Aerial shots

 I took a few photographs from a plane recently that were unique for the views. Some in Belgaum, and some in Mumbai. These are the shots. They can turn out well, or not. I think these did. They were from a small plane, an Embraer jet in the first pic.

Take off, at Mumbai

Landing, at Belgaum

The Town Called Nargund

 My surname originates from a twon called Nargund, which used to be in Dharwad district of Karnataka (now in Gadag district). My forefathers must have been from around there, and my Dad actually grew up near Belgaum.

Now, after many years, my brother and sister were able to visit the roots, and click this. I still plan to visit one of these days. Proof of our origins- my niece and my brother are in the pic.

Eating Right

 Among the pandemic's good effects (trying to forget the bad ones here, two years on) has been the return to recipes that were not tried often, as we were busy commuting to work and back. The saving on time resulted in some of us returning to some of those recipes. One or two that my household manager came up with in the last couple of days. One was a favourite of my Dad's and comes from the Belgaum region. The other, my wife learnt from her aunt, and is popular in Punjab/Delhi. 

Raw material.. mix in whatever proportion seems right.

and below, the finished product. Made out of raw poha. Kala/Sendhua namak is the secret sauce..

The last one features a karela and onion. Great combo, and there's a mirchi fry on the side to add to the zest.

The Western Ghats- Pictorial Journey

The Western Ghats are a treasure, with amazing scenic routes all over. One such that we traversed recently was between Goa and Belgaum via Chorla. The pics speak for themselves-

Names and Places

Vidisha is the first that comes to mind-she was a student at IMT Ghaziabad. The place is in M.P. Rewa is another, she was my student at Indore. Om Shivpuri was an actor, and Shivpuri is in M.P. too.

Javagal Srinath comes from Javagal, Salil Ankola from Ankola, and A.K. Hangal from Hangal. Deepika and her illustrious dad from Padukone (Guru Dutt too, though he did not use the last name). These are places in Karnataka. Bezawada Gopala Reddy and Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu were prominent people from Andhra, and bore the place names of Bezawada (Viijayawada's earlier avatar), and Tangutur.

Of course, most kars are from the place that precedes the kar. Belagaumkar, Hublikar, Nargundkar, Dharwadkar are some examples. Some people don't use the kar, so you find a Nargund as a surname too.

A Savant may be from Savantwadi. (We had one at Kirloskar Institute, Ameet). I think C.K. Prahalad, the management guru derives the C from Coimbatore.

Teacher's Day

In India, September 5 is celebrated as Teacher's Day. I had a rather unique one. I was in Belgaum, where my father grew up, to visit an institute for a guest lecture to their students. Gogte Institute of Technology has an MBA program where I was. Very hospitable faculty folks made it a nice trip. Had a nice informal discussion about their plans, now that they have become autonomous, within the VTU (university).

Belgaum has limited flights, so my return flight was from Goa. Which meant a beautiful drive through the Western Ghats from Belgaum to reach Goa airport. I would recommend this drive to anyone interested in natural beauty-particularly in this season. I was reminded of another drive through the Western ghats when we drove from Bangalore to Gokarna a few years ago through Agumbe. Sunsets there are fabulous.

Belgaum is a nice mid-sized town with great weather. I have been there a few times, and loved it every time. Also watched the first-ever IPL match in the first series when I was there. That was an earlier trip, for a nephew's wedding.