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Acceptance in Christ

“Oh, God, give us courage to change what must be altered, will to accept what cannot be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other”

This is a personal philosophy developed over the last 7-8 years.

Tightly coupled with my own faith story

This is not a theological document but rather something that started off as a simple thought that evolved throughout my faith journey. I was fortunate enough to be born into a family of faith and be surrounded by many people who practiced it with conviction. However, I started exploring the true meaning and beauty of my Catholic faith only around 2016. Prior to that, while I still believed in Jesus and most of the Catholic theology, I was still in a great level of disagreement with a lot of the church teachings.

My own personal journey of acceptance started around 2016 after I realized why the catechism speaks of certain things in certain ways. I started to understand why the church allows certain things, enables certain things, encourages certain things, and at the same time, prohibit certain things.

Why was this realization so important to me around that year? It was important to me because it helped me understand that the teachings of the church were true even when I did not comprehend them. They were true even when I disagreed with them. The only difference between the period before and after that realization was the fact that my heart was suddenly free of a thousand conflicts that it was fighting within. On one hand, there was this strong urge to accept Christ but on the other hand I wanted to follow my own version of faith that suited me the best. I was not accepting my call to obedience and did not accept the teachings of the church that hold true irrespective of time and irrespective of my understanding.

Eventually, I realized that not accepting something that was true, something that could not and should not be changed, caused a lot of turmoil in my heart. When I started to accept that reality, there was peace in my heart. I wondered if there were other things in my life that caused frustration in my heart simply because I was not ready to accept a reality. I wondered if I was causing myself pain simply by trying to control things that I was not supposed to control in my life. I wondered if there were other things that God allowed in my life that I was unwilling to accept.

I wondered if there were God given crosses in my life that I found too heavy to carry.

This talk is about the connection between our – despair, hopelessness, frustration, unhappiness, and inevitably the lack of peace in our heart – to our unwillingness to accept the circumstances that God allows in our lives.

Areas in life that requires acceptance

As I started to explore areas in life where I remained too stubborn to accept a reality, I figured that one can apply the “Acceptance philosophy” to pretty much all aspects of our lives. The logic is quite simple: there is something that frustrates me because it is not the way I want it to be, I try to fix/change it, it doesn’t work, it continues to frustrate me.  I mean, just think about it; you are at a movie theatre to watch film that your friend picked. It turns out that the film is not in your taste. Either you can be frustrated in your head by thinking about your excellent taste in films or adopt the acceptance philosophy and consider the fact that the friend wanted to do something together with you. For the interest of time (and our attention span 😉 ), I will try to focus on some core areas.

I thought about making “suffering” the first category but then immediately realized that it is the only category where people will need some help in “accepting” their circumstances. I can’t imagine someone finding it difficult to accept a million dollars jackpot that they accidentally won. So, I started to think about subcategories under suffering.

We will only look at some examples of the areas where we are called to accept some realities that we don’t really appreciate.

Materialistic struggles (finance, job, vocation etc.)

We are in constant struggle to make money, find a fulfilling job, to identify our right vocation. If I am committing most of my time and energy to attaining a materialistic fulfillment and if I don’t succeed; it might mean that God wants me to commit it all elsewhere. Making money and getting rich is in no way bad or evil. If God doesn’t want to make you but someone else rich, you got to accept that as a reality.

God has seen a purpose for my materialistic sufferings.

Health

Health is an area where most people seem to get anxious. People are not willing to accept even the slightest pain in their lives. Everyone is always complaining about a pain here, a pain there, and how miserable their life is. We can all think of a “Pity-party” waling amoung our midst.There might be some areas of health in our lives that is painful to accept. We still have to accept it if that is what God is allowing in our lives.

God has seen a purpose in my health sufferings

Family

We all love our families. I love my family too. I absolutely do. If I were given an option by God to choose a family, I would still choose the one that I was born into without a single exception for any of the immediate and extended family member. I would not ask for any change. However, it doesn’t mean that my family is perfect. It in no way means that it is even halfway close to being perfect. Not even 10%. There have been occasions when I thought to myself: “God, please put me in a different circus. Tired of this one”. And I am not even kidding. There might be at least one or two people here that might understand what I am saying. In spite of the frustrations that I might have with my family, I do realize that my family is a gracious blessing that my Father in Heaven gifted me. Some of us might even have childhood wounds inflicted on us by our family. It might be impossible for some of us to even imagine a reconciliation with their family. The acceptance philosophy still encourages to do so.

“True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the pain, the degradation, the truth… It is worthwhile, because in the end dealing with the real situation helps to bring real healing.”

– Desmond Tutu, Anglican Bishop

Should I focus on the shortcomings of my family and be bitter about it all my life, or simply accept the fact that this is the family that God decided to put me in? I choose the latter because God has intended a purpose for me in this family. If it is not immediately clear to me, He will reveal what purpose He has for me in this particular family that I was born into. This can also apply to friendship, relationships, and people in our lives

At the job

At least some of us are constantly thinking about climbing the ladder at our career. Celebration for the last promotion probably didn’t last long enough because we are already working towards getting the next one. Some of us even want to be the CEO and probably even believe that we would do a better job at the position. Who are we kidding right?

Do we take a moment to discern whether God wants us to become the CEO? If God wanted me to be a mid level worker at my company, the core of my heart will churn in turmoil if I somehow fought my way up to become CEO. That is not because I am being punished by God but because I don’t have what it takes to be one. It only means that I tried to choose my own cross and it turned out to be heavier than what I could handle.

At Family

Do we want to be someone in our family that doesn’t really suit our identity? Parents might seek and value our sibling’s opinion more than ours, and are we trying for that to change?

At church

Do we want to be the lead singer instead of being just a member of the choir?

Do we want to be the leader of the faith group instead of being just a member?

In the post-modern reality

Do we want to be a woman despite being born a man? Do we want to be a man despite being born a woman? Do we want to deny that God intended a purpose for our sexuality?

Do we want to deny the fact that the previous generation aren’t a bunch of selfish boomers and that we are all standing on their shoulders?

What does it all point at?

If we look closely at the examples, we might come across a problem that is common to all of them.

“In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory” – Ephesians 1: 11-12

The underlying cause behind our hesitance to accept our realities is our ignorance of the fact that God has a purpose for each one of us. He doesn’t want to allow something in our lives that will deviate us from that purpose

  • If being rich means deviating from that purpose, God doesn’t want to let that happen
  • If being financially stable means deviating that purpose, financial struggles will follow a good Christian throughout his life.
  • If God wants to allow diseases in one’s life in order to fulfil their purpose, accept that disease with an open hand and smiling lips because you are being called for the praise of His glory through that disease (Talk about Tomy uncle’s father)
  • If your family is getting on to even the last of your nerves, offer them to God and ask Him for the strength. God wants you with them for their redemption and your purification
  • If your colleague was chosen over you for a promotion, irrespective of you trying everything you could to be a good employee, understand that God wants you in that position

If you had been trying real hard to change a circumstance in your life with all your ability, and all your devotion, and all your commitment; and if nothing still changes, realize that God is telling you something

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”

– Psalm 139: 23-24

God uses the circumstances of life – relations we cannot fix, questions we cannot answer and problems we cannot solve – to expose the conditions of our hearts.

-Unbound, Neal Lozano

If certain things cannot be changed, let them be. God is working with it. God has a plan.

“This interior reality of each person is frequently concealed behind a great deal of “foliage”, which makes it difficult for us not only to understand ourselves, but even more to know others: “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse, who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). We can understand, then, the advice of the Book of Proverbs: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life; put away from you crooked speech” (4:23-24). Mere appearances, dishonesty and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed.”

– DILEXIT NOS

Acceptance through the eyes of the Scriptures and Catechism

Scripture shows us plenty of examples for people trying to take control of their lives where they ought to give God the control. Scripture also shows us through examples the importance of Acceptance of circumstances that God allows

  • Adam & Eve
    • Refusal to accept their identity. They wanted to be like God. Tried to take control
    • Result: misery and pain
  • Cane
    • Refusal to accept his calling to offer the best fruit of his work to God. Refusal to accept God’s favour on his brother
    • Result: Evil, pain, & misery
  • Kings: From Saul, through David, to Solomon
    • Took things into their own hands too often, disobeyed God, sinned
    • Despite having profound experiences of God in their lives, they rejected the God’s calling very often. Refusal to accept their identity
    • Result: God’s wrath on Israel
  • People of Israel
    • Refusal to accept the Messiah
    • Result: we all know how it ended
  • Judas Iscariot
    • Refused to accept his role, took things into his own hands, he wanted to make more money
    • Result: I haven’t felt sorrier for anyone else in the bible than Judas

Have we got only negative examples from the Scripture? Of, course not

  • Job
    • What an amazing man. At the pinnacle of his suffering, he tells his friends “God gave, and God has taken, May His name be praised”
  • Fast forward to the beginning of Christian era
    • Mother Mary accepts God’s will and doesn’t get anxious even for a second
    • We were all saved because a young woman accepted God’s will 2000 years ago in a middle eastern society with a tribal mindset. Was it only bravery or was there also faith?

