The day I had booked my stay at Victorian Verandaz in Madikeri , I was sure it is going to be something special. Many of first timers were on the cards , first time I was going to stay in a home stay , first time it was going to be a stay at a coffee estate , I had booked my stay but had not paid a single penny in advance this was also happening for first time and the list goes on.
By the time i had reached there i could see very different world in which i had landed , it was all together an imagination which has come in front of me. I was stunned to see the efforts and the passion of man who has the knack of giving the best to whatever he has got , ” Mr. Coluvanda Carriapa Thimaiah “. I had previously also mentioned this in one my another blog that how much he loves his place , this blog would further extend the conversation between me and Mr . Thimaiah and knowing more about his passion.
It was the second day of my stay , got up early in the morning to see the sun rising in front of Victorian Verandaz , things didn’t went that well and sun didn’t said hello to us but yes fog had given a sweet hug. Nothing else to do , not in a mood to go back to the mood which generally happens with me when camera is in my hand i never get tired never feels sleepy , i decided to consume some battery of my My greedy camera.
Things started from flowers , i was busy in clicking some pictures of the beauty of Victorian verandaz , ” Good Morning Tarun ” voice came from the back , Mr. Thimaiah was standing in the back and smiling and said ” So Sun didn’t came out , i got up early and saw the fog and knew you wont get your pictures ” , what else i could say other than smiling back. I had already taken a cup of tea , but i was ready for another cup with Mr. Thimaiah , we started walking in the lawn of Victorian Verandaz talking a bit about the things which i was observing kept there.
I had seen this piece hanging on this iron pillar previous day as well and was curious to know about. Mr.Thimaiah told me , that it is a custom in coorgy people that whenever an elder person visits our place we wash his feet before he enters our premises , and this piece was installed by his father on the pillar of the house which he has shifted to this iron pillar.
Looking from far in the night i had assumed it to be a shivling placed in the middle of lawn , but when i went there in the morning it was all together a different thing. When i asked Mr.Thimaiah , he told that it is an age old Rain gauge of his family , it is very important for us to know about the amount of rain which is falling , it will let us know about the future of our coffee plantation as lot depends on the rain , it can bring you on the winning position or can ruin the whole game on its own.
This vessels were right in front of my room , i had assumed them to be water storage tanks , but i was wrong. Thimaiah family have been living in Madikeri from ages and had seen India changing , these tanks were some two generations old or if i say what Mr.Thimaiah told me must be atleast more than 150 yr old , used to store grain and other things , were lying in the old store room.
Morning shift interview was over and after a little bit of rest , we and Mr.Thimaiah went for tour of Coffee estate. He had told me in the morning that you would find many interesting things at my office , some antiques which i have kept them , and i was damn eager to see them.
After a two hour or so , a very very tiring walk of tour for me came to end when we reached his office. But for him it was a office and for me it was like a mine of Anitques , on one wall were hanging these walking sticks which his forefathers had used in their old age , a lantern hanging outside on a pole which was suppose to be the lantern pole installed by the britishers which he had brought now in front of his office.
I was finding me and Mr.Thimaiah quite similar in some things , he had also kept the best to the end like me. He guided us to another room and said ” This would be something very exciting for you ” , opened the door and it was an all teak wood room enclosed inside a concrete room. He said ” This is our 200 yr old storage room , my ancestors used to store rice in it and i am doing some renovation of it to make it as my coffee bean store room “.
His narration reached its peak when he said ” Tarun , this room is something which even the richest of people can’t afford at present days , you can imagine on your own its 200 yr old room made of teak wood and the wood must have been atleast 100 yr old when it was built , so logically its around 300 yr old wood in literal sense , and for more knowledge i must tell you , The older the teak wood the stronger and costlier it is” .
I just clicked some two or three pics of that room and went forward but it was something which was going in mind that i am going to come again to this place and that trip would be specially for Mr.Thimaiah family only and i would be going no where that just relaxing at Victorian Verandaz and enjoy the company of Thimaiah Family.
