Kalmanje

Thats my hometown , a tiny little hamlet in Udupi district.

It has always been a place to unwind for me during my growing up years. To start with there are no modern day aminities like Telephone , Television at my home. Newspapers are few and far between , cell phone signals are pretty weak to the point of being useless. So one is virtually cut off from the all the rabble tabble happening around the world. Invariably you get drawn inwards.

My visit this time was even more special because of the monsoon. Day 1 when we took a happless maruti van cab driver down the treacherous road towards my home , I fell in love with this place all over again. What with lush green surroundings , pollution less air , crisp morning sunshine to add to the beauty of the place. There is a stretch of the road , which everytime I pass over I get a strange exhilarating feeling time and again. I do not know the reason for this , but beauty of the surroundings is definitely one of them.Idyllic settings , far away from modernity , simple people adds to the sheer enjoyment I get everytime I am here.

Amongst all the happiness I was getting out of this place , there was also a sad note. That of declining families in the village primarily due to migration to cities. Lot of houses have been abandoned or left empty , as there is no one living in them. Relatives/families from my generation have all moved out to cities for work , so some of the houses are all left with people from my grandparents generation. After them even those will fall vacant. I do not know what is the solution for this , but it saddens me deeply that this hamlet will not look the same when my son grows up. I can only hope that somehow all of this survives and retains its beauty.

Least I can do ( will do ) is to visit Kalmanje once a year with family and try to keep the setting as it is , wherever and whenever possible.