How to “accept”?

We might be able to write essays on the need for acceptance and even poetry about its beauty. But how do we bring it to practice? This is where we have the beautiful example of Jesus.

God became man in order to redeem us with His blood. He wasn’t just showing us the powers of divinity but rather what it means to carry that heavy cross and pursue the will of the Father in Heaven as man with flesh and bone and emotions and desires and temptations and pain and suffering.

Jesus was 100% a HUMAN BEING as He was God. What does that mean? He went through all experiences in his life as any other human being just like you and me. He was vulnerable to suffering, vulnerable to temptations, He was vulnerable enough to get stressed out to the point that He asks the heavenly Father to take away the chalice if possible. He was vulnerable enough to be on the verge of giving up on His cross. He went through the extremities of suffering and pain to show mankind that none of us would be given a cross that we wouldn’t be able to carry.

Jesus promises to be by our side when we carry our own crosses, He promises to lend us all a hand with those crosses. Let us not worry about them, let us not be sad about them, let us not abandon them.

As Epistle of James says:

“Consider all trials and temptations as joy, my brothers, …for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance”

– James 1:2

“If God has left a thorn in our flesh” – 2 Corinthians 12:7 . It is only so that we have a reminder of our purpose with us

Let us bloom where we are planted!

Acceptance Vs Resignation

As Christian life demands, we all have to be prudent in our lives. Do not mistake Acceptance with Resignation. Resignation is the state of mind where we believe that everything is fate and there is nothing, we can do about it. The guy who got only one talent is a good example for this. God does not find favor with a person who buries the only talent they have got. They still need to work with it because Jesus says that

“For everyone who has, more will be given, and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

– Matthew 25: 29

We should always strive to change/improve the things that we can change. It becomes a problem only if we dwell on something despite getting signals that it is not really in our control. It leads us to idolizing our problems.

The serenity prayer by protestant theologian Reinhold Niebuhr should be our discernment motto:

“Oh, God, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and insight to know the one from the other.”

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BIBLE: The Shield Of Light

Once a couple were discussing about who should make coffee in the morning

The wife said to the husband, “You should do it because you get up first.”

The husband said, “You’re always the one in charge of the kitchen. You should do it!”

The wife replied, “No, you should do it. Besides, it’s in the Bible.”

The husband scratched his head and said , “I never knew that. Please show me.”

So she fetched the Bible, opened the New Testament, and showed him.

At the top of several pages, it indeed said, “HEBREWS”. (Stolen from www.slmedia.org )

Make scripture reading a habit so that nobody tricks you into brewing coffee for them 😉

Joke aside, scripture reading is crucial to building a healthy Christian life. To understand the significance of this habit, we need to have an understanding of what scripture is.

We discussed in the past the “Philosophy of Acceptance” and ended it with an open question : “How do we practice this philosophy in real life?”.  I am aiming to give you a more concrete answer to that question through this writing. We will become capable of practicing the Philosophy of Acceptance by making scripture reading a habit of our lives. Fruit of regular scripture reading is the “Peace that God leaves with us, the peace that He wants to give us” (John 14:27)

“Had your law not been my delight,

I would have perished in my affliction”.

– Psalms 119:92

What is the purpose of Christian life? What does it mean when we say that we are Christians? What would be our answer if a non-believer asked us that question? Probably, the most suitable answer to that question is to say: “to follow the will of God”. Because, following the will of God is to follow His way, and His way will take you to His kingdom. Everything that we do here on earth must serve that purpose. And once we are committed to this purpose, we shall be at peace with everything that life throws at us. That commitment is a gift of God, that peace is a gift of God.

What does this peace mean? 

I invite you to consider a slum. A slum is naturally not a pretty sight to imagine. You might think about the shabby and dirty households, spilling sewage, and probably the stench too. Imagine such a crowded slum but you are noticing a small house that stands out in stark contrast to the  other houses around it. Even though small, this particular house is still pleasing to look at. There is nothing extraordinary about it, but it still catches your eyes, and you realize that it is pretty. The owner has kept it well maintained within the available means. It is only as big as the houses next to it, but it is neatly painted, roof is tiled, floors are dusted, pots with thriving plants are kept in front of the house. Despite the circumstances that it finds itself in, it has defined its own identity of beauty. A Christian life should also work like this; it should thrive and blossom in whatever circumstance it finds itself in. A life rooted in the inner peace that only God can offer. A peace that is achieved at the fullness of Christian life.

What is the fullness of Christian life?

Pope Benedict 16th said that Holiness is the fullness of Christian life. And he defined holiness in such a way:

“Holiness, the fullness of Christian life, does not consist in carrying out extraordinary enterprises but in being united with Christ, in living his mysteries, in making our own his example, his thoughts, his behavior. The measure of holiness stems from the stature that Christ achieves in us, in as much as with the power of the Holy Spirit, we model our whole life on his.”

– General Audience 13.04.2011

Going by the analogy of the house, we don’t have to be a mansion in a prime location to appear beautiful. We can be a dwelling in a humble neighborhood and still appear extraordinarily pleasing. We can achieve the holiness, and thus the fullness of Christian life, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves in. This mindset is not something that we can achieve through physical effort. This peace of mind is a Grace that God gifts us in his infinite mercy. This flow of mercy begins with the Word. The one who seeks out the word seeks out Christ. They will be led to Christ. This journey starts with the Scripture. Hence, the compulsion to convince you all to build a habit of it so that you you may seek Christ through the scripture and receive the peace that He wants to gift you.

Is reading The Bible necessary? 

Do we really need to make a habit of reading the scripture in order to achieve this? The Bible as we see it today did not exist in the early churches. The new testament books were formed and copied decades later. Even after getting a shape and a form, the Bible didn’t really reach a significant majority of early Christians and yet they presumably lived a holy and content life rooted in faith. Moreover, even before they had their hands on “Bible”, they were subjected to torment and suffering and they endured it all with a smile on their face and peace in their heart. In the light of this, how can we argue that it is absolutely necessary for a Christian to make a habit of scripture reading? 

To be ignorant of the Scripture is to not know Christ (St. Jerome)

St. Jerome, the patron saint of Scripture studies famously asserted that the “ignorance of Scripture is the ignorance of Christ” . 

Why is the ignorance of scripture, ignorance of Christ? 

“The relationship between the Risen Lord, the community of believers, and the sacred Scripture is essential to our identity as Christians… without the Scriptures, the events of the mission of Jesus and of His church in this world would remain incomprehensible…The Bible, as sacred Scripture, thus speaks of Christ and proclaims him as the one who had to endure suffering and then enter into his glory (cf. v. 26). Not simply a part, but the whole of Scripture speaks of Christ. Apart from the Scriptures, his death and resurrection cannot be rightly understood. That is why one of the most ancient confessions of faith stressed that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas” (1Cor15:3-5). Since the Scriptures everywhere speak of Christ, they enable us to believe that his death and resurrection are not myth but history, and are central to the faith of his disciples.”

– Excerpts from Aperuit Illis, Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis on 30th September 2019

How could we follow and imitate Christ if we do not understand Him? How could we understand Him if we live in ignorance of the Scriptures?

Bible is full of examples of people who, despite first hand experiences, failed to understand who Christ was. On the way to Emmaus, Jesus uses harsh language to the disciples who didn’t recognize him after resurrection 

“Before encountering his disciples, gathered behind closed doors, and opening their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures (cf. Lk 24:44-45), the risen Lord appeared to two of them on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem (cf. Lk 24:13-35). Saint Luke’s account notes that this happened on the very day of his resurrection, a Sunday. The two disciples were discussing the recent events concerning Jesus’ passion and death. Their journey was marked by sorrow and disappointment at his tragic death. They had hoped that he would be the Messiah who would set them free, but they found themselves instead confronted with the scandal of the cross. The risen Lord himself gently draws near and walks with them, yet they do not recognize him (cf. v. 16). Along the way, he questions them, and, seeing that they have not grasped the meaning of his passion and death, he exclaims: “O foolish men, and slow of heart” (v. 25). Then, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures” (v.27). Christ is the first exegete! Not only did the Old Testament foretell what he would accomplish, but he himself wished to be faithful to its words, in order to make manifest the one history of salvation whose fulfillment is found in Christ.”

