Help

Some times in life the easier things are been thought the harder way. A normal day i went to office and when i was about to park my vehicle in the stand a small pigeon was probably learning to fly, it just flied past my vehicle and i just lifted my head to look at it and to my horror all of a sudden kite or probably what we say an eagle picked up the pigeon on its flight. At first i couldn't believe it, it just happened in front of my eyes hardly 5meters away.It was one of the best hunt i had seen in my life through naked eyes, appreciated the talent of the kite to pick its pray on the fly. Probably i wouldn't have been a worried man if it just carried away its pray, even though i would have felt bad for the pigeon but then that's nature on which i cannot do much.

What happened next was something disturbing for me, the kite couldn't pick up the pigeon clearly and it was dropped half way, however the pigeon was badly hurt. Now i was standing between the kite and pigeon on ground. Probably the kite was a bit scared to come back again as i was standing in between. Should i help or leave it to its fate? I saw the kite sitting on the wall and waiting for me to leave. Well i was caught in 2 minds what should i do?

I just stoped there for say 1 or 2 min and probably the kite didn't have any patience and it left the place, even though i was happy for the pigeon initially but then i realised the harsh realities its tough for an injured bird to leave in this harsh world. I felt like probably it would have been good if it was at least food for the kite and probably its family!!!

But that was past, i didn't know what to do but then probably only thing that came to my mind was pick up the pigeon and keep it in a safe place and i did that. But probably the pigeon was over anxious or probably it got scared of me or probably i did something wrong :-( it tried to fly again and went and sat in a place which i was not able to reach :-( but still it was badly hurt and was struggling to fly. Then to my horror i saw that 2 crows started to attack the pigeon i couldn't stand there any more and i had it enough. It was an important lesson for me in life, We should never think or try to help if we are never sure of the outcome. Many a times we think we help, but without knowing the actual thing we might end up creating more problems. Probably we should only help if we can stand by it till the end :-(

Kodachadri Camping

It was almost 2-3 months now since i went out of home for a trek. I was more of confined to my home most of the weekends and i was more of desperate for a trek. Camping on top of Kodachadri was in my mind for almost 2 years now. Since i had already visited Kodachadri once some how i was not able to convince my team members to revisit and camp on top of the peak. However this time i told loki and gilli that i wanna camp on top and i am going would you guys be interested to join? At the end unlike many of my earlier treks very few guys nominated themselves. 

It was 7 member team 3 of them new to the team. Loki (Lu lu), Vikram (Accent - Cheeta), Ashwini (Gossip rani), Sumanth (Su su), Shweta, Naveen (Zip Tegirooooo) and myself Poorna.

Since it was only 7 of us, we could fit ourselves in a Tata Quallis, however as its been the case with our earlier treks our  driver was horrible he never went above 60-70kms/hr speed, it was frustrating to see him drive so badly with such good roads and also he had 3 breaks in between for a nap. We had left Bangalore at around 10.30, by the time we reached Kodachadri it was around 10 in the morning.

We started to trek straight away, last time we had taken the path of Hitlumane falls route however this time loki and myself we decided that since its lot more difficult and also since it had rained very heavily the previous day it would be useful to take the easier path in order to avoid the furry of leeches.

Since all were ready for the game it didn't take us much time to reach the peak and it was like around 3 hours with in which we could climb the top. It was around 2.30 when we were at the Batta's house on top. We had lunch at his place and then after freshening up ourselves my self and loki decided to go to the Shankara Peeta to check the suitable place to camp. Half the way we decided that rather than coming back all the way lets carry our luggage if its not possible lets come back. 

So we started again from Batta's house at around 4 and reached Shankara Peeta at around 4.45. Since it was getting darker, we decided to pitch the tents. Since it was a rocky surface we couldn't nail the tents we could only spread the tents and keep the luggage inside the tents so that it wouldnot be carried away by the breeze.

By around 6 it was almost dark and then, it was spectacular beauty of clouds all around me and i was enjoying the mountain view along with some light music from my ipod :-). It was the time to relax after a hard days work. The amount of satisfaction we get in carrying all the luggage through a tough path, and at the end of the day pitching a tent and relaxing on top of the mountain beside your new home is something which could only be experienced rather than anything been written about it.

