A Ride to Munnar and Thekkady

Before my memories go dull, better I pen down my journey to what people call God’s own country, Kerala. In my view, Entire India is God’s own country but Nature Gods in specific reside in some states of which Kerala is immensely blessed. For the first time, I had informed in home that I am going for trip in bike. We had skirmishes of course before the reluctant approval. It had relieved me somewhat. Trip was for four days planned to cover Munnar and Thekkady. We would leave on Wednesday 24^th, Dec evening to Mysore and start from Mysore on Thursday Morning to Munnar. I would like to write day wise account of our journey. Hope you guys carry on till the end.

Day – 1

We had to reach Mysore as soon as possible since I had some problems with my bike’s battery wires and Enfield bikes won’t start unless its electric circuit is working fine. So I had been to office very early by my standards so that I can leave office by 4 o’clock. As planned, I left office at same time but was appalled to see that the traffic had already jammed roads. It took 45 mins to reach room for a distance of 13 kms. We got our luggage packed and left room by 5:30 pm. As usual, my roomie Sunil was on work from home. So there was no much delays. I have a strange superstition that once we start a journey, we shouldn’t turn back to home while leaving but my absent minded roomie had kept his specs in his pocket and went back to room to search for it and came back feeling sheepish. This slightly unsettled me.

Anyway, we took outer ring road to reach Hebbal and from there through some route which I didn’t know to Nayandana halli and then to Kengeri and Mysore. Since I didn’t know this route I had to follow him closely but the problem started soon after we entered outer ring road. I had tried to switch on my head light under a bridge and the fuse got burnt and I had only one fuse spare left now. I had to get more spares before I reach Mysore if not plan would go dead of reaching Mysore early. So we stopped at Manyata techpark to search for bullet garage to get fuse spares. Thankfully, there was one nearby. The mechanic did some jugaad to fix problem temporarily and my roomie went searching for spares which he didn’t get. So I took the spares from his bike. By this time, it was 06:30 pm and we were still in outer ring road. We started again and I was closely following by, it had already become dark. After some time, I lost my roomie near a circle where police man stopped exactly at me to allow others. This created a scene later. Now, I had to reach Mysore road alone. I continued on same road for long and stopped in between to download navigation app and navigation voice. I first downloaded English Female India then UK and then US. Nobody was interested to guide me to Mysore road. My Navigation app betrayed me in this most crucial moment. I was completely left on my natural extremely sharp senses to reach Mysore road. I carried on further and somehow came close to Nayandana halli junction. I had to take right here to join Mysore road but I didn’t take a proper right and went on further to join Pesit – Deve gowda petrol bunk road which I realised some time later. So I quickly made a Kejriwal turn and stopped in front of nice road entrance. My brilliant senses told me to enter nice road and escape traffic to reach Mysore road where my roomie was already waiting. By now, Time was 7:30 pm and I have still not reached Mysore road.

                  I carried on after paying toll and went with nice road speed to reach the end where I had to take left but I took right, thankfully, a fellow biker corrected me, I had in between observed police men making rounds and catching people for reasons I was not sure of. So after taking left, I had to join another main road of Nice itself but I thought it is the same road from which I had come so took another left and in a hilarious pathetic way joined back the same road from which I had come. I was afraid to go back in wrong side since police men were nearby. I had no choice but to go back. My insides were burning to ride back. There was no Kejriwal turn in this road. So I had to carry on till the end meaning the start from where I could turn back. So I started the journey again in nice road to escape traffic and reach Mysore road. In between, my roomie had called and I had informed him to carry on to Mysore and I would soon reach him. This time I managed to join proper road with my natural senses and finally came out of nice road travelling 45 kms in a 15 km road.

                I was in Mysore road finally and saw time when I was near RajaRajeshwari hospital, it was 08:10 pm. Now, there was no stopping me. Next target was Mysore. It was drag time. It took me 2 hours 40 min to reach Mysore road and from there 01 hour 40 min to reach Mysore. I reached Ravi’s home by 10 o’clock. We had dinner peacefully (avrekalu sambar) and went on to meet mechanic at 10:45 pm. He did a general check-up, corrected battery wires and other minor things. He is a good person and a trusted mechanic. We came back and slept by 12:00 pm. Tomorrow was a long journey day. From Mysore to Munnar, It is 340 kms and from Munnar to Adimali (Place where we had booked hotel) is 30 kms. So, 370 kms travel ahead. Slightly excited, slightly tired…

Day – 2

                I woke up early again for third day in a row. We had breakfast (avrekalu upma) by 07:30 am and left Ravi’s home by 8 o’clock. We had planned to go by Nanjangudu, Chamrajnagar, Satyamangalam, Palladam, Udumulpet and Munnar. Time to switch on music. Was on a road trip after a long time. Was innocently excited. Road via Nanjangudu and Chamrajnagar was pathetic. It took a lot of time to reach these places. Road after Chamrajnagar to Satyamanagalam road was comparatively good. Now, we had to enter one of the most exhilarating yet terrifying Ghats you could get in Western Ghats. Narrow roads and busy traffic of big Lorries. We couldn’t stop to take pics because of the narrow road and dangerous depths. There were lot of sign boards saying animals crossing but we didn’t get any except for monkeys. We were travelling in this road at around 10 o’clock so might be, we would have observed animals if we had come early morning. It is also well known that these forests were inhabited by Smuggler and poacher Veerapan. It is difficult to believe that he could live and move in those mountains. It is very steep and looks very inhospitable. Might be, he lived in lower areas. Also, these forests are said to be most haunted ones in Tamil nadu after his death. We got out of Ghats by around 12 o’clock.

