Yelagiri

December 15 - 17, 2006

This time, almost a year ago, we were thinking of how to meet, where to meet and places to visit. Ya, a long time online buddy was coming to Chennai - home visit - and wanted to go for a short trip. And ya, I wanted to go for a trip too - it had been quite some time since I travelled long distance.


We settled on Yelagiri for a weekend trip. This place is between Bangalore and Chennai - about 170 km from Bangalore and 210 km from Chennai (Madras). So, on December 15, I met my long-time online buddy and his friend at Chennai Central Railway Station. We took a train to Jolarpet - and I learnt to play Bluff (I hope I got the name right!) along the way. From Jolarpet, it was a bus ride to Yelagiri.

The bus filled with baskets and gunny bags - which Was a handy extra seat or stumbling block, depending on how you look at it. Late in the evening, we reached Yelagiri - we were dropped off at what seemed to be a marketplace. Within a few minutes, we had a couple of people promoting their lodges. For the first time, I went to a place without booking a place in advance and checked out places before we checked in one of the lodges right there on the main road.

After a quick wash and settling down, we went out to have dinner. After dinner at the hotel near the lodge, we decided to walk around. At about 9pm, the place was deserted. Nothing new for a village! So, we walked in pitch darkness - no streetlights, no vehicles, no lights from houses - just us and a little torch shining bright :) After walking around, we got back and the two school buddies started the who's-doing-what-these-days talk. For me, it was time to sleep!

The next day, we woke up early, had a good breakfast, and headed out into the forest. We were planning to walk all the way - but then, we were told we'd be better off if we go in an auto to a village nearby and then start our trek. So, we got an auto to drop us at the next village.

As we were getting off, there was this old man with his two cows walking by. Simon and Amit asked him how far is the waterfalls and if he'd take us through the forest. He looked at the three of us, and asked "Really??" Well, he had to be assured more than once that we were capable of walking long distance. Once he was convinced, he said he'd take us. Before that, he had to leave the cows at home. This elderly man, left his towel nearby, asked us to stay there and went back saying he'd return soon!

And true to his word, he was back in a little while - off we went along the narrow path that took us into the forest. And a couple of meters in, he said that his wife told him to ask for 100Rs - for taking us around. He seemed to be that innocent villager - even inviting us to stay over at his place. And then, even as we were resting in the shade of a tree, he asked if I don't have to go to school! He thought I had run away from home :(

We walked through the forest, and reached this waterfall almost at the bottom of the hill - the Jalagamparai Falls. It isn't about the waterfall as much as it is about the walk down there - one of those places where you can say the path matters more than the destination.

All the way, we were treated to folklore and songs by 'thatha' (meaning 'grandfather') as called him. He sang to us, advised us to study well, said I remind him of his granddaughter, wanted to know if our parents knew where we were...

After that long walk through the forest, we reached the waterfalls and the temple nearby. As I said earlier, it isn't a very spectacular falls. By the time we reached the waterfalls, it was afternoon. After a short break at the falls, we walked around to the nearest shops right outside. After biscuits, snacks, and water, we realised that the next bus would reach this place a couple of hours later [:O]

Do we wait? Well, we decided to walk along the road instead of waiting there for the bus. So, we went off again - walking on the road - hoping to see a bus on the other side. We walked and we walked - it is one of the unforgettable experiences in my life - walking around the rural areas, with no concern for time. So, we walked and walked and walked - until thatha got tired.

We walked by a couple of villages, roads lined on either side by sugarcane and cotton fields, the tar road used for drying bagasse. We came across a place where they were making jaggery - those huge pots over a big fire with a just a small opening for them to push the bagasse into the fire! And then, there were these two kids who wanted me to take a picture of their little brother.

Finally, we sat down under a huge banyan tree which was supposed to be the bus stop. As we waited, the people nearby came to enquire about us - where we are from and so on. When I set the camera on timer and took a picture, they were amazed at the camera that takes a picture of it's own and one of them was in awe of the mind that created this :)

And the bus came a little later - we went to Thirupathur, had a late lunch, and then boarded the bus to Yelagiri - once more, we went up the hill. After dinner, we walked along those quiet roads - not a single horn, no TV blaring in someone's house... the only sound you could hear were of the insects and frogs. I think it was closer to new moon, 'coz it was a starlit night - I don't remember seeing the moon - all that I can remember are the stars, the dark roads, and the sounds of the insects.

