Day in India: Dharwad Diary

Hi guise..

Previously on Day's Travel Log Series
Part 0: Prologue
Part 1: Bangalore Diary

By the way, just a heads up, this series tend to get lengthy. So if you don't like reading it's OK. I hope you enjoy the illustration.

We didn't stay long in Bangalore. You see, Onie's graduation was on 20 October 2016 so we had to make our way to Dharwad as soon as possible. Onie arranged for a sleeper bus trip instead of taking a flight to Hubli (neighboring town). We had to be mindful of our spending. Plus, sleeper bus is a unique experience. Why throw away the chance to try it?

What happened was that we called for a cab to take us to the bus station. Unfortunately, our driver was new in town and he didn't know how to speak English. Even with my limited Hindi couldn't help him find the place we were heading to. The ride was supposed to take around 15 mins from our hotel but due to his rookie mistake, we barely made it to the station 35 minutes later. istg Onie was close to passing out. If we had missed our bus, that's it. We would have missed her graduation.

Long story short, we boarded the bus and headed straight to Dharwad. But the journey was tedious, even with us sleeping most of the time. 9 hours in a sleeper bus and only once stopping for a bathroom break. It was challenging, okay? We reached Dharwad the next day 20 October 2016.

SLEEPER BUS (Bangalore - Dharwad)

Departure 10:52 pm local time

Sleeper Bus is a very foreign concept to me. I can't imagine how anyone could ever pull off something like that until I set foot in one myself. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! The fix bunk beds inside the bus for single and couple/double bed. You have your privacy to sleep in peace. In the morning i open the curtain to see miles of wheat field painted in orange sun (through the window). It was peaceful. It was foreign.

Before reaching our destination, the sleeper bus passed by a few interesting locations. Some I managed to capture, the rest slipped by while I snored like a bear. FYI VRL Logistic was the name of the bus company.

VRL LOGISTIC's Depot

We stopped by the VRL Logistic Depot for a few minutes. We're still unsure why. Definitely not gonna ask..

They made a prayer(worship) place out of two beautiful trees. They were done in green sarees. Flower offerings were hanged on their thin branches.

[20/10/16 6:33 am local time]

VANASIRI NAGAR, DHARWAD

Before reaching Onie's residence in Vanasiri Nagar, we passed through Hubli, a somewhat township. The town is marked by Kittur Rani Channamma Circle, a warrior statue as tribute to the Great Warrior of Kittur. It's hard to appreciate the beauty of this landmark due to bustling cars and jaywalkers. Hubli is painted in dry red dust, a contrast to the green pasture we passed by en route. Moving through Hubli, we proceed to our destination and were dropped off near the Dharwad Toll Gate. We got on the Auto (three wheeled public transport) to head to Onie's house. The roads were dusty and filled with more Autos and motorcycle. It was a common sight in India. Once we reached Onie's house, we quickly fixed our breakfast and took a refreshing bath before getting ready for the big event later that evening.

SHRI DHARMASHTALA MANJUNATHESWARA (SDM) COLLEGE OF DENTAL SCIENCE

26th Graduation Ceremony (95 Undergraduates)

We wore our national attire, baju kurung. Dad wore Batik shirt. It's a pity that we didn't wear songket. The idea never crossed our mind.. [5:00 pm local time]

CONGRATULATIONS DR. ONIE - In the midst of the taller graduates (lol) I saw my little sister and immediately my eyes were brimming with tears.

THE GRADUATION CEREMONY started at 5.00 pm local time. Dr Anuja Joshi introduced the graduates one by one and the parents were asked to stand up when the graduate walked up the stage. The most memorable parent was this one guy from Punjab. He was so proud of his daughter that when it was her turn to accept the certificate, he stood up, shouted poem of praises to his daughter. I might have cried a little at the sight of his adoration towards his daughter. I think all parents shared the same sentiment towards the graduates. All graduates received their scroll and gold silver coin. (Onie corrected me saying that it was a silver coin, not gold).