By the time we entered Tamil nadu, Heat waves stuck us reminding us of where we are. From here to Palladam was an average but quickly coverable road. Here again there was a mishap. Ravi’s back tyre got punctured thankfully in front of a puncture shop. There was around one hour delay here. We reached Palladam by 2 o’clock. We had lunch in Saravana Bhavan. It was delicious especially for rice lovers like me. A group of fellow bullet riders met us here who had come from Bangalore. We had a short conversation with them and left to Udumulpet. It was an absolute delight to ride in this road. It was one of those NFS rides. Very well kept roads. Wish we had such roads in Karnataka.

We reached Udumulpet where Sunil reminded us to refill our petrol tanks but we thought there is still enough so we carried on and by the time we were about to enter Munnar ghats, My petrol came on reserve. We enquired with people who insisted us to go back for a refill since there is no petrol bunks ahead for at least 40 kms. So again, we went back feeling stupid since we could have refilled in Udumulpet itself. To reach Munnar from here, it was 75 kms travel. Time was around 04:00 pm. We had to reach Munnar in day time. By this time, it was already difficult to sit on bike. One most important thing during long rides is not to wear jeans. It will make you feel hell after 250 kms. We felt thankful for people for insisting us to get refilled there since it was a complete forest ride ahead. Again, there were lot of sign boards of animals crossing but we didn’t see any. In between, my speedo meter wire went off. It was frustrating that I couldn’t sit and I was falling behind my other two roomies plus these bonus mishaps happening. So I stopped in middle of this forest and Ghat road, removed the wire and took some rest. I had travelled 560 kms till then. Munnar was still 45 kms away. It was nearing dark. We reached Marayoor at around 5 o’clock. From here starts Kannan Devan hills. Pristinely scenic yet bad roads. We didn’t have time to take pics and it was already getting dark. It was nearly impossible for me to sit on seat now. I was stopping every 15 kms. We got to see a fully grown Bison grazing in the steep valley of Kannan Devan hills. We were riding higher and higher from last 70 kms and now cloudy fogs were drifting on the roads. We reached Munnar at around 07 o’clock. I was awfully exhausted. There was still 30 kms travel to Adimali. We confirmed with Hotel owner regarding the booking before leaving Munnar. City was gleaming with full of lights and people.

We were left with small chunk of ride left to call it a day. We started again. It was dark already. We were in a hurry and couldn’t sit anymore. We went as fast as we can. We couldn’t see anything except roads. We reached Adimali at around 8 o’clock. Soon, we freshened up and had heavy meals at a restaurant nearby. Next day was a sightseeing day. For now, much needed rest and a deep sleep.

Day – 3

                We were told that we would get unlimited breakfast but it looked like he really didn’t mean it after looking at us. We ate idli, idiyappam and before ordering anything else, he asked for tea. After having a glass full of tea, we left for Munnar. We knew road was good since we had travelled in same road last night but we had missed breath taking views side by. My friends as usual went ahead. I was enjoying views and meanwhile trying to catch up with them. We could have taken pics at many places, since my friends had already went ahead, I didn’t stop. I was thinking how we could ride so quickly last night. Without knowing the steepness on the either sides and that is why horses are blacked out of side views during racing.  We reached Munnar at around 9 o’clock and decided to go for Eravikulam National park where was Anamudi peak of nearly 2.7 km height. Highest to the south of Himalayas. This was also the last abode of Nilgiri Tahr, A mountain goat of steep heights. All this excitement vanished when we reached the park. There was a very very long queue. We thought it would waste lot of time to stand in the queue, it would be better if visit Anamudi peak at least. We carried a bit further and enquired with nearby plantation people where we got to know that the peak is within park and inaccessible from any other route. So we had to skip both park and peak. We came back and stopped at the entrance of park and enquired with a vendor nearby. Surprisingly, she informed to move on and visit top station, this park would take 5 hours and is not worth it.

                Now, the new destination was top station. We also agreed upon to stop and take pics at all beautiful sceneries we pass by.

From Munnar to Top station, we get to visit lot of places. First in this way was Mattupetty dam, It was in fact on the road itself to reach top station. It would get really busy and would take a lot of time to cross it. We didn’t stop here. Next was Swiss farm. It is serenely scenic here. Indo-swiss hybrid cows are bred here. There have grown grass here on slopes which looks like Switzerland in real. 

We took a few pics and carried on to reach echo point. It was a wonderful place but was crowded and didn’t get to hear any echoes. People informed we would hear during less crowded days. 

