Hit the road! - part 1

Yes, that was the thought lingering in my mind for quite some time now, but I wasn't sure yet if I would be doing it as I dint find company for the Sankranthi trip.
Its 13th Jan (friday) and I finally found 3 more people and decided to hit the road at 3 PM.
Finally we started at around 4 PM
I planned to go on a not-so-good route in order to avoid the festival-season traffic.
The road was good but full of cars till some 100 km and then I deviated to Ongole route.
After deviating from Vijayawada route, the traffic indeed decreased, but the speed breakers and potholes made the journey a nightmare!
I couldn't speed more than 40 kmph for most of the time due to poor lighting and for avoiding the gigantic potholes... its not a surprise to say that the max I could reach is 90
The road work made things even worse!!
Reckless cars came head on trying to overtake the trucks and buses, and we had to brake all along.
I was estimating the time all along and thought I could make it to my grand parents' place by 10:30 PM
And not after much time did I realize that my estimation is too greedy... we were going at a much slower pace!
And just to spoil my plans further, the left front tyre hit a pothole and got punctured :(
Thats not all! To everyones shock, we learnt that we dint have the car jack!
The clock is showing is close to 11:00 PM
Just 2 options in our minds.
Try stopping every car that came our way and ask for a jack.
If nothing works, sleep in the car for the night and try our luck the next day morning.

The first car stopped, they had a jack, but the person said that they were getting late.
Luck favored with the next car.
They helped us with replacing the tyre (well, we dint have much experience in changing the wheel and also, we found out that we dint have a spanner also!) and insisted that they would follow us as we dint have a spare wheel.
So we started off again, much relieved, and after some 70-80 km, we hit NH-5.
It was 1 AM when I finally reached the destination after dropping everyone.

The riders:
-------------
Driver: None other than me
The company: Ravi (my cousin), Suresh (my colleague) and his brother


Behold! part-2 would be even more intense!!

Revelations at a hospital

Not all things look good in life.
When some look unpleasant, some makes one feel disturbed.
Some even deteriorates one's self-confidence significantly.
For instance, the ambiance at a hospital would definitely not be a pleasant one...
The sight of physically wounded people, ranging from months babies to corporate professionals to retired gramps and grannies definitely wont be what one wishes to see. Some would try to avoid hospitals just because they cant withstand the unpleasant reality. Some would try all possible methods to avoid a needle prick while some would be willing to sell out all their wealth just to recover. The patients and the care takers would be all over the place, the guards and nurses guiding and soothing the patients, the doctors busy all day with rounds and surgeries.
Some coming out with surreal treatments while some having a hard time digesting the tragic incidents.
But amidst all the chaos, theres something which is not observed often.
Its the hope, challenge, struggle, care, love, zeal, lesson, and above all, life!!

The patients hope of fighting the illness...
The doctors challenge of curing the patients...
The junior doctors' zeal to climb up the career ladder...
The nurses care for the patients...
The guardians love for the patients make them wait patiently and be on the patients side all day all night no matter what the situation.
The patients hope of getting back to normal life....

All the people are interlaced with different mindsets and thoughts.
But one thing is common in all of them.
They all experienced pain in life!
The strife for overcoming the pain and burden, and the dream of living happily keeps them going about the chores.

The positive mindset rises like the flaring fire! The never dying desire to live life in such a way that even dreams feel low keeps them going! The motto of 'Keep rising, keep going' makes them chase after the dreams and live till the last breath!!

Let it flow

Two sleepless nights...
Triggered a fight
disturbing the third!!
But then,
Weekends...
are not for sleeping!
but for enjoying!!

And weekdays...
are for working...
for a living...
not for dying!
To have a good night sleep..
but not a nightout!
To have a filling meal...
not a moaning belly!

Is it balancing?
Or more confusing?

Why am I writing?
Not in Telugu,
but in English...
Is it out of anguish?

Is it lack of concentration?
Or the need of relaxation?
Anyhow... I'm glad...
it requires no preperation..
but just the jiffy of desperation!

How I wish I had a pen...
in my hand...
and a paper... beside my bed..

To let the rhythm...keep flowing..
like the ink... the bloody ink...
oh yes... the blood would not sink!!
but it would just stink!
It would not stop... from the mere clots..
Oh yeah... lemme rephrase that...
The clots could no longer stop it..
It keeps flowing... To drain the pain?
Or to count the gain?

Aah yes... that really was my intention!
I meant that...
It would drain the gain...
and raise the pain!
It was not just irony...
But the inevitable agony!

Agony of a filthy rich...
moaning in a lonely ditch!

Escaping the world...
running out in the cold...
while the guts becoming bold...
a smile is all thats missing
for the bloody hell is still roaming...
The restless eye is longing...
for soothe to take over the absconding thoughts...
for a hope to lighten up the dream...
The dream of living!!

