Kemtur – Village in Udupi

Kemtur, an idyllic village on the outskirts of Udupi (my home town). I have been visiting this small hamlet since last 3 years, because our ancestral Lakshmi Narasimha Temple is situated in this village, on the eastern banks of the river (and they say the village is named so because of us KAMATHS - “ಕಾಮತರ ಊರು – ಕೆಮ್ತೂರು”.


The village doesn't have a proper bus facility, and has a small mud road for transport – but now new and a better road is being built, may take another year for that to complete. And over the years i have observed the slow transformation of this village with a hanging bridge (13°17'55"N, 74°45'39"E )connecting the village to the neighbouring Manipura – village close to Katapadi. Last year a vented dam (13°17'41"N, 74°45'43"E) was constructed to facilitate the transport and also to block the salt water entering the fields of cultivation.




The nature beckons you, and as you walk along the mud road that is passing through or along the ridges of the field you hear the occasional chirping of birds, howling of the dogs or the call of the cattle.


Once in a while the lull of the village is broken by the rattling of the wheels of train that travel along the Konkan Railways, to break the monotony. But still you find peace in this serene atmosphere with all the green fields around, and some one working on his fields alone – without the hurriedness of the city goer.


The main deity of the village is 'Vishnumoorthy' – Lord Vishnu, a renovated temple, constructed with granite. It has also got a new flag post standing tall amidst the silence, as if guarding it.

Our (means Kamaths' family) temple (13°17'52"N, 74°45'43"E ) is small, surrounded by fields on all side except on the west where the river flows along. The main deity is Laksmi Narasimha, along with our Kuladevatas Shantadurga and Vijayadurga. This temple is slowly gaining significance because of Kemtur Kamaths who are in far off places are trying to get to their roots and finally they find this place (like my family).

And usually I don't miss any opportunity to visit the temple, so that i can be with nature, relax though for a short while away from all the hullabaloo of the city.

CHRISTMAS GET-TOGETHER AT Dr ROSHAN PINTO'S HOME, KINNIGOLI

Dear Friends, it was nice to have a day away from all the hazzles of work, and it was provided by Dr Roshan, my friend. He invited us – that is Dr Girish Navada, Dr Guruprasad, Dr Ramakrishna, Dr Ranjan and me, to come along with our families. Dr Ranjan missed this outing as it was the day of Christmas, and he had to be at home.

I reached the place Kinnigoli, and was picked-up by Dr Roshan from bus-stand, and I along with my wife and daughter were the first to reach his place. I couldn't take my son as he had come down with acute pharyngitis and fever and he was allowed to rest at home with his Granny.

As we reached the place – long distance away from all the noice of the city and human settlements, it was cool and green all around. You could feel the abundance of oxygen around. A little later remaining members of the group joined us. In addition we were also joined by Dr Sudha, Dr Venmani, Dr John Pradeep - our Interns posted at Concetta Hospital at Kinnigoli.

By that time cookong was already in full swing, with Roshan's mother and Gigi – Roshan's wife preparing the dishes for the afternoon lunch. The offer of help was rejected nicely saying not enough space in the kitchen. But the smells emanating from the dishes were great – so with a vision of great food I moved out of the kitchen.

After the tea and snacks all of us decided to go for swimming. All the children were enthusiastic about this venture and were more eager to go. When we reached the destination – it was COOL water that was waiting for us. It is a running stream water that is collected by blocking the flow. All of us were in water for almost 2 hours enjoying, some of us were learning to swim - and that was very relaxing.Then all of us joined back in the house for a sumptous food – of salad from pomegranate, dates and vegetables, dal fry, idlis, rice, gobi chilli and curds, in addition to Kori rotti, chicken curry and pork chilly for all the non vegetarians. The food was really good, and I should thank both Gigi and Roshan's mother for their efforts in preparing all this. Along with food some of us had the opportunity to taste the wine and after food a good amount of Sprite.After a little rest, the kids went for fishing!! - and we went to see the water falls!! which was not falling when we reached there – it was just flowing. May be it will be falling during the rainy season. That place was the best, with lots of rocks in and water fowing around them. We could imagine the splendor of it during the rains. We let our legs rest in water for a while before returning home.It was 5o'clock by then and we had to return. So with a promise to return during the month of October, when there will be more water in the stream, we bid farewell to Dr Roshan's family.I am enclosing the link to the album at Webshots for all of u to see - http://family.webshots.com/album/576090770dhbxDM