Memories from Mysore

I just happened to play this song (by mistake) after almost two decades https://open.spotify.com/track/0w3ijrVQ2Q4U0guO2WhKaE… in spotify and my god!!, had a flash of my entire life in Mysore. Goose bums to remember a new kid in the block stepping foot in the city of palaces in 1994 all alone. What a time it was to be introduced to a new culture and tradition. Unbelievable what a song can trigger or do to the memory>! Read below.. hahah!

Received with love by my grand uncle parents and uncle (Babu at the station) who embraced my whims and fancies patiently when I arrived from Chennai. Never was I exposed to ‘hande olle uri’, what an experience was it to burn those logs to heat water just for a shower. The super fast bike rides (credit to Prasad’s yezdi and driving skills) to KRS dam and cauvery river was exhilarating. The first Deepavalli celebrations I had at Mysore was out of the world – remember my Dad asking Babu to get some crackers for me and I was, please get this, that blah..blah..

The friends I made at Mahajana college, glady are still in touch including the one who introduced me to this song. This guy happened to have a ‘CD ROM’ and a MP3 converter software on his 386 PC, which made him a hero. I couldn’t wait to get these songs converted to MP3 and blast it on my computer and wake my neighbors. The canteen at the college stands clear in my mind, the Rs2.50 pulliyogere and chithranna + Rs.2 strong filter coffee with a fag.. haha (for those who don’t know, this was the decent name for a ciggi). The numerous trips to Balmuri, night stays at BR hills, Gopalaswamy betta, coorg amongst others.

Most time was spent at cricket grounds, friends house, pelican pub, star hotels and occasional visit to Fishland because my friends liked Sea food. The first cycle I had (which got stolen) was a joy to ride, remember the scary ride to the cops station to file a compliant with my big bro. Still remember Babu taking me to the cycle shop to buy this, and the ride being a challenge!

There started my cricketing career, playing for college, then numerous tennis ball cricket tournaments. Friends I made in tennis ball cricket were great!, all I needed was batting and I got it hahaha. From nowhere a guy called Shiva spots me and drags me to some serious Div1, university and zone cricket which gave me a taste of high performance, and the commitment it takes to make it big. The badminton courts and cricket ground at Mysore university was a sight to watch and to play I believed was a mountain to climb. I did though and to have my name printed in Star of Mysore paper & sharing it with my friends and grand uncle was a great moment of joy!! Wah..

Slowly I get introduced to new rich friends, and I was like ooh.. not me dude.. I only observed, and learnt how they lived life which till date still fascinates me. The go karting at foot hills of Chamundi was a costly affair and an occasional celebration. Didn’t feel at home at all.

The assembled PC I bought from Bangalore for which I bullied my bro and dad to sponsor was memorable. The amplifiers I thought I assembled to make a powerful music system was a hard learning and I really wonder how my parents put up with me when I was playing such loud music. Now I graduate into listening to hard rock music and collecting CDs become an important hobby. I remember requesting my friend to get an Iron Maiden CD from Bangalore simply because he was visiting the city.

Then comes the real test of PUC. I have no clue why there’s such a big deal about this phase of life. Obviously, my results weren’t great enough to move to so called engineering. Not just me, even my friends were on the same boat and especially the guy who introduced me to MLTR and soft rock. I still remember how scared we were to go home with these results, and tricks we played with parents with great reasons. It is so funny when I think about it now. The comments I received from friends, relatives about my disastrous performance wasn’t worth remembering.

Graduation was another experience, imagine studying science in a 100+ year old building with 100+ students in each class. There was an instance where the roof just collapsed when the class was half way through. Fully grateful to have got myself a seat in this college after the debacle at PUC. I rarely went to the class as I was immersed with Cricket dreaming to make it big. Still remember my mom coming to my room late night to see if I have slept. and she would really wake me up to find out if I really slept hahah! that was funny.

Dosa’s every Sunday at Nalpak hotel was by default along with occasional GTR. No cafe culture at Mysore back then, only tea shops. The fruit salads at Landstone building was mouth watering. The huge papad at the exhibition was yumm.

I slowly move into my next phase of life – frickin work! I get introduced to a very different set of people, fully polished, professional and well behaved. I am like what?? really? (in a good way). Was blessed to have 2 jobs at the same time to pay for my cricket, booze and travel parties, rarely I thought of saving, not that I do now.. hehehe!

A new soul enters the family, it is not what you think, it was an aggressive and lovely pomeranian dog. Oh man, it was effort to take care of this. It wouldn’t listen to anyone except my dad and created a havoc in the streets.

The first full time job I had at a stock broking firm was a stepping stone to my career. The exposure and techniques I learnt prepared me well for the next move. The conversations over tea/ciggis with colleagues and friends are unforgettable. The short trips to Mumbai and Bangalore on work made me feel a bit important. Fixing PCs, servers, network cables, and mother boards like a mechanic was good fun. I realised I could have done way better if I had worked on my patience a bit. How can I forget my stint at Tulec and Asset International as a trainer! I remember almost every friend I made, and I did meet one of them after 16yrs when I was in Mysore after covid.

This was the age of internet cafes, and market was on the lookout for experts to setup the office using a 36kbps modem.. Are you kidding me? True though. The internet cafe at Kalidasa road turned out to be a good ‘adda’ for sandwiches and lunch/dinner at Tegu’s mess added to the excitment.

I still miss my training job which allowed me interact, crack jokes and make friends. This was one of the best times I have had in my professional career. There is nothing that can replace human interaction and connect.

Situations now connect me to different peoples (next level ma), who turned out to be my best friends later when I moved to Bangalore in 2001! This is really bizzare, a mystery of how people connect and why they connect, which to this date fascinates me.

There ends my life in Mysore to start a new one in namma Bengaluru.:)

Have a great day.