Oldies’ Day Out - With Gay Abandon

 It is not often that one is able to pack picnic, entertainment, spirituality, knowledge-enrichment, temple-visit, and at the same time turn foody for a while. But that is exactly what Aunty and I did the last two days.

Aunty’s one and only younger brother to seven sisters, Kannan rang us up on Wednesday to spend some time with him and Chitra.

“Athimbar, are you and Akka free to spend at least two nights with us – say Thursday and Friday. We shall visit some architectural spendour, eat out, roam around, and spend some time at home together?” he asked. And there we were in Brigade Gateway on Thursday evening. After coffee and snacks we went down to see the Christmas illumination and festivity at the Orion mall surroundings. It was somewhat close what one witnesses in the West. An hour of chat and updating, we drove to Tandoori Taal in Race Course Road. Since it was a Thursday evening, we were saved of the weekend, or Christmas holiday crowd, and were attended to well. Kannan is very good at ordering – what with Aam Panna and Lassi (by 2), good starter, enough to increase and not spoil your appetite, and assorted main dishes to enjoy with varieties of rotis. I liked the light paratha. I forget the name. 

Back home, we spent some time watching in You Tube each one’s choice in Kannan’s exclusive ‘home theatre’. I chose Sudha Murthy featuring in Kapil Sharma show wherein she wondered if Narayanamurthy was an international bus conductor…. Chitra wanted to see the trailer of Jeetu Joseph-Mohan Lal’s latest  Malayalam movie that has hit the screen that evening – Neru –  where a blind girl was raped, and Mohan Lal, an advocate, brings the culprit to book.  Kannan switched to Sarvapriyananda’s talk on OCD in a distinguished gathering of US Psychiatrists and Psychologists, to give us a sample of the monk’s acumen. It was now 11.40 night, and we all had to leave early next morning.

At sharp 7 yesterday morning, we drove to Chikkaballapur to see the UNESCO heritage temple. To quote Google, Bhoganandiswara Temple and Arunachaleswara Temple are a twin Hindu temples complex located in Nandi village in Chikkaballapur. Ornate, beautifully carved and dedicated to Shiva, they have been variously dated between the 9th- to 10th-century CE. 

“Glad we didn’t miss it,” we felt as we walked up to the car. We then drove to Nandi Upchaar, a popular restaurant on the Hyderabad highway. The assorted items ordered included puri sago, idli, curd vada, Aappam, kesari bath… to wash them down with aromatic coffee. And as is usual on such occasions, everyone decided to have Rajasthani special paan. 

We headed to Sadguru’s Adi Yogi – the upcoming Bangalore chapter of Swami ji’s Coimbatore version – a vast expanse. By my reckoning, it will be one or two years before the to and fro drive could qualify to be a backbone-safe experience.

Back home, Chitra and Aunty got busy with warming up dishes for lunch. As Kannan and I waited at the table. I asked others to name three dishes Chitra is good at making.  Everyone hesitated. I opened up – Mor Kozambu, Onion sambar, and Jackfruit payasam. Kannan and Aunty both selected Rasam in place of Sambar. A nap for a while, coffee later, and we all got ready to go to Orion mall to watch Shah Rukh Khan-Raj Kumar Hirani movie, Dunki. Nothing to write home about. As though to compensate that feeling, we recalled some of the good old movies of both.

The serious topic, Advitam, Vishita Advitam and Dwitam, somehow managed to creep in during this morning coffee chat.  Though turned 60 only a few months back, Kannan is already an expert on Karma, Sanatana Dharma… He has already culled 77 important slokas from the 740-odd slokas of Bhagavat Gita. The way he eloquently explains various concepts, I would guess he is eminently qualified to write a book on spirituality. Good luck Kanna. We enjoyed every minute of our stay with you and Chitra. Now your turn to visit us.