– Excerpts from Aperuit Illis, Apostolic Letter by Pope Francis on 30th September 2019

Their expectations put them in sorrow and disappointment. They didn’t grasp the meaning of Christ. They had not grasped the Scriptures. They were not prepared to accept the realities of their lives. One could say that the disciples were not in the school of acceptance philosophy (pun intended)

The argument that the Bible did not exist in the early church becomes irrelevant here because the early church had first hand encounters with Jesus. It also had preachers who had authoritative knowledge on His life. Besides, they also had access to the Old Testament.

In the beginning was the Word,

And the Word was with God,

And the Word was God”

John 1:1

The Fruits 

Personal

I started reading Bible regularly after Fr. Mike Schmitz started BIY Podcast. I used to read Bible prior to that after my daily rosaries but it didn’t amount to reading Bible with a “thirst” . Even when I started the regular reading, it was very academic as in I was trying to rationalize everything I was reading. The regular reading sort of stopped after around 130 days and I didn’t pick up again for a really long time. 

Couple of years ago I read this book in my mother tongue and the passion of the author for the scripture moved me. The author was Hindu but I could see that God had revealed to the author so much and I believe that it was because of his surrender to the God and openness to the Scripture. In his own words “He yearns to be the servant of this tabernacle of truth” . I was motivated to restart my Bible reading but it wouldn’t happen until a year later. There was a slight difference this time that I was no longer reading the Bible with an academic interest but with a desire to listen to the God’s voice. Shortly after I restarted my BIY, I stumbled upon YouTube playlists of an Indian priest who has dedicated his mission to explaining the Bible to common people. I believe this was the very first gift for me because I received a lot of understanding through his preaching videos

“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures”

Luke 24:45

One thing that this priest keeps emphasizing on is that the only thing we need to do in our life is to seek Christ and everything else that is needed in our lives will be provided. And to seek Christ, we shall come to the Scriptures. Even though I started listening to his videos only a few months after I restarted the scripture reading, I could already relate to what he was conveying. I had felt a cloud clear over my mind in things concerning my work just a few months into the new habit. I had struggled for around 3 years at my current job but things have been better by several degrees since last year. I was no longer able to understand even simple things that used to be really easy for me in the past and I was even at a point of thinking about quitting my job and quitting software engineering altogether.

Another fruit that I continue to experience are the ways in which God is giving me clarity in faith related things. To give a specific example, reading from the book of Isaiah suddenly revealed to me that the prophecies about Jesus was always there in front of my eyes. 

Vellathooval Stephen

He was a communist terrorist from our hometown state in India and was involved in the guerrilla movement that terrorized many parts of central and southern India in the 80s and 90s and early 2000s. While incarcerated in jail for a police station attack and murder of cops, Stephen picked up a Bible belonging to his cell mate and fellow guerrilla Philip Prasad. The Bible touched Stephen and he experienced a conversion of his heart. By the time he had finished his sentence, he was a changed man and had abandoned the path of violence. He spent his later life for social causes and evangelization.  A few years before he passed away, he gave a very detailed interview to a tv channel in our language detailing his life as a guerrilla and explaining why he was terribly wrong in the path that he chose. 

Bali Nine 

Bali 9 is the story of 9 drug Australian strugglers arrested in Indonesia. It might sound like a morbid story but the end of it was an amazing testimony of God’s grace given to those who are seeking it. The alleged leaders of the group Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed along with 6 other prisoners who were also facing death penalty for drug trafficking. Chan and Sukumaran had turned to the Bible while on death row and converted to Christianity in the jail. Their conversion was no small feat. They had repented the mistakes of their youth and developed a mindset to focus on the present. They were grateful even on the face of a certain and imminent death waiting for them. They trained fellow prisoners in skills and personality development, preached, and always held an air of positivity around them. They walked to the execution range with no fear on their face after having consoled their families. They refused to be blindfolded, and faced the firing squad while singing “Amazing Grace” . They had found God in the scriptures and the God gave them solace in their final moments.

What does the Church say about the need for the habit of Scripture reading?

The Church says, go read your Bible darn it!

No, seriously. There is a misconception that Catholics are not encouraged to religiously read the scriptures. Partially this misconception can be attributed to the defense against the protestant argument of sola scriptura. Catholics hold Tradition and Scripture with reverence.  However, to say that Catholics are not encouraged by the church to read the Scripture is terribly wrong.

Beginning with the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, there have been a lot of measures intended at an increased awareness of the importance of the word of  God and the study of the Bible in the life of the Church. This lead to the specific promulgation of the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation Dei Verbum. Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical, named Providentissimus Deus, on the study of the Holy Scripture. While speaking in lengths about the virtues and gifts of the Scriptures, he invites all the faithful to get into the habit of Scripture reading.

“There are not a few Catholics, men of talent and learning, who do devote themselves with ardor to the defense of the sacred writings and making them better known and understood. . . . We cannot but earnestly exhort others also, from whose skill and piety and learning we have a right to expect good results, to give themselves to the same praiseworthy work. It is our wish and fervent desire to see an increase in the number of the approved and persevering laborers for the cause of Holy Scripture”

– Excerpts from Providentissimus Deus, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, 18th November 1893 

“The Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures just as she venerates the body of the Lord, since, especially in the sacred liturgy, she unceasingly receives and offers to the faithful the bread of life from the table both of God’s word and of Christ’s body… for in the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it stands as the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and everlasting source of spiritual life… it has power to build you up and give you your heritage among all those who are sanctified (Acts 20:32; see 1 Thess. 2:13)”

– Excerpts from Dei Verbum, Vatican II

In continuation to the spirit of these intentions, Pope Benedict XVI called a synod of bishops in 2008 on ‘The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”, and issued the Apostolic Exhortation ‘Verbum Domini’ in which he invites the faithful to study with reverence the Holy Scriptures

“Indeed, the Church is built upon the word of God; she is born from and lives by that word. Throughout its history, the People of God has always found strength in the word of God, and today too the ecclesial community grows by hearing, celebrating and studying that word”

– Excerpts from Verbum Domini, Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Francis took it a step further and instituted the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time of the liturgical year devoted to the celebration, study, and dissemination of the word of God.

Practical tips on reading the Bible

Always use a book mark 😉 

“Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures”

Luke 24:45

Our efforts will be futile if God doesn’t open our minds to understand what He wants to tell us. Therefore, we must approach the scriptures with a prayerful heart and a thirst to hear His voice. 

“Who is able to understand, Lord, all the richness of even one of your words? There is more that eludes us than what we can understand. We are like the thirsty drinking from a fountain. Your word has as many aspects as the perspectives of those who study it. The Lord has colored his word with diverse beauties, so that those who study it can contemplate what stirs them. He has hidden in his word all treasures, so that each of us may find a richness in what he or she contemplates”

– St. Ephrem

The Pharisees and Sadducees in the time of Jesus were academically well versed in the Scripture, and yet they failed to grasp the reality of Jesus in their times. This was also true in the case of disciples. Many of them had their mind so closed that it took them a while even after resurrection to see the Reality of Christ.

Academic Curiosity in itself is not a bad thing.  For, well learned academics can be assets to the mother church. Pope Leo XIII invites the faithful in this direction

“A man who is well grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church.”And if we come to morality and discipline, an apostolic man finds in the sacred writings abundant and excellent assistance; most holy precepts, gentle and strong exhortation, splendid examples of every virtue, and finally the promise of eternal reward and the threat of eternal punishment, uttered in terms of solemn import, in God’s name and in God’s own words.”

It is probably the best to study the Bible under counsel so that we do not fall into the pitfalls of opening our minds to an over reliance on our intellect and thus closing it to the grace of God. 

“…In earlier times the contest was chiefly with those who, relying on private judgment and repudiating the divine traditions and teaching office of the Church, held the Scriptures to be the one source of revelation and the final appeal in matters of Faith. Now, we have to meet the Rationalists, true children and inheritors of the older heretics, who, trusting in their turn to their own way of thinking, have rejected even the scraps and remnants of Christian belief which had been handed down to them. “

– Excerpts from Providentissimus Deus, Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, 18th November 1893

Conclusion

Through the habit of an open minded scripture reading, we will be able to accept the grace of the revelation and God will speak with us. We will understand Christ and His mission. We will be made capable of imitating Him in our lives and form a mindset around Him.

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Requiem for a Dream!

27.10.2018

It was indeed refreshing to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city life for the first time in 6 months. Even when I realize that Berlin is probably the quietest and peaceful a city can get, the suffocation was really bothering me. The first drive, despite being a short one, was so special. The calm and peace of German country-side seemed somewhat addictive even for the brief time that I spent there. No better place for a rehab to be.


