Trudging Thoughts

A game of Tennis

2011-08-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Trudging cautiously with eyes grounded to the floor fearing that a blink may make him fall, an old man dragged himself to the court. He was accompanied by a fairly stout lady who walked even more slowly towards the other side of the court. Yes, they were all set to play Tennis!

I gaped with mouth wide open from the nearby court seriously wondering how they would manage a game. Man did the first serve ensuring that ball hits within the reach of the lady. The lady took a beautiful back stroke and passed the ball back with hidden agility. The ball went few feet away from the old man, who was sure about the walk to pick the ball. It took nearly 5 minutes for him to get the ball to resume game. The lady was profusely shouting “sorry” and that did not deter the game. They played for 15 mins with a maximum of 8-10 shots. Finally, they collected all the balls and retired to the bench nearby for rest without an iota of irritation in their faces.

What is the spark burning in them for this game? Does 15 minutes of play worth enduring the hardships they displayed? And strangely, that spark has gone extinct in me – I had to literally drag myself to the court to catch up a game for half hour. Iam embarrassed and no words…

Skiing at Christy Mountains

2011-05-10T12:44:00.000-07:00

It was golf during the last US visit. Now, it is skiing..yet another interesting sport. What made it more exciting is the $2 per hour lesson from an amicable skiing teacher. She generously extended the class for 4 hours heaping on our interest. First, it was balancing on skis and stopping at will. Then, it was the left and right turns which you maneuver through your toes. As one can imagine, walking up the slope for skiing down is the toughest part. Skiing down takes a few seconds, but every ascent takes 5-10 minutes. Thanks to the heavy boots and the long skis.

If you pass these lessons, then she diligently takes you to the bunny hill – a practice hill for amateurs! The ascent too is quick here. You just hold onto a running rope that pulls you forward. So, by catching the rope and balancing your skis.. you are at top of the hill in few seconds!

It was 5 hours of thorough fun with toppling & tumbling! The heaviness of your mind and the ski boots disappears as you start gliding in the snow!!

Pensive mood

2010-12-02T01:02:00.000-08:00

“My” mind convulses with nagging contradictory thoughts and worries
“My” heart aches for unfulfilled visions and un-manifested thoughts
“My” body cries in pain and wants to suffer
Expectations from others are growing
Being “contented” suddenly seems to be a far dream
The so called “purpose” of my living in in jeopardy
Juggling with profusion of “Why(s)”
Each second is like a trek up and down a mountain
Reasons for such bouts of expression are unknown

The irony is all this is happening with the intellectual understanding lingering as below

It’s all a well fabricated illusion and gone to an extent of penning it down here.
The “I or Me or My” is not it and it encompasses nothing and everything! If it’s the absence then “who” is experiencing the above conditions! If it’s the universal presence, above conditions should be diluted and have no sense

Right now, the question remains..for “whom”?? “WHO????” WHO??????WHO?????

The primordial question alone remains…

A wash to the washbasin

2010-11-26T01:57:00.000-08:00

A simple stuff....but a passing thought to pen it here!

Stayed at many places, clean”ing” is part of living and it happened without any hue and cry. The count of basins that I cleaned would be 8+ including the one at in-laws house :-). Of all these years, I did not take the opportunity to wash it at my house - the basin that I saw every morning while brushing my teeth for almost 15 years!!!!

I did it today……..

Not sure if am fortunate or the washbasin?

PG, again..

2010-11-19T00:20:00.000-08:00

"Whether this kajal will smudge or not?" This was the discussion that went on for 5-10 mins and then comes the practical stunt. Person who bought it applies it to her eyes and everyone around is kinda validating to pass their comments. Then the topic shifts to a hair gel and how it turns color of the hair to white. I was thoroughly amused and was wondering how such topics can go on and on. Next, it was about a new haircut that one of the inmates donned. Well, this is common when a group of beauty-conscious women get together. What is uncommon is me being from the women clan felt that all these topics are so outlandish! I just could not connect to it at all.

A room messy with clothes around, unwashed plates beneath the bed and a smelly bathroom are the items that invite me with a warm hug when I moved in to this new PG accommodation. Undeterred, I arranged my clothes in the cupboard given, made my bed and settled in with a book oblivion to the surroundings!

Then suddenly power goes off, followed by a shriek that goes like “what the hellll..aaaaan..how do I wash my clothes”? So, someone around checks the fuse and fixes the power supply. After this, you hear a round of applause for the brave job well done! This continues with the discussion on “Maths” for the dinner that was ordered..”who shld pay what?” This goes for some time till one lady realized that food is becoming cold!

Well, all that made me wonder how I got caught up with such a script in the drama of life. Paying guest accommodation is nothing new to me - the surprise was on how many such episodes I need to act :-) , phew!

All said and done, the new place still is like a family. Being together is a common theme – while having dinner, or a chat in the balcony, pulling each other’s legs or watching TV etc. One of them gave me a blanket as it was too cold..it was a very nice gesture! They all helped to make me feel comfortable - the plates were cleaned, clothes were washed and I was offered to join them in the fun!

Anyways, this would be a stint and I would be moving out soon. One of my friends quoted the current scenario as “Iam like a drop of water on a lotus leaf”. Iam fine being that way and appreciating the beauty / fragrance of the lotus. Its evident that I need to tread out of the leaf one day and merge with the ocean!

Paradox

2010-08-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

It started with a frisson and the flow followed
Safest is
The hands of a mother

and then it went on like this..
Longest is
The road of friendship

Tallest is
The heart of a giver

Shortest is
The first step to summit

Loudest is
The trumpet of the ego

Deepest is
The ravine of knowledge

Widest is
The wall of jealousy

Slimmest is
The space between fingers of a newborn

Greatest is
The marvel of creation

Fastest is
The race of thoughts

Quietest is
The space between those thoughts

Tiniest is
The twinkle of a distant star

Slowest is
The force to negate greater will

Darkest is
The ignorance of greater self

Shallowest is
The mind with temper

Hardest is
The acquaintance of perceived bondage

Easiest is
The process of forgetting that bondage

Finally, the last 2

Obscurest is
The illusory will to “not seek” any of the above

and

Dumbest is
The belief that “illusory will” will lead to understanding of your nature!

What a match?

2010-04-18T05:27:00.000-07:00

He lives to eat,
I eat to live

He is seldom silent,
“Silence” is what I speak

(He) Yoga n mediation – what?
(Me) No yoga n meditation – what?

For him, Books – ok, sometimes..
For me, Books – always!

Car racing is his passion
Thought of driving a car gives me stress

Prefers helicopter landing on mountains’ summit
I like hiking all the way up!

He is hale n healthy and it shows,
Iam under-nourished and it shows as well

Shopping n window-shopping is his need
My need would end up in shopping

He is Cancer (water sign)
Iam a Virgo (earth sign)

Mucky language is his second mother tongue
Too much of courteousness eats my speech

He is sentimental, sensitive and caring
Iam practical and indifferent

Well, who cares and how does it matter? We are all set to cruise the sea of life hand in hand!

AVATAR

2010-02-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

As written on 1/06/2010 :

I was totally dumbstruck by the grandiose of the movie. The special effects, animation, story line and interweaving of shots took the movie to zenith of entertainment. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. The concepts like transmigration of souls across dimensions, bond across all beings and life source as one-energy are portrayed in a simple fashion! Some people may mistake it for fiction!

No wonder it took 10+ years to make this. It’s a must watch and I give full stars (if anyone cares)

Uninvited guest

2009-11-02T03:51:00.000-08:00

Sunday slumber was suddenly disturbed by an intrusion of a “guest”...that too in the ear ! Yes, my friend got up shouting that something went into her ear and it was trying to fly there………

As the “thing” was not coming out, intuition forced us to put oil in her ears. I guess she felt a violent shake followed by silence. As something has to be done to remove the dead “thing”, we got a bus at wee hours and ran to a near by hospital. Got registered in the emergency category oblivion to the poor service rendered. The “thing” stayed, so the hunt for hospital continued.

Being Sunday and ENT not considered as an emergency, the next two stops did not help either. Finally, we went to a fourth hospital in which we managed to get an appointment after 2 hours. By this time, my roommate was actually getting used to her guest!

Then came the traumatic part – first doctor could not pull the “thing” out from her ear. She tried pump-piston, water, forceps etc. None of the jazzy instruments worked and the doc got scared. It was easy to see the missing expertise and confidence.

Atleast, she escalated the situation and a “hero” made an entry. The look itself said that the new doctor was indeed experienced. With skilled hands, he pulled the “thing” out. He had to repeat the action to pull the “thing’s” legs as well.

The “thing” was a mid sized cockroach!

I salute my friend’s strong will to sustain the entire drama for 5 hours. The highlight is we got her registration plus ID card done for 6 months and 5 years in two famous hospitals respectively.

Thanks to M & B!

2009-09-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

Another birthday, this time the bang was from M and B. So, here Iam dedicating this blog to them!

Thanks to M &B for making my day! The cake, flowers and gifts added to the garland of joys!

M was at her best asusual – getting up at 11:50 and opening up cakes/flowers from hideous spots. She was trying hard to make less noise as possible…I promptly got up though!
It was a quiet celebration and both of us were elated!

B came all the way to wish me and that was a sweet gesture! Iam sure he got up early than usual for this! Thanks for the thoughtful gift.. it will be used when I plan my trek to Sahyadris!

Next on the agenda is treat on one of the coming weekends. That will add another memorable page in the book of my life..:-) Thanks guys!

He

2009-08-29T01:27:00.000-07:00

It was such a surprise one morning to see Him seated outside our house. It seems that this was the first time He is here. Though He was not staring at me directly, I could feel his pervading presence. He was looking at a tangential direction from our house and Iam not sure if that was intentional.

His calm and composed nature was very attractive and it hit me with lot of intensity! He was such a crowd puller that I was jealous to see his huge number of fans coming from distant places to meet Him. They were taking my space and his undivided attention!!

