By P.T. Bopanna*
Nearly half a century ago, I had the ‘privilege’ of visiting industrialist Anand Mahindra’s bungalow in Karnataka’s Kodagu (Coorg) district.
The Mahindra bungalow, located near Nagarahole forest in Kutta, is in the news after industrialist Anand Mahindra reminisced the time of his childhood spent in Coorg. This followed Congress leader Jairam Ramesh posting on Twitter a video of a tiger, enjoying a bath in a tub, apparently taken somewhere around Nagarahole forest, now called Rajiv Gandhi National Park.
Several decades ago, I was invited by my Virajpet government school classmate Konerira Bopaiah, to visit his house in Kutta. Bopaiah went on to become the PA of the late chief minister R. Gundu Rao.
Bopaiah’s brother was the manager at Mahindra Estate. One fine day, I asked the manager whether I could visit the Mahindra bungalow, whereupon he took me to the bungalow. I requested him to show me around the place as the Mahindras were not home. The family visited the place occasionally.
I went around the house, even going to the kitchen. I was surprised to find that masala powers were kept in bottles in the kitchen. The family could come in anytime and start cooking!
Of all the things, what took my fancy was what I found in the bathroom. There was a weighing machine. I asked the manager why the machine was kept in the bathroom. I was informed the Mahindra family was very particular about their health and weighed themselves daily before going in for the bath.
The story of the tiger taking bath somewhere around Nagarahole forest and the subsequent tweet by Anand Mahindra, brought back good old memories.
*The writer is a Bengaluru-based author and journalist.
Sharing the video link to the tweet of the tiger taking bath:
Interesting reminiscent thoughts….
Good note. That was the time when Mrs.Mahindra (mother of mr.Anand Mahindra) along with her two sons (if I remember correctly) used to visit and stay for a few days there. The estate was called ‘Sukhalaya Estate’. I distinctly remember appearing for them in a labour case for some time. They used to visit my office at Madikeri. Though MAHINDRA was a big name among automobiles and particularly among planters owning Jeeps, no one ever imagined the leap to the present size and status.