Factories play an important role in India's rural economy. They provide jobs for local men and women, which translates into money to buy food, send kids to school, buy medicines if needed, repair and maintain a house and save some money. Villages and towns in India (as elsewhere in the world) don't need an handout, [...]
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Outside my cousin-brother's house in Kumta, these kids were walking back from school. They seemed eager to pose. After shooting this pic, I offered them one of the Britannia cream biscuit packs I always carry in my bag. They grabbed and ran – jumping in joy!
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Road leading from my cousin's house to the Kumta market. It's a 10 minute walk. Bicycles are family vehicles here. Mom and infant are calmly enjoying the ride on the rack. Note: open drains to carry heavy rain water run-off; cows resting ahead on road side. And across is this spectacular rice field. Despite having [...]
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The Vegetable market sits on one end of Main Street Kumta. Always a treat to walk the remaining few blocks and watch people. The stores are tiny and carry whatever you would need. Nothing fancy here, just life's essentials. Several temples are on this street, and thus flower sellers everywhere. Notice the reddish tinged road. [...]
Filed under: Home, Kumta | 4 Comments »
On every visit to India, I follow a similar schedule. We head to Goa to pay our respects at the Ramnathi Devasthan in Ponda. From there we head south along the coast to Kumta. Kumta is a sleepy township. The busiest part of town is Main Street, called paent, which is only a few blocks [...]
Filed under: Konkani, Kumta, Micro Business | 14 Comments »
As in previous years, M got to make the delicious Kadgi Chakko. for Boston's Konkani Diwali gathering last weekend. M excels at it, and is one of my favorites. Kadgi (a variant of the jackfruit), is a small round-ish fruit with a bumpy thick skin. Much like the jackfruit, but not as spiky. The meat [...]
Filed under: Food, Konkani, Kumta, Recipes | 3 Comments »
I look forward to visiting Kumta, our ancestral home along the konkan coast. Lush green fields, coconut tree groves, red mud roads where lazy cows have the right of way. A place where I can speak konkani all over town. Strolling through someones orchards, I came upon a small cinder-block shed buzzing with activity. Inside [...]
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Deep-fried foods are rare in our home. We save it for our favorite konkani delicacies: Jackfruit (Phansa-) Hapol and Spicy Vodi. Haaaah! During our summer holidays in Honavar and Kumta, we kids helped make them. The women would roll the hapol and we would carry them up the rickety stairs to the temporary roof (mandal) [...]
Filed under: Food, Konkani, Kumta | 2 Comments »
Here and on I posted pics from the Chicago Balaji Temple and the Durga Devi Shrine within the Atlanta Temple. These are both very elaborate temple structures. However, not all worship occurs in such embellished temple complexes. On a regular basis worship takes place at the simple home altar. Routinely folks worship at small road [...]
Filed under: Konkani, Kumta, Sanatana Dharma, Spiritual | Leave a Comment »
Reading the diary of a fellow konkani in Germany inspired me to delve into my own journey. Here I am sharing a few of my thoughts. I started to ask myself this a long time ago. Particularly for cultural transplants like myself: born in Bhatkal (coastal Karnataka), raised in Bombay, studied and now living in [...]
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