Day 1 had lot of salutations and offerings. The place was fully decorated to celebrate his presence. He did not bother and I liked that!
Day 2 was almost a disco night with English pop songs blaring the speakers. This did not affect Him either
Day 3 had a movie screening allowing people to squat on the roads. They were whistling to the whims and fancies of the scenes. Movie did not budge him too!
Day 4 was sad as He left. He changed a sober street to such a happening place for 4 days. For the first time, I saw my neighbors and other people who live in the same lane. He moved with the crowd up and down the road to bid farewell. He vanished with a bang deserting the place and hearts of ardent fans like me.

Suddenly, I was feeling empty and hollow! I started missing him and so did my friend M.

Iam hoping that He would visit us next year as my wait has already started!

Open secret

2009-08-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

“You are not traveling, you are being traveled!” that’s from the book “Open Secret” by Wei Wu Wei. That kept me thinking or should I say it stopped the thinking? If I try to describe the book, or discuss or do anything about it at all.. it would mean Iam just expanding the objectivism forgetting to remember the source. It will just be an addition to existing phenomenal world.

The conceptual “I” in me also want to add that this book has lot of contradictions because that’s the way “it” is. Does that mean truth is contradictory? The author is trying hard to make “it” simple by saying that “it” cannot be comprehended by mere abstract expression, logic or words.

“Seeker is the source and is noumenon” is the statement closer to truth conceptually.

I stop it here to save from the embarrassment of proving that “Iam” stuck in this dream.Catch the book and it may close “your” concepts forever!

Loooooooong Drive

2009-07-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, it was indeed a very long drive from Greenville, South Carolina to San Diego, CA covering close to 2236 Miles rather 3598 Kms and 10+ states. No doubt that this is one of the best year-end vacations I had!

We were at Houston on Christmas Eve, traveled and chilled at San Diego beach, walked on Rodeo Drive at Los Angeles, gained/lost a few dollars in MGM Casino at Las Vegas, saw the last Sunset of 2008 at Grand Canyon. It’s quite exhilarating just to recap it now! We did watch the beautiful sunrise of 2009 at Grand Canyon too.

The other exciting feature of this trip is I got an opportunity rather privilege to join an amiable Chinese group. I may have missed some instant jokes, as I did not follow Mandarin/Chinese. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed each and every moment..its jus that it would have been more if I had known Chinese.
Two things you gain on a drive like this
- Budget, it was far less from what I had planned/expected!
- Countryside views are breathtaking and they slurp you without any mercy!

Other highlight of this trip is the perfect planning by my Chinese friends! Every hotel, show and tickets were booked in advance.

Not a minute was wasted on deciding what to see! Infact, the plan was more sophisticated than a multiphase project plan with percentages of fun, travel and hotel stay marked for entire trip! The photos were consolidated at the end, written into DVDs ad were distributed.

Phew..they are simply superb! One of my friends cautioned and asked me to think twice before I go for this!
The reason being that the group is new and I need to get engaged with them for almost 2 weeks.

On quick retrospection, guess I would have missed a lovely expedition by not joining them !!

US Visit

2009-07-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

Recollection of places I have been...

· Atlanta GA (This was done very often even if one in the group needs to get groceries). Visited the Aquarium, Coca cola factory, Indian groceries, Hindu Temples (Balaji and Swaminarayana) "n" number of times
· Greensboro NC. One of my colleagues’ friend stayed here. This also had many weekend visits with "Cherry picking" as the highlight!
· Grandfather Mountain NC
· Smoky Mountain, Gatlinburg TN. The visit during falls here was amazing!
· Drive to west coast trip from Greenville, SC. This covered many states inbetween with "stop-visits" at Houston, Galveston TX, San Diego CA, Los Angeles CA, Las Vegas NV and Grand Canyon AZ More at http://trudgingthoughts.blogspot.com/2009/07/loooooooong-drive-yes-it-was-indeed.html
· Erie PA.This had amazing beaches!
· Niagara Falls, both from US and Canada sides
· Charleston SC
· Cincinnati OH
· Myrtle Beach SC
· Disney World at Florida
· Near by places from Greenville SC like Ashville, Ceaser's head, Table Rock, Chimney Rock and Cherokee hills

I met 'S'

2009-07-27T21:59:00.000-07:00

It has been almost a year and then 3 weekends of “planning to meet”. Finally, it happened this weekend! Along with M, I went to meet S. The word “Shradha” led to confusion and we landed up in a wrong apartment. S came out and was having fun to see us carrying a big gift* and roaming down the street to find her apartment.

After quick call and clarification we went to her apartment. Guess, who was on the TV - it was none other than daily visitor named “Rakhi Sawant”. Iam not a big fan of reality shows and usually watch these to get a few laughs. On the contrary, my friends were dissecting each and every dialogue of Rakhi and her episodes. S and I agreed that M is almost making her way to get fame like Rakhi!!

S was the same except for her change in hairstyle!, that actually gave her a fresh look! After 3 rounds of Chai and one round of beer, the mood was highly elated! Crappy discussion made us to laugh out whole-heartedly. “Set up of a mini bar” in our kitchen and “Toyun” switch to tune FM in mp3 player were a few of them! There were lots of “LOL” and “ROFL”

Of course, the dinner menu - Pasta, Roti and Baingan Bharta topped all this! S’s Pasta was tasty and she did it with an expert touch! The taste is still lingering in my mouth! Chit-chat was on till 3:00AM with a quick touch of all common friends, treks, PGs, PG mates and PG aunties!

Though we hit the bed, none of us could catch sound sleep and morning was waiting with another round of Chai! This get together would stay green for quite some time! Thanks to M and S!!

M felt that I looked happy – guess that’s true for all of us. And it happens when friends get together!! It’s just that we need to do more of this to break the mundane work!
* Big gift is not for S though she did get other gifts!

Wild Dogs' Attack!

2009-05-07T23:32:00.000-07:00

Darchen is a place in Tibet that you visit enroute to Mt.Kailash from Nepal side. When we landed there on a cold evening - the Tibetan temples, its structures and village setllement prompted me and my friend to explore the place by walk . This happened as soon as we reached the camp site.

We looked at the villagers subjecting themselves to idle-chats with their partners. Took snaps of inquisitive kids who fixed their eyes on us! I was merrily talking to my friend and next instant I was pulled down to the ground by a wild dog. Thanks to the layers of cold clothings I had! There were 3 dogs heavily enagaged in attacking us. Next thing I knew was the drooling tongue hanging out on a background of canine teeth right next to my face. I could feel the dog’s hot breath. For one second, it was like the world coming to to an end!

Suddenly, out of nowhere the villagers came with strong sticks and chased away those dogs! My friend was still standing unlike me and for a second, I was happy that no harm was done to her. The thought was shattered when she quickly informed that she did get a bite on her ankle. I could see the canine mark that went through tough layer of her “trek” shoes onto her skin. We just finished four days of the trip and were yet to start the main trek. Our guide strongly recommended her to go back for rabies shots.

The intentions , preparations and expectations of the trip made us to ignore guide’s suggestion and proceed with the trek. Need to take a moment here to appreciate the courage that my friend donned to make the trip successful!!She did take the shots after a week when we returned to Nepal and continued the doses even after reaching India.

KUDOS TO HER STRONG WILL!! S, U ROCK!

Still Iam wondering what caused the dogs to attack us and why the whole scene is fresh in my memory even after two years!

Art of Diplomacy

2008-12-15T13:46:00.000-08:00

Is being diplomatic an art? If you don the role of an arbitrator in a conversation, diplomacy comes very handy. Even otherwise as well, it saves you from being in the “bad” books!!

On the other hand, it strains you from speaking up your mind. You may just start lying and cover with the blanket of diplomacy. Being diplomatic means to say what others do not want to hear, you still say it and after you said it – they don’t mind it at all. Given that, it’s an art of what not to speak.

Someone said that being diplomatic is not a good thing cos at one point in time you will forget what you really want to say and try to just say things that you think others don’t mind. And another thing is you jus don’t take sides loosing your true thoughts.

So, do you need to be diplomatic?

If I say “yes” or “no”, Iam not being diplomatic. If I give a paragraph like above and say things like “ its really up to you” or “it depends on situation” then diplomacy is in my dictionary. Ha..That’s again a diplomatic answer.

Its all about pricking the needle without pain and also definitely about when to use that needle!

My poor Chevy and me!

2008-10-22T11:07:00.000-07:00

Started early on car driving classes during my first year on job! Managed to get a license, but since then never bothered or was serious about driving. Again, it happened when a long-term trip to US got confirmed officially. Ran and registered for the classes again as I could not recollect where the clutch and brake(s) are positioned.

The classes were not that bad. With the driver exhibiting lot of patience and confidence that I could drive, there was no stopping! I did repeat the mistakes like releasing the clutch fully that made the car to stop right at the junction where four roads met, frantically turning the wheel to left when Iam supposed to turn right! The driver’s irritation was disguised by a half broken smile saying “Madam…what Madam?!”. I should appreciate the persistence driver had to put up with me. Taking reverse is another big ordeal..! That was the story of 10 one-hour classes!

Then the big day came, I was in US and initially pooled with my colleagues to commute. That was not a permanent solution and neither my colleague nor me entertained it. A nice colleague of mine offered to sit beside me while I drive initially. So I drove the car and pooled in other colleagues for free rides. They just have to sit beside me and instruct. And one fine day, I drove to office all by myself! The first few days I almost woke up with the stress of me driving with a lot of “What if…” questions!! Iam not intending to share those questions here!

The highlight of all this is they gave me a brand new Chevy Impala 2008 model with just 90 miles in the odometer! The delivery person actually drove those 90 miles! Of course it’s kinda like giving a garland to a monkey! My motto while I was driving was not to dash anyone and follow the road rules!

After a huge retrospection, I was not bad after all. It has been 4 months and so far not a scratch! And guess what, Iam picking up two more gals and providing commutation to them! That’s a big deal – not me providing a ride, but them trusting me and joining the ride!

Recalling some funny scenes..