We also stopped by to eat here since I couldn’t resist after looking at bajji’s. Kundala dam was the next place. It was also a dam cum road. There were tall grown Nilgiri trees here by the sides of the dam.

This road would also lead to Marayoor and it is completely inside forest. Could get very risky for bikers. We didn’t go anyway. We carried on further to top station. We reached there by 12 o’clock or so. Since this place is within private property of Tata Beverages, We had to buy entry tickets and it was a trek of around a km or so. We had to climb down to reach the point. Since It is winter. The area was completely covered by cloudy fog and we couldn’t see anything except fog after reaching there.

                It was very strenuous climb back. I stopped many times in between to take breath. When we came back to start point, fog cleared off and we could the very beautiful view. It was a sea of pristine white clouds smothering the steep hills. Let me not get poetic.

It was already 2 o’clock and thought of having lunch but hotels were crowded. We thought of having lunch at Munnar. What we didn’t know that there would be 5-6 kms long traffic jams in winding roads of Munnar. It was royally frustrating. We were on empty stomach and wasting time in doing nothing. We reached Munnar by 4:00 pm. Had a wonderful full meals in Saravana Bhavan again. Room-mates were insisting waiter to server more and more to me seeing my frustration. It was also shopping time. We called our respective homes to get the list of shopping items. Our plan to visit another place was foiled because of the traffic. On our way back to Adimali, We had Atukkad waterfalls. We thought of going there before going back to hotel in Adimali. The way to Atukkad waterfalls is pleasantly beautiful with undulating small road dropping down with every curve. The route to falls was more beautiful than the falls itself. We stopped for some time and had a masala tea in the nearby plantation hotel. We had nothing else for today. Way back to Adimali again got crowded with traffic. My roomies were riding bit dangerously because of the traffic. I was as usual under deep thoughts and just going behind vehicles and not troubling myself with the over takes.

                We wanted to have dinner in some other hotel today preferably pure veg or at least where they don’t cook beef. I enquired with local people and was shocked to know that there was no pure vegetarian hotel in Adimali. We walked around before going to New Palco hotel. We ordered chapathis which were really bad. Tomorrow, we would have to vacate hotel and travel to Thekkady.

Day – 4

                We decided to reach Thekkady through Idukki. Here again, route to Idukki was thoroughly enjoyable. We were moving by the side of a river in a valley. I often get into deep thoughts when I travel through wonderful places.

One such thought was that some long time back there was infinitely beautiful planet called Earth. On some unfortunate day, a supreme alien race landed on it and observed chimpanzees were the most advanced animals and tweaked its DNA to create Humans. It is unclear whether they wanted to beautify further or destroy this beautiful planet but surely we took the second path. We are incapable of controlling our desires and very soon Nature will go on correction drive to remove off humans from it. Anyway back to my ride, we reached Idukki dam but were let down badly because we had reached back end of dam and there was no entry there and we had to enter from the other end for which we have to travel back. We had taken this route mainly to visit dam and we had reached the wrong end of it. I don’t know why then there were so many boards directing us to the wrong end.

                We carried on further to Thekkady. There were two routes here again and we took the one who goes through plantations which we thought as forest looking from Google maps. The feeling you get when you go through these spice plantations is unexplainable but an experience you all must have. My roomie’s were enjoying the smell of Badam, cardamom and other spices when we were going through. My dull nose couldn’t smell it sadly. And then it happened, I was leading the other two and stopped in between after looking at a strange animal which sat majestically on the side of road. From far, It looked like leopard. I stopped and observed its face was not round, so it must be hyena or something and then remembered that there are no hyena’s in this region. Then, what is it? By this time, the domestic dog felt shy because of three big animals stopping on road and staring at it, it went inside. My room-mates were initially not clear of why did I stop and later started laughing after knowing the reason. This is what happens if you are not wearing your specs. Now I was not leading, I let other two guys go ahead.

                We reached Thekkady at around 12:30 pm. We went to check in our hotel. We had booked from stayzilla and were badly betrayed. It was a very small room. We went to have lunch and could find Ariya Bhavan(Pure veg again). Food was good and then we thought of enquiring about places to visit anywhere nearby.  

                We were caught by book makers when we were looking for information. First let down was, there was no safari arranged from tiger reserve since they had privatised It and the safari was a full day event to be booked in the early morning. We were left with jeep ride to four places which was very costly and other local activities like watching kalari payattu, kathakali, musical fountain etc which didn't excite us as much as Tigers. We went back to hotel and decided to go for Periyar tiger reserve and check out if we have some luck. Again, It was a long queue at reserve. As against our thoughts, It was a boat ride into the Periyar lake giving you views of the forest on the sides. The bookings for the day were already filled. We went blank as there was nothing planned for the rest of the day and felt as if the entire day was wasted. We started googling nearby tourist places and while going back enquired with a local person. He suggested two places, once 15 kms far and other 30 kms. We thought of going to the 15 kms spot. I cannot remember the place name now. While going, Ravi insisted on getting helmets but we didn’t take thinking it is not far place to visit and within 200 mtrs we were caught by police for not wearing helmet. He was immensely frustrated for not listening to him. We both paid 100/- Rs fine and went back to get helmets.

