We Udaipurites love our city so much that even a comparison with a similar landscape becomes unbearable for us. The love for our native place will never ever fade even if we stay away for years and years.

In 2010, a short visit to a place in Karnataka made me miss my hometown. The place is Madikeri which happens to be headquarter of Coorg, a very popular tourist destination. It is almost 5 and a half hours away from Bengaluru. The Coorgis are mostly Kshatriyas or the fighter clan. It is a hilly area, the weather of which will remind you of Udaipur and Aravalis during rainy season. The town is full of greenery surrounded by the Western Ghats Mountain range.

During rainy season, the clouds can be seen low enough to give a look of Ranakpur ghaata . The temperature reduces a lot during monsoon which can make you wrap a shawl around your shoulders or even make you wear a warm hoodie.

I also discovered one amazing thing that the natives make wine at home from cashewnuts, banana, cardamom and grapes. Cashew and banana wine are more preferred there. Coffee plantation used to be the major source of income earlier but now more and more people have taken up different jobs in the city, mainly Bengaluru, though coffee still remains the traditional source .

As you go up and down the hilly region, you are reminded of the various ghaatas of Udaipur. The roads, green trees on both the sides reminded me of the ghaata of village Saira on way to Jodhpur from Udaipur. The only part is that Madikeri doesn’t become too hot in summers.

One more important thing that I noticed was the way of draping saari . It was really amusing to see that the saari pleats were born on the back side whereas we wear pleats on front. But I loved the way they wore it.

Food habits are like anyone in Karnataka with emphasis on rice and sambhar, they also love eating fish. The languages spoken are Kannada and Kodava Takk.

The places to visit are Raja Seat, Madikeri fort, Omkareshawar temple and St.Mark’s Church.