- Warning in the dashboard “The pressure is low in right rear tire”. Realized I need to pump it up but got totally panicked about it
- Went to the gas station, tried to put the nozzle in the fuel tank and it just doesn’t go. Well, I was holding a diesel nozzle! Such mistake-proofing techniques are there just for ppl like me
- Tried to press the accelerator so hard and the car is not even budging a mm, realized that the hand brake was on
- Defrosting the car was another lesson I learnt after realizing that one cannot drive with a frosted window!
- Always make up my mind to part with $300 when I start the car. $150 for penalty and another $150 for having no valid license!

Thank God the car is a latest model and most of the features are automated!!

Meals - Mexican to Indian

2008-07-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

The other day we went to Salsarita and were excited to order Nachos, Tachos and Burritos. An innovative idea came up – Burritos actually has rice and beans rolled into a bread (similar to “roti” not made of wheat). If we separate it, then humara daal, chawal aur roti ho gaya!!! Btw, Nachos are like chips and Tachos are like roasted papads!! We can have that as side dish or complementary papads!!!

Infact we were pondering about business options to promote the same..any takers?
No wonder we lovvved Mexican food!

Golf..at a glance

2008-07-15T09:19:00.000-07:00

Tee, Irons, Driver, Putter …of course, Iam talking GOLF here. Last week I got a chance to play the game and it was a team play. This was my first stint with Golf and it was good! Being an amateur in the group, I got o learn all the techniques/strategies to hit the ball from Teeing box (that’s the start point) to the Green(land with finely cut grass, where a ball should land before you push it into the hole/cup). The game is played on a course consisting of series of 9 or 18 holes.

The whole idea of the game is to put the ball into the hole with minimal strokes. I did not find that easy, as there is lot of obstacles either as bunkers or water hazards! The first stroke from the Tee is key to take the ball farthest from you on the fairway and closer to green. There are varieties of clubs like driver, irons or putter to use at various places. For example, you usually use a putter when the ball is on the green. In the game we played, it turned out that I was good as a putter - did consecutive 4 balls to the holes. On the driver, I was disgusting - the ball seldom lifted itself from the ground when I hit.

Scores are done based on Par. Par refers to the number of strokes a skilled golfer should require to complete play of the hole. As any other sport, this also needs good practice and ineterst to keep up the Pars. Men and Women have different Tee box points. And all this fun is added with good snacks and beer! So, who would say no to Golf?

Bus Journeys

2008-04-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

In the name of employee benefits, organizations give commutation facilities to them for a specified amount. No doubt that every employee would enjoy that rather than traveling in public mode of transport. Its crowd free, tension free and comfortable. Thanks to the brand-new buses from respective Travels!!

Most of the companies have buses at a frequency of 2 to 3 or more mainly in the evenings. As all employees may not leave at the same time, its been seen that only a few of them occupy a big bus. Yesterday at a signal, I saw one of them was lying down at ease in a three-seater of the bus! That was very amusing and triggered this post!

Time to ponder!!

Encounter with RU!

2008-04-23T04:01:00.000-07:00

It was a flight from Blr to Hyd. There was a person with very familiar face talking to someone in the seat ahead of me! Well, you get to see so many faces in one’s lifetime and some images keep flashing isn’t? That way the thought about the person was discarded.

Then as we were disembarking, many congratulated him for his splendid performance and said they saw his photo in the newspapers. They also wished him good luck for the future!!

I quickly looked at the paper in the seat pocket and it dawned on me that he was none other than Robin Uthappa!!! Then, I accomodated more glances as I can!

Variety at Valpaarai

2008-04-02T22:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went to this Tea country called Valpaarai. The place was amazing with lush green tea estates, waterfalls, elegant temples and churches! The idea came in when one of my cousins was actually looking for contacts at Valpaarai for accommodation. I was enquiring about it to certain folks there and suddenly it flashed that my friends and I as well can use the upcoming long weekend to visit the place.

It turned out to be a rewarding decision. Check out the snaps here http://picasaweb.google.co.in/shrilatha.puthi/Vaalparai as evidence for the good time that we had! There are around 40 hairpin bends (20 up and 20 down) to traverse before reaching the place. The drive was incredible. There were very few decent hotels, as the place is not yet commercially exploited.

Main highlights include tasty tea for 2 Rs., second largest dam in Asia, chat with naive school children, friendly neighbor Kiruthika, recreation/crèche centers for estate employees, dance drama/procession in a temple, coffee bar attached to a bakery shop, attending mid night mass at a church, plucking Tea leaves with special bowl-attached-scissors, Hospital Waterfalls (a hospital named ‘Waterfalls’) and getting famous by shopping black bangles! Well, it was a happening town!

Other feature is the mountain there called “Pul Medu” (Grass land) on the top. The British had a practice of burning the grass periodically to ensure its growth that would be the fodder for the cattle there. There are roads constructed till top to get the burnt grass down to the town. It looked like we need special permission to go there as it crosses the forest range. We also went to a place called Top Slip. This is a wild life sanctuary - we really could not spot any splendid wild life except for black monkeys, elephants and few birds like Kingfisher!

Full credit goes to the confident driver and the informative guide who made this trip a more memorable one!

More on Android

2008-02-10T06:07:00.000-08:00

Android Excitement is in the air! Check out this http://www.chalubakra.com/2008/02/03/gphone-android/android-excitement/

Trek

2008-01-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

I don’t know what inside me gets ignited when some one says lets “trek on a mountain”! That excitement on my face could never me concealed! Initially it was very tough as most of my friends’ jus dismissed saying “Who wants to walk simply like that, have better jobs to do rather than paying for walks”!

Slowly the “will in me” or “mere luck” brought me closer to folks who are ever ready to trek and that nurtured my spark to raging flames and then just peace! Peace because now Iam open to treks and welcome them as a break but don’t crave for it! The taste would remain forever and keep me contented!

To know more on my treks check out http://trudgingthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/08/counting-my-treks.html

More on Vipassana

2008-01-09T23:28:00.001-08:00

Vipassana meditation revolves around the word “sensations”. In a 10-day course, first we need to observe our breath continuously as we sit for meditation. That’s how we get the handle to our mind. Then with that handle, one needs to observe the sensations through out the body – starting from head till toes. The exercise gives a good understanding of body and allows reflection to “sensations” that body emulates. These can be pain, throbbing or vibration, flickering etc.. The key is irrespective of whatever the sensations are, we need to just watch them with equanimity. That means no aversion towards pain or no craving towards “nice” sensations! More the practice, more your mind would be trained to maintain equanimity!

How this helps in day today life?

We need to project this concept to our life and be equanimous whether things are going good or bad! Well, its said easier than done!! The mere observing, being a witness to all actions that you do will help you in overcoming the miseries.

This needs a lot of practice, as we have been habituated to react, ponder and draw our conclusions to the situation around us.

The first step on the path of dhamma sows the seed to be in “present”, enjoy the moment rather than thinking of moments in past or future! Whether its dhamma or not, it’s a wonderful way to live life!

Anischha

2008-01-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

Year 2007 ended with a bang..This “big bang” was totally different. If I describe it as amazing I would only end up humiliating my experience.

-Spent 10 days in a place out of city limits
-Did not talk for10 days
-Did 10 hours of meditation each day
-There were intermittent breaks for food and walking
-Observed nature – trees, plants, frogs, snails, butterflies and other living beings around
-Got an opportunity to practice dhamma – “The Way” taught by Gautam Buddha. Isn’t that hinting at something?
-Opened up inward and started observing the body, breath and sensations
-No mobile, books, treks, music, talk and got cut off from the rest of the world

It may sound boring at the surface, but one has to try it to see how exciting it could be. It opens up new dimensions. One can understand the miseries of life better and how to come out of it. Any one would want to live without misery. Some people just ignore it by saying “I have no miseries”. The first step is to accept it and then to overcome it. I can go on and on..but that’s not the intention.

Let me break it – it was Vipassana Meditation! Check out this http://www.dhamma.org/ for more information.

This meditation technique works and I can guarantee it - the only reason being that I want you to enjoy what I enjoyed and feel the change!

PS: Anischha means “Impermanent”

Woes of ‘flying cheaper’

2007-12-10T03:15:00.000-08:00

We were heading to Kathmandu, Nepal. The Kathmandu flight was from Delhi at 11:45AM. The day started at around 6:00AM to catch a connecting flight from Bangalore to Delhi. Known to the uncertainties of cheaper airlines, we still hoped that we don’t get delayed. The hope was almost satisfied or that’s what we thought, cos we boarded the plane and got seated on time.

Then, something went wrong..It looked like AC was not working and we really did not mind that initially. Then came an announcement saying AC unit was not working and the plane cannot take off. The next question was for how long we need to wait and the irony is none of them had an answer! As we started feeling hot inside, all passengers disembarked the plane. It was a hot sunny day and we squatted in the shade of the plane. Time was running and people became furious. Another dismaying fact is that having fault on their side, the airline authorities did not bother to display any tinge of courtesy. Didn’t they go to any airline academy for training in dealing with the customers? It needs no further explanation to emulate the distress experienced by senior citizens/children without food and water

Apparently the AC unit got repaired and then it was realized that there was no fuel. Help from HAL was not at all timely due to internal politics with this specific airline.

It was 2-3 hours of wait in runway watching other planes landing and taking off-experience of my lifetime I should say!

The problem got fixed and we reached Delhi in time to know that we had missed our flight to Kathmandu!!! There was a “no show” for us on that flight and we could not even cancel the tickets.

Our journey continued on another flight, but will there be a “stop” to such traumatic experiences?

Being long in one organization – boon or bane?

2007-12-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

Job-hopping has become a natural trend these days. The reasons triggering this may be a hike, or a tiff with current boss or the attrition in your circle/group etc. Irrespective of what it is, impulsive decisions here are not going to pay in a longer run.

