The Chronicles of D.Gudi - The Paddy, the Rail and the Backwaters
The advantage of going on rides without a fixed destination is you can stop whenever you feel like it. When you have a destination, you are on your toes to reach there. You end up seeing more when you head out just for the sake of the ride and not a destination. I stopped innumerable times to soak in the beauty of the vistas and turned back when I reckoned it was enough for the day. The ride was wholesome, with spectacular views, humble conversations with locals, sugarcane harvest, bullock carts, and train crossing.
It is said that greenery is soothing to the eye and relaxes you when you are strained staring at the monitor. The amount of greenery I feasted on this ride will last for months to come. Did you know that cows have multiple compartments in the stomach? If only we had something similar in our brain to store this greenery. We could muse over it throughout the day.
Going through a wardrobe will take you to a new world altogether - The first book in the series 'The Chronicles of Narnia' by C.S. Lewis - so does going under a railway underpass here in the hinterlands of Mysore. I'd heard about Akkihebbalu, a non-descript village around KR Nagara - also known as the land of paddy. I kept that as a reference for the direction to head in. The ride began on a bright and cool Sunday morning from home in Mysore towards Sagarakatte -the first of the numerous stopovers of the journey.
Sagarakatte is now quite popular and sees a lot of tourists thronging the place for its mesmerising views, with the KRS backwaters and the surreal railway line chugging in the middle of the water body. Starting early by sunrise lets you soak in the serenity of the place with just the wind and the chirping of birds accompanying you. This route tends to get crowded with noises of not just private vehicles but vehicles transporting the produce from farms to the towns and cities.
The route after Sagarakatte gives you a peek into what is ahead. Surrounding on both sides by paddy fields, going at this time of the year flattered me with the abundant green carpet of the paddy crop. Diverting from the main route towards KR Nagara, I turned to go on the other side of the railway track. A right turn after Mulepetlu took me through the short railway underpass. Emerging on the other side of the track, the endless paddy fields welcomed me with the distinct light green tint enhanced by the tender sunrays.
Some cranes were soaking in the early morning sun, adding a pop of white to the otherwise monochromatic green fields. When the earthly colours -brown, green and the vibrant blue sky come in one frame, it's nothing short of magic. It leaves you in awe of nature. Add to this the backwaters of KRS, and it's a perfect picture.
The road twists and turns through these paddy fields and, from a higher vantage point, offers a spectacular view of the fields with KRS backwater in the background. The route meanders through myriad hamlets and villages with lovely ponds and lakes. The National Highway 373 takes you to Holenarasipura, eventually leading to Hassan. This stretch of the NH is patchy, and I turned right on a random road leading to the village of Doddavaddaragudi.
The settlement is just a few hundred metres after crossing the railway track. A temple is the sign of the civilisation ahead in the otherwise farmland area. While waiting for the train to pass, the locals were making the best of the time by plucking fruits from a roadside tree and conversing about the qualities of the fruit. If Mysore is laid back, there should be a better word to describe these places.
In one of the fields adjoining the highway, sugarcane was being harvested. It was exciting to see bullock carts still in action. The produce was transported in bullock carts from the field to the lorry that was waiting on the roadside.
They tirelessly go back and forth carrying the sugarcane that will be sent to factories and made into jaggery and sugar for us to consume. There couldn't have been a better ambience for breakfast than this.
Honouring them for their hard work, I relished my breakfast made with jaggery.
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On the return ride, I noticed that womenfolk had already begun their work in the fields - like clockwork by 9 in the morning. Bent over the crops, de-weeding, tending to the crop, their Sunday looked very different from ours.
A short detour through Arkerswara Temple on the banks of river Kaveri was tranquil and soothing to the body and soul. Rides like these bring much-needed delight and joy to mundane tasks of our lives.
