'A river doesn't drink it's own water,
A tree doesn't eat it's own fruit,
A man who gives his life for another
Is God
Walking this earth'
Makes you want to consume yourself in a bigger purpose.
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Nice Quote in the book 'Four Screenplays' by Syd Field
Syd Field seems deeply influenced by Hindu scriptures and quotes from them every now and then. Such as this one;
The Mangalore Diaries - Martin's Bar, Ideal Cafe, Cochin Bakery
I guess I can't end the Mangalore experience without mentioning some of the spots that gave us much pleasure.
Ideal Cafe was a great respite from the heat with its fabulous ice creams - it's famous gadbad ice cream being one to go for repeats. I tried their special fruit salad and banana split as well but it's their Gadbad icecream that wins. Mangalore is also known as the ice cream capital or something like that.
Martin's Bar which was across the road from my sister's place provided great respite in terms of fillers - a quick stopover for a beer and some good food.
A good time was had by all my nephews and nieces and we all had a jolly good time going there almost every day.
Cochin Bakery was another place that Shrinjay recommended and Ajay and Abhishek and me went there for some brilliant appam and stew, followed by superb coffee. They make some good biryani we heard but couldn't taste it as it got sold out pretty fast. Their ghee cakes are very famous too.
That's it for this trip then. The walks, the family outings with the younger lot, the discoveries. Shrinjay's engagement, it was all well worth it. Until December then.
Tuesday, April 14, 2026
The Mangalore Diaries - Mangala Devi temple, Kadri Manjunatha temple, Pandava Caves
After dropping A at the airport I had time before checking out so decided to drop in at the 9th century Mangala Devi temple after whom Mangalore is named. Other names for the city include Kudla (Tulu), Kodial (Konkani), Maikala (Byaari) and 'Mangalapuram' (Malayalam). It was a small temple but very popular as many visitors kept walking in. Mangala Devi is a form of Shakti.
One tale is that it was originally built by Parashurama and that later Kings developed in it.
I was going to Kadri Manjunatha temple when I spotted the old lighthouse on top of the hill and couldn't resist taking a picture of it. It's a pretty ancient lighthouse now in disuse and in a park.
The Kadri Manjunatha temple was constructed in 1068 AD and is considered to be one of the oldest Shiva temples in India.
The temple premises are surrounded by hilly areas so we climb up to these seven tanks in which devotees bathe, another temple higher up, and then a long climb up to the Parashurama ashram, the Kadri Jogishwara Mutton and way beyond, the Pandava Caves.
It was a beautiful experience, with trees, quiet, clean and well maintained. There was this person meditating by himself and he opened his eyes enough to guide me to the Pandava Caves. At the Pandava Caves, where the Pandavas reportedly stayed, a sudden influx of barking dogs told me that I had outstayed my welcome. I made soothing noises and slid past them (five of them).
On the way down stopped at the Manjunatha temple which also houses some of the most beautiful bronze statues of the 10th century period.
Also witnessed a beautiful kacheri sung by a group of beautifully dressed old ladies and I just loved how they went about singing with great devotion.
Another interesting day in Mangalore. Didn't expect to visit these places but it just happened.
Monday, April 13, 2026
The Mangalore Diaries - Panambur Beach
A wanted to go to the beach with her friend Rishika who came to meet her from Manipal. So we decided to go to Taneernavi beach which is a quiet, scenic one apparently. However our over enthu driver Anil decided that Panambur Beach was the beach to go to and we agreed.
The first sight of the beach was scary with thousands of weekend visitors thronging the place - it appeared like all of Mangalore and its surrounding districts were there - and it also appeared to be Anil's idea of a great beach outing. The beach is also fully equipped with parasailing, something called swing whatever, those beach vehicles driving at breakneck speed and many different kinds of dangerous sports that I do not wish to sign up for.
The beach also has all sorts of people - a party of politicians (I just made that up), a young lady with a cat on a leash, a lot of cops (maybe for the politicians), and many such wondrous sights one has not seen before. The mad vibe seemed to infect the younger ones and they decided to unleash their creativity by building a sand woman - only it looked like it was dead and that rigor mortis had set in - and it looked like a crime scene or like some black magic was being done. Full marks to creativity but somehow the sand woman looked too lifelike as a lifeless sand body for my comfort. Luckily we had them obliterate all traces of 'Kumari' which is what they named her (all future references to Kumari will not remind me of her) before the cops came this way and hauled us in.
The walk back was heavy with stuff unsaid and we decided to lighten it up with a beer. I'm not going to Panambur Beach again.
The Mangalore Diaries - Another Heritage Walk Central Maidan, St Rosario Cathedral, Municipal Corporation Building
Started off early this morning towards the St Rosario Cathedral, a 1568 church, the first Roman Catholic Church in South Canara. The design is inspired by the Sistine chapel.
Poyyeda Igerji or the Church on the Sands was the first church to be built in Canara, established within the Sao Sebastio fort in 1568 - two tombstones dating back to 1600 were recovered from the Halekote area in 2009 confirming the presence of the church there. In 1784 it was demolished under Tipu Sultan's orders and resurrected in 1910-1915 in its present form. It is inspired by the St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.
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| St Rosario Cathedral |
The Central Maidan, the St Rosario Cathedral, Municipal Corporation Office and so on.
The Mangalore Diaries - Someshwara Beach
Shrinjay suggested we drop in at Someshwara Beach which is unique because it has a huge rock jutting into the sea and one can sit on it and watch the sunsets.
On the way to the beach we crossed the Shri Somanatha temple which was quite an impressive temple.
There is a huge pond beside it, a well, a wooden chariot. Lots of people were up on the hill waiting for the sunset.
Quite a nice experience. Hardly any crowd, no swimmers because of the rocks, great sunset.
Acts of Love - Love is Looking in the Same Direction
A simple act that says much - two people looking in the same direction (and once in a while into each other's eyes). The first picture was at the Film Shooting Hill, Ooty and the second at Someshwara beach. Mangalore. Keep looking!
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