Pros
- Everyone knows you, In corporate lingo you are “visible”
- They get back to you for advice, suggestions etc
- You have a say and if you are doing good, you can almost get what you want
- You will be in a quite comfortable zone
- You can tackle issues, people, conflicts very easily as you would be using your expert and experience gained so far
- On the whole, work will be with “less ripples”

Cons
- Monotony, and you hate it if you are big fan of “change”
- Personal and professional growth may get stagnant
- Same ppl, same culture may get to your nerves sometimes
- Boredom, as you can predict exactly what issue would pop up at what time
- You may be looked upon as a Granpa or Granma figure in the team and their characteristics adorn you (Ex. Not welcoming any change)

Given all that, I would say it’s a personal and independent choice. These cons can have their own solutions and there would be no reason to job-hop! Or another perspective is “Do you need a reason at all?”

Android

2007-11-29T22:39:00.000-08:00

For no apparent reasons, I have been writing on personal front alone. Time to change and here it is!I got a to chance explore, set up and do some basic programming with Android, Google for gphones.

It looks good or atleast inspires java programmers to do the coding using SDK! And not to forget the $10 million prize money from Google for the killer apps in Android!!!

You can find more on this at chalubakra

U wanna gift(s)?

2007-11-26T23:49:00.000-08:00

S promised me a gift if Iam one of the first 5 persons to give comments on her blog. Eventually, I did that and awaiting a gift from her.

I signed up there just to get a gift and trying to keep the chain alive here!! Basically, the first 5 ppl who leave a comment here would be entitled for a gift from me.

The fact is my blog do not have many readers and they seldom leave comments. That spares me from buying gifts! Infact, that’s what actually triggered me to sign up at S’s blog.

Does that sound anti altruistic? Then that’s what it iiiisss!

Hannibal Rising

2007-11-23T03:41:00.000-08:00

That’s a movie incase you are wondering what is it. Thanks-giving holidays at US drove us to Innovative Multiplex and we were game for watching any damn movie.
The show timings did not match ours and finally we decided on this movie called “Hannibal Rising”. The guy at the ticket counter informed that we are the first ones and need to wait for atleast 8 persons to start the show! What a challenge? We did wait and another couple turned up for the show.

Finally it was just four of us in the theatre.The movie was nothing but “blood and kills”-”Cannibal Rising” would have been apt for the name. This thriller film is an adaptation of Thomas Harris's 2006 novel of the same name.

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being the only occupants of theatre-screen1 for entire 2 hours!!!

Paradox

2007-11-14T22:19:00.000-08:00

What: A white dustbin
Where: Near 100ft signal on CMH Road, Bangalore
Event: A kid of 8 years old walked about 10 yards from the road side "chaat" shop to throw the paper plates used by the customers into the dustbin

Do we eschew the display of child labor or appreciate the conscientiousness of “No litter” on the roads???

Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation

2007-11-10T03:14:00.000-08:00

In this book, Noel Langley and Hugh Lynn Cayce (son of Edgar Cayce) have compiled the readings’ of individuals that were originally given by Edgar Cayce in his “sleeping” state. These psychological, physical or life readings spanned from 1925 to 1944 and were given only on personal request. Readings verify that certain changes can be brought in one’s life to make it better and these changes are deduced from the soul’s past lives.

The book claims that only 3 readings were incorrect out of 2500 readings.

This is yet another evidence of reincarnation and helps us in comprehending the concept. Many quotes in the book did not surprise me as I believe in reincarnation. Even if you do not believe in reincarnation - it’s worth a read from the perspective of knowing yourself better!!

The items below are described in a lucid manner

Free will, which is stronger than destiny!
How simply by “forgetting and forgiving” others you can avoid another life..not as easy as it sounds though
And not to forget about other spiritual laws around fear, desire etc.
Clarifies certain questions like whether Jesus had a previous life, Have you lived before?
Cause and effect of karmic paradigms

One can see the attributes of a soul common among its lives. Many readings proved beneficial to the seekers revealing the missing pieces in their life’s puzzle and placing them back right on the path of evolution.

On the whole an interesting book to read and it takes you to a new dimension.

On a lighter side - Do you like playing drums ? May be you were a drummer in the courts of pharaoh in Egypt..who knows?

Gollu

2007-10-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

“Gollu” is the arrangement-cum-exhibition of dolls done as a ceremony to mark Dusshera or Navarathiri celebrations.

After Diwali, this is one of my favorite festivals. Earlier, the reason was – I get to visit my friends’/relatives’ places, sing a carnatic song and get some goodies to eat. Have discussion with uncles/aunts on raagas, thaalas, different style of singing and of course my music teacher would be a topic too. If four of my school friends join, then it would be an enchanting song with a combination of low and high notes. No wonder they made us the school choir!

I stopped visiting as time flew, but I like the festival still as its a good expression of our culture, tradition and ancient knowledge. This gives a chance for women folks to collaborate. Also, Its been a practice to give gifts to folks who visit your house. Earlier, it was a small packet of “Sundal” (snack made out of beans/grams etc). Then it was a full “dressing pack” that includes comb, mirror, kumkum (maroon powder that ladies adorn their foreheads with) and turmeric. I still remember packing the kumkum in small plastic containers in my yester years. Later, life was simple by readily packed containers. Then to make it cheaper they started packing in plastic covers.

These days the trend has further evolved – when I went home, I saw a pile of new plastic boxes received as gifts. It seems the motto is to give something useful. The items can be anything like handy utensils, hair clips, show-piece(s), blouse piece(s), basket etc. Its nice to know that people are willing to give (even if the item has come as a gift from someone else). Innovative theme(s) on Gollu is another driving factor. Dolls (both old and new) are kept for display. Usual items comprise of “10 Avatars” in Hinduism, Thanjavur dolls, Marapachhi dolls. Rangolis, parks, cities, towns, and spiritual places are also depicted. Lights, decoration with flowers and wind chimes add glamour to the scene.

I cannot have better reasons to like this custom!!

Shady side of this
1. Pumpkins – They burst pumpkins on raods with the belief that it will ward off the evil omen casted by jealousy eyes. This is a hazard for two wheelers. I got a comment that earlier atleast cows would consume the pumpkins. These days it’s very rare.
2. Blaring loudspeakers – Another mode of festive expression is loud cini/devotional songs. The effect is more if your house is near to a temple or an auto stand!

After all, good things come with a package isn’t?

Art of “natural” speaking

2007-10-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Is speaking natural? Iam talking about “speaking in general”..A person may be good at constant chit-chat but may not give the same results if he is asked to do the same on a stage and vice versa! On the contrary, a person may be good at both.

My first speech was on “Work is worship” while I was in class five. To the surprise of everyone, I bagged the first prize in the contest. I still remember that my English ma’am walked up to me and said, “I never realized you would speak so well being the most silent student in the class”. I did not even probe her statement due to my sheer excitement at that point in time. I give full credit to my dad who wrote the speech for me. I do remember a few words that said ” For a butcher, the knife he uses to cut is a tool of worship..” My dad has an amazing vocabulary in English/Hindi. His pen is definitely mightier whenever he uses it. And he is, in general a silent person too! After that episode, there was no looking back for me – have been getting prizes in yearly speech contests both in English and Hindi (I wonder how?) till I passed out of my school. My Dad authored all the speeches. That may be the only reason for my winning! Anyways, the fact is till today am not very comfortable in initiating conversations with people whom I know well unless there is a need. It’s coming as a shock as I type those words! Guess that’s coming from my character of being reserved! Though once initiated, ppl cant ask for more! Well, Iam improving there.

Its actually a paradox as I see people around me going to eloquent /public speaking clubs, English vocabulary coaching class etc and still fail to express day to day thoughts clearly to their folks. One of my colleagues got a feedback in the usage of grammar and she is earnestly going to a grammarian to refresh her skills. All these may help in inducing the “natural flare” but may fail to be natural! Cos I guess if any one is good at speaking, it would have a history of reading, writing or usage of vocab behind them. It’s definitely not a few days ordeal. Also, one is successful only if he/she uses the skills in all aspects of speaking!

One can easily differentiate the natural flare and acquired skill of speaking. Acquiring skills of speaking in itself is easy compared to the effort of making it natural!

Kudos to all natural speakers!!!

Birthdays!!

2007-09-19T23:22:00.000-07:00

As a child, you are very eager to celebrate your birthday! The new dress, distribution of chocolates in school and visit to a temple are all the activities of the day that are relished to the self’s fulfillment. And then at College, there is no dearth for such fun. As I stayed in a hostel, when the clock goes 12 – all my wingies (wing mates) barge into my room, pull me out from the bed and give me bumps. Anyone having his/her birthday needs to experience the “throw ups” in the air. The number of “throw ups” will be equal to your age. An expensive mega treat follows this frenzy!

Why this blog? Well, I celebrated my birthday yesterday!

The ritual has been continuing except now - there are no throw ups, no decoration of my room with balloons or color papers etc. The cake cutting happens in a serene environment with a few close friends. Yday it was a “Chocolate fantasy” added with sweet kisses n hugs from my friends! There are a couple of calls from family, friends, and relatives, not to forget the e greetings.

Earlier, I used to wait for the 12 o clock buzz. Yday, I waited but with a different intention to quickly pass over the ceremony. Though, nothing was missing in the amazing arrangements made by my friends. At the work place, we have the corporate way of celebration - bouquet and chocos from the HR!! People come from different areas and they gather up in your cubicle to wish. I said “Thanks” for ‘n’ number of times with a glued smile!!

Now, this has become a mundane activity every year and Iam getting bored to celebrate my birthdays in this style. May be any one reading this blog would dismiss it all by thinking that the person is getting old and should consider just stopping the birthday celebrations.

You are in for a surprise then, I took a resolution that next year I will do something unusual and different to commemorate my birthday!!

Lets wait and watch!!

The Last Teashop

2007-09-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

I was amused by the name of this Teashop. It says “Bharat kee aakri chai dhukan” that means “the last tea shop in India”. It’s a creative name coined by the shop owner as a few feet after this shop, the Indo – China border starts.

Place : near Auli, Uttranchal, India

Magnanimity

2007-08-31T01:57:00.000-07:00

I went to a Titan watch service shop yesterday.
Reason: The minute hand in my watch was dangling!!