What i liked this time the most was i could exactly do what i wanted to do. The whole intention of going to Kodachadri again was that i wanted to camp on top and this time i could do that. Many of my previous treks had been like we do carry all the accessories all the way and then at the end we end up staying in some man made structure.

Once it was dark it was fun to discuss about all the ghost story experiences and all of a sudden some thing struck to Naveen at a lightning speed. Guys we are on top of the peak and if it all its gonna rain we would be potential target for lightning any plans to avoid it? This thinking kept him awake the entire night. The view of the sky was spectacular with stars all around you. We could see some bright objects at great height moving at great speeds initially we couldn't understand what exactly it was later i was confirmed it was artificial satellites. I saw artificial satellites for the first time in my life :-). The best thing was yet to come at around 12, it was getting cloudy all of a sudden and our naveen couldn't handle it anymore inside the tent, he got and woke me and loki and said guys i can't sit here like this anymore i am going for a walk would you guys wanna join? Neither me nor loki was in a mood to listen hence we could only say sorry dude you can carry on. With great confidence naveen went out of tent with all the courage to drive away the clouds. Since it was Amavasya (New moon) and also the clouds had completely covered the sky it was pitch dark outside. It was not even a second that naveen had gone out and we had closed the tent door we could hear naveen shout from outside "Guys open the zip ...." Initially myself and loki couldn't understand what exactly just happened but as soon as naveen came in we couldn't just resist laughing at him. He was scared of the dark night. Well he was pick of the group, we made him pay for it rest of the trip :-)

Probably after 3am no one could sleep properly as the winds were very strong and also there was thick clouds above our tents. We knew exactly that if it rains our tents would be no match for the furry :-) however yet again i had a strong feeling that since i had gone for a trek to camp i would not be disappointed with a rain. Some how rain gods looks to favor me it has happened quite a few times now :-) and my team mates know about this.

Early morning it was a spectacular view to watch sun rise along the clouds. I was enjoying my camera work with music. I could get some very good snaps but again the desire to have a better camera was troubling me as my mind was getting few frames which my camera is not good enough to capture. 

After packing the tents, we reached batta's house at around 9 and after breakfast we started back at around 10. We reached down by around 12 and then we went to a fort near a small village called Nagara. It was in pretty good shape and we could get some good snaps over here.

We reached back bangalore at midnight. What a trek it was it had everything needed being with nature, challenging your limits and fun.

Funny Moments:

1. Naveen - We are the potential candidates for lightning

2. Naveen - Going for a walk at midnight

3. Naveen - Zip tegirooo

4. Naveen - Guys i can see something moving around the tents :-)

Trek Trail :

Bangalore - Shimoga - Kollur (Route) - Nittur - Around 5-6kms after nittur there is mud road from where we should begin the trek. Around 12- 14kms before Kollur. 

The Reader in me

Probably the silence in me, has pushed me towards books and off late i have started reading quite a few books. I had only read a few articles about Sudha Murthy but this time around i got few books for my self.  Right now i have completed 2 of Sudha Murthy's works " The Old Man & His God" in English and "Manada Matu" in Kannada. I liked both of these books as i felt its very realistic and you can see these things happening around every individual, it just needs a bit of observation and curiosity to sense and feel it. Few of the experiences even had great values its all about what we learn from the experiences we go through.

Few quotes which i liked from the book:

1.  Attitude may not let you progress fast, but after a certain period in life its required.
   
2. Some people talk freely about their feelings and hence forget fast too.
3. No one can solve your problem, you have to do it yourself.
4. In India people are usually enthusiastic about building temples,mosques and gurudwaras, but no one thinks it is important to build something as essential as a toilet. Perhaps because there is no punya attached to it.
5. Money is one thing which rarely unites and mostly divides people.
6. Earth is full of mud and dust, if you want to keep your feet clean in this world there are only two solutions, either cover the entire earth or wear a pair of sandals.
7. I was born with relatives, but at least i can choose my friends.
8. Anything given away for free looses its value and is not treated with the respect it deserves.

