Took a trip to Madanapalle. My grandfather gave me that surname, and someone had told me that my ancestors were from there. This is technically true, but also technically not true. My grandfather and my great grandfather taught at the Beasant College there. My great grandfather, who had assumed the name of Devdas, was appointed as the Sanskrit teacher there by Jiddu Krishnamurthi. He stripped the college of Theosophy, and made it a regular college. My grandfather also taught there, a position that he was recommended for.
I have the appointment and recommendation letters. I was named after the town because of the connection my family had, not because we originated from there, which is a rare case I think. I took a bus from Bengaluru, early in the morning, picking up a cheat black hat because it was sunny. Reached the bus stop an hour early, so I had time to walk around for a bit and explore Majestic. The metro station is located right in the middle of the bus station, and there are bays all around. Caught the bus, and was surprised to see big buildings and modern housing societies in rural Bangalore.
The bus crossed Kolar, where gold is mined, and Chidambaram, where the jeweler is from. The bus stop is right next to a lake at Madanapalle, and I hopped off and got some Irani Chai. I went to the college, took some photos, and failed to find the bust of Annie Besant. I spent the night at this hotel there, which was clean, but the bellhop asked for a tip aggressively, saying 'kaasu' and miming counting money. I gave him a note. The next morning I went to the tomato market, which is the biggest in Asia. I did not find a road sign that said Madanapalle, or Tomato Capital of the World, which is what I was looking for. I needn't have spent the night there, can go and come back in a day.
Was fun, best thing was a quote on the college, "Giving advice is silly, but giving good advice is fatal."
No comments:
Post a Comment