Of People and Places

Belgaum has many beautiful houses dating back to colonial times. With gothic arches, linear shaped buildings, terracotta tiles, they express a serenity and calmness that is hard to find these days. Some people do continue to live in these houses whereas some have an abandoned look. These buildings have an interesting blend of British, Kannada and Marathi architecture.Most of these houses are built from stone, mud bricks with high ceilings, cast iron railings,ornate windows and roofs. I wish we had a heritage walk in Belgaum where we are guided by experts on the history of these buildings. I am sure it would be an enriching experience.

Belgaum always meant cozy holidays in mamama's (grandma's) house, Cable TV ( We didn't have it at home then, it was always a treat we looked forward to), stuffing ourselves beyond capacity with an equally enthusiastic grandmother who liked trying out new things she saw on TV and magazines and tried them on us. The days whirred by in a contented blur in front of the TV - pure bliss. Belgaum is a sleepy town, I think the air is filled with something that makes everyone indolent, or probably that was just me stuffed to the brim with mamama's delicious food wanting to laze about all the time. Belgaum to me meant buffaloes, continuous rains, hailstorms and beautiful colonial houses, wadas and Kunda. Every visit to Belgaum necessarily meant a half kilo of Kunda ( A brown colored sweet made with milk & khowa)   had to be taken back to school/office and shared with peers and colleagues. An illustration of Red Whiskered Bulbul My grandparents moved houses several t...