It is not just the political parties that are busy this season. Homestays across the State are bustling with activity ahead of elections as there has been a surge in demand for bookings this week.

Wanting to make the best use of the Easter weekend, many people seem to have decided to give the elections a skip. As a result, a majority of homestays in popular tourist spots in the State are already booked to their full capacity, even as they are receiving endless phone calls for last-minute reservations.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Somashekar, who takes care of Eco Habitat, a homestay in Kodagu, said he was getting at least 20 to 30 queries every day for bookings this week.

“In general, there has been an increase in demand since the last week of March.
However, the demand has further increased this week. I see a lot of people who have distanced themselves from casting their vote.”

Ibrahim, owner of another homestay, Coorg Coffee Hills, said, “It is ironical. In fact, it is very sad that people rather consider this a holiday and go on trips instead of making use of the opportunity to vote for the right candidate.”

He said at least 50 per cent of the homestays in Kodagu were already booked for April 17, the polling day. The situation is not limited to one place. Homestays in other parts of the State are also trying to manage the demand.

Priya of Trailroots, an organisation that manages homestays in several places in Karnataka, including Bandipur, Chikmagalur, Kemmanugundi and Shimoga, said: “We have demand for reservations in all these places. Reservations for this weekend in particular have gone up to 110 per cent. On the day of elections, too, a large number of people have made reservations.”No holiday for many

However, there is a section of professionals who have no choice but to juggle work and polls at the same time. For, many of the corporate establishments have not declared holiday on Thursday.

Some companies have given their employees an option of working from home, while others will just have to make it to work and find time to vote. “We will have to cast the vote and come back in time to begin the day’s work,” said Preethi N, an employee of a software firm in the City.

But such an arrangement is against the mandate of the law. Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha said that irrespective of whether it was a government or a private firm, employees had to be given paid leave on the day of poll.

The Representation of the People’s Act specifies that paid leave has to be given to “every person employed in any business, trade, industrial undertaking or any other establishment and entitled to vote at an election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of a State.”

Jha said that only in the case of essential services such as hospitals, for instance, the establishment may make arrangements for people to work in shifts to facilitate voting.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> State / by Shruthi HM / DHNS / Bangalore – April 15th, 2014

One of the first Coorgi recipe websites, www.coorgrecipes.com, has now been revamped for a more interactive user experience. A noted journalist and a true blue Kodava, T P Bopanna launched the website in 2007 in order to chronicle Coorg’s rich cuisine and share it with the world. “The first website I launched was coorgtourism.com in 2005. This was the second one. Basically, documentation of the Kodava community wasn’t taking place in the way it should have been. I’m not a foodie at all, and I don’t write about food, but food is a very important part of a Kodava’s life. A lot of people don’t know how to make traditional Coorgi dishes. There are some books but they are not accessible as most of them are out of print. The website is a way to reach out to people across the world, so that they can make use of these recipes to stay in touch with their culture,” explains Bopanna.

Bopanna also notes that homestays are becoming quite popular in Coorg now. “People visit Coorg from all over India and experiment with food available there. When they go back, they want to try replicating these dishes. So the website is not just for the Coorgi community, but for everyone,” he informs.

When asked if he has a favorite Coorgi dish, Bopanna is quick to answer, “I don’t think I’ve ever eaten anything that can match up to my mother’s preparations. My sisters are also great cooks, but my mother, who is now 90, really had great culinary skills. I’m sure every person feels the same way about their mother, but since I am a journalist, I think I can say this with some objectivity.”

The new website features well-known Canada-based Coorg food blogger Shalini Nanda Nagappa, who has shared around 40 unique recipes on the blog. From ‘chilli pork capitol’ to ‘honey rolls’ to ‘cardamom liqueur’ to ‘thanmuttu cookies’, the collection is a treasure trove of exotic Kodava dishes that can be made right at home. “Being an army family, it goes without saying that we moved a lot. We were exposed to different cultures and food was a big part of it. But whichever corner of the country we found ourselves in, once a year, like homing pigeons, we would come back to the green hills of Coorg. We were fed and watered from morning to night with unflagging devotion and patience by my grandmother and her trusty handmaidens and sometimes the odd handyman too. That time was the foundation for my lifelong love of food and cooking. By sharing these recipes on Coorgrecipes.com, I hope to pay tribute to all those wonderful home cooks like my grandmother,” says Shalini.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bangalore / by Shyama Krishna Kumar – Bangalore / March 27th, 2014