Karnataka - Mysore Eudaimonia

Dusshera. Dashami. Departure of the Goddess.
The spectacle unfolded before us in Mysore on terms grander than I expected. The roads were chok-a-block with people.
Dusshera in Mysore involves a grand exhibition where a procession of elephants is led throughout the streets upto the gates of the Mysore Palace. The 275 year old palace is alit with lights and gets a new life of its own.
80 to 8 year olds all pour out on the streets for a glimpse of the fever that grips the city.
Street food to restaurants, vendors to shops, roadside golgappas to coorg spices special, everything gets a makeover during this period! And people revel in this madness.
Hence, we made a plan to spend a night out in this madness to catch the experience first hand. Well, less of a plan, more of an impulse.
We had no rooms booked, nothing as a backup. The evening passed in a haze of madness, crowds, revelry and culinary satisfactions.
Started the evening with a dandiya night wherein all our inner MJs and Pandit Birju Maharaj awoke and made us sway to the beats in ways unknown to us before.
And then we definitely made hikers all over the globe proud from the sheer amount we walked that night. There was an exhibition ongoing but we decided to skip that for lack of time. Exploring each and every crowded side street, each and every food stall vendor, pushing and get pushed, we made our way from one part of the city to the other.
Tired and exhausted by midnight, when we found ourselves in front of the Mysore mall, we had no guilty feelings in rushing in and relieving ourselves. In all senses of the word. Refreshed, but unable to walk further, we decided to catch a late night show of any movie running. For a better part of 3 hours we spent in the mall and then left it for the city's nightlife. The crowds had thinned by now, so we made our way through the empty streets to the suburban bus stand, the only place with a 24 hour hustle bustle and made ourselves feel at home in the cold with large cups of cappacinos! Cold thawed and unwilling to sit silently, we played and thoroughly enjoyed a game of dumb charades impromptu. Shared our acts with a eagerly gathered crowd who left no 'guesses' unturned to help us with our games. Time flew without us even realising it.
When the sky finally grew lighter, and the early birds made their way out of their nests, we made our way back to our campus. The whispers on the returning bus finally subsided and I turned back to see everyone asleep with a tired but happy smile on their faces.
A perfect night out. A perfect lot of people to spend it with. A perfect place to spend it in.
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