Eduardo has been in the rehab for more than 10 months and if I hadn’t already known his story, I wouldn’t have taken him for a recovering addict. That was a day I stood in awe for the wonders that love could do in this world. Yes, he has made a drastic progress. He has developed a very positive outlook towards life and he is very hopeful about a colorful life ahead of him. But sadly the drugs have done the damages already and he is as vulnerable as the other kids in the street. It is probably only a matter of, him, getting fed up of the whole program and deciding to get out of the safety and care of the rehab.


All of us might know one Eduardo in our lives and there might be something that we all could do about them rather than being just indifferent. Maybe, a simple baby step would be to stop glorifying and making them feel like the ‘cool dudes’ with stories and narrations. Asking your friend to smoke one joint less might actually make a difference in their life.

19.06.2021

Re-visited the note today, because there happened to be some conversations where addictions and substance abuse were the themes. I had met Eduardo a couple of times over the years after he had left the rehab. Even then, I really don’t know what is up with him these days. I only had small talks with him and never really tried to follow up with other people on his whereabouts and condition. I was (still am) anxious about his vulnerability and didn’t really want to hear anything that I dreaded. This way, irrespective of what may be the reality, the images of Eduardo in my head are from the walks that we took around the woods in Nauen, the ones from our uno game sessions. He had forgotten about me by the time we met again last year. I had to re-introduce myself to him. 


I generally don’t forget faces. Especially the ones like Eduardo’s because his is not the first such face in my life. I was always surrounded by people throwing charades, chasing after intoxicants that gave them the momentarily euphoria. I grew up watching people who threw everything, that mattered, away as the soul purpose of their life was just about getting drunk. It is true that we develop our perspectives based on what we see and experience in our lives and that is probably why it wasn’t that difficult for me to quit everything. Well, on that note, I never really drank enough to be considered a regular drinker as I always drank only in social circles for the company. As I contemplated on whether or not to quit, I was being driven to a decision by the faces that flashed in my head and oh boy!, the child in me must have had too much of reality to handle growing up. I was pretty sure, four years ago, that the momentary fun and pleasure that the intoxicants had to offer was not worth the families that it had broken or the people that they snatched away from life too soon. And today, four years later, I am convinced that I had made the right decision. 


My decision was not out of a fear of losing control over my habits. I know that I am strong enough to maintain that control. My decision was just because I knew that I didn’t need them to experience life!


In hindsight, I realize that my decision had made me become true to myself, to truly be in the moments, to truly be with the people.Today, I celebrate life! I carry Eduardo along with some other friends, and people that I know in my daily prayers. God can work miracles! I pray that people get the wisdom to realize how precious their life is, before they throw it away, before they think about lighting that first joint.

15.03.2023

What I dreaded finally became a reality. Eduardo left us last year. In September. He was found dead in his apartment. I hope the memories of that warm tight hug that you gave me, when we last met, would live forever. For some reason, I had decided to not tell you that I would be moving to Munich in a couple of weeks. Can’t remember why.

When you stroll down those golden meadows, soaked in the warmth of the evening sun, may you finally find the peace that was so foreign to you here on earth
As you walk along those dancing streams and listen to its music, may you finally enjoy a genuine happiness; and this time, know it is real
The stroll shall end in the Father’s tight embrace, and you will know that you finally have everything that matters

God bless your soul kid!

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Goa, Finally!

Goa plans are just one of the cliche stories that is part of every young middle class Indian’s life. These stories are the kind that will be carried along in the depths of their hearts for long. I have one such story too.  One, that hasn’t been narrated yet and probably one that is as incidental and incredible as  every other Goan stories. A story that must be told on before the magic of the memories, that once was, starts to fade away. 


It will be tough to imagine a batch of engineering students graduating without ever planning a Goa trip. Whether the plans get executed is only a secondary concern. It was towards the end of second year of college (in the first quarter of 2013), that the thought about a Goa trip first took its shape in our minds and, just like most other Goa plans, the trip got executed only with a different set of people using different modes of transport and in a very different timeline than was originally intended. It was after our first few bike rides that we started thinking about such a plan. We had ridden to Hogenakkal and Coorg and wanted to do something longer and more adventurous. That is when some of our batchmates  went on a Goa trip, rousing our enthusiasm too. Fast forward two years, spontaneous yet solid discussions started surrounding the trip among the group and we were all determined to make it happen this time. With barely three months to spare until the final semester exams, and for college to end, we drove off to Goa to spend a week there. The squad consisted of Jince, Anshu, Cijin, Sandeep, Azaan, Suraj, Vandana, Abin, KV, and Me. My name is in the end because I wasn’t very sure whether I would have been able to make it back then, due to fund issues. If it wasn’t for the handsome pocket money my aunt gave me, I wouldn’t have been a part of this awesome story.


The only thing that we managed to plan in advance was our stay as Suraj did a great job in finding an awesome serviced apartment in Calangute. The rest of the trip was simply a ride, as it was meant to be. We would have started the drive sometime around the afternoon if Cijin didn’t have to drive an extra 40 Kms to go get the papers for his car that he had forgotten the first time. Even with the extra trip, he only managed to get a photo copy of the registration with the insurance papers still missing. It was easy to take a leap of faith and proceed on an interstate drive without insurance papers as the number of people who would understand the implications were a minority. Soon enough, Sandeep’s white Polo and Cijin’s black Innova hit the highways while the sun still shined.


Lack of a proper music system in Cijin’s car didn’t bother us much as there were plenty of nonsense for us to discuss about. For the moments that seemed dragging, Anshu’s bugging was enough to keep me entertained (suck it up Anshu Roy😉 ). We had reached Goa some time before midnight and, as the ritual demands, loaded one or two cartons of Kingfisher into the car as we crossed the borders into the care free land. We headed to Calangute beach straightaway to find a place to have some dinner. We had a minor problem as we didn’t have a place to stay for that night since the serviced apartment would have been available only from the next day. This wasn’t an issue of great concern though, as we were mentally prepared to spend the night at the beach. As a bonus, the shack owners let us use some of their chairs for the night after our dinner. Some of us went for a stroll on the beach while the rest enjoyed the time around the shack.

Shack: The Night

  • God! These kudiyans!
  • #Me is in the air!
  • Ajaan is not high 😉
  • Anshu’s non stop blabber….
  • …Susu’s response


For a beach that is generally swarming with tourists during the day, it was pleasantly quiet and peaceful during the midnight. The chatters of the isolated groups of people, scattered around, never seemed to breach those private spheres. There was no bustling and noise as businesses had pulled down their shutters long ago. In a sharp contrast to its original being during the day, at night, Calangute metamorphosed into several different worlds that existed only in the minds of the perceiver. In some of those worlds, memories were being created while some of those tried to erase them. There was a luring charm to the uncertainty hidden under the darkness of the waters in some of those worlds whereas the rest found them scary and repulsive. In some, the skies were only a continuum of the same waters that covered their feet at that moment. Some of those worlds knew that it was only a deception that was meant to be broken by the first streaks of daylight. Those in that world knew that the flickering lights in the waters didn’t have much in common with those in the sky. Fantasy and reality coexisted peacefully along the beach that night. The only constant in both the worlds was the calming sound of the waves swashing the sands. We had probably downed two bottles of Kingfisher before walking back to the shack. The night continued for a bit longer until our babbling died down. I don’t sympathize on KV for having to put up with the rest of us in a sober state of mind because I am pretty sure that he was enjoying the free entertainment.  


The exhaustion from the long drive and sleeping on chairs didn’t seem to break our spirit as we all got up pretty early in the morning with good energy. Cijin and Azaan, like some savages, headed straight to the sea for a swim while the rest of us hoped to get the apartment keys and get going with the morning business as soon as possible. Thankfully, it didn’t take us long and we were able to get the keys to the apartment on time. For some reason, Hozier’s ‘Take me to church’ had become our trip anthem and the song kept on playing on loop while we were inside the apartment.  I don’t remember who exactly took the initiative to make some noodles for everyone but that decision sped things up a bit. All of us got back to the beach after freshening up. Unlike Cijin and Azaan, the rest of the bunch were not good swimmers but the beach felt safe and fun nevertheless. They were in the deeper waters for most of the time while the rest of us dared venture only up to neck deep waters. There were a couple of moments when we were thrown off by waves and found ourselves dragged into depths where our feet couldn’t feel the ground and we would quickly swim back to safety. Those were obviously the maximum levels of adventure we could afford without troubling the beach guards.