When we got back, we started Bluff again - until it was really really late. The next morning, we went boating in the lake out there, spent some time wal
ki

ng around and then returned to the cottage. The boat ride was real fun - it was quite a long ride and was real fun go that far! When we got back to the cottage, we walked around the garden, took a lot of pictures, played in the swing... and soon, it was time to leave.

As we were walking to the bus stop, we saw the bus to Jolarpet start off. Simon, the sprinter, ran and got the bus to stop - and we got the last seat of the bus - we sat there eating crispies and sweets we used to have when we were kids.... And we were on our way back - to our work, each in a different location...

For more Pictures, go to Yelagiri

Desk Doodles

This is the state of my desk :) Ya, I know, it looks more like a whiteboard ...my secret pastime... Normally, I don't take pictures - I don't think they are great enough to be pictures - 'coz most of they are scribbles so bad, the house keeping guys don't miss a chance to clean my desk :P So, took a pic of this one by chance - sent it to a friend, and he liked it! So, here it is for all to see? Any comments?

Srisailam

It started in a conversation that was going anywhere and nowhere...yes, I was chatting with Llewellyn ....and then, he asked what's up for the weekend and I said ...nothing...

In the next few minutes, we had zeroed on Srisailam - pending our 'illustrious' Imtiaz Bhai's confirmation... After that, I scourged through the net for all that I can find on Srisailam and ran home.... I had plans ...but dozed off.... until I heard 'your 20 minutes start now' ....well, it was Llewellyn’s call….all I could manage was ‘make it 30 minutes’ and rushed to get ready…

Half an hour later, at 11:15pm, we were on our way and reached Mannanur at 2.40 am….. we had to wait till 6am – coz vehicles aren’t allowed in the night…. So, we parked and went to sleep….

I got up around 5:40….the place was filled with vehicles of all sizes….small carriers, lorries and trucks, cars and so on…not the quiet place we had reached earlier that night. And people were pretty casual….only until they heard the vehicle at the beginning of the line start – a lorry –…. At the sound of that engine everyone hurried to their own vehicle and started…and soon that place was like a starting line of a race…. Everyone testing their engine ….and raring to go….

The moment the gate was opened, it was a free for all…blaring horns, noisy engines, and flying dust replaced the quiet and serene environ…wish I had a video of that few mins…the change from the calm and quiet morning to the blaring horns….

We let everyone go by,….and started off at the end of the line….as we went by, we found peacocks grazing…we stopped by the road to watch the sun rise below the sizzling power lines….after a few more stops, we reached the first view point…went through the bridge and then up to Srisailam….

After breakfast at the Punnani restaurant, we were hoping to get on the ropeway and the go to the dam…unfortunately, ropeway wasn’t working ….quite a disappointment…so we walked down to the dam – the 650 steps, at least that is what they said - went boating and by the time we got back, we were quite tired…. And since Imtiaz Bhai had refused to come with us…we told him there were a max of 350 steps….to which he asked ‘one way or both together’!!!!!
I got to say it was quite a sunny day….not a day where you can stand out in the sun for long…in spite of all the water around, the place was dry and hot….so, we started on our way back…. A lot slower because of the umpteen stops….
At one place, we went beyond a gate at the viewpoint…and got some wonderful pics of rocks and the dam…all the close-up shots of those rocks and trees growing from them are from this place…
Then we stopped along the bridge….and again it was a good place for some pictures…and ya, some of these pictures show you vast land – the kind of vastness you don’t expect to find all that often…
Another great place was this dam on our way back…it was post-lunch…after a lunch where I couldn’t help laugh at some of Imtiaz Bhai’s gyan to that hotelier….and the way he did it…
After we got out, we came across this kinda dam we had crossed in the middle of the night when we were going to Srisailam…while the two of us wanted to go up and check the dam on the other side, Imtiaz Bhai wasn’t all that enthusiastic…. I don’t knw why….but he refused to do any climbing or walking that day….
So, he stopped and asked an old man who said there is no water at all….but then, we found steps leading to the top,….insisted he stop and went up….and was it beautiful…it was wonderful…and I wont forget the way this guy got on a plank and went all the way, paddling with his hands….it was amazing…time and again, makes me wonder, how big is man? Often, we tend to forget that man is like a small speck on the face of earth…. So let me end that gyan now….
From there it was a series of stops and we reached Hyd after 6….by the time we came to the other end to our homes, it was close to 9…. And that was the end of yet another traveling weekend...