                The place was a falls at the edge of a cliff. It was one of the four places where jeep men had informed us to take. It was a very nice place.

At least, there were beautiful women who had come in jeeps which was a slight stress buster. We spent our evening there. I felt at least we could have visited those four places instead of wasting time in Periyar reserve for a boat ride which we didn’t get.

Anyway, we went back to hotel. I had to buy some more tea for a colleague and Malabar chips for office. We went back to Ariya bhavan. We again ordered meals but it was not good this time. They gave afternoon’s rice. We finished dinner and while going back watched Ayyapa’s swamy procession in the town. We were left with nothing else but a long travel back to Bangalore. 540 kms left in the ride. Bit too much for one day since we had already travelled around 950 kms.

Day – 5

                We vacated our room and went to have unlimited breakfast, we ate puttu first and before ordering anything else, he asked for tea. So we had tea and packed our luggage’s back into our bikes. Our route was via Theni, Dindugal, Karur, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Hosur and Bangalore. We would have to get down the ghats and you notice lot of people on padha yatra to Sabarimala. Be careful and ride slowly. Road till Theni is in bit and pieces good meaning roads outside towns are excellent but pathetic inside. Also, you would notice people marching to Palani on left side along with people marching to Sabarimala on right side. Observed many aged people also walking on bare foot. Hats off to their immense beliefs. We reached Dindugal after a strenuous journey of about 140 kms and was agonising to see that Bangalore is still 380 kms far. Only reprieve was that, It was NH-7 there onwards. We stopped for tea. Surprisingly, Fellow riders stopped by for same and there was one girl in their group of three who had come riding RE Classic all by herself. The fact that she was beautiful added to the surprise. There was one guy who had accompanied her along with one more girl. They were from Bangalore. He didn’t look in any way of defending his two friends in case of a menace. Why don’t they get 100kg juggernauts like me along? Ha Ha just kidding, was advertising myself. If they can ride safely alone, I am very much relieved. Also, she had some customisations on her bike and looked like a thorough rider. Moving on, we had a very good lunch on a highway side dabha near Karur and then kept on riding in of the best highways. By the time we reached Dharmapuri, We noticed more than thousand cars jammed near toll booths. It was evening already. We reached Hosur at around 8:00 pm. We took a diversion there into Attibele road. Ravi was insisting on going to Mysore further but changed mind in Hosur. We reached room at around 10 o’clock.

                So, that was it, Total distance travelled was 1480 kms. Longest for me so far. Added to the rides of old times, It is nearly 4500 kms of trip distance in bike so far. What is that makes us so crazy for these rides? Will explain it in a poem soon. I am just too bored to write it now. We had been through one of the most scenic, breath taking, pristine, serene, inexplicably beautiful roads and places. Wish you the best if you want to do the same. Hi-five for fellow RE riders. Where is the next one then? Let time reveal.

Engineering Aftermath !!

                    It has been lot of days since i posted last in my blog, I was just reading by and thought could pen down some of my recent life time activities. I have not written about my life in Dharwad(PU) and in Bengaluru(Engg,) which i plan to write some other time. So i will position myself in this blog to life after Engg. Soon after finishing exams and spending some days in Bengaluru, I went back to Koppal. I went back in VRL bus with my four year luggage thrown all around. I was frightened to loose them by failing to remember where they were all kept. Anyway i went back and had a long vacation of 6 months until i joined TCS. Those six months were wonderful initially. I used to eat,roam around and play cricket everyday. I miss those cricket playing days. Everyday morning, we used to play for 2 hours or so. Occasionally some bet matches. Anyway later on, days became boring as always Monotony catches your nerves sooner or later. We started wondering when are we going to get joining date. We tried calling TCS , heard lot of gossips and finally we got to know Dec 15th, 2010 is our joining date in Ambattur,Chennai. To be honest, I was initially excited to go to Chennai though i didn't know anything about the place. Since we had to find accommodation for ourselves during the training period, We thought, we shall go early to find some place to stay. Likewise i went there with two of my engg. friends, Prajjwal and Anoop to Chennai without any reservation in a general compartment in Chennai Express in the Morning. We had to pay for going late to board the train by standing for three hours. Anyway, We got down and somehow managed to get to Ambattur with our Zero Tamil speaking skills. Well, here is where we opened our jaws. Ambattur is an industrial area. We didn't know how industrial area will look until we went there. It was rainy season and we had a very tough time walking by the roadside with all those roadside mud pools  We saw our office, A rented building a midst very non IT like area. We were honestly let back, We had very beautiful things in our mind which just melted like chocolates at Ambattur. So, Now we had to search rooms to stay. We started calling people who had advertised on placards and then we went to nearby SriRam Sarnam PG. Intially, We were shocked at the rent price and later found out how are so called IT engg. are obliged to pay society with their ultra high pay scales. Anyway, later in the day after so many phone calls with our other friends,We decided to stay in SriRam Sarnam PG.  After paying 9000/- rupees as advance,We booked rooms for 9 people if i remember correctly and went back home. We decided to go to Chennai on 10th Dec, 2010 though our training would start from 15th. Until then, I spent some time peacefully. Also, I had to shop for starting this IT life. My Appaji was shocked when i asked him 20,000/- rupees for shopping. I gave him a long lost of things i wanted to buy. Later, He paid and i spent it like a monkey on a rampage meal. I bought this and that which i don't want to list here but i am happy that i am still using them after two and half years. So, We booked train for our journey, We somehow managed to squeeze in our luggage in train and we went with some sheepish excitement for our new life. Our life of earnings was about to start.  