Calangute: First Sunrise


Eventually, the waves grew stronger and we were able to enjoy some playful moments in the shallow waters during the larger waves. Cijin and Azaan too had joined us in the shallows as the waves grew stronger. The waves were large enough to sweep and throw us into the sand, even when we tried to stand against it. Falling down and hurting ourselves was probably the least of our concerns as we were constantly struggling to keep our trousers from falling off. This was a difficult feat as holding on to the trousers while spinning inside the wave would mean less balance and less control while hitting the ground. After some contemplation, I chose the honor of little Johnie over possible bodily injuries and that’s how I ended up scraping my knees several times in the sand. I presume Abin had also made similar choices in his head because he was the only other person who came out of the water with injured knees (as much as I can remember). I had to learn about Azaan’s choices the hard way as both of us got caught in the same wave, which dragged us closer to the shore until knee deep waters. I was still rolling on the ground when I saw Azaan getting up at a short distance facing the beach. I wish I had a choice but the quick turn of events meant that I had to see what I saw. While still thinking about a way to unsee Azaan’s naked butt, I called him out to tell him to pull up his trousers and that’s when he turned around to see what I was telling him. He got my message pretty quick and pulled them up but little Ahmed had already made an unwelcome entrance in my life and I was left with two images in my head that I had to unsee. 


We spent some time in the beach playing with the football before proceeding to have lunch. That was just the day one of many to follow in which wet underwear would become an inseparable companion for most of us.  I am not going to attempt a chronological narration of our time in Goa because the level of ‘spirit’ and various elements of nature that was present in our systems and kept us afloat remained so even we crossed the borders back into Karnataka. Therefore, my recollection might not be impeccable (besides that, it has been 6 long years). 

Calangute Cup!

  • KV was intimidated by the kid 😛
  • …and then, Ronaldo Jr. himself showed up!


Goa is definitely a satisfying mixture of contrasting experiences. You go one way if you want to dance away into loud noisy music, and the other way if you want to retreat into the soothing sounds of nature. Reaching some destinations would mean raising your energy levels to its peak whereas you will be exhausted in pursuit of some. Some people in Goa mean only business while some of them care also about putting a tiny smile on the lips of customers they deal with. It is because of this contrast that Anshu got to leave Britto’s, one of the most expensive places that we ate at, with a cutlery holder that was on our table at the restaurant. On his defence, the waiter couldn’t have had much defense against Anshu’s puppy face when she asked if she could take it home. That was the second biggest thing for the girl in Goa, second only to the discovery of the pink framed sunglasses that someone had lost at the beach (or probably threw away. Seemed like a cheap pair😉 ). That was just one of the very few moments of our trip where we splurged as if we normally didn’t have to fall back to Maggi just to survive the last week of every other month. Soon enough, most of us, would distance ourselves from fancy restaurants and the cheapest options at McD and KFC kept us going while we were out. There was always noodles and egg at the apartment otherwise.

  • Cutlery holder is not seen because it is already in her bag. The good guy waiter is in the background 🙂
  • The Sunglass she found on the beach 😉


I don’t know what we were thinking. I also don’t know if it is a newbie mistake that every Goa virgin does. We decided to go to Shiva Valley club one of those nights. Even though I can’t recollect the exact amount that we had spent, I faintly remember that we had to pay a handsome entry fee, for a bunch of college students, just for getting inside the club area. Once we were inside, there was literally nothing on the menu, or in the food carts around the club, that could fit my pocket and I decided to skip dinner for the night. That was supposed to be a good thing since alcohol does wonders on empty stomach. At least, I thought so. No matter how much one can chug in, alcohol doesn’t stand a chance against the ambience that is created for people trippin on hard stuff. One will feel sobriety kicking in, the moment they step inside the jam packed dance floor where people vibe to the same, repetitive trance music. Almost sober and disappointed, we left the dancing area and walked towards the beach. The beach somewhat made up for the night with a lot of lovely people around and, so, we decided to chill out. Luckily for me, there were some food carts that sold bread omelette  and I didn’t have to go home hungry that night. Except for Azaan claiming to having seen some people making out in a nearby boat, nothing interesting happened that night otherwise.

  • Shobha Chirikkunnille? (Is Shobha not laughing?!)
  • Ajaan is not high! just fabulous!


It is not that I forgot to mention Fort Aguada, and the Churches. I didn’t find walking around these places under scorching sun, very exciting. Nevertheless, they were all worth the visit especially since the Basilica of BOM Jesus, Se Cathedral and the Church of St. Francis of Assisi are all in the same campus. I have got nothing more to say about these places than what Wikipedia has to offer. The sweet water lake near Arambol is an exception though. That place is worth the long walk that you have to take to reach there. The lake was relatively less crowded as compared to other places that we visited during the day. We spent a whole afternoon in the water and that was one of the chilled out afternoons I can remember.


One of us, definitely not me, had decided to do something to make up for the disappointment at Shiva Valley by enjoying a night at Club Cubana. It is supposedly one of the best clubs in Goa that can offer  a memorable experience to the visitors. Some of us too would have experienced that, on a couple’s night (I guess that was a Wednesday ), if our group wasn’t so disproportionate with 6 boys to one girl.  Anshu tried to negotiate our way into the club but the Russian guy at the reception wasn’t buying any bullshit that night. So, we headed back to the apartment after another disappointing night that was meant to de-disappoint us from the previous club experience. There is a little bit left to the Cubana story, but not before I tell you about this interesting pair that kinda happened to make an appearance in our story. Goa is supposedly a lovers’ paradise and there are plenty of offerings that are designed to bring two close people even closer. Ironically, we met a pair that came to Goa as a couple and went back as singles and the pair happened to be the friends of one of us. It was good to know that we weren’t the only people who could manage to do something disappointing even when in Goa.


We were preparing to start our drive back the next day but some of the club Cubana people were so determined that they wanted to get a taste of the experience before heading back to Bangalore. As I was almost out of cash, I couldn’t have gone even if I wished to, so I decided to stay back in the apartment with the other guys and chill out. Our stay ended on a Saturday morning and we had to pack things up and leave Goa with half of the bunch still hung over from the previous night. I drove Cijin’s Innova as he was in no state to stay upright behind the steering wheel. However, Sandeep was kind of stubborn as he wanted to drive his Polo himself back but eventually agreed to switch with Jince after a couple of close calls. Once you leave the inner circles of Goan roads, reality will slowly start kicking in and the cops, who normally ignore pretty much everything, will suddenly start implementing traffic rules out of the blue. Our Innova was stopped by Goan police shortly after leaving the city limits. 


The only question that I had in my head was about how much money the cops would demand. They definitely had no reason to let a car without registration and insurance go freely. The problem was that it didn’t matter how much money they demanded because we had only a little under 1000 rupees with us. We had filled fuel from Goa for the cheaper fuel prices but we still needed some money for us to eat during the drive back. After negotiating with the inspector for a little under ten minutes, he let me go after paying 500 rupees as “fine”. We had to spent most of what was left with us for lunch and by the time we had reached Yashwanthpur, we had only around 40 rupees left with the whole group. We decided to buy some bags of chips with it before reaching home.

The #Us


In a way, we must have known in our subconscious that we were driving back from probably one of our last such trips together. It might be the reason why we discussed about buying some properties together and heading back to Goa after our retirement. We talked about soaking under the sun sipping beers while we laze around in one of the fine Goan evenings. We must have also thought to ourselves that they were all just fantasies worth kindling until we got out of the hangover of the trip. We must have gotten practical and thought about moving on to newer fantasies in life. However, there are at least a few of us who still dwell in the past. Those of us who romanticize the memories and are on a constant lookout for the portal that can take us back to that land of nostalgia. The problem with such irrational fantasies is that, even if we managed to get on such a train back to the past,  we might be disappointed to disembark in a ghost town once we get there. Most characters, that made the stories memorable,  would have left that town for new destinations. 


No one is at fault. It is only because life is also about creating new stories and new memories and getting stuck in time is definitely not the right thing to do. Forward is the way to go. Just make sure that you are painting the trails in a million different colors as you go on because, years from now, when you lean back on that chair and look back, you would want to see those rainbows that can bring a smile on your lips. Don’t ever let those memories die!

Photo Booth

The Apartment

  • Am I not pretty??!!
  • Susu reacting to the imaginary conversation in his head where we are all showering praises on him for finding the cool apartment!
  • Anshu pretending that she knows what she is talking about.
  • Listen boys, I will show you why my Nokia E5 is really cool!
  • Ajaan is not high!

Flea Market

The Happy Faces

  • Wonder La looking at a photo of her and Susu from a parallel universe!
  • Ajaan is not high!
  • Chetta! Two Sawala Vadas pliss!

The Cijin

  • Lifting is the way to go!
  • Lifts!
  • Proves….
  • I mean, almost proves!
Cijin trying to prove that he is not drunk!

The Beachin!

  • I spotted a disability pug
  • Jince wanted a candid shot. Said he would pose!
  • Susu counting the sand grains!

