Swaminathan’s coffee-table book chronicles a quaint region caught in a time warp. He shares his experiences from his stay in the land...
It was a misty January morning at Agumbe (a village in the Shimoga district in Karnataka) that started the journey of over two years with the life, people and the land of Malnad. That day, I began to document the myriad characters of the region. From the newspaper man throwing the papers from his cycle, the milkman handing out the change, lady heading towards a temple to offer her oblations to Lord Ganesha and a man on his bicycle hurriedly riding towards his tea shop to meet his early morning customers, I began the travel of photographing the fascinating life of people of the hills of the Malnad region.
Making time count in Malnad
Despite the over dependence of technology at the urban centers, people of the hills are completely detached from it. It is not that they are not aware of what is happening around them with regards to current affairs or technology; it’s just that they don’t need it to run their lives. The people are proud of their heritage and legacy. The most interesting thing I found during the journey is that they have time on their hands. They have time for everything, for their plantations, to go to a local grocery shop, to take visitors to nearby monuments. They would not mind shutting their shop for a while to show the visitor around, like this one gentleman did at Nagara (a village in the region), where I asked him for directions to the ruins of a temple. He coolly shut his shop and accompanied me to show me around.
Experience Malnad
During my time in Malnad, I’d have my food mostly in people’s house. Hotels around, did not serve the best of fare, so a local mess was the best option, when I was forced to eat out. The most common activity that a lot of people are into when they travel to Malnad is trekking. The hills are very inviting and so are the views from the top. The landscape is fantastic. However, when one is done trekking, getting to know the people there and visiting a hamlet would be a fascinating experience. One would most certainly come back richer with regard to the experience.
Malnad in the monsoons
Though there are the calendar options of October to May, I do not believe in them. Travelling to any place at any time is the best. Each season carries something interesting of the place. My favourite time to visit Malnad is during the monsoons, I love the rains, and it teaches a lot, an ideal time for a getaway from the city. The experiences have been infinite and all remarkable. I hope Malnad does not change. However, change is inevitable and with the number of forests being cleared, I believe that the government needs to take a stand in safeguarding the hills.
— As told to Ipsita Basu Dasgupta
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