Right now i am reading the 3rd book "Wise and Otherwise". But my latest craze has been the kaggas from D.V.Gundappa (DVG) one of the best books i have ever read in my life. I will try to read most this and would try to explain as much as i can according to my understanding in my future blogs :-).

No Smoking

Its 2 days since smoking in public places is banned. All of a sudden my observations had sharpened, all along the way I have started observing people and to my horror I do see hundreds of people all along smoking in buses, small tea stalls, auto, bike and the list continues..

At times I feel like my country is lead by one bunch of fools on earth. We have all the rules on book but hardly, we have seen anything in action. When I heard this ban first thing that came to mind was how this is going to be implemented? Today I can see hundreds of constables with a stick in one hand, hardly they look like they can fine anyone its only if a inspector is present he has some receipt to fine the person who break the law. So with this kind of infrastructure who is going to fine the people who smoke in public? What will be the billing process? At times I feel like these useful yet useless laws are only made to harass people more than helping the people.  The direct impact of this would be smokers getting harassed and bribing the officers rather than a proper solution. 

Creating a new rule is not the need, rather to what extent we can implement is the need of the hour. 

Regarding the rule I had a misunderstanding that its been banned every where and when I spoke to others even they had the same view however its banned only in public places like in all government or private buildings and public places like libraries, cafes, restaurants, schools, pubs or discos, stadiums, airports, hospitals, bus stands, railway stations, police stations, courts, auditoriums or cinemas. Smokers can light up by the roadside or in their homes. But the strange thing was smokers can smoke in parks and beaches J well I guessed in a chocked city like Bangalore people go to parks to get some fresh air now they might have to share it with smokers. 

I would not be surprised if any smoker is even worried with this kind off laws, as today I saw it openly were in I saw at least 30- 40 smokers on my way back to home smoking without any fear in public.

Day Dream

It was a normal weekend for me, got up early at around 6 and at around 7 i was on my bike to play squash and then a swim. After a few good games and some time in the pool i returned back to my home at around 11. After a heavy breakfast, as there was no power at home i thought i will read newspaper resting back my head on the pillow.. Usually i don't sleep during day time but never knew when i got sleep.

It was a sleep in which i felt i was awake and was visualizing something, something strange a thought which i wanted to experience it was pitch dark every were yet i could see everything around me something like under a bright full moon day.. i had a view yet it was limited something like that. I was below a huge falls standing alone in front of it... huge rocks all along i couldn't hear anything other than the sound of the water gushing ferociously along the rocks, it was water all around...I shouted loudly as hard as i can to supress the sound of water just to enjoy it, i could see the huge falls in the moon light. I slept on a huge rock alone watching the falls fall down in front of me... i kept watching to understand what it all meant? It was an amazing experience i feared the darkness, i was alone yet the mystery held me to explore the panic. 

Well i am not sure what it all meant however i felt the falls was similar to jog falls at its best. Now probably i can only say if at all it was true or not by experiencing this moment on a full moon night all alone below the mighty falls :-). Sleeping on a mighty rock in front of the huge falls watching it fall down with that sound and me shouting at it to my limits. What would be more fearful the darkness or the sound or the water or my loneliness ?

Bike Service

My bike was in perfect condition but since its my practice to service my bike once in 3 months I had given my bike to the authorized Bajaj Service Centre. Since this is the second incident which is happening with me i am writing down the same.

I collected my bike after a routine service after paying an hefty amount of Rs.709. I only had 2 complaints before i handed over my bike, indicator was not working consistently and i had asked the mechanic to improve the mileage. They had charged me Rs.40 for wiring however after collecting my bike i could still see my indicator working inconsistently. However after 2 days my bike started to stop in between while driving. Initially i guessed it was due to idling problem however even after increasing the fuel injection the bike used to stop while driving. One fine day when i was late to home and it was raining heavily my bike didn't start at all, i parked my bike in office and left with my friend. Next day with great difficulty i managed to take my bike again to the service centre and insisted on proper checking. Well the worst thing was without even a proper test they just removed the spark plug and replaced it with a new one charging me another Rs.75. Now it started and was running smoothly for 3 days after which i am facing the same problem again.