When Azaan and doggo experienced a premature midlife crisis

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पच्चीस ninety nine

(4th Jul 2020)

Look at what I just found in my brother’s drawer.

I didn’t even know that we had a picture of this beauty with us until I discovered this old photo album of his.


One of my bucket list items is to be able to buy back the beloved ‘पच्चीस ninety nine’


Paachu chettan would teach a 11 year old me, sitting by his side on the edge of the driving seat, holding (hanging) on to the steering wheel, the initial lessons of driving on this one. I would control the steering wheel and shift gears while he controlled clutch, break, and accelerator and this practice would go on for nearly two years until I grew a couple of centimetres longer and was finally tall enough to reach the controls and be able to see the road at the same time.


The lessons were simple. He would teach me about things like acknowledgment ’honking’ – a way of expressing your gratitude to the truck/bus driver who made way for you to pass him on an upward climb. He promised me that I would get a honk back if I gave one and I still get a teeny tiny smile on my lips upon hearing such a honking sound even today.


I can barely remember him teaching any technical stuff (other than about checking radiator water level and engine oil level every morning. Yeah you had to check those and the battery ampere level every single day on a Jeep, before driving off, during those days. Managing to unlock and lock the bonnet clips with my tiny hands used to be a personal achievement back then). He somehow knew that the rest was bound to happen on its own eventually. He always had this laid back attitude around him and tons of stories to tell during the drives. He would lean back on the driving seat stretching his left arm behind my head over the front seats while puffing the cigarette in his right hand blowing the smoke out over his right shoulder with absolutely no trust issues about the ability of a 11 year old in keeping the steering wheel steady.


My mom would eventually fire him after she found out that he had  scammed my family, colluding with the workshop guy, for more than 50k. That was almost 14 years ago. A part of our life’s history that should have ended on a bitter note didn’t really end on one. 


I never heard anyone in my family Ever talk ill of him for what he did to us. Whenever his name popped up in our conversations occasionally, those conversations would only end with tears in our eyes from laughing so hard. Because this man had a never ending stock of funny stories and my family had way too many trips to make on a a Mahindra CL 500 MDI to listen to as many  such stories as possible.

We would do Kannur – Idukki – Kannur trip twice or thrice a year. We would drive to Chennai from Kannur to visit my brother, who was doing his under-graduation. All those trips on this machine and even during all those times it never bothered us that we used to have only two to three cassettes in the Jeep because the stories of Paachu chettan and the embarrassing songs of my father for us to listen to were many indeed.


This unconventional piece of joy ride had rolled its wheels through a significant part of my life digging a deep and long trail of sweet memories to look back and chuckle at. While I might have missed out on the stories that will have whiskey glasses along with roasted beef or pork on its bonnet during a chilly night on one of the lovely Idukki hilltops overlooking the enticing valleys, the rest of them are fondly mine to cherish.

To “KL 13 D 2599“

To Paachu chettan

To memories that never die


PS: I will have to say that I might have cooked up some parts of this story (for legal reasons)

PS: पच्चीस ninety nine was the tag line of a Maruti 800 advertisement in 2002 or 2003. They were selling it at an EMI of 2599 per month and our Jeep’s Registration was also same number. So I used to call it that.

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One for the Bromance: Chikmagalur

I do realize that I am pretty weird sometimes, and I have come to a state where I no longer try to defend myself when my friends point that out. Posting about a ride that happened more than a year back is part of that weirdness. I really can’t think of any good reason why I never wrote about one of the best rides in my life. I could blame laziness but I have already used that one for another blog-post. Also, I might have to use the same excuse if I ever decide to write about the Goa trip too (which happened two years back btw). So, let’s leave the excuses aside and focus on what’s important. The ChikmagalurRide. 

 
Let me make it even more weird by saying that I am writing this for Sandeep. Yeah, really. Because there was a divine revelation to me at around 11:15 PM today (May 18th 2017) that I really love this bugger a lot. Trust me, it’s not the beer. It wasn’t a great day for me today and I had decided to cheer myself up by going through some old ride pictures and it so happened that I came across the Chikmagalur ride pictures. Then, all of a sudden it occurred to me that I have really started missing Sandeep. When I generally think of it, there is pretty much nothing ‘likeable’ about this idiot. I mean, he is the least responsible person in the whole world, always late to show up for trips, hardly has any idea about the importance of specifics while discussing plans etc. are just a few annoying things about him to mention. Whatever.
 
 
One fine day, we were chatting as usual and decided to go for a ride that weekend. For no particular reason we finalized Chikmagalur as the destination and agreed to meet up at NICE road, Tumkur exit at 6:30 AM. Despite calling him now and then to remind about important things for the ride, I was pretty much confident that he would ‘adult’ this time at least and went for a good night’s sleep on Friday. Saturday morning I got up early, got ready, and reached the agreed spot even before it was 6:30 AM. Not unusual of him, Sandeep hadn’t reached there this time too. Going by his usual standards , I decided to wait for another 25 minutes before letting him spoil my mood so early into the ride. I called him at 7 to see what’s his status and was disappointed to realize that I had high expectations from him. Sir told me at 7 AM that he is asking permission from his dad for the ride (he stays with parents) half an hour after we should have started riding already. I know him good enough to understand that there is no point in showing any anger to him since he was not capable of understanding the importance of being ‘responsible’ in life (btw he is still not capable of understanding that now even a year later)
 
I was still composed and in control of my emotions till 8 AM, after which I saw him zoom past the toll booth where I was waiting for him. I still don’t understand how can someone miss a toll booth. Because there are huge structures and stuff, and an even bigger pile up of vehicles that literally slows down the traffic for half a Km and you can’t simply NOT see such a phenomenon unless you have gone fully retarded. I shouted his name, screamed, threw the cup of tea I was holding at a KTM 390, which is accelerating at a pace it was not designed to handle, hoping that somehow the paper cup will break all the laws of physics and hit his helmet. All efforts went in vain. Phewww.
 
<- Explain me atheists, how can someone ‘NOT’ see this toll booth and cross it ?
 
Thank god I have good reflex and I called him over phone while he was still in vicinity. Obviously it took him a couple of calls to realise that his phone was ringing and by then he had almost reached Tumkur (yeah that’s an exaggeration Ms. Literally ). After making him realize that he made a mistake, I asked him to take the first exit from the express way and to wait on the service road for me because we were supposed to take a left towards Hassan Expressway pretty soon. Our hero doesn’t know what an exit is and made me question his sanity when he told me that he is near an Indian oil petrol pump because there are a million of them on Indian highways (another exaggeration, I had passed two IO pumps by then).
 
Having decided to not spoil my mood, ride and day, I told him to come to Chikmagalur somehow and give a call and I started off the ride without him. However, thanks to my sweet, caring, lovely, flawless, awesome, amazing character (god I am running out of words for myself), I thought that it was a little harsh on him to leave such a baby behind and decided to wait for him. Hero managed to find the route back to the Hassan Expressway and joined me another 20 minutes later. Finally we started our ride at a time we were supposed to reach the coffee land (another exaggeration). Since I honestly believe that I have taken out all the frustration that was buried deep down my heart for over a year, I will talk about another exquisite ride (I found this word on one of the Hotstar ads and have always wanted to use it ever since. Putting it here even if it doesn’t seem fitting)
 
The ride was very boring for me until Hassan because the highway had nothing to offer but a mundane feel. We had a fun ride for another 20 Kms until we realized that we were on the Sakleshpur road instead of Belur road. However , the wrong turn gave us the idea of riding to Sakleshpur must be fun. We rode back and got on to the decent stretch of Belur road that compensates for the rough tarmac with significantly less traffic. Even though there were occasional potholes besides the rough surface for most part, you will still feel confident to let the throttle twist towards you. The road doesn’t have a lot of curves to boast of but what makes it a fun stretch to ride is its narrow physique blended with the scenic geography on both the sides. Hillocks with windmills and infinite stretch of paddy fields take turns on either sides until it gives way for the beginning of the magnificent western ghats.
 
 
We reached Chikmagalur slightly before evening set in. It was a totally surprising experience for me because I was expecting a crowded, noisy town to welcome us. This was the first ride in my life where I was welcomed by popular tourist place with such calm as there were hardly anyone on the streets. We checked into a hotel and went outside to have food and decided to wind up for day one as the sun was already setting.
 
