Rewind back to 27-2-2014 - Travelling to Mangalore

27-2-2014 was an unforgettable day for me. I left my parents, my home, my sister, my friends, and Chennai to travel to this beautiful place, Mangalore, with my husband, in-laws, and my dad. If you are born a girl, you eventually have to leave your home and start a new life with your husband in a different home.

On 27/2/2014, the train reached Mangalore Central at exactly 8:30 AM. (Appreciate the punctuality of Southern Railways!) We unloaded 21 bags from the train. We had paid ₹1000 to the porter in Chennai to load our luggage onto the train, but the porters in Mangalore charged only ₹100 to load the same bags into our car. Same distance, same weight, but at a much lower price. From that moment, I started liking Mangalore. There were no traffic jams and far less pollution. Everyone riding a two-wheeler wore helmets—which is quite uncommon in Chennai!

We reached the beautiful house my husband had rented for us around 9:30 AM and started unpacking. "What do we eat for breakfast?" I asked. My husband replied, "I’ll bring food from the hotel," and left. He returned an hour later, sweating profusely. "No shop has idlies," he said. That was hard to believe for someone from Chennai, where idly is available at any time, in every shop! Dosa with sambar was on the menu, but for the first time, I didn’t like it because the sambar was sweet. Sweet sambar was something new to me! At that moment, we decided to cook lunch so we wouldn’t have to eat sweet sambar again.

After performing pooja and having lunch, we set out to do some shopping.

The clock struck 7 PM, yet the place was still bright like it was early evening. In Chennai, it’s dark by 6:00 PM. Excited by this new place, we returned home happily after shopping in a new city with new people.

Now, it’s been a year, and I love this place for its weather, endless rainfall, calm atmosphere, traffic-free zones, and clean air. The memory of arriving in Mangalore is still fresh!

Mangalore is a great place to live peacefully and enjoy the beauty of nature, but it will never be like my birthplace—Chennai!

Originally posted on 27-Feb-2015 Edited on 09-Feb-2025

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