The lady at the counter took my watch and requested me to wait for 5 minutes. No big deal..I turned my attention to a chart named ”Inside of Watch” and did not realize 15 minutes have passed. At the same moment, the lady called me to give the “fixed” watch. I was struggling to find my wallet and was totally astounded when she said “no charge ma’am”!

The watch was 4 years old and I did not even buy it from the main shop associated with this service shop.

Well, you need to pay a price for everything, but not for 15 mins of craftsmanship in a Titan service shop!! Kudos to Titan!

Counting my treks

2007-08-29T23:25:00.000-07:00

One of my colleagues casually asked “What is the count of treks that you have done so far?” I could not answer him immediately and may be he thought it was countless. This is retrospection on that and I have tried to list down my treks so far…

1. Trek to a hilltop that had a Hanuman temple at Pilani City, Rajasthan (outside college campus). During that time I could not distinguish between trek and walk..but it was pure adventure. Sneaking out of campus in a bike and convincing 4 of my friends to accompany me for this ordeal.
2. Next was to Vaishnavo Devi , Jammu. It was 28km stretch up and down with just 1 hr of break. Here, I managed to get around 10 people to say “yes”, but finally only 2 turned up.
3. Trek at Srisailam, near Hyderabad
4. On the banks of Ganges at Rishikesh (10km). This was accompanied by the river rafting.
5. NamaduChilumilye, near Tumkur, Karnataka
6. Erstwhile Nandi Hills, near Bangalore
7. Siddarabetta, near Bangalore
8. Thadiyanmol, Karnataka
9. Kodachadari, West Karnataka
10. Chakleshpur Railway Track, Karnataka
11. Bisle Forest again in Karnataka
12. Chembra Peak at Kerala
13. A small trek at Thiruvannamalai, Tamilnadu to see the ashrams. This was the fastest trek I have ever done.
14. Savandurga, Near Bangalore
15. Moon light trek on Magadi Road, Bangalore
16. Devarayanadurga, Near Bangalore
17. Bandipur, Karnataka
18. Tapovan, Himalayas. For more details browse other pages of my blog. This basically covered Gangotri, Gomukh and Tapovan.
19. Goa Trek - on the beaches
20. Mt.Kailash, Manasarovar lake at Tibet. The trek was just for three days while circumventing the mount.

Its candid that my treks do have a cardinality, contrary to my colleague’s conjecture. Though, I must admit that there are a myriad of memories associated!!

Monkey's Message

2007-08-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Soft little fingers clutching my shoulders, a small and delicate body touching my back…yes it took a while for me to realize that it was a Monkey. Thoughts raced my mind on what this monkey would want from me?? I immediately felt a strong pull of my wallet, which at the moment was neatly concealed in my armpit!!

I let out a shout, as any other normal person would do which stopped some of the passerby-turned onlookers. Well, it did not stop the Monkey that was keen on snatching the purse away from me. After a short tussle, I gave it up to avoid any harm. I must admit that the Monkey was very decent and smart – It got what it want without much hue and cry!! It took the purse and rested on the pavement. Money was less, I was just concerned about my credit card cos I was in a foreign land and was not quite sure about blocking my card quickly.

By then there was a crowd behind me watching all the drama…me and my friend were just patiently waiting and hoping that the Monkey would soon get disinterested with the purse and leave it off. It pulled all the cash and threw it out attaching “no value” to it! It also tried to chew up some cards without caring a damn about the spectators and being the center of attraction.

After 2-3 minutes of this ordeal, it just left the purse and went off. It was a small incident but had a very “deep” effect and made me to realize something!!

What it was – I leave that up to your imagination!!

Note : This was written just within a few hours of the event fresh from the mind, I just got to post it here today without editing it.
Event Place/Date : Kathmandu, Nepal / 28, May 2007

Tick tick 1..Tick tick 2...

2007-07-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

Time is ticking…or are we trying to do something to pass the time we have? And we top it up by saying..”Iam fighting against time”!! Irony and Illusionary!
Time is a dimension added to the life, which gave rise to words like span, limit, extension etc. In one perspective it actually limits the life that we live and we are totally ignorant of that! Thought worth pondering!

Luxury Trip

2007-07-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

The trip was to Muthathi, Bheemeshwari, Shivanasamudra falls (Baru chukki/Gagana Chukki) and Somnathpura. It was a feast to all my five senses. Cos the trip was accompanied by my pals U and R and their baggage(s) of snacks!!

There was a slight starting trouble due to a long wait for the car..looked like the driver decided to extend his sleep a little for no reason! But soon we were all set, everything was fantastic-the drive, the car, the weather, the songs played in the car and the driver too (though he was late)! Lot of prior preparation by U and R as they bought lot of goodies to eat on the way that had varieties of biscuits, chocolates, you name it and we can find that in the bag. Even the lunch was prepared. Thanks to R for cutting cucumber to ornate the veg sandwich! It was a unique experience for me as I don advocate the idea of carrying so much food on trips/treks. Well, I must say I relished the uniqueness of it.
Wonderful lunch on Cauvery banks!!

Coming to the essence of the trip, we stopped the car in the Cauvery banks near Muthathi where there were no tourists to be with nature for some time. Saw a big boy-tusker as U would call it on the way. Then we went to the Shivanasamudra falls. The water levels were less, but the force was enormous. The strange thing in the place was you can find a waterfall in every nook and corner..it was so much that actually we got tired of the falls that day. Even here, we managed to trek to a secluded spot just to get lost with the nature’s beauty. Timely comments from R and U added more flavor and fervor. After a quick discussion with the driver, we had a not so smooth drive to Somnathpura. The place was amazing as it reflected the Hoysala architure. We studied it for sometime, it had all the avatars carved out adeptly. We lingered around long enough to invite the security who asked us to leave the premises. From here we headed back to Bangalore that included a small stint of staying in the stationary car for an hour as it broke down without prior notice. Lot of photo sessions with poses to distract someone far ;-) was another highlight of the day!!

Washing the floors!?!

2007-07-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

Lakshmi, our housemaid was washing the backyard floors with water. “Maid” would not be a proper word to describe her as she is one of the civilized women compared to most of the women folks in corporate world that I have seen. Main attribute being she keeps her words and is keen on completing whatever chores she takes up. I was having a light chat with her discussing that usually we wash the floors like this only if we have festivals at home mainly Pongal. Early morning on the Pongal day, whole of my house – backyard, front yard and all the rooms get proper water wash. And we decorate the open space with Rangolis or Kolams. Being in a joint family there are lot of women in my house who indulge themselves in giving their best design and colors to the kolams. My mom reserves a corner spot for me to display my kolam skills. Interestingly it remains vacant till I wake up leisurely as it’s a holiday. I always try to fill up my favorite spot with 2 or 3 kolams as smaller ones are easier to manage..and give my earnest efforts to make them beautiful. And to my dismay till this date my kolams can never compete with my mom whose hands are adept in drawing a complicated design quickly with ease.

I also make it a point to ask my mom how is it? And always the modest answer “wow..amazing” pops up immediately. I have always relished decorating this favorite spot of mine irrespective of whether it stands apart or not among other kolams. These days I have generously given the spot to one of my cousins and of course being an art student she is definitely doing a good job than mine!

Tempo tale

2007-06-25T03:22:00.000-07:00

I was hurrying my way to bus stand and saw a small tempo ahead of me carrying packed boxes of LG -Flatron TVs. One strange thing I noted was that there were no wires or ropes tying up the boxes to the tempo, which would make the boxes more vulnerable to shakes or toppling off the tempo.

Well I just ignored the thought by another thought that said “its none of your business”. As we (myself and the tempo) were speeding up the highway, I saw the upcoming signal and slowed down a bit. The tempo guy applied a sudden break seeing the red light. The outcome was that the boxes rolled down the tempo and were on the roads.

The point here is not to find faults, but to raise the question – “Where is the accountability?” Who is the scapegoat here, is it the host company or the dealer who have ordered for the delivery of boxes or is it me?? (Thank god, I was not behind the tempo!)

And the irony is the driver and his attendant did not even realize that the boxes have fallen. I just gestured them saying their boxes are down the road and the last I saw was the attendant running towards the boxes to pick them up.

It’s very obvious that the tempo guys don even bother, as they are not concerned with the receiver or the dispatcher..

The scene ended by a thoughtful comment from my cousin stating “I could have easily fulfilled my desire of owning a LG Flatron if I was not around!!!”

Life

2007-06-21T04:52:00.001-07:00

Life is a game..jus keep playing!!
Life is a stage..jus keep enacting!!
Life is ups and downs..jus keep raftin n surfin!!
Life is what u want and what u don want..jus keep accepting!!
Life is not what you think..stop thinking!!!
After all you chose this life..keep evolving!

Another relevant quote from a spiritualist..

Nothing in the realm of thoughts or ideologies is absolute. Lean on one for long, and it collapses. Because of this, there is nothing more futile and frustrating than relying on the mind. To arrive at the unshakable, you must befriend the infinity. To do this, quiet your thinking. Stop analyzing, dividing, making distinctions between one thing and another. Simply see that you are at the center of the universe, and accept all things and beings as parts of your infinite body. When you perceive that an act done to another is done to yourself, you have understood the great truth

Introduction

2007-05-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

It was a meeting that had an agenda item called “Know your neighborhood”. And one my colleagues had a task of introducing me. In fact she was talking to me about this earlier and asked to share the one slider on me that would ease her talking. Well working in a process oriented company it was easy for me to pull that as all of us have their one-slider.

She started with my experience, studies, background and work. Suddenly she changed the angle and started revealing at personal levels about the sessions we had. She said “Iam her best friend in the company”- I was staring at my own photo front of me with gaping mouth and thorough astonishment. This was not to the fact that was being shared, but to the courage or should I say to the candidness that my dear friend was exhibiting…. heard lot of adjectives like spiritual mentor, philosopher, guide etc, and infact she shared about the joint venture that we have been planning.! I was contemplating that she would just stop with a formal intro of mine.