                  Also, My two other old friends Nikita and Pallavi had to join in Ambattur itself. They had their own gang so there were no problems in settling down in Chennai. Training in TCS is called Initial Learning Program(ILP). It will be for 50 working days. Our ILP was from Dec15th to Feb25th. First day, We had to report to Karapakam office, We were given some temporary id cards, A pen and pad of TCS stationery. We were introduced to some senior employee of TCS. I was quite impressed but afterwards came our batch HR who dragged us back to reality. Then, there was this Bank account opening with managers trying to show some magic in bank accounts. We were given a choice between StanChart and Kotak Mahindra with most of us opting for StanChart, Yes, We are crazy pseudo Indo-Americans!! Anyway, After that we had to report to Ambattur for our induction program. We were divided into batches. We were about to be given training in etiquette and soft skills needed for an IT engg and a basic technology training. We later found out that the technology training was a mockery of time management because we were thrown around in projects after training based on "you name one" technologies like fresh potatoes in Mandi bazaars.

               So, About soft skills, I must admit i was very impressed by the kind of faculty we had. We had wonderful time doing those acts, getting to know each other, trying to chisel some hard stones inside, trying to express and impress. I would like to remember Vikas Munot. Our instructor for many programs in soft skills. I was spell bound by his speaking skills,his persona in general though he found my soft skills very soft for some reason. He was the best faculty for me in ILP. I shared with him my poems too. He said though they are good, they are very serious for my age. Anyway, I also remember one more faculty, Gerard, who impressed most of the people with this dude skills. We had two teams in two seperate phases of training for labs. I would like to remember Anil,Supriya,Rashmi,Satish,Sarita,Apoorva and Prassana who were in our team. We had a wonderful time in labs. I also learnt a lot about Java/J2EE though i have forgotten most of it shamelessly. I also remember Ashwin our faculty for Java. He also managed to impress people mostly girls with his nerdy attitude. 

              Apart from office, We had very nice time in our PG. My roomies being Vishwas,Pankaj and Poki(Naveen). We spent most of free time facebooking. Some times reading,preparing etc. We also went to Marina beach, Thiruvanmiyur beach, shopping malls, McD, KFC etc ,as and when, we got time. Also, My other PG mates and friends, Prajjwal, Anoop and Harshit were guitar crazy. We spent time singing, dancing and playing those guitars. I only did singing and dancing though. 

                   We, Myself,Vishwas,Naveen,Nikita,Pallavi and Vibha, also went to Mahabalipuram and Crocodile park in between. We had a nice time there too. We roomies spent most of sundays roaming in Chennai, visiting places, Vandalur Zoo also being one of them.

                Finally, 50 days were about to end, Some of us got posted to Bengaluru, for which i didn't apply because of some reasons which i would like to keep it to myself. On the last day, I got to know i had to stay back in Chennai with most of my friends romping around with their transfer. I even couldn't participate in the send off party. Few days after, My roomies left to Bengaluru, I moved out to live with my other Engg friends Anil and Hemanth who were working in Cognizant. Thankfully, They stayed nearby our RMG office. From there starts another phase which i would like to cover in my next blog. Thanks for reading, Will come back   soon...!!!

What a sorry state we are!!!

              Just read that an IPS officer got killed by Mining mafia in Madya Pradesh when he tried to stop the vehicle carrying illegal mines. What a sorry state we are, I am deeply agonized to have read this incident. How bad can we be? It is like tearing my skin to digest this. We are in a country where people are more concerned about Cricket God’s 100^th century when more than 30% of people are sleeping hungry every day. We are so happy to keep quiet, to hide and to escape. How many more days? How can we live with no motive? Are eating, sleeping and shopping the only motives of life? There is one part of people who are among the richest billionaires of the world and there is other part where people are sleeping on road. Once, I saw an old woman who was sleeping on the footpath. It will feel disgusting if I explain in what condition she was. We think twice to give just one rupee to beggars, when we pay taxes, when we have to pay fines, when we have to declare assets and so on. Then what right we have to question others when the corruption is within lurking, contaminating, eating away your sense. We are in a country where the entire media is still living in 2002 as if 10 years was not enough to get over it just because Madam’ji is sponsoring the ill fated campaign. There are two live India’s living, one so busy to hide money and the other dying in search of it. We are like insects. We live by hurting others. Is there one day when you prayed for the betterment of everyone? Is there one day when you prayed for your mother’s health before yours? Is there one day when you thought about the struggles of the needy?

