Canarese Verses Poem by Padmanabhan Ananth

I decided we'd leave for this vacation
To north of our state, whatever may happen
Should heavens fall at my workplace,
I will call them 'Christmas snowflakes'!

We had resort booked, our bags packed
I cranked the car engine, as dawn cracked
And off we got on to northern highway
We in cheer at this year-end drive-away

At Tirthahalli*, from city crowds, far away
Checked in at Bananki, a quaint little home-stay
Simple homely comforts offered with care
Got this place, TripAdvisor's four-n-half star

Aromas-n-tastes of varied Canarese^ food
Kadubu, akki-roti, ragi-roti, sagu, ubbaddu
Home-made ginger-, grape-, and fig-wine
Were served with smile, along with dine

Fearing bonfires, little lad Dhiraj fussily ran
Faster than the Alsatian puppy Roxanne
No pesky call-n-mail as went missing, the network
Leaving us in peace to enjoy our break

Sirimane waterfall - the thundering Tunga river
Constant downpour of chilly-sweet water
We fed puffed rice to plump catfish, all hungry
And drove up to the steep peak, Kundadri

Stumbled upon remote village store that sold
Hand catapult - a favourite of my childhood
Its Y-shaped wood, leather, rubber strips
Kept me searching for stones-n-targets!

The pleasant yellow of sleepy sun, setting
The dark grey of highway road, winding
The vermilion red of locale's soil, ferrous
The deep blue of winter skies, cloudless
The rich green of dense areca, rubber trees
All these colours fused to gift us a White Christmas!

Smells of harvested areca, pepper crops
Sounds of rare forest birds on skies, trees
We came back with fond memories of the sights
And the tastes, the smells and the sounds.
- - -
*A town in the northern part of Karnataka, India
^Canara is a less-used name for Karnataka.