic for discussion was about Reservation. After lunch we saw the Gomateshwara standing tall and nude. A photo is shown here on the right. One the way back we visited Southadka temple. I like the temple for its Sihi Avalakki Prasada. Spent some time there waiting or the ranga pooje. Headed back to Puttur.

On the road-sides locals used to sell Jackfruits at exorbitant prices. The tourists easily get attracted to it as it is still cheaper than that in their own places. So it is win-win situation for all. We are aware of all this, and we bargained in tulu to get the deal in our favour. Bought 2 Jackfruits in the process adding to 2 that our neighbours had given to make it 4 in total. I was at home for 4 days. So one Jackfruit per day. I am very fond of jackfruits and mangoes. Relatives had given us around 5kgs of mangoes. I dont mind cutting or peeling them myself and eating them alone ;-). So it was Habba for me.

After reaching home we relaxed for sometime. And got ready for partying at my favourite Hotel HariPrasad. Invited my uncle and family too for it. We had a few North Indian dishes in limited quantities (in my standards) and winded up the celebration. Later I withdrew money from the ATM and paid it for the mobiles. Brother bargained and managed to get 200 Rs discount, that amount was close to our Hotel Bill. Althought I enjoyed the day thoroughly it was a taxing day for me ;-)

I uploaded the remaining photos in myphotoalbum.

No comments:

Post a Comment