               

             We are like saints when we are advising others but what about doing the same in your life? How can you sleep when you know you have taken someone’s sleep, food and shelter? How does this work at all? Is it so hard to do good for others? Is it so hard to follow truth? How can we be so accustomed to live in false illusions?

             There are people who are still voting for congress because Indira’ji did good for women. There are people who are voting for congress because they don’t want other parties to come for power. Maya Madam sends Copters just to fetch her sandals, she can build a park of crores when her own dalits are raped and burnt alive. Mamta‘ji says” Don’t make the issue political!! ” when asked about the deaths and rapes in her state. It is not that rest all are good other than UPA but is it the mindset we should be having? We are 288 billion dollars in short of money and every passing budget; we are adding 13-16 billion dollars to that sum. We have already started selling our assets to get more loans. In spite of all this, Madam’ji made the Food security bill get passed costing another 1.36 lakh crores to the exchequer just ahead of elections as if we are Ambani’s. Govt. can raise fuel prices every 2 months but what about our salaries? An Inspector itself is paid 17 thousand per month. What about people below his stature?  Can they live honestly with that money and maintain their family? Legislators cleared bill to raise their salaries in just one day and the Lokpal bill is pending from 40 odd years. They used media so cleverly that even Anna became Hare Brained Bully in front of so called Educated Indians. Yet Pranab’ji boasts of 8% growth. And there is this Yuvraj and his dogs. He can’t give an answer to high school students; He is already in race to claim the top. We were so OK to replace a Legend like Kalam Sir with that useless Creature. None of these puppets of Madam’ji have impressed even once in last 10 years. Is 60 odd years not enough to realize our mistakes? Why have we so glued ourselves to being ordinary? I hate this OK OK attitude, we said OK when more than 1000 people were killed mercilessly in Jailianwalabagh, we said OK when they hanged Bhagat, we said OK when they made Azad kill himself, we said OK when LAL was beaten to death, we said OK when Shastri’ji was killed mysteriously, we said OK when Netaji got killed, we said OK when they made us slaves, We EVEN said OK when Bapuji said don’t do anything. We also made him our father. 

Either be buried and or fly high, there is nothing in between.

            Yes, we are one big 120+ billion bundle and it is not always easy to make others realize what is correct considering the diversity that exists here. But does that mean we should stop trying? There are people who don’t believe in philanthropy because they are concerned about their hard earned money not reaching the poor. How disgusting they can be? Who gave them that money? If the money is not reaching the needy then is it not their concern to correct it? No, why should they be worried when there are people to wash their a**es every day. To add to our shame it was Germans who told us to investigate on the black money stashed abroad and still we are OK with it.

            Yes, Even I am one of those sorry people living just an ordinary life. Every single day I sleep with anger and pain not able to do anything for it. Is it not the time to wake up? Or you are happy passing on the same to your children? Aahh, How to change this? I have to. We have to.

One more adventure into Western Ghats...!!!

I was sitting in my friends room watching Indians thrashing Aussies when a call ringed up and Anil was on the other side who put forward a plan for a two day trip to Ghatikallu (check out official site) and then as always I was tempted to say yes and this time I had my own dough (money) to go by. So the instant reply was that I am ready. Let’s rock and roll. So the trip started with three of us (me,Thangi  and Daddy) seated in Paulo(Volvo) bus from Chennai to Bangalore with old classic hindi songs and oye Lucky oye movie, two pretties and a foreign tourist pair to watch along the way. We reached in there by 8:30 on Friday night and then met Naach after a long time who as always was hilarious kept passing the minuscule of time. Later JD (jaydeep) joined in who was equally funny and then Rakshith, Shreyas and Pranav with one full case Knockout Premiums (12 bottles) in their hand. We already had shopped 2000ml of director’s special black to keep us trippy though I escaped with a quarter of Romanov. Anyway later we hopped on to red bus of KSRTC to tumkur which was two hours late in its departure time which we made fun of along the way to Tumkur.

After reaching Tumkur, we had a long walk to reach Daddy’s (Hemanth) home and then took rest for a while and then left there with Innova to carry us to our destination. Daddy as the pride owner of it took the driver seat and I took a corner seat and Naach didn’t get a seat (pity him). So we left to Ghatikallu in this fashion. I don’t know about the journey since I was sleeping all the way, we reached there by almost 9:30am on the Saturday morning with a few stops here and there for fagging.Along with Daddy, Shreyas also took turns in driving us along the way.

