Scent of a Region

As I walked down the road on my morning walk, a flower seller on a bicycle went past me leaving a trail of the wonderful fragrance of Jasmine flowers. Blessed I am, I thought to be walking in the pleasant weather of good old Mysore, fully enjoying the Mallige Parimala (scent of jasmine). There is something about Mysore which gives you that sense of smug comfort and ‘All is well in the world’ feeling. As if to substantiate that view, one of the regulars coming from the opposite direction saw me and gave a big smile and asked ‘All well? Haven’t seen you for a few days’ I told him that I had gone to Chennai on work the last couple of days and missed the walk. There is an atmosphere of gentleness and softness in Mysore which you will find hard to come by in other places.

The Tippu Express from Bangalore stops only at Mandya en route to Mysore. The other day when I was on the train, we had crossed Mandya and were looking forward to timely arrival at Mysore. Suddenly, near Pandavapura the train halted with a jerk. I thought that it had halted to facilitate crossing of a train from Mysore when I heard a commotion at the next compartment. Coming out, I was told that someone had pulled the chain to stop the train. It transpired that a young man from Bihar having failed to get off at his destination, Mandya because he was dozing and realizing it suddenly, had pulled the chain so that he could get off. A crowd had gathered in front him and there was a lot of shouting. A man obviously from the North said, ‘Maro! Sale ko’ (Hit the bugger) threatening to do so. The culprit, almost in tears, said that chain pulling was quite common back in Bihar. One local said, ‘Che Che. Hogli Bidi Papa, What could he have done?’(Che Che Let him be, poor chap). Other locals nodded displaying sympathy rather than anger, while the Northerner glowered at them not being able to understand their reaction. This ‘Hogli Bidi, Papa’ could very well be the anthem of the region.

The region is what used to be called the Mysore state, before the formation of Karnataka state in 1956. Away from the harsh weather of both the coastal area and the dry northern districts, Mysore state which came under the benevolent rule of the Wodeyars is blessed with very temperate weather which many say determines the nature of its people. ‘Lotus Eaters!’ is the derisive term for Mysoreans used by many in the always hot Tamil country to the east. To a Mysorean, it is difficult to understand the rather harsh (at least outwardly) ways of the Tamilian and the Malayalee in their dealings with others. Visitors from outside seem to get upset that nothing gets started till late in the mornings whereas they boast that they are up and about at 5 in the morning. A typical Mysorean’s reaction would be ‘Why on earth should one get up so early!?’ Some say that people’s attitudes get formed due to incidents of history and the weather. They say that people in the South have never been exposed to invasion from hostile armies and do not know extreme weather conditions. They point to Punjabis who are portrayed as martial and aggressive in their outlook because they were in the forefront of fighting invading marauders. While this may be generally true, one can not the paint the entire population of the area with the same brush. I remember reading Khushwant Singh’s piece on the subject, ‘I have seen mousy Sardarjis, uncultured Bengalis, aggressive Kannadigas and many such to say that there are always exceptions’.

Old Mysore state was really blessed with benevolent, non-aggressive and visionary rulers such as Krishnaraja Wodeyar and illustrious Diwans who served them. Apart from genuinely being concerned about the welfare of their subjects and ensuring implementation of many pioneering projects, they represented an era of culture where Music, Arts and Education were given utmost importance. It seemed that there was a sense among citizens of being well looked after by the rulers. This highly remarkable way of ruling enhanced the cultural values of the people in the region which continues till date. The effect of the temperate climate cannot be underestimated, either. We all know how pleasant it is to keep sleeping covering ourselves in a blanket in winter and basking in the mild winter sunshine. However, this gentleness has not prevented remarkable achievements of Mysoreans in all spheres of activity all over the world.

This all pervasive gentleness is portrayed in much of Kannada literature of all genres. It is no surprise that many of our novelists and poets were influenced by Romanticism of English literature. Mysore Mallige by K.S.Narasimha Swamy is a classic example of depicting this gentle, laid back and romantic way of life. Even D.V.Gundappa’s classic which is compared to the Bhagavad Gita was called Manku Thimmana Kagga (Dull headed Thimma’s Writings). Finest of poems, great works of literature, sophisticated philosophical works invariably had that streak of gentleness and self effacement. When Kuvempu writes about setting the spirit free to break the shackles, he does it in a beautiful gentle poem ‘O, Nanna Chetana, Aagu Nee Aniketana’(O, my spirit, please become unbound). Or when Nissar Ahmed describes the land in his poem, Jogada Siri Belakinalli(In the rich lights of Jog), the feeling conveyed is of Romantic richness of the greenery and hills of Malnad.

This gentleness is not confined to one class or section of society but is all pervading. Since it seems to be caused by the lay of the land and the climate, even people migrating from harsher lands fall prey and become gentle over time.

As I neared the end of my morning walk, I passed by the Sampige (Magnolia Champaca) tree near the temple with the heady fragrance of the yellow flowers drenching me.

Ah! To be in Mysore…