Sigh!
Heard of live to dream?
and dream to live?
but the trend is changing..
Madness..but truely...
Sadness...
and yes..
I'm still dreaming of living...
in this abnormal society

Not to prove that I can withstand the cold nights
and definitely not to intrigue...
But to make my dream come true!!

Ye rastha

na aage koyi...
na peeche koyi...
meri kadamon se bhari...
ye raah hai meri!!

baadal ke uunchayi mein
baarish se bheegi hui
hawa ki shor se bhari...
ye raah hai meri!!

na subah..na shaam...
din bhar ek hi mausam
nashe se bhari....
ye raah hai meri!!

har disha...
ek hi rang
khusi laut aaye
mere sang
naye raag se bhari...
ye daasthaan hai meri!!

har kadam...
yahi ghumna hai..
har pal...
yahi rehna hai..
kyunki...
yehi manzil hai meri!!

Trip with Ten

A long awaited trip sure was worth every second!
A gang of ten batch-mates meeting after a few years, a place filled with just too many scenic beauties, and three cameras to capture the memories.... in short.... a delightful and one of the most memorable trips for a travel enthusiast like me.


It all started when a friend proposed the idea of a trip to Chikmagalur.
Initially 16 guys were thought to be attending but finally the number stopped at 10.

Rajeev booked train tickets for Sagar, me and himself for onward journey from Hyderabad to Bengaluru and bus tickets for return journey.

An unexpected rain forced Rajeev and me to board the MMTS train from Begampet to Kacheguda and Sagar joined us there. The train journey was smooth and we arrived some 1:30 hrs late at Bengaluru.

Poor Ganga waited for us in the station for more than 2 hrs. We boarded the Tempo van (Thanks to Ganga for all the preparations) and reached Jaggu's place. There 11 of us met and had a few photo sessions and brief conversations. Sita dint join us for the trip and so the ten of us boarded the van all set for the trip.

10 batchmates, 3 dSLR cameras, cloudy atmosphere and a beautiful route made the 5 hour long journey to Chikmagalur a less tiring one. The homestay looked great both from the outside and inside.

On inquiring about any trekking places nearby which we could visit then itself, the host told us that if we start off without wasting much time, we could visit Mullayanagiri peak.

We all boarded the van and reached the trek starting point in an hour. During the travel, Jaggu started off the comparison with their previous trip - '8 months back... same plan, same faces... ppl fell many times. Now, same story repeat' :D
The peak is the highest one in Karnataka and most of the time the place is covered with clouds. The place is very beautiful and everyone got pumped up! After a short photo session everyone started off the trek.

DNV got his nick 'Bhairava' for obvious reasons :P DNV, Vamsi and me were leading while others took their time to trek on the gravel path. Through out the trek, the atmosphere seemed more like a foggy morning. In a few minutes, we all got separated out. The visibility is so less that in a few minutes one would feel as if one is the only person around. The howling winds, a fresh looking path, a secluded place...to me, the feeling all along was similar to that when we played football in rain. After we reached the steps leading to a temple on the top, we felt strong winds reaching upto 100 kmph speed. Stretching the hands and enjoying the gush of wind on the face is something we all enjoyed....except for Sagar. He got scared that he might get carried away and so refrained from moving ahead. We all moved ahead, clicked so many snaps, reached the top, visited the temple and the checked for leeches. We had none on us. The return trek felt almost the same and the visibility faded. The ones who reached the van first came for those of us who are still on the way and picked us up.

We were greeted at the homestay with the campfire setting. The host prepared Biryani and Sambar for us.
Having biryani at the campfire on a cold night is a great experience.

We sat there till the fire lasted and then got back to the rooms. It was at this time Sagar observed that both his pants got fresh blood stains. Probably he picked up a leech while he waited for us at the steps. Everyone had a sound sleep that night.

The next day morning we woke up at 6 AM and started off to Hebbe falls
We reached the spot at around 11 AM and then hired a jeep to go to the falls.
The jeep driver dropped us at two downhill treks so that we could enjoy the walk in the woods and take some snaps. And sure enough, we relished each and every step we took in the woods. We took some real good snaps.

This time also DNV and I were the first ones to reach the pickup points while others took too long. Probably the baggage and cameras forced them to be extra careful.
We took some more snaps and finally reached the place.

The driver told us that the water would be falling from some 600 ft and that the depth of water would be around 10 ft. When asked about leeches, he adviced us to apply shampoo to the body before entering the water to avoid leeches. I thought of going into the water and enjoy swimming after a long gap, as I am now aware of the preventive measure. The path to the falls is also very beautiful!