Soon we were given a cottage which protruded from the plain ground in a coffee estate into the wide open panorama of the western ghats. We took rest for a while there and then left to have breakfast where we were accompanied by another team who were from Goldman sacks. One mad guy in their team was barking that he would bet his salary stating India would lose World cup which pissed us off especially JD who waited for a chance to break a bottle on his head all through the two day stay there. There were also some corporate chicks with minis in their team which created nausea in me. Anyway that’s me. So we left after breakfast to a falls in a 4x4 cruiser (jeep) which is within the estate which is no doubt remote and free from Homo-Sapiens invasion. Sadly everyone knew swimming except me and I am inherently very frightened of water because of some reasons. Anyway so I was screwed and others were restless enough to wear the life jackets and then jump into the waters (even I went into it eventually). They surely had a blast there and I felt like thrashing myself for not knowing swimming. So everyone except me were fearless to mount on the uphill side-by and jump into the water daringly with different diving style each time captured with finesse by the organizer itself Sandesh Ignatius.

        After the diving extravaganza, we came back to home-stay to have a sumptuous meal and then took rest. In the evening, we were again taken to another spot which was magnificently beautiful. We were taken there for the sun set view. I simply can’t bring the feeling in words; it was one awesome place to go. We stayed there until the orange paiyyan (Sun) to disappear and then left in the dark to the home-stay again. 

  



             All was set for the party, loud music, loads of ethyl alcohol and trippers to gulp it down. It turned out to be quite different than what happened every time. No loud music and no funny tripping this time. Naach went senty and JD was all silent, Anil and Shreyas secluded from us were busy in their Floydism, Later Pranav picked up and as usual brought out colgate smiles in us.

   
   
        Next day, We were about to leave for trekking in the morning but as all of us slept very late with sleeping drink inside, nobody woke up early, Even though Shreyas kept pestering us all throughout the early morning, Naach and Pranav begged us to allow them sleep, so we left to the top again in the 4x4 cruiser by 10 o’clock through the estate and only 4x4 drive could go into such up-hill roads and somehow we reached the spot. There was one more WOW after reaching the spot. We also got to know the legend of the spot. The secret cave lurking in the rocky hill of Ghatikallu. We cursed ourselves for not waking up early. I still feel the trip was definitely incomplete without watching the fort and the top spot. Anyway, we have Sandesh whom we can always contact and have one more adventure. We then left the place to have lunch back in home-stay and while leaving, we had this gentle rain and the smell of soil was pleasing enough. So we left to Tumkur and JD suddenly went hyperactive and took the responsibility of keeping us entertained all through the journey and we had a puncture also in the way just to add some spice into the journey. It was race against time since we had to catch the train in the night to Chennai and somehow we were able to win the race with Daddy’s Dad’s help. We also had a small meeting with the birthday boy Poki in the railway station and then again we ran to catch the train. Funny thing was train left half an hour late that day. So this is how two days went by and filled some rejuvenation in the dried up souls of Ours.…!!

(SKD, Thangi (photographer), Daddy (driver), Shreyas (with an unique mother tongue accent and also alchohol expert), JD (self proclaimed politician), Rakshith (camera owner but no photographer), Naach (chaplin inheritance) and Expression maniac Pranav)

Intelligent Illusions..(contd)...!!!

             Hello again, Well, After all that perception of time and the good reviews I got from you guys, It is no wonder that it propels me to go further, bring out more of my thoughts after all I am just leaving them to be played by some electrons of silicon in some flip-flop of some chip in the mighty binary world out there. So let’s get on with it, this time, let us see what is the other sensational thing that bewilders us all the time. There are two things that have always fascinated me, Time and Light. I said about time and now let’s see Light.

               
                What is Light? What is darkness? Is there a thing called darkness or is it just an absence of Light? Is it only the light which brings luminescence? We feel it because light brings luminescence to us but is it the same for the entire living beings of universe? Definately not. We humans are receptive to light. We see what light shows us. But in physics, it is just a radiation with a certain frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum for which we are sensitive. May be other living beings in this earth or may be in some other planet may not be sensitive to light, they might be sensitive to x-rays or some other ray for that matter. It gets murkier the more I say about it.

         
             Let us see somewhere else now, Have you guys ever thought about the light travelling in the cosmos with certain speed and then it reaches us and we see the things around us. It takes 8 minutes for the light to reach from sun to earth. But does that mean we are seeing an 8 minutes older sun when it reaches our eyes? Does light carry time also with it? I mean to say if it is taking 8 minutes to travel from there to here? Is it just bringing the bringing the luminescence or the photograph of the present sun or the eight minute older one? The best definition for the light so far is that they are just packets of energy. But is that definition satisfactory enough? Let us try to discuss both the possibilities. First, Let us assume it is bringing the photograph of an 8 minutes older one that means all the stars which are from the other galaxies which we see in the night might be existing today or not because we are seeing a million year older stars, Isn’t it?

             
                 Well let us consider the other possibility too, may be it has taken so much time to come here but once it has reached our eye, it will bring luminescence of the present time there. Is it? Is Light the tunnel or the window to see that distant object? If it is true, then it feels to me that it is false too because let us assume it is tunnel which once reaches our eye will let us look at the present state of the star. Let’s for example assume some change happens there then that change can only be seen after a million years because that particular light needs a millions years to come from there to here? Isn’t it mind freaking if you think like this? To be honest, it freaks me out too.