Well sometimes some things strike you unexpectedly. This was one such sweet surprise and it will be memorable one too. Thanks to H for making me happy!!

Mind Blowing!?!

2007-05-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

Knock Knock Knock!! Did you know that the world you live in , the body you have and the name you behold are not real – they are illusory??? When I heard this or to be more specific, when I read this my first reaction was “someone is jus kidding me out here!?!?” To add on the confusion this was said by the most eminent sages and even scriptures talk about it. Everyone seems to know it and Iam standing out as a fool trying to comprehend the stuff. I guess that there should be truth in those statements?? Well am I sounding spiritual here? – to my surprise, the answer has to be yes..!!

This blog site is dedicated for my thoughts which would be a consolidation of most of the stuff I read, I hear and of course what’s new would be my experience and reactions to such mind blowing statements – Take it literal here!! If you feel the stuff here is all absurd and bull shit, then take a deep breath and realize that by denying this you only loose.

You loose?? Now who is “you” here? As I told already there is no “you”. Sometimes you may think this is yet another moron’s blog site – To hell with this, who did ever find the concept of blogging and people start misusing it like this. The truth is now you don’t have a chance to stop me, the best thing that would suit you is switch onto other hits got in the google!

Well, for the people who decided to continue with the crap, it all started when I started to fear that I will soon loose my kith in kin as time passes by. One day “I” myself will not be here to see what’s happening on this earth if something called death happens to me. Strange!! I don even want to think about it. This started reeling in the questions in me like how can I escape this? Is there a way out? I remember my good old days when I go to temples to hear the stories said by sadhus – “Lord Rama lived happily ever after!!” was the ending statement made when Ramayana story narration came to an end. Now how long is this “ever after: eons”?? I was missing something terribly here. As is the case with anyone, I got bogged down by my own stuff – studies, school, music, tuitions and all other extra curricular activities.Never got time to think about all the stuff Iam talking here.
Finished my college and was living life as it was taking me. Made a job on campus, it was time for me to prove myself in the new company. Still din get time to ponder about the things which I want to do the most. Then switched job, my work hours were longer than the day and I was working as hard as a dog! That’s it!! All my questions got culminated and by chance I started reading books like “Unlimited power” by Anthony R. And someone did thrust a book called “Divine Romance” by Swami Yogananda. These initial books which gave different perspectives of the life I have been leading……well the journey of life still continues!! Stay tuned here to know more……..

Wow! What a book!

2007-05-26T08:34:00.000-07:00

Another wonder of Paulo coehlo “I sat down and wept on the banks of river piedra”. After alchemist, this was the second book I got hold of. A must read for any spiritual seeker. The book talks about love – like any other love story all ends well here too but with a difference, a punch that surpasses all love stories. The man sacrifices his “call” to the mankind to attain his love, which was quite unusual. Normally renouncing love is considered as the toughest. The book proves that wrong.

Well if I try to explain the story here, I would end up imitating Paulo – the least thing I wanted to do. Jus go grab the book and enjoy!

More Books..

2007-05-26T08:33:00.001-07:00

As the books I read kept growing, my quest for knowledge on subjects like life, death, body and mind were quenched to some extent. Lobsang Rampa – a Tibetan monk has shared his experiences in a series of his books. I got a chance to dive into his books – he spoke about metaphysics, astral travel, concept of overself, transmigration of souls, reincarnation , dimensions more than three..List goes on!
I liked the way he portrays things in a very simple way. It was just a consolidation of his experiences gained during the course of his lama hood. His narrative style made these concepts to come out naturally though such stuff seems to be beyond reality at first glance. His books also help an individual to practice the entire phenomenon he describes. The book “You forever” is a must read for any spiritual seeker. Well, I started off with Ana pana Sati (a technique of meditation on breath)..Really not sure when was that, but the practice was going on consistently and it WAS doing me good. Good? What is good now? :-)
After the Rampa series, I got hold of Vashista yoga. It was a comprehended version with English translation for the Sanskrit verses. “Self inquiry” is one the key concepts that it reinforces for the mankind to try. When I read it, I was stunned by the literature that came out quite blaringly. Was it all so simple? Are we trying to complicate things? The effect of “Maya” and the polarity of all things became very evident. If there is a substance that is bitter, then it need to be compensated by some stuff that is sweet..and that’s how life goes on…And its YOU who made a choice of this life, the environment you live, your parents, your figure, your language…!Well how is that sounding, I was zapped when I came to realize this. Now the question is if that’s the case why we feel that we are short of something sometimes? The answer to that is multidimensional. What you feel now could be a culmination of various feelings/thoughts which is not only yours but also from the society you live in as well. Ok, to put that straight we forgot that we chose to live like this. If we revive this from our consciousness, then things would be clear. Vashista Yoga is actually the teachings from Sage Vashista to Lord Rama. Rama was in his path of enlightenment and he had so many queries about this life. Sage Vashista answers him with lot of illustrations and I guess whoever is trying to understand his own purpose of existence should read this! The effect of karma and how one can overcome karma is wonderfully explained. The book also stresses on the knowledge gained from the scripture should be used/practiced, a person just reading the book for curiosity do not gain anything out of it.
Iam really not sure where I stand exactly with all these stuff, but one thing is for sure as a physical entity – Iam (dunoo how to refer my “self”) on my way to crack all this down!

Simple Stuff!

2007-05-26T08:32:00.001-07:00

“Are you really doing what you want to do?” How many would say a “true” yes for that question? Well it needs more than jus “guts” to really what you want to do. It may demand you to overcome all your “fears” that your mind has been tuned to. The fears that are quite natural for a mind..infact its so accustomed to those fears – it fails to realize that they are “fears”. But only the first step is difficult, once you are out of the rut…I guess you can pull on easily.
It all starts like this – you just go by how life is taking you. You may think that conscious choices and decisions are being made by you. For example if you want Thai food, you just go to a Thai restaurant and not to a Chinese outlet - its as simple as that. Lets take a step back and analyze more deeply, have all your choices been as simple as that. Picking up Thai stuff was an easy one and under your control. How easily we take such conscious choices throughout our life? The answer can be yes only if you don have even a single crib the way you are living currently..and the “yes” need to be honest and coming from deep down of your heart!!
And this is tough not because we cant do what we want, its mainly cos we don’t even know and not sure of wot we are supposed to do. Irony!!! I guess if you can make a sincere effort, you can first find what you exactly want to do and then to solve all your variances in life - YOU JUST HAVE TO DO IT!!! Its definitely as simple as selecting a “Thai” food joint.

Savandurga

2006-12-28T01:09:00.000-08:00

After a long break, I was all set to attend one another mountain’s or should I say a monolithic rock’s call? Yes, this time it was a one-day trek to Savandurga, 60km from Bangalore. Four of us joined together for this one-day fun activity. Well was it just fun?
7 AM was the time that we are supposed to meet and we made it by 7:30AM, which is very good on a Saturday morning. S got his car and we drove through the new four lane Mysore road to reach Magadi road. The drive was spectacular with good roads and the green scenery around for certain distance. And of course the lively chatting added flavor to this. One of the topics that was scrutinized is about a group that lost its way in Savandurga and it seems they spent a whole night in-between two rocks. Well, we(being avid trekkers) just discarded the topic as if it would never happen to us. Infact we went to the extent of saying that the group may have got lost intentionally :-).That was the wave of confidence in the air. Stopping for a quick breakfast, we continued our journey and reached the foot of the rock. Said a big “no” to the guides around who were offering to take us to the top of the hill. That was just another bout of our confidence!

Initial few steps were a bit steep, the stone was very slippery and few of us had a bit difficult time in doing the ascent. The shoes were blamed for the same, as they could not provide the grip that was needed to trek on a wet stone. With helping hands around, we crossed that stretch. Slow and steady we did the trek, climbed, jumped over the rocks and followed the arrow marks that were leading to the summit. The weather was perfect for the trek and many other groups also accompanied us that day.

Few breaks, photo sessions, views of the panorama, mandaps and small water pools added excitement. Finally we were on the top. Strong winds were swooshing us and this welcome was more than the relief of jus reaching the top.

There was a basava(Nandi) on the top of the hill. We reached the top from the backside of the basava. And we were surprised to realize that we covered this ordeal of climbing up within 2 hours..amazing..we are definitely good trekkers!! So it was decided that we stay much longer than planned at the top. It was time for snacks, juice and a nap.
The next few moments I don’t know what happened, as I was lost in the beauty of the winds that can be felt more than seen – the winds had so much power and the nudge from it was really enchanting. Reluctantly we started the descent down and with the surety that in 1.5 hour we would be in the car heading Bangalore. We estimated 1.5 hour cos the descent is easy than the ascent! The time was 3:30 PM.