We had decided to get up early to go see sunrise on the second day. Contrary to our usual sunrise rides, we woke up well on time and rode to the most picturesque peak of Karnataka, Mullayanagiri.  We had reached the check-post at around 5:30 AM but the gates opened only at 6 AM. There was another 10+ Kms of ride uphill which was brilliant beyond explanation. Me and Sandeep were the first people to enter the road after the gate opened for the day and there was literally zero vehicle on the road during our ride. The feel of safety combined with adrenaline rush is the best combo for a perfect ride. Sea Level kept on rising as we were brushing past the clouds. At one point we could no longer resist the temptation to take some pictures because the view was mesmerizing. We stood on the barricades to see clouds float below our feet and continued our ride uphill once we had enough of the view.
 
We kept on riding until we ran out of tarmac. Then we continued on the wheel trails made by Jeeps. We pushed it even beyond as long as we could, over stones and rocks before deciding to park the bike and walk. Western Ghats is a true beauty. As much as I have seen of her, she has always had something to surprise me, be it southern Kerala, northwest Tamil Nadu, or Western Karnataka. Every new hill has a new story. I can only imagine how beautiful it would get if I were to chase her further up north towards Maharashtra. Yet another thing in the bucket list.
 
 
 
 
PICTURES DO BETTER TALKING
 
Miss those days were this used to be a routine. Haven’t Gone for a ride in an year. 
 
 
 
 
That’s me, the good boy. Always on time for trips.
 
 
Finally we met friends. (And that’s how we take our Panoramas)
 
 
 
 
 
Hassan highway is chill. Very peaceful. Just try not to fall asleep.
 
 
That’s how ‘almost Hassan’ looks like
 
 
So, we didn’t know the right exit from Hassan bypass and we got onto the Sakleshpur road instead of Belur road. Had a fun ride for a good 20 Kms before realizing our mistake. However, we got a glimpse of the beauty of Sakleshpur road.
 
 
 
Finally on Belur road
 
 
The roads are a little uneven and rough. But it doesn’t mean less fun.
 
 
Finally, Chikmagalur
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
DAY 2
We started as early as 5 AM to go see the sun rise
 
 
13 Kms of ride uphill. With zero vehicles ahead of us. Boyyy!!!
 
 
Stand here and call #SuvarnaKarnataka a beauty
 
 
and post a sideways picture to make it look like a natural, candid shot.
 
 
You can always post a selfie as long as the helmet hides the ugly
 
Fatty couldn’t climb. 
 
As we ride further up, we will get a good view of roads behind.
And of the mountains too…
 
The tarmac ends at this small township. However, the road goes further up with muddy trails. Perfectly okay for you to ride or drive.
 
 
Finally a glimpse of sunrise. We were getting closer to our destination
 
 
And here we were!!! on the edge of the world,
Watching the perfect sunrise,
Enjoying the morning breeze on our hair,
Tasting the dew drops on our lips,
Falling in love with everything that was around us,
Falling in love with life, all over again.
 
 
 
Found a nice spot for the ladies to rest for a while before we took off for a short walk.
 
 
 
Little did we realize that we were walking into even more mesmerizing views
 
 
Pretentious Yogi
 
 
 
We decided to ride further up, after the sunrise, to explore what was there.
 
We were proud of ourselves for making such a great decision 😁. I mean, look at these mountains.
 
This was on our ride back. Sleeping beauty. Not by Kanayi Kunjiraman though 😁
 
 
One final shot of Chikmagalur township in the backdrop of Mulayangri at a distance
 
 
Our ride was rather eventful. This tree fell on the road 15 minutes before we reached the spot. It literally cut off the traffic on Hassan road. We had to get our bike into the paddy field beside the road to get access to the other side of the tree. Slightly difficult but a fun experience. Wish I had an RE Himalayan with me.
This is how the adventure looked like
Even though I managed to get the R15 back to the road without getting my shoes dirty (Thanks to my amazing, extraordinary, unrivaled riding skills 😎 ) but fatty got stuck in the slush and I had to push his bike while he was twisting the throttle like a mad man
Back on Hassan – Bengaluru express way
This was the second incident. A fuel tanker lost control and fell sideways, blocking the road again. Luckily for the bikes, there was a narrow lane which would take us to the other side. 
It was nice to ride in the drizzle, but we had to stop when it started pouring heavily. A good thing to do even if you are confident about riding in rain. 60% of Indians sitting behind a four wheeler steering are retarded. Safety first, always, and forever 
When fatty thinks that he hasn’t annoyed me enough with his pee breaks, he stops for petrol. The 390 drinks it like it is elixir
A final shot of the night sky before signing off. This is the best BlackBerry Z10 could manage 
Happy 650 Kms
 
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Kannur – Wayanad. The One Happy Trip

