We ushered in the new year quietly with a drink and on first morning we drove to Chikmangalur to spend two days at Kadur Club which was instituted in 1887.
Chikmaglur is coffee country and namma Cafe Coffee Day has its roots here too. For readers of this blog who aren't from India - Cafe Coffee Day is a chain of coffee shops much like Starbucks.
If you ever wondered where coffee came from - well, from the berries which you see in the picture above.
We had the club pretty much to ourselves for two days. Time pretty much stands still here.
The club was beautifully decorated for the Christmas and new year eve party which went on till 6.30 in the morning.People in these parts certainly know to party.
The club was beautifully decorated for the Christmas and new year eve party which went on till 6.30 in the morning.People in these parts certainly know to party. The dining room is so quaint and beautiful with animal trophies on the walls and the old black and white photographs from another century.
I simply love the old world charm of crepe paper and silver foil streamers. Some tailor sat and stitched that foil onto the crepe paper. It brings back memories of my birthday on a tea estate bungalow in Assam where the decorations consisted of pink and silver streamers exactly like these and it was my mother who must have slaved over metres and metres of streamers.
The landscape you see when you drive up Baba Budangiri .
I simply love the old world charm of crepe paper and silver foil streamers. Some tailor sat and stitched that foil onto the crepe paper. It brings back memories of my birthday on a tea estate bungalow in Assam where the decorations consisted of pink and silver streamers exactly like these and it was my mother who must have slaved over metres and metres of streamers. 
The landscape you see when you drive up Baba Budangiri .A wonderful start to a new decade. Wishing all my readers health, wealth and happiness in the year ahead. I hope the year is all you want it to be.
10 comments:
what a beautiful post! so nice to see you back to posting!
Oh wow, this is beautiful. Very very colonial atmosphere!
Everything of the best for 2010, Maya!
Thanks for a newsy interesting post. I'm intrigued by the streamers... visualizing the tailor stitching the foilm onto the crepe paper. Great photo of the tiger peering through the streamers.
Thank you Caterina,December was a month when my parents required me to be there to help them recover to some extent from health issues before I could come back to Bangalore and therefore the blog was neglected,but I'm back now and happy new year.
The Colonial atmosphere and the whole slow movement go hand in hand and appeal to me.I think we should cultivate it this year Priya. next project?
Hello Robyn, happy new year.I think finding a tailor to stitch streamers like those in the pictures will be a rarity these days but probably not in a small town like Chikmangalur.I must actually try and see if a tailor will be willing to make some streamers for me here in Bangalore so I can use them at X'mas time.
ooh this looks gorgeous!
Wow, I have shivers. This transports me to a part of our reality that I so rarely experience. As you say, it has to do with nostalgia and wonder. Very nice narration too. Thank you for this.
These pictures are just MARVELOUS. Priya is quite right- a very colonial atmosphere indeed. I especially enjoyed the wild story about the roadside run-in with the tusker in the previous post! Thank you so much for visiting bigBANG- you must have come by way of Priya, with whom I see you share the book blog. Hurrah! And your work is TO DIE FOR- about to hunt through your old posts to see more...what a joy to come across your blog.
hugs from the california desert,
lily
Thank you India and a happy new year. I learnt about google alerts from your post been most useful.
You are most welcome Caroline. I hope you will have an opportunity in the near future to experience such nostalgia first hand.
hello Lily, I love your blog and the insights into your life as an artist in the desert.yes, Priya is the one who introduced me, she's my sounding board for all things art related.Wishing you all things wonderful, health and happiness in the coming year.
Sitting here with my morning coffee, it was lovely to see your photo of coffee berries - reminding me where this marvellous sustenance comes from. Thank you for visiting my blog and for your thoughtful comment.
It’s really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this.
Coffee Tea Vending Machines
Post a Comment