Ujire, Karnataka

Ujire is shown by the little "A" on this map

Its about time I started learning about the place I'll be headed to! A good place to start would be to learn how to pronounce Ujire... OO-Jeer- uh? Uh-Gire? ooh-Jeer-ey?

I think I may have to consult an expert on that one. Anyway, its a rural town about 80 mins inland from Mangalore which is home to a university called SDM Institute of Technology which is where SELCO's innovation lab is situated. The official language in the area (and the state) is Kannada (pronounced like this)and they eat mostly veggie food round there.

Karnataka is on the south west of India, north of Kerala and south of Goa as you follow the coastline. Its capital is Bangalore (Bengaluru) which is India's IT hub and the country's third biggest city. It's been nicknamed the Garden City, India's silicon valley, Pub City and even - though perhaps not any more- pensioner's city. I guess all these are fairly self explanatory, but paint the city to be a vibrant and contrasting place. 

It turns out that although Kannada is the official language in the state, its most likely that the mother tongue of the local people where I'll be will be either Tulu or Konkani...

Lots more to come on this...