Hampi

July 12, 2007

Finally, the day came to travel - to pick up my bag and do some traveling. It was serious travel after quite some time and was looking forward to this day. From Hyderabad, it was just the two of us, me and my friend, going to Hospet. We reached Hospet around 6:30 am - almost an hour behind schedule. But then, it didn’t really matter because we were waiting for another two to join us - Amir and his friend.

Hampi
As we were getting off the bus at Hampi, we were swamped by tourist operators and guides. It took some effort to get out of that crowd offering guides, hotels, and even books about Hampi. That was the first minute in Hampi.

Setting out and setbacks!
Soon we set off to see the ruins in and around Hampi. We walked to the nearest ruins - three temples. We walked around, went in - all the while clicking away with our digital cameras - thanks to the unlimited (almost) storage space! We came back to the entrance and my buddy began to set his tripod for his medium format camera - and there came the watchman saying we should have prior permission to use tripods. He said we can get permission from the Archeological Society. So, off we went to get the permission, only to be told there that they do not have the authority and we have to get the permission in Bangalore! However, they also said that we should be able to use the tripod in most of the places.

Going around Hampi
At the end of the day, we came to the river. Need to say, the steps aren’t the cleanest. I was wondering if the buffaloes and elephants use the steps to the river!

The Mango Tree and dinnerHaving heard a lot about The Mango Tree from people who’d already been to Hampi, I was quite curious to check it out. It wasn’t just about the food - I was told that the ambience and the view is great too. And, I wasn’t disappointed. If you really want to wind down when you are at Hampi, you should go to this place. And remember to sit outside (on the floor) under the tree - overlooking the river. You get an awesome view from that place of the river and the hills.

So, it was at Mango Tree that we spent more than 2 hours there - chatting, joking, getting to know each other, and, of course, relishing the food. It was the first time I mixed lime soda for myself! And not surprisingly, it bubbled over :) after which I learnt to be careful mixing lime, salt and soda. For me, that evening is filled with a lot of memories - plenty of little things… like Prathibha reacting to a cat as if it were a monster (am sure she’s not gonna like this:), Amir making us sit still for 30 seconds coz of the low shutter speed, sharing the food, trying to figure out if that white thing they served was mayonnaise or chutney, ….

Click here, for more Pictures of Hampi

I went on a trip…

Me and my friend, we are traveling together – happily walking around the streets of this exotic locale. It is more of those historic locales (not ruins!) – exquisite houses and beautiful lanes, cheerful people, and so on. As we stand there talking to someone, we hear the drum beats – not that incessant loud ones – but more like the marching kinds. We stand there listening for a min – if we were dogs, you could see our ears prick up – and there we hear it again.

All of a sudden, our friend pushes us inside the house nearby! My friend rushes in and I try to get in behind her. Fear and danger is in the air. You can feel it everywhere – in the air you breathe, in the eyes of the strangers and friends. I've hardly gotten my entire self inside, those people came and asked for us. They protected us – they lied to those people. We were saved – albeit for a while.

We sit there chatting, my protector and I, about the little things in life. It's night time and everyone’s going to sleep.

Soon, someone comes running in - out of breath – and says we were seen by those people. Those people had seen us in the neighboring street and are bound to search the houses in the neighborhood. That panic finds its home in us.

Where do we hide? The big question for the moment – we need some place for the two of us. I look up and see the things piled up in the attic – old boxes, unused things. We’d hide behind those things. So, up goes my friend and I give her our bags and shoes and climb up. We lie down, hoping they don’t bring dogs.