How did they ever decide my spark plug was not in good health? Had they ever tired it on a different bike? It looks more of irresponsible work done by the team towards a customer with total negligence. After taking up the issue strongly now they have taken back my bike to the service station. Now if something is wrong do i need to pay for that? Well right now i am not sure but this time probably if things are not sorted out properly I might have to look at other options of taking some legal action against the same. One thing i have observed is the concept of repairing of a part has been changed with replacing the part with the new one, there by charging the customer.

This is an experience I had with Jatti Motors, Ali Asker Road, Bangalore (Job Card no. 04803785 and Invoice no. 04725622).

Jog Falls 2008

Its the moment I enjoy driving here ...

2008 and again I couldn't see jog in its full flow :-(

A frog not sure is this harmful?

Man Vs Wild

Beauty :-) it was just a moment in which I could capture this..

Beauty Vs Death

61 years of Independence

61 years of independence and this is what i see we are in a state off.
Few section of people who think we live in the best part of the world with a false pride, few section of people who think we are in pathetic state and have run away from their responsibilities and have settled happily abroad and the rest who are busy ripping across length and breadth of the country for their own materialistic gains.
I wonder many a times what we have achieved today did it really needed 61 years? I was having a thought when a government can construct road along the complete county in 4 years why does it take 3 years to complete an underpass in the city? This is one major problem we are facing today high levels of corruption but is any one bothered about this?
61 years and we have lost the social values we had in this country. Today we are nothing but bunch of copycats who have lost their identity caught between different cultures. Do we really have something in us which we should be really proud off today? Our education system is going from bad to worse. Some how i always feel education will be of use only when you know how to implement the knowledge you have gained, however at times i feel we are following mostly a system of creating monolithic robots rather than intellectuals.
61 years and i see and we are proud off it but today my national flag been brought down,burnt and a Pakistani flag hoisted in the heart of the city . Today we are in lack of bold leaders who are strong enough to decide what they want and who have a vision for my country.
61 years and I see our prime minister speak about global warming in the independence day speech, was this the need ? are we really independent? Terrorists are able to strike at will in any corner of the country, we are not able to stop infiltration along the porous borders we are not safe in our own country then why should we be proud off?
61 years after independence and many a times i still feel rest of the world treats this country as men of slaves and a country of poor. We haven't been able to improve this image in 61 long years. We only boost of our great values of past but when it comes to either implementation or the current situation we see the helpless faces.
61 years we still celebrate Gandhi's B'day but never a day we thought of implementing or understanding his ideologies. We speak of peace with terrorists (probably even Gandhi wouldn't have liked this option) who have dared enough to come to our house and kill innocent civilians.
At the end i liked a line from a newspaper " A dream is not the one which you see when you close your eyes, A dream is one which doesn't allow you to close your eyes until you see it realize". Probably we need more people with such great thoughts to lead this country. People who are constantly worried about what we are today. People who have a vision to see ahead of others. People who can command.
I wish my country men to realize the real value of independence :-). After 61 it would be 62 but what we have done between this has to be known and realized.

Agumbe

A sudden decision to drive on a weekend was chocked out and plan was made to drive to Agumbe.. one of the worlds wettest place :-) . Sripad directly landed from pune at my house from were we started towards his house, sripad had some personal work before everyone else would assemble at his house. The plan was, I would have some sleep in the mean time so that i can drive in the night however i couldn't sleep all thanks to the phone calls :-) and at the end rest of the team landed at sripad's house at around 12.30.

At last we started at around 1am at midnight, we couldn't find petrol until we crossed Nelmangala and after filling my car for full tank we stopped at a dhaba for dinner at around 2am. We had amazing roti and dal at this place and started moving towards shimoga our first stop. At times i wonder how, but certain things are beyond explanation every one in the car was sleeping i was trying to focus on the empty roads, roads were empty covered by trees on either side and silent music for my company. Roads looked like a black hole into which i was driving all of a sudden i felt like my eyes was about to close and it was happening beyond my control all of a sudden my phone began ringing it was my mom worried about my night driving :-) i could just smile thinking of her and i stopped my car after few kms for tea and then washed my face and was feeling fresh again to drive.