I was personally sad thinking that the day trek is coming to an end so fast. Disguising that with a smile, I joined the others in getting down. Suddenly we were stopped by a huge rock that came as an obstacle. To cross that we need to do a steep jump or take a round about route. Three of us preferred to take the round about way, and H could do the steep climb inspite of a sprain in his leg. We (three of us) were confidently getting down and ensured that we followed the arrow marks that were going down. Strangely the path was very different from the one that took us to the top. We did not bother about that until the last arrow mark that had a note in kannada saying (Ganesha Idol). We were stunned to see that we have reached a big Ganesha Idol in an open area. Happy about the darshan of Ganesha-which was uncalled for, we realized that the arrows were not leading us down. It looked like a dead end. By then one of us saw the basava on the top and it was facing us directly..which means we have started from the back of basava and instead of reaching down , we came all the way to the front. We quickly put our thinking caps of what to do next. It was around 5:00 PM by then. We decided to call H – one lucky member of the team who decided not to come with us earlier, to ask about this place and the route back from here. We never thought the need of getting in touch with a person would become so disgusting when the phone connections are feeble. We could only manage the exchange of “hi(s) ” and “hello(s)”. After sending him a message, we discussed about our next course of action. One way is to retrace all the way to top and start the descent again in the right direction. Or just wait there, somehow get a guide with the help of H and come down. We gave ourselves a half hour time to get in touch with H, which failed miserably and we just had the option of going to the top again. Actually we had some tough stunts to do while reaching this place - somehow managed them thinking “we were anyways going down”. Now the idea of “action retake” of all these stunts gave an uncomfortable feeling. Another thought that was haunting us was our discussion about anyone getting lost in such a simple monolithic rock….we were just experiencing it !!
We started our way back up and slowly reached the mandap a few feet before the basava and tried to get in touch with H-by then we had shared a few messages. It seemed that H had reached the mandap a half hour ago to meet us there and the plan was to get down together. But he went down thinking it wud be too late for him to get any help if he had stayed further. It was becoming dark by then. We waited at the Mandap discussing whether we shld do the trek in the dark. We din succeed when there was light and the optimism of trek down without help just faded out. We also bounced the idea of staying in the mandap all night incase no help comes our way. Meanwhile we got a message from H, saying two guides are on their way with hand lights and water to rescue us..yes..RESCUE us J. We were waiting and got excited by any moving light in the tracks down. We forgot about food, water and our tiredness. Finally we saw the lights and the guides helped us back down. The guides said that such a rescue was nothing new for them and also advised that staying up whole night was not a good idea as there are some wild animals in the arena. It was one of the fast descents that I have ever done. It was steep-but as the light was not enough, we were just keeping foot after foot to reach down. We made it in half a hour!!

It was a glad reunion at the bottom of the hill..similar to “happily ever after” climax scenes in the movies. Thanks to H for the rescue mission! We did give some tips to the same guides whom we neglected when we started the trek. We headed to Bangalore after that and almost dozed of with the fancies and whims of the trek - except for S, who was driving the car smoothly as if nothing happened…after all the wonderful drama!!

What a Sunday!?

2006-05-30T00:14:00.000-07:00

This time it was a casual question “what’s the weekend plan?” that turned out as a trip to Shriranagapattana(SR Pattana in short). U and myself were working on Saturday, which left only Sunday in our precious weekend. U was keen on going to SR Pattana to enquire her favorite deity. I joined her with the intention of covering a few places near by after the enquiry! After a debate we decided on 6:30 AM as our start time – very very early to be awake on a Sunday. We boarded a bus to Mysore at Majestic and set off to our destination. The ride on the Mysore road was amazing – the best companion that we had on that day was the weather – it was perfect for travel. After a quick breakfast at Mandya, we continued our journey. We felt that our bus was very slow as every other object on the road that was coming from the back zoomed ahead of us. It was almost three hours and we reminded the driver about our stop. After some time, the window at the back of the driver opened and he saw us – we decoded that as our call to get down.

The bus left us on a main road – we entered the SR Pattana bus stand and enquired about the temple. We got into a rick to traverse a distance of 1km to reach the temple. While traveling we also struck a good deal with the rick guy to go around places over there. Contented with our deal and the plan for the day, we entered an old temple that had a similar architecture of temples at Tamil Nadu. To our surprise, the crowd was manageable. It was an awesome sight to the see the smiling face of the Lord. We lost ourselves for a few minutes, got back and visited other deities around. After a couple of photo sessions in the Mandaps and with “Aannais” , we left the temple. Then we were off to discern the history of the place. It looked like Tipu Sultan had a lot of association with this place – we visted his Palace, Durgas, Masjid and Gumbaz. The museum had a very good collection of coins, ornaments, dresses and furniture that were used during 1700s.One observation made by U – all portraits and paintings of the lineal dynasty has been created by the white men. The expressions in the eyes of the Sultans were so real and sparkling! My friend liked the fifth son of Tipu as he was looking smart! After the stint in refreshing our minds with little history – we went to the next place “Triveni Sangam”. This place is the culmination of three rivers – our hunt for a place to sit and watch the river peacefully went in vain. I would only say that the beauty of the place has been defiled. We tried to capture the far away river in the camera, which quenched our thirst of drowning in the serenity of the place to a certain extent.

Our next stop was Ranganthittu – the bird sanctuary. According to the rick guy this was the right season to visit the place. So with the hope of spotting a variety of birds we went to the haven. There was a slight drizzle and it increased the splendor of the place. We took a boat ride in the river to get a close glimpse of the birds. We spotted Open beak Stork, Painted Stork, White Ivis and other brids whose names were not known to us. An astonishing thing is we could always spot a group of birds and we assumed them to be of same variety that turned wrong when we realized that one group actually has a variety of birds. We could see huge nests and some birds were fast asleep. My friend thanked me for the opportunity to exploit her photography skills – she managed a couple of good shots of the flying birds too. It was very nice to watch the flora and fauna around us.

After a quick snack cum lunch at 4:00PM, we headed towards Bangalore. We really still could not believe the way we spent that superb Sunday!

Tapovan

2006-05-21T03:21:00.000-07:00

Week 1

Dreams....each one of us has a variety of dreams to pursue, ponder, cherish and transform them into a reality. One such longing in my mind has taken its due nurturing for quite some years to become a reality. And the reasons for such a longing to lodge are multiple - I like to trek or may be I just want to keep a few steps in the mighty Himalayas or was it the strong inspiration flowing from my bro? It could be anything and that does not matter now.
So, the planning for tapovan trek started with full gusto – we were a team of 6. After ransacking shops like Wildcraft, Eastern Store, Nike and Adidas we were all set for the D day of May 1st, 2006. First it was Bangalore airport – Thanks to V and her husband for not minding to drop me at the airport sharp 4AM- then it was Delhi airport, ISBT, oranges for lunch and finally Rishikesh! The eminent guide Shambu was all ready to receive and put us in a hotel. It was a ramble at Rishikesh that nite – Ganges banks, Chotiwala(a renowned hotel), ghanna juice, freshly baked biscuits and aloo tikkis. We had dinner and slept with the exciting visions of forth coming days. Next stop was at Uttarkashi, a beautiful place – the hotel we stayed was facing the mountains and a slight drizzle was accompanying us always. Another interesting thing about the hotel is that we need to enter through its terrace and go down the steps for the rooms. Then I realized that this funda holds good for most of the houses there due to its terrain – except that it was very strange! After relishing the home made food, we had a nice talk about our childhood days. It was such a lively discussion and I was amused to note the commonality that exists between us. This made us to turn the pages of our lives to 15 years back…and the “chaaya(s)” given by the lady added more flavor to the conversations. Then it was wandering at Uttarakashi – more ransacking for chocolates, dry fruits, trendy pouches and delicious samosas, which I missed. Following this was the dinner, “beer” time and sleep. Next day we were on the move to Gangotri – our onward journey always had the Ganges to our right side. Camping at Gangotri gave us the hint about our future stays in the tents. Apart from our team, we had another team of porters who would be carrying tents and food for our trek. Our last minute shopping included sweaters from Harshil, after the fresh pinch of cold and plastic papers for rains from Gangotri. We visited the temple there and sought blessings of “Ganga Mayya”. That night was colored by the candle light dinner, rising moon and stars, silhouette of mountains and of course melodious songs from each one of us.

“The” Trek

With our bags and sleeping bags, we geared up for the long trek that awaited us. The pace was slow and steady. The path that we were treading was narrow, sometimes had cliffs’ opening to ravines, Ganges below and the area around was enveloped by scarce vegetation. We were thrilled to see all this and also the mountains that were ahead of us. The fact that we would be there made our steps stronger. One smart thing that we did was to offload some of our stuff at Uttarkashi, which made our bags comparatively lighter. While walking, suddenly a group of people would zoom past us with a heavy load on their backs – they were none other than the porters going up and down. We were really dumbstruck with the speed they were traversing. We could only justify and convince ourselves by saying that – “ah! They do it daily and that’s y they r fast!” Another amazing thing is we met a German lady, who was 52 and had the objective of covering Tapovan within a day. Her charisma could only inspire us more. We reached Chirbasa, 9km from Gangotri and camped there that night. What came next was tea(s), biscuit(s) and lunch. Shambu’s specialty was hot garlic soup and veg noodles. We devoured them crazily throughout our trek. Campfire saved us a bit from the dashing cold and we did try to play some games with difficulty. Armed with sleeping bags against the cold we could sleep to some extent in the tents. After a quick toast for the breakfast in the morning, we headed towards Gomukh - 18km from Gangotri. We saw a place called Bhojbasa at 14km from Gangotri. Some people do camp at Bhojbasa as well. On the way, we did stop for good views, snaps, to munch and also had breaks near streams. One of us did have a slight breathing problem- his bag was taken by others and we did take rests frequently. But I must say that we were doing pretty well. We reached Gomukh around afternoon and the guide was checking out a camping area devoid of landslides. Landslides are another usual phenomena which we should be cautious of and we could always hear them happening in the mountains around us. After a quick rest, we strolled to reach near the Gomukh glacier. The glacier was looking like a cave - the rocky ice was falling as it keeps melting due to the sun and flows as the serene Ganges! It was such a breath taking site and matched the team’s usual phrase of “snow melting and water trickling”! We were almost sitting inside the Gomukh glacier which is a very risky thing to do. Few of us crossed the river and took snaps. The scene literally mesmerized us. It was soon time for us to leave to the camp site.