Soon, those people come and search the house – and leave without finding us. Once they’ve left, we get down, bring those bags and shoes down too. Oh, I can’t find one of my shoes, and there it is in that corner.
Oh, look at that man staring at us – time to find another safe place. Get ready fast, let’s go…

Did we find a safe place? Did they find us? I don’t know…I woke up – my alarm’s ringing…time to get up and get started with the day!

Mysore Zoo

My recent visit to Mysore Zoo was as unplanned as the visit to Mysore itself. I had planned to spend my weekend in Bangalore and ended up traveling to Mysore instead!

So, after wandering the streets all evening, the next morning we headed to the Zoo. We were welcomed by none other than the giraffes -- I don't remember seeing another giraffe so close - so tall and huge!

May be, that raised the expectations - seeing those huge animals wandering around in that enclosed space - so close I began to wonder if they could reach out and bite!

And then, there were all the birds in enclosures so small, you feel sorry for them. Especially, it was quite a pathetic sight to see the bigger birds in such small enclosures. And, then, we came upon a peacock, showing off his feathers - though behind a fine mesh. I could think of nothing other than beauty behind bars!

There were so many birds - I only wish they were in larger enclosures and not-so-fine mesh cages!

Just as we were walking along the tiger's enclosure, we came upon
a large group of travelers. Well, there was some political conference in Mysore and a lot of people had come from other states. This group, I presume, was one of those groups come for the conference - with the tell-tale white-n-white of political parties, they stood out wherever they went. Among them, were these two men with big turbans. I couldn't resist a couple of pictures of them. They went together all the time, pointing at animals, talking to each other, watching the crowd. I wonder if they were aware of the fact that they were turning quite a few heads!

There was this gorilla which was showing off - was seated on a tree like he owns the place, watching over the rest and was yawning every few minutes! And, there was the contemplative Rhino hiding away all that strength and looking like one of the docile creatures you'd ever see.

After the usual fare of zebras, deers, and baboons, we were heading towards the elephants. There were a lot of school children walking around with drawing boards and color pens. When one of those kids came and asked where the elephants are, we guessed there must be some competition out there. So, we also headed off towards the elephants. Along the way, we came across this very noisy tree - now, the tree wasn't noisy; just that, we had to walk a li'l further and get to the other side to see the bats on the tree.

There were quite a few elephants out there - frolicking in the open space. Of all animals, they seemed to have the most freedom. In fact, you could walk into the enclosure -if you could ignore the 'Do not cross this point' board placed there. While elephants were wandering about, this side of the fence, children were immersed in their paintings.

After spending a li'l longer, watching the elephants, it was time to get back. On our way back, we came across another enclosure full of baboons - one naughty little one was so active, we just stood there watching him play :)

And, that was the morning at the zoo! Well, in some instances, I thought the Hyderabad Zoo a lot better - more space for the animals, not very far from our viewpoints, well maintained. My gripes about the Hyd Zoo remains though! How can I forget the way people behaved - growling and barking at the animals!!! Well, that is another story... another day...

For more pictures of my visit, visit my album

All About a Cubie

If you’ve worked for a while where I do, you’d be used to desk moves. You move within the team, you move to another team-same product, you can even move to a new team-new product. And when you move, your desk moves with you – computer, telephone, all your stuff ranging from teddies to post-its.
I had moved within the team a couple of times - and, of course, one of the first things you do is to look up your neighbours. In one such move, my desk was right in front of my manager. I moved wondering why. Before I could find the answer, I had to move again. This time, it was next to this bubbly, chirpy character in our team -- in short, kinda my opposite. You can hear her in office - you just can't hear me when am working! Add to this, I put on my headset without fail - so, even if I am not listening to anything, people around assume I am listening to something, and don't disturb. And ya, I really needed a quiet environ to work.
And then, I moved! I was hoping I'd be able to work without complaining - and guess what? I was totally wrong about a few things. Yes, she remained loud and I remain quiet. But then, there are times when you bond with someone and you just can't figure out why or how it happened... this was something like that. Soon, we were ganging up together - our fave pastime was Abhijeet Bashing... If you aren't in Rock, you just don't know what this means :D
We'd discuss about every little thing we could think of - and, I realized that I could work even with a boisterous cubie.
Soon, it was time to move again - this time, I moved out of the team. And before that, we enjoyed a great offsite - my last Rock offsite, a very memorable one.
And now, she's moved too - a different workplace. I can't walk by and leave notes anymore - well, now I do in Facebook, but then, I guess, my space has become a lot quieter...
That's for you Indirap!