We reached shimoga at around 6.30 and went to my aunt's place, we got refreshed ourselves and had wonderful dosas prepared by aunt. After which we started towards agumbe at around 9 am. Our first stop was at tungabhadra dam, it was not of great interest as you are neither allowed to enter the dam nor get down to the water. We didn't spend much time here and started to move towards Sakre bailu elephant champ. This place was very great with 2 small baby elephants. It was fun to watch them playing around.

After this we went on a boat ride on the tunga dam back waters listening few experiences of the boatmen. From here we started enjoying the beautiful forests till agumbe, the drive was spectacular we did stop and even danced on the roads. We also stopped near theertahalli to have the golibaje and mangalore buns :-)

We reached agumbe at around 2pm. It was drizzling, we reached "Dodda Mane" around 120years old house with 2 Hande :-) now Hande is a mystery with a humor . We had a small break and had a look around the wonderful house :-).This is also the house were in some part of Malgudi days the famous TV serial was shot. After finishing our lunch at this place we started walking towards the mystrerious jogi gundi falls. The best thing was on our way we met a person who started warning us not to venture into the forests and he also warned us we would never come back if we don't listen to him. He also tried to say that he was a student of some person whom we never knew :-). But it was fun mixed with fear to be challenged by someone new unexpectedly before we are trying to do something new :-).

The evergreen forests of Agumbe as expected was a mystery even though we just walked along the road until the last few meters we did find a dead snake, scorpin and lots of other insects. This place is heaven for the all the poisonous reptiles with lots of leeches all around you. We reached jogi gundi , it was beautiful green water with thick forest all around. We enjoyed in water for some time and it was here that i slipped from a rock and got struck in a awkward position before i could get up :-) but i had sprained my leg a bit.

After coming back from jogi gundi it started to rain very heavily and the visibility was very poor, we had already decided not to stay in dodda mane as it was next to road and we wanted to stay somewhere inside the forest, Boka told that he had a relative at a near by place called Vagale on the way to koppa from agumbe probably around 20 - 25kms from agumbe and we started to drive towards Vagale. It was a beautiful place in the middle of the forest and on the banks of tunga river :-).

Once we reached the home i was very tired and i don't remember anything until i got up in the morning, sleep after one and half days. I got up at 6 and along with gilli started exploring the places around, we got some good shots for my camera. Then we walked towards the banks of tunga. It was a beautiful calm river i wondered i knew swimming, it would have been a great experience to swim in this calm and quiet river .

From here we went to a house where in i had my first jack fruit of the year to eat and also some country side snacks which probably everyone enjoyed a lots. We had a wonderful lunch and started back from here and reached bangalore by around 10pm.

Team :
Gilli,Boka,Pada,Loki and Poorna
Funny moments :
Hande at Dodda mane, Dudda li tea.

Travel Details:
Bangalore - Tumkur - Shimoga - Agumbe - Vagale(Near Koppa) - Chickmangalore - Hassan - Bangalore (Drive of around 1000kms)

Contact of Dodda mane at Agumbe to stay : Kasturi Akka ( 08181- 233075).

Puzzle

Probably many a times telling something straight on face might have a momentary impact but probably making it feel what has to be told would leave an ever lasting scare...
I sat alone the breeze was strong... it rained very heavily.. my friends kept buzzing me on my mobile but i was lost... did not understand what i was trying to understand sitting here... i didn't understand anything other than the physical presence of the body... was feeling cold.. felt very lonely... but my mind kept telling me how can you be so lonely with so many wonderful friends along side you.. and you look so happy in your day to day life... yes i am like that full of happiness all around me... but then felt like am I trying to run away from myself? Everything looked like a puzzle where in i was not able to understand the problem itself :-(
Felt like i was a very happy man... but it took some time to understand that happiness was in the form of sand in my hand... never understood when it slipped... i always wonder why is that i can never visualize what is next, is it that the entire world leaves in sort of a lost world?
Its raining very heavily... i am drenched in rain and feeling really cold and my body is shivering ... felt just need some help...
well probably few thought i never understood the actions and i was dumb... but i felt there was a feeling which i kept to myself hoping not to hurt others... saw a beautiful end but yet another beginning....
I walked alone, one hand did stop me... i felt it was with me... but everything looked soo virtual.. yet soo real..