After that, the Medical Director, Dr Niranjan Kumar gave one of the most impressive and engaging speech I had the opportunity to listen to. He was fun, articulate and gave out a sense of authority at the same time sounding more like a friend than a teacher. There were many interesting quotes from him but the one that really piqued my interest was

"Always be humble to your patients. You are not the healer. You are only the tool for nature to take its course".

The ceremony ended at 7.30 pm. We quickly retreated to Mayur Hotel. For the life of me, I couldn't recall the food served there but it was nice.

The food was nice but I was too tired to record anything. It was our first Indian meal in India and it was so good. We left the dinner party early to rest. I hitched a ride with Onie's friend. It was so weird to see so many people still going around and about at almost 10 pm like they were having some sort of festival along the road. I don't know how to accurately describe the situation. There was hardly any street light. The area was lit up by the light from the Autos and motorcycle on the road but people were chilling by the road side despite the ongoing heavy construction nearby. Medec (Onie's friend) said that it was a common sight here. People liked to stroll at night and some of them didn't even have a house to go home to. Some still sleep in tents like nomads. Anyway, we made it home safely. We had our long awaited slumber for tomorrow we would be having a brief tour around the campus.

SDM COLLEGE TOUR [21/10/16]

We went for a quick visit to Onie's college, meeting some of teachers and friends. It was my first time going to a dental college and I must say, I was impressed. Onie said she was very lucky to be a student there because most of the knowledge she gained in class can be applied on numerous real cases that were referred to her during her housemanship. Dad was looking forward to performing Jumaat prayer with the locals but due to some conflict with our schedule and Onie's junior, nobody could take him around.

Anyway, one thing worth mentioning was the tallest cactus in the world preserved by the college. They even had the whole Guiness World Record certificate to commemorate the achievement. It was so tall that they had to brace it to the wall with metal loops. Afterwards we stopped by the Campus' Juice Booth frequented by the students. We had some orange juice and ciku juice to quench our thirst. I ordered a bottle coke as extra. We also ordered a serving of capati and butter parota. I had my first paneer butter masala and manchurian baby corn. They were delicious! I'm hooked on paneer ever since. FYI, paneer is a non-melting cottage cheese commonly used in Indian cooking to replace meat in vegetarian cooking. It tasted similar to hard tofu.

Onie booked us a flight to Delhi, way up north. We would have to go to Goa to catch the flight. So Onie arranged for a driver to drive us to Goa.

(we were waiting for the train to pass before we could cross the track)

TRAVELLING TO GOA [21/10/16, 3.50 pm]

At 3.30 pm, the driver arraged by Onie arrived at our doorstep, ready to take us to Goa where we were to board our flight to Delhi. I rode shotgun. We drove pass the vast field of corn, sugarcane, cotton and paddy. The greener countryside excited us. Life seemed calmer, slower in this part of the world. We entered Goa 3 hours later. We passed through the highlands laid as a border between the two states. I was dumbfounded by the several near miss with the lorries from the opposite side.We arrived at Goa International Airport safely, thank goodness. The time was 7.30 pm so we performed our prayer as soon as we got through the check-in and security checks. For future note, no praying area was provided anywhere in the airport. Best be prepared.

Touch down at Terminal 3, Indira Gandhi International Airport at 1.30 am. We were exhausted. Going towards the exit, we passed by this enormous wall piece, plated with what seemed like giant golden saucer and silver hands in traditional dance poses. Again, we waited for our driver to come at 7.00 am to avoid extra charges. So Subuh prayer was done at the waiting lounge. No prayer room, no biggie.

Oh god, that was long and tedious. one note I have to make is that I didn't see any chicken running around there. No cats either. But I've seen many pigs loitering around. They were so cute with round, plump buttocks. They were shy creatures to, always manage to slip away when we try to grab a photo of them. Cheeky bastards.

So that's it for my Dharwad-Goa entry. It's getting lengthy, eyh? I sure you enjoyed the illustration at least. I hate these the most because I was rushing to get them done there and then I barely manage to think straight. Oh whatever.

Adieu

Terima kasih kerana sudi singgah dan membaca entry ini. Silakanlah merapu di ruang komentari bersama saya. Yeaha~