                  After having a deep thought on this, My conclusion is that light carries time with it and we cant see what is happening now unless we wait for that time to reach us.

               
                  One more thing to say about light (a bit philosophical one), we human beings are the only creatures on this planet being privileged with the sight which no other creature has. That is only humans can see this colorful world. It is a different world for each creature here. For cows, it is only black and white and shades of these, For snakes it is infrared vision, For hyenas it is dim colors all together. So be gracious to God for allowing us see the world in all these vibrant colors we can see. Be gracious to be human and enjoy the Colorful world in the right way. There you go guys, Now it’s your job to give reviews on this blog so that I can write one more blog something like this or something else…!!!

Intelligent Illusions...!!!

I have been thinking of lately about what would be my next blog after all those school memories I had to share with you guys. Of course I still have a lot to share about the next part of my life in Dharwad and then in Bangalore. Anyway Lets have a break from the usual storytelling and let’s see something else, which would slightly give a jerk from the usual day to day normal life. I am calling this blog as Intelligent Illusions because they are intelligent considering the day to day normal life and illusions because I am not sure of what I am saying as usual the bifacial symphony is being played here too.

Now, let’s think of the TIME for a while. What do we generally feel about time? Is it an entity? Does it have a physical existence? Or does it have anything to do with the objects which have mass? We even didn’t know it is one more dimension until the “integral of our minds” Albert showed us the way. So let us answer questions one by one. I feel nothing about time because it doesn’t make me feel or is that so? Lets us take that part in a while. Now second one, is it an entity? Yes it is. It has been proved satisfactorily that it is an entity. Does it have a physical existence? Hmmm that is difficult to answer because it has existence but not physically. Then in what way does it exist? Hmmm honestly I don’t know. And does it have anything to do with objects of mass? Definitely yes. But how? It doesn’t have physical existence but it has a way of interacting with physical objects. How is that possible? Let us leave that question to scientists.

You guys might be wondering already that I am going to write some hi-fi stuff about Albert’s Relativity and space-time theory. Hmmm I am tempted to write but NO. Let us keep it for one more blog. Then what am I writing here if it not relativity? Of course it is relativity, but rather in my own way of looking at it. It says something about physics, common sense and some chemical reactions of my nerve cells which brought out these thoughts.

                So we all know that Einstein’s theory explains time is relative to the mass and gravitational pull of the objects in the cosmos and basically time gets bent in the space anyway let us not go into it. Let us imagine we are all common house flies now. Now time is six times slower than what we would have felt if we were humans and again let us imagine we are all turtles for now and again we feel time is moving three times faster than what we would have felt as humans. In simple words, time is percepted by different species in different ways. We as humans can only perceive at the least one by third of a second or so. Basically, that is the unit of time for us (humans).But for Flies it is much smaller unit and for turtles the unit is much bigger. That means all the organisms are living in their different time zones or we can say we are living different relative worlds within this same planet just because our perceptions of time is different. If this is so, then what is absolute time? Or is time altogether a relative entity? Now let us try to explain what is meant this relative entity….Let’s think of our life time which is about 70 years or so. We generally are able to feel the years went past in our life time. So it is 70 years for us. But for a house-fly it is 30 days but it is relative to our perception of time. But how much time it might be for a house fly? How much time they might have felt in their life time? Hmmm let’s leave that question to house flies itself. In the same way turtles live up to 200 years but it is again relative to our perception of time. What time they might have felt to have gone past in their life time is related to their basic perceptionary unit of time.

                In simple words, we are living in different worlds in this very same world. Time is playing different games in each of our lives and no wonder it is like living illusions in the absoluteness. Probably this is what Albert meant when he said it feels like an hour when we sit on hot pan for 2 minutes and it feels like a minute even though we talk for an hour with a pretty girl. It is all related with our perceptions of time. So if we guys can somehow find a way to increase or decrease our perceptionary senses then we might observe a different world each time or in other words probably we can start travelling through time.

                Now that’s an immature statement I made there. Anyway this is also a way of looking at our lives and alongside this; I have couple of other intriguing rather mind freaking thoughts which I would post based on the reviews of this blog. This is also a tribute to Albert on his birthday from one of his all time fans – Shashank.K.D.      

My Heart, My Soul

My Heart, My soul

  

I sit on the rail here

Gaze over the distant winds,

Sailing with the raising waves

Of these melodramatic blue waters.

I wonder what love is,

I wonder what life is,

Synonyms, they are

Flip-flopping all the time.

I smile as you smile

I laugh as you laugh

I feel as you feel

I dream as you dream

You fill my emptiness

You bring in smile

You bring in tears

You bring in life.

I wait for you,

For my day is

No day without you

For my life is

No life without you.

I wait for that time

When you enter this kingdom

And rule it

The way, you want to.

I see you everywhere

As love is in air

Breathing life in and out.

My ether of life.

Touch my skin as

It yearns to breathe

Touch my heart as

It yearns to live.

Touch my soul as

It is a void without you.

-        Shashank K.D(14-02-2011)

-        For those who have truly loved and lived.