Road Journey Bangalore to Goa

We set out early hoping to beat the heavy traffic on Tumkur road, but it was not to be. The road was jammed with vehicles and it took more than an hour to reach Tumkur.

Tumkur is the location of the famous Siddaganga Mutt and also has a no. of engineering and medical colleges administered by the Siddaganga Mutt.

After a quick breakfast we sped along the good road, past dusty hamlets, small towns like Tiptur, Arsikere to the steel town of Bhadravati. The whole countryside was green after the monsoons and pleasing to the eyes while driving.

Tiptur is famous for its copra (dried coconut) and farmers from the surrounding villages carry copra to Tiptur for auction.

Bhadravati rose into prominance due to the establishment of first the Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel Ltd. and later on Mysore Paper Mills.

We reached Shimoga after a quick tea break at Sagar. Jog Falls, located in Shimoga district is a popular tourist destination in Karnataka. There is a huge waterfall created by the river Sharavathy and it is one of the highest waterfalls in India, falling from a height of 253 metres. The associated hydro electric station associated with this waterfall is due to the Linganmakki dam built by the visionary dewan of Mysore, Sir M Visveswaraya.

Dusk was falling as we sped on towards Murudeshwar, our target for the night halt. The road was thru the ghat section and seemed to go on forever. Finally we reached Honnevar from where Murudeshwar was 20 kms only. As we turned off the highway, into the temple town we could see the giant statue of Lord Shiva rising above the surrounding buildings. It was an eerie sight in the darkness.

We stayed in the RNS Residency owned the industrialist Mr.R.N.Shetty. He has 2 other hotels in the same town and other businesses. He was also the financier for the statue of Lord Shiva.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of the screams of the tourists from the beach. When we looked thru the windows of the RNS Residency which is right on the beach, we could see the waves breaking on the shore and the tourists playing in the water.

After a quick darshan at the Murudeshwara temple , we hit the road to Karwar. On the way we had a darshan at the temple at Gokarna. The famous Om beach is also located here.

As we approached Karwar the view of the sea from the highway which runs alongside was breathtaking. Karwar has a huge naval base so much of the beach is out of bounds for the general population.

From Karwar it was a short distance to the border with Goa. As we crossed the border into Goa state we immediately came across a number of bars by the roadside for those who like to start their revelry as soon as they crossed into Goa. As we drove towards Margao, the commercial and business capital of Goa, the whole countryside was lush with tropical vegetation and trees. Every few kilometres the local villagers were selling different types of cucumbers by the roadside.

As we approached Margao, old colonial houses and buildings were visible. The Portuguese architecture and the bright coloured paints used on these buildings were beautiful. The roads were full of vehicles as Margao is the business capital of Goa, whereas Panaji is the administrative capital and the seat of Government.

We turned off the highway towards our resort - Majorda Beach Resort. It was a 3 nights package.

Some of the places to visit in Goa include Old Goa which was the capital of the Portuguese in India from the 16th to the 18th century when it was abandoned. The remains of the city are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Basilica of Bom Jesus which contains the body of St.Francis Xavier is located here and also the Church of St.Francis of Assissi. These two buildings are a must on any travelers itinerary and the architectural beauty of these buildings set amid vast, green, immaculately maintained lawns is beautiful.

Next on the itinerary was the 400 year old Mangueshi Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. The pillars of the temple are exquisite and there is a beautiful seven storey deepstamba (lamp tower) standing at the entrance to the temple.

For those who want to enjoy the fun-life in Goa, there is a cruise boat which takes you on a one hour tour on the sea. There are some Goan and Portuguese dances performed on these boats and also an open air bar.

After the three nights stay it was back to Bangalore. We decided to take the Hubli-Dharwad route which was supposed to be much shorter.
From Margao we took the road to Ponda, via Mollem, Ainavar to Dharwad. The road upto the Karnataka border was a nightmare , full of potholes due to the mining trucks. (By the way iron ore export is the second largest revenue earner for Goa after tourism).
As we reached the top of the ghat section, thick , white fog enveloped us and we could not see anything in front of us. As we inched our way ahead, slowly the fog cleared and we crossed into Karnataka state. Somebody told us that the normal route to Dharwad was bad, so we took the route to Dandeli (where there is a resort operated by Jungle Lodges) where we had a quick lunch. Then we took the NH4 to Dharward which is a great highway except for some incomplete sections. After purchasing some Dharwad pedas we sped onto Hubli and then Davangere. There were huge 'wells' on the so called road every few kilometres between Hubli and Davangere.
After night halt at Davangere we reached Bangalore via Chitradurga.
It was a great journey if you love driving but other wise not recommended for those who do not like to sit in vehicles for long stretches of time.
Happy Driving !!

Film review of "The Wild Strawberries" Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Wild Strawberries - By Ingrid Bergman.

Wild Strawberries is considered by many critics to be a landmark film in the history of cinema by one of the greatest directors that ever lived - Ingrid Bergman.

The film is what can be considered a 'road movie' by todays movie labels. The basic synopsis of the film is about a medical professor who is on his way to his former university to collect an honorary degree. On the way he has nightmares and dreams about his past.

On the way he stops at a summer house where he used to spend his childhood summers and he has dreams about his childhood girlfriend, his family dinners and special occasions.

He is accompanied in the car by his daughter-in-law who tells him about his son's quirks and behaviour towards her. He stops on the way to see his old mother who complains that none of her children come to see her. She shows him, his and his brothers' childhood toys and nick-knacks.

On the way they also pick up a teenage girl and her two boyfriends. It is these three strangers who seem to have some affection for the professor and who cheer him and give him flowers because he is getting the honorary degree.

There are two nightmare sequences of the professor -

in the first one he is walking on a road and he cannot see a single soul, only some clocks on street poles which have no needles. Suddenly a horse drawing a carriage comes into view. The carriage is carrying a coffin. One of the wheels of the carriage comes off and rolls towards him. The horse pulling the carriage comes to a halt and the coffin falls from the back of the carriage. As he walks towards the open coffin he sees that there is dead body in the coffin and as he walks nearer he realises that the face of the dead body is his. The hand of the dead body suddenly reaches out for him and the nightmare comes to an end.

This scene is considered one of the landmark sequences in cinema direction.

The other nightmare of the professor is when he goes back to his college, he is asked to take a test. When he is taking the test he realises that he has forgotten the basics of medicine.

He is asked to examine a human body and he says the man is dead when suddenly the man wakes up.

To continue with the story, his son meets him when he reaches the university and he goes to his rooms to freshen up.

He receives his honorary degree and goes back to his rooms and goes to bed, where he has another dream about his childhood. He sees his relatives go for a boat ride and he asks his girlfriend where are his parents. His girlfriend takes him to a rocky place where he sees his parents fishing. He wakes up with a smile on his face and goes back to sleep.

The movie ends.

Though this movie is considered one of the best films along with 'The Seventh Seal' by the

great IngmarBergman and a must see by all serious students of cinema, i feel it is an over rated film. None of the sequences are anything great except maybe for the horse-carriage nightmare sequence and i can boast of having seen most of the great films of the world. Only Victor Sjostrom' performance as Professor Isak Berg stands out.