But to my surprise, after crossing the first canal, I noticed a leech sticking to my shoe trying to reach the sock. I flicked it off and then noticed another one on the other leg which is already climbing up the sock. After flicking that one off, I checked below my knees and noticed that one leech already managed to pierce my skin and started sucking my blood. After flicking off that one, I dropped my idea of getting into the water. After crossing another canal, I noticed another leech on one of my socks. All along the narrow damp path, I watched carefully for leeches before laying a step and I noticed so many of them moving on the path. And after reaching the falls, Sagar (Mabbu), Vamsi, DNV applied shampoo and got into the waters while I held the bag and clothes watching over my feet. I was too freaked out to put the bag on the ground as I was afraid that the leeches would find their way to the bag.
And so, I couldn't enjoy the sight of the beautiful falls whole-heartedly as I was looking at my feet more frequently than at the falls. In the meanwhile, the rest of the gang also arrived. They too checked for leeches, removed some from the socks, shoes and even pants.
Even while going back we had to cross the two canals and one more leech got onto my shoe.
Phew... We reached the jeep and checked our legs thoroughly for leeches and there were none.
While heading back to the van, we noticed the horrible road and the reason why everyone insisted to go by jeep. We had lunch at a dhaba and reached Bengaluru by 8 PM.
Rajeev, Sagar and I reached the boarding point by 10 PM and waited for our bus to come.

But......

It never came!

Or rather, it wasn't supposed to come.

The reason - there is NO bus from Mysore to Hyd at 11 PM on sunday night.

As I mentioned before, (well you might have discarded this info long ago) Rajeev was the one who booked the ticket. At 10:45 PM a Mysore-Blr-Hyd bus came and they told me that the bus is scheduled to depart at 10:45 itself. As Rajeev had the ticket, I asked him to go and check with them. After some time, he came back very slowly with his face down. He said - 'I would tell you one thing if you wont scold me'. We asked if we missed the bus. He told us to check the date on the ticket. It showed '1-Jul-2011'. And we were waiting for that bus on '3-Jul-2011'. Need I say anything more? Sagar and me had a good laugh. We thought of checking for other buses (as there are many buses to Hyd at that time and we could hear 'Hyderabad Hyderabad' clearly) but Rajeev told that this one had vacant seats.
We had barely enough money in our pockets to afford the tickets. Rajeev was still in shock, unable to believe the blunder he managed to pull off.
After settling in the seats, Rajeev told us how he approached the bus conductors and how one of the drivers pointed out the date in the ticket to him.
We recalled some horrible and sarcastic journeys from the past and then dozed off.

PS: A few Hindi lines crossed my mind when I was at the highest peak in Karnataka. Most probably those would make it to the blog in my next post :)

Groovy night

My fingers dance in the joy
to the beat in my heart
they tap fast on the board
when my eyes are so closed
and my feet tap on the floor

[singing]

my mind feels the zeal
from head to heel
the rhythm is refined
with the passion redefined

[come on]

build up the heat
make it so neat
enjoying is an art
yup, rewind that part
and sing it like that

[My fingers]

roar like a beast (and)
thump on the ground (yeah)
move like a breeze (and)
sing out aloud (yeah)

just play with no plan
the best way you can
just wind out your pace
and let there be grace

[one more time]

let the mirror go here and there
when my head moves around
as I turn around again
feeling the tune... so profound!!

[my mind]

Real beauty

I remember this dialogue from a Telugu movie whenever someone mentions beauty - 'Andham ante chudaali chudaali anipinchaali gaani chusesaam chusesaam anipinchakudadhu!'. Unfortunately this quote loses its beauty when translated to English.
But I would try to carry the feel of it in the rest of this post :)

A guy like me, who stays away from home, who has voracious appetite for food, who can cook well (well, my friends tell me so), still thinks of going home and eating the cuisines prepared by mom.
The way mom cooks drags me back home again and again.

A guy like me thinks of going on a drive on his bike at any time... no matter how many times he has gone on a drive.

What makes you play with cute kids and make them smile?
What makes you think of recalling memories?
What makes you listen to a song in loop?
What makes you come back to your Comics?
What makes you visit places like Goa again and again?

Its not just the love for food. Its not just the passion. Its not just a hobby. And no, its definitely not amnesia!
Its the beauty thats involved and thats what makes you involve, indulge, immerse... immensely in pleasure.

Its the beauty in the way mom cooks.
Its the beauty in the way wind tickles you when you ride your bike.
Its the beauty in the innocent smile of the kids.
Its the beauty in each of those memories, those melodies... those comics, those exotic scenics.

Its the beauty that drags you to things again and again and never forget them.

'The smell that surrounds us when rain drops hit the ground'
'The moment when you win a game, a heart'
'The colour of the sky when Sun starts to rise'
'The sound of a koel...'
'The dance of a peacock... '

Real beauty lies in the originality. It lies in the innocent smiles. Its all over something that can be acclaimed as 'perfect'.
Its abstract yet clear.
Its the enigma of addiction.
Its never solved. Its just... relished! :)

PS: After reading all these lines, its obvious that you would realise whats the most beautiful thing that happened to you, and thats the moment you would be jumping in joy thinking Yahoo! Real beauty :)