The Freedom and The Poll

We are approaching the 60th Independence Day celebrations and lots of things are happening – polls, events; a lots of questions asked; a lots of retrospection. I happened to come across one of those polls, done by NDTV, called the ‘India at 60’ poll – some predictable questions and similar answers too.

The categories

1. India's Greatest Icon
None other than Mahatma Gandhi got the highest percentage of votes as India’s greatest icon. His ideals of non-violence and his role in the fight for freedom seems to have given him a place in the minds of most Indians – including those who weren’t around at the same time, thanks to those history lessons.
While other industrialists and politicians received single percentage votes, the only other person to receive two-digit votes was Mother Teresa – another person who advocated non-violence and is remembered for her compassion and, more so, for her works of compassion.

2. India's Greatest Pride
The old and the new – Democracy and the IT industry – feature in the top 5. Unmistakably, and quite rightly so, democracy comes right on top, followed by secularism and IT industry. While, the nation’s pride in its democracy and secularism is not a surprise, the presence of IT industry with the Armed Forces, is quite interesting. Should we say, it is the recognition of our brain power?

3. India's Greatest/Worst Shame
It’s all about money (bribery, dowry) and the divided society (untouchability, poverty, hunger). And, money comes on top – ya, people are more concerned about bribery than about hunger or untouchability. Is it because bribery hits us all while the other two don’t? Is it because, we see ourselves as the victims in the case of bribery? Which is, more than often, not the case with hunger and poverty? Should we be a li’l more concerned about the widening gap between the rich and the poor?

4. One Event that Changed India
IT revolution and Liberalisation hold the court here – together accounting for 69% of the votes. Looks like the IT industry has a good mind share among Indians.

5. India's Greatest Political Blot
The political blots are nothing but a list of riots – looking at the answers, the question could have been about riots and nothing else. Anti Sikh Riots, riots after partition, Babri Masjid, Emergency, and the Gujarat riots – these are the ones featured in the list of political blots. Quite unfortunately, politics is so very mixed up in riots – handling and mis-handling them. At the end of it all, it affects the people and among them, those who have the least.

6. India's Greatest Sportsperson
One more predictable response – Sachin Tendulkar. Given the cricket craze in this country, it isn’t surprising to find Sachin in the top spot.

7. India's Greatest Film
As for movies, Mother India and Sholay are the top two. As I am not one of those regular movie goers and haven’t watched either of these, I’m not the right person to comment on movies.

8. India's Greatest Song
Same goes for the songs as they are also from the movies. After all those patriotic talks about references to Pakistan in our National Anthem, I wonder why the National Anthem or any other patriotic song is not on this list.

9. What Best Describes India Abroad
Brain power is the top most entry – after all those talk about IT revolution, this is not all that surprising. Yoga, Bollywood, Curry and Gurus complete the top 5. No surprises there.

On the whole, not very surprising to see that most Indians (at least, among those who voted) see this country as the knowledge superpower, take pride in that fact, and are worried about giving bribes. By the way, the category that got the highest number of votes was “India's Greatest Political Blot” (Total Sample - 12792 votes)

VAT and What not….

I picked up the newspaper, and while I was scanning through, something caught my eye - there was this news article that hotels were charging VAT for liquor while they should not be doing so. Apparently, liquor is exempted from VAT.
"Products including petrol, diesel, aviation turbine fuel, liquor and lottery tickets will be exempted from VAT." (Source: news.bbc.co.uk)

Somehow, I don't get the logic of taxing food and exempting liquor! Any ideas?