While coming back, an interesting thing happened - it was raining snow which we experienced for the first time and it was nice to see white spherical objects falling around us. This time our camp was in a vast plain area surrounded by the mountains – it was very windy, extremely cold with the sound of landslides. Infact we started having food inside the tents and food was the only thing that alleviated the existing environmental factors. We had three layers of clothing on us and a sleeping bag that night to fight the cold. Next morning we were relieved to start for Tapovan – this time the trek was on the rocks and glacier. There was no defined path, we were just following the guide. Here, we need to watch our steps to avoid falling into a glacier as the rocks sometimes opens up and you go deep down the chasm. Jumping and moving on rocks is fun as long as you don fall. One thing that was very challenging here were the steep climbs. The path of 600m took almost 2 hours for us to trek. The Ganges in between was the only motivating element – we took breaks near the stream to freshen ourselves. It was a great relief to reach Tapovan at last. Our hard work got its reward very soon – we were welcomed by a slope of a mountain covered with snow. Forgetting our lunch and tiredness - we started skating, playing and ‘snow hitting’ each other. It was fun. Then we retired to our camps – had our packed lunches of Paranthas & Pickle. Inspite of the food being very delicious we were bored by its monotony – which led to visualizations of Pongal, Idlis, Samosas and Chutney. In the evening we went to the lake of Akash Ganga – place where the water, mountains and clouds merge! The water was pure blue in color and very still reflecting the mountains around. It was such a striking sight. It seems there is an agreement with the people(mostly Babas) to use this water only for drinking purpose. While crossing the rocks there, I had a fall into the waters of Akash Ganga – that made me holy and the fall gave a physical mark on my left hand.I was very lucky to just get away with that. As I was recuperating from the fall, others moved around the lake – it was snow and snow everywhere. We did a few clicking sessions and then started towards the camp. The way back again had a “snow walk” – sometimes your foot would go 2 ft down the snow. The guide taught us good techniques to avoid this and walk easily on the snow. As soon as we reached the camp, they gave us hot soups which were equivalent to “Amirthams” at that point in time. That night was the peak as far as cold is concerned – it seems the temperature reached till -3. Morning, we could see snow on top and sides of our tents. Thank god! We survived it.
Next day we started for Nandanvan – the guide gave us the hint that the routes were very risky as the snow has not yet melted still during that time of the year. We were weighing the options available to us and finally decided to go near Shivling, Chota Shivling peaks and Kailash dome. We could catch the glimpse of the beautiful valley of Nandanvan and Gangotri glaciers beneath us. Also we did snow “sitting & skating” and thoroughly enjoyed each moment. While coming back five of us lost our way and our guide was far ahead of us. We were in such a place that there were no souls around to enquire and what you could see is jus the mountains all around you. Since we had a veteran trekker(who had been to Tapovan 3 times already) we could come back safely. On our way back, we also visited the ashram of Shimla Baba.

After a quick lunch, we started trekking back – the plan was to go till Chirbasa. We made it after a long break at Gomukh. The stunning scene at Gomukh was that the place where we were sitting 2 days before was submerged by Ganges – the river was very wild and it was very muddy. Later we get to know that there was a huge break of the glacier due to rains and infact a lady became a victim of the ferocious Ganges. The trek back was very long and strenuous as we covered more distance than usual. As soon as we reached Chirbasa we had tea and sleep. Next day we went to Gangotri and boarded the sumo back to Uttarkashi, That evening in Uttarkashi we had a gala time relishing the food in the streets – Chickanjees, Masala chaats, Chaaya(s) and Samosas. The funny thing is that we would enter a hotel - eat, come out and enter the adjacent hotel immediately..such was our thirst for the variety in the food. Then it was sweets’ time – hot jelabis, Rasamalais, Gulab jamuns and Pedas. I have never eaten like that in my life, though it was very common to the other folks around. It did not stop here – we went to a juice shop and ordered for large glass of juice – which apparently turned out a flop cos the glass was in the size of a water bottle with a huge radius. We restricted ourselves to medium sized glass that would be 4 times the normal glass. I must say that we became a “Gluttons’ group” that day due to our eating spree.

Week 2

As we did not make it to Nandanvan, we planned for Badrinath to use the extra days. We used the same guide , who took care of the sumo, hotels and food all the time. Well, using the same guide din not come out as a good decision, but we all just lived with that. The drive to Badri was amazing – it was via Shrinagar(in Uttaranchal), Chamoli – a beautiful village and Rudraprayag -junction point to go to Kedar and Badri. The temple at Badri was small but very powerful. Hot springs were another specialty there. It seems Badri is opened only for 6 months to humans and the other 6 months the temple is closed and it’s believed that the Gods do the pooja during that time. In the evening we went to a nearby place called Mana, a tourist spot. It had lot of caves – like Ganesh cave, Veda Vyasa cave etc. This place also opens up lot of treks to Kalandi pass, Kedar and other routes. One interesting thing here is we had Herbal Tea in the “last” Indian tea shop – actually the place was very close to the Chinese border and hence such a name to the tea shop – “Bharat khi Aakhiri Chaai Dukhan”. We bought hand woven sweaters and caps from the inhabitants there. That night we stayed at Badri and next we were off to another scenic place called Auli. We booked for the ropeway ride at 1:00PM and to kill the time we went to a Shankaracharya temple. “Kill the time” affair turned out to be a memorable one as the place was peaceful, it had a Kalpa Vriksh, a small Shiv temple, a cave, where Adi Shankarachrya and Thotakacharya meditated and the Shankar Mutt. One thing to note here was the tight security given for the premises mainly to protect the tree. Couple of us bought few “Rudraksha” stuff from the temple. After this we headed for the ropeway ride – around 25 of us were accommodated in a cable car and it passed through the tropical terrains of Auli. During January, the place would be a terrific skiing spot – It was so inspiring that few of us planned to visit Auli next January. They left us on the top of the cliff for 40 minutes to chill out. We relished the veg pakodas and chaaya(s) there. Horse riding was another happening event there. The ride back also revealed the pastures, log huts, sheeps and green valleys beneath us.
After this we started our journey back to Rishikesh – the way we traveled constituted of steep turns, hilly terrains and Ganges to the left this time. We could also spot fresh landslides – at certain points they had installed the bull dozers stationary to clear off the roads as and when necessary. It was raining very heavily as we reached Rudraprayag that night. Another fact that was shared by our guide was that while traveling if any “Gujjar”(shepherd) comes in front of you then it’s a indication of rain. But Iam really not sure how to evade them. Next day we reached Rishikesh – few of us went for rafting and I opted to freak out at Rishikesh. The foreigners outnumber the Indians there at certain places – they use the bikes to move around. We did some shopping – scoured a book shop, whose collection was amazing. We sauntered around for most of the day, explored some beautiful spots nears Ganges, did boating and visited a few temples. We could spot the most hi-fi internet browsing centers that dotted the streets of Rishikesh. We visited a coffee shop facing the banks of Ganges that served the most exquisite cuisine suiting to the tastes of the foreigners as well. We marked a few spots as our favorites to visit them next time..infact we went to the extent of planning out a few future weekends at Rishikesh. As all good things come to an end, we started seeing the end of this trip as that night we were supposed to leave to Delhi and catch the flight to Bangalore.
The “Dabba” bus that we boarded from Rishikesh broke down in-between and we need to get into another bus to continue our journey. We were all dead tired, almost drifted off to sleep in the rick from ISBT to airport. Quickly refreshing at airport we boarded the flight back to Bangalore. The air, traffic at the city, imminent visions of work tried to engulf our wonderful memories and they failed miserably, cos this trek and its accompanying thoughts would always be evergreen in our minds, close to our hearts and would invite a broad smile to our faces!!

Bisle

2006-02-24T04:16:00.000-08:00

It all started when I got acquainted with a person who shared a couple of dreams of mine..Yes the trekking spree in Western Ghats had begun!

First it was Tadiyanmol, second the Kodachadri ranges and the third one was Bisle forest which would be described here. As usual we left Bangalore at around 10:30PM on Friday. Having a break in-between for tea, we all reached the post of Bisle forest by 6:00AM. The group had a few first time enthusiastic trekkers. It was relaxation time for the next one hour. Some of us caught up with sleep and me being a light sleeper went out to the nature with a cup of hot tea. It was as if all the energies of the nature are getting into me and the tea supplemented this rejuvenation.

After freshening up and a quick breakfast, our trek started with all hustle and bustle. The first stop point was the “beauty spot”. I was wondering the whole place in itself was beautiful and why the discrimination with in nature itself…but I was wrong for a moment as soon as I saw the gigantic mountains and a river in-between at the spot – it was such a treat to the eyes. What followed next was a lot a posing for group photos!

The trek continued in the dense forest, it was greenery everywhere and the walking on dry leaves was fun. The sound of rivers Giriole and Kumaradhara was soothing our hearts as we crawled through the thick terrains of the tropical forest. As per the guide, we are supposed to see Russel Vipers, boars and elephants. What we did actually could spot was the fresh dung of the elephants  We took a break for lunch on the banks of Giriole..we just ravaged the delicious lunch and then played with fast flowing river. The water was amazing and it did more than jus quenching our pangs of thirsts. The trek continued and we finally reached the camp place at around 5:00PM. Well the camp jus had two raised platforms – supposedly one for women and the other for men folks. We were welcomed by sweet limejuice at the camp. Then came the tougher part, when the trek leader announced that we need to go for another 300m trek to get our bags from the van. Little did we realize that the 300m distance would include a strenuous river crossing and a steep climb! Helping each other we got our bags to the camp. This was followed by an interesting interaction program that had varying topics of discussion like sensors on aircraft carriers, brain mnemonics, traffic engineering and other shades of grey!

After sumptuous dinner, we had cultural activities and then we hit the bed of raised platforms. Sleeping in the open forest was a thrill, cos we were surrounded by dense trees and dry leaves were falling all over the place whenever there is a light breeze. It was such a memorable sleep! After the chores in the morning we started from our beautiful camp for a nature trail, where in we tried to collect the samples of flora and fauna and discuss them with the group. That session was really enlightening as we got to discover new facts about the forest, wildlife behavior etc. After the break fast, we again hit the 300m path to keep our bags in the van. This time we crossed the river with skill that was gained the previous day.
The second day trek started and the interesting thing about this was we just plunged into the deep forest with a guide, crossed the river thrice before reaching the final spot at 4:00PM. River crossing needs the talent of jumping in the right rocks to save ourselves from diving down into the river. and of course to avoid wetting our shoes. From the final spot we reached Bangalore by 1:00AM. On the whole it was such a wonderful experience and this was justified by the feedback comments that everyone shared.

The words used here sometime may camouflage our real experiences of the trek and if you really want to experience – you should go for this trek!