Once in a while, things have to go perfectly right  and that’s exactly what happened on the second last week of March. We successfully planned and executed a trip that was so neat that it didn’t go out of budget or time and kept us all on the peak of our energy levels even after we came back to Bangalore. That’s the reason why I decided to write this post before we all got out from the hangover of this trip and before that excitement died down. On a personal perspective, this trip is so special to me because I was finally able to fulfill this dream of taking my friends home (whoever missed out, your loss :p). 
It was a typical day when our madam Anshu created a WhatsApp group asking us to plan for a trip and it had been quite some time since the last trip where we all went together. Discussions went on from deciding the dates to places and who all would come. As usual, the initial numbers were so big that we had to consider taking three cars but I was optimistic (pessimistic on a grammatical point of view) that it would definitely come down to a number less than ten by the time the trip would finally happen (this is based on the previous experiences and I am sure anyone reading this would totally understand). However, there was still a confusion about the destination and it was at this point I thought about taking them to my hometown, the beautiful Kannur 😉 . This was partly because of the fact that I could easily include Wayanad in the plan.
Everyone agreed to the idea and there was plenty of time (more than a month) for me to plan everything. The goal was to keep it as cheap as possible without losing the essence of the trip and making any compromises on the things we had to do on the trip. Initial plan was for a three days trip considering two days for Wayanad and one day for Kannur. However,  we had to drop this plan and cut it down to just two days since it was not possible for everyone to take leave on Friday. This was a bit of a challenge for me since the places of interest in Wayanad were all at a considerable distance from each other. The major challenge was that people wanted to go to Chembra peak for trekking and typically a day must be kept aisde just for that (considering all the travel and the trek itself). Anyway I decided to call the forest department, Wayanad, to ask for details on getting the permission and the first shocker came when the officer informed me that all the hills are shut down in Wayanad, for tourists, due to the extreme summer. Summer rain was scarce in Wayanad and this had contributed to a wild fire that destroyed everything that was beautiful in Chembra and nearby hills. 
My job would’ve been very easy if Chembra was open because that is one of the most hyped up (the one that lives up to it also, as much as I know) treks in Wayanad. Without much time to lose, I started my research on places to be included in the itinerary and after some web surfing and phone calls with friends who were in Wayanad, I shortlisted around 5 tourist spots and finalised 3 places that would fall on a single route (so that we could save travel time). To be honest, I felt good to do this ‘Monica Geller’ thing of planning everything and now I understand how better life is when things are pretty much sorted out.
DAY 1
We had decided to make sure that we all leave Bangalore before 4 AM, Saturday, just to get lucky to spot some wildlife in Muthanga forests. I might have forgotten to mention that none of our trips start without some confusion and chaos (if you have read about the Goa trip, you will remember that we had a 70 Km extra drive to go and get the RC book of one car, that too a photocopy,  just before we started . Oh wait a minute, I haven’t written about the Goa trip yet!!!! Wtf. I think it is high time I wrote about it because it has been almost two years since that happened 😮 :p ). Coming back to the point of chaos and confusion, this time it was about Anshu doing the typical ‘Anshu’ thing. Yeah, she managed to lose her fifth phone 10 minutes before the supposed start time. Obviously the trip was delayed by an hour or so but that wasn’t a major problem and we set out for Wayanad by 4:50 AM with 9 people on board (Vanessa ditched us on that morning :p).
We crossed Muthanga by around 9 and it was bit too late for spotting animals. However, we saw a small elephant just before crossing the forest and that was all about the forest ‘safari’ we had.
Edakkal Caves
Edakkal caves was our first stop for the day and we managed to reach there on time despite having left Bangalore late. We were able to finish the cave visit before crowd started flowing in. I am sure it wouldn’t have been much fun on top, with the kind of crowd we saw while coming back. The prehistoric cave with carvings and images on its walls that date back to 6000 BC is definitely worth a one time visit for its historical significance. Such carvings are not known to be found in other parts of South India and I will suggest this as a must see if you are going to Wayanad. 
For me, that was my third visit and whatever excitement was left was almost killed by my amazing friends who had to be motivated every five minutes to take two steps forward. The cave is located on top of the hill at a height of 3900 ft. and is quite a climb for the weak hearted :p. The tourism department has done a great job with proper pathways to the top but it will still be a difficult job for people who are old or sick to climb all the way up. The view from the top is totally rewarding and the cave itself is amazing. 
Clayhut Restaurant 
Before you start wondering, let me make it clear that this is not a tourist attraction or anything. This is just a normal restaurant I happened to spot on ‘Trip Advisor’ and I decided to stop here for lunch. This restaurant is located in the center of Kalpetta town and is a slight detour from our original route. I had seen all good reviews on the internet and honestly I was happy to realise that most of it was true. First of all, it is located on a small hill with a good view of Kalpetta town. Constructed in a retro style with mud walls, wooden tables and roof covered with palm leaves, the restaurant is definitely a perfect place for relaxation after the first half of the day. We had ordered meals as the waiter said other items will take slightly longer time for preparation (I had also read reviews that serving takes time).
All of us ordered meals and that was pretty decent. I wouldn’t say the food was exceptional but whatever magic was missing in taste was made up for by the ambience. I wouldn’t suggest you to go here if you are a vegetarian because whatever we loved was the non-veg flavour. Also, parking space is a small turn off since only two vehicles can be parked here comfortably. 
Karlad Lake
When it comes to travel, the lesser known the places are always my favourite and I was really happy that I included Karlad lake on my itinerary. This lake is located on the Kalpetta – Padinjarathara route and is 10 Kms before the famous ‘Banasurasagar Dam’. I chose this place primarily to do zip-lining and that was totally worth every single rupee we paid for it. The zip-lining is rather a short one that’s probably 250-300 meters long but is definitely capable of pumping up your adrenaline a bit. The way Nino screamed will underline my statement.
It will cost you 320 rupees to do zip-lining including the 30 rupees entry fee. As I read on the internet, there is usually a huge crowd lined up for the activity and it might have a one hour waiting time for your turn to come but 9 of us were able to finish everything within an hour as there was no one in the line before we reached. There are other activities as well to do in the lake such as kayaking, pedal boating,  horse ride etc. and in case if there is a long queue for zip-lining, it is better for you to take the ticket for this activity and finish other activities by the time your turn comes. This is a perfect place to chill out with ample space around the lake that can handle a significantly big crowd.
Banasurasagar Dam
Our next and final destination for the day was India’s largest and Asia’s second largest earth dam – Banasurasagar. I must say this place is a beauty despite being over crowded and that was the only reason why we enjoyed being here despite not being able to do the speed boat ride. Even though the speed boating closes only by 5 PM, the tickets were all sold out by the time we reached the dam. Amal tried his best to negotiate with the operator and he agreed to take us for a ride if he was able to finish the other rides that was already booked, before it was too late. However, the scheduled trips itself didn’t get over even by 5:30 and we understood that there was no point in waiting for it. It is better that you reach here before 3 PM if you need to take the boat ride.
We were sitting by the slope of the dam while waiting for confirmation on boat ride and we totally enjoyed watching the drivers perform stunts on the speed boats during this time. Even though it was a great experience that we missed out, the time we spent by the reservoir area totally made up for everything. There is no way you wouldn’t love looking at the calm waters of the reservoir with magnificent Banasura hills in its back drop, enjoying the gentle breeze on your face. You just got to sit on the dam top admiring the brilliant colours created on the dancing waters by the setting sun. It is a spectacle to watch the sun go behind the hill as the clouds tear the sunlight into tiny beautiful streaks. You will know what is hapiness when you experience this.
Boystown – none of a kind
One of the important demands by my friends was to come to my favourite chilling spot at hometown- the Boystown pass – and enjoy ‘Pazhampori and Chaya’ here. We couldn’t make it to Boystown before sunset but we did stop for Tea and Pazhampori before heading to my home which is another 15 Kms from this place. I was a little sad that I couldn’t show them the beauty of the view from here which they have known only through Instagram and Facebook photos. Maybe some other time.
Homeee
Day one was conluded with us reaching my home by 8 PM and my friends having a happy, surprising realisation that my house has a small swimming pool. They were curious to know why I kept it as a secret from them for so long and was a little mad at me about it. The fact is that I never even thought about the need for telling them about it. Like, what the hell, should I go around telling people – ‘hey, you know what? My house has a swimming poollll’. The pool was built primarily as an irrigation solution for our agricultural needs to store water and my dad thought it would be cool if the tank could serve two purposes. Whatever, without much delay all of us jumped into the pool with the exception of Anshu and the Harshita. Deepak and Jince were proving their skills in water while Fabid was trying to not drown in waist high water :p. Nino was peacefully minding her own business when Akshay decided to challenge everyone to see who could stay under water for the longest time. So, she decided to be the referee and the boys tried their hand at holding the breath. Akshay lost miserably in all rounds of the competition while Deepak made us all think about whether he was dead or not. 
Day one concluded with some yummy dinner by mummy darling and some rounds of uno. I spent some time with mom showing her photos and videos before going to bed.
DAY 2
Paalukaachi Hills
Yeah I know you must be like ‘what the hell, is that even a place, is it there on maps?’. But I will tell you to hold on before jumping into conclusions beacuse this is just one among the numerous treasures of my hometown that is not well-known to the outside world and my friends and the pictures will confirm this statement for you. Paalukaachi hills is a range of three adjacent hills that looks like a stone stove from a distance and plays a very significant role in both Hindu mythology and the local culture of my hometown. It is believed that, these hills formed the stone stove on which Sati Devi boiled milk while going to attend Dakshayaga in the nearby temple of Kottiyoor. Place names in my hometown are all based on the voyage of Sati Devi and my hometown ‘Kelakam’ means the place where she recieved an Ox for her travel (or the place where she tied her ox, I am not 100% sure about which version is exact). I am not going to discuss history here and let me tell you about the most thrilling trek that I have done in my life (I believe my friends too would share the same opinion)
In my honest opinion this is the most scenic and thrilling treks in North Kerala and this is a perfect example of what trekking should be. Unfortunately access to this place is now denied to common mass by forest department and I was shocked to see the sign board that said it is a criminal offence to go beyond that point. Till then I didn’t know that it was a violation to do it and for the same reason I am going to ask, if you are considering to go here, you to wait until the forest department considers opening this place to tourists. However,  I decided to proceed with the trek because I was sure that we had no plans of harming the forest or doing something wrong that prompted the department to keep that board up there. Also, the officers in Kerala are sensible enough to understand while we explain things to them and I was confident that they wouldn’t treat us like we committed a crime even if we had an encounter with them. Fortunately there was no need for all that and we completed the entire trek without any trouble.
The trek is almost a 1.5 Km long climb through the dense Kottiyoor evergreen forest and it is the steep climb that will make you tired. It gives you a Hollywood movie like feel to walk through the thickets with streaks of sunlight coming through the branches and leaves and I guarantee you that this walk is totally exciting. I am sure that this is something that you will otherwise see only in movies. The forest patch opens to a grassland on the top of the hill and a walk of another 100 metres will take you to the summit. The view from here is just spectacular and the clouds that brush through the nearby hills is something that can compete the view from Chikmagalur hills. There wasn’t much of a breeze which is quite unusual but overall the weather was pleasant. We headed to Amal’s house for breakfast after spending some quality time here. Amal’s parents had made awesome breakfast for us with so many items that I can’t even remember all of them now.
Paalukaachi hills are located at around 5-8 Kms from the main road and is easily accessible from the nearby village of Shantigiri. We had hired a jeep to take us to the end of the road because there was no point in walking the rest of the road since the actual trek starts at the beginning of the area owned by forest department. The roads till the point where jeep goes is not that difficult and I do think that it is possible to climb it on a bike too. It can be difficult with a car due to the ground clearance problems though.
Lighthouse & Cliff Walkway Payyambalam
Our next target was Payyambalam beach to visit the lighthouse and adjacent cliff walkway. We reached here by noon and it was too peaceful for a tourist attraction that’s located so close to a city. The fee for lighthouse is pretty cheap and it includes a well maintained museum that tells you about the history of lighthouse operations. The view from the top of the lighthouse is something that you shouldn’t miss. 
Cliff walkway is right next to the lighthouse but requires you to take a separate ticket since it is maintained by a different department. However, this is totally worth as the ticket costs only ten bucks. The cliff is high enough to give a pleasant view of the sea and the shore and has a step that goes down to a place closer to the water. However, please be extremely careful and do not go down to the rocks that are almost on level with sea water since the waves can be totally unpredictable. 
Muzhappilangad Drive-In Beach
This was our last stop for the entire trip and this was the one place everyone was waiting for. For those who don’t know, Muzhappilangad is India’s largest and Asia’s second largest drivable beach that spans at a length of 5+ Kms. This was probably the happiest time spent during the trip with Nino’s tribal music DJing, homemade snacks from mommy darling, a bit of dancing around and playing football and finally the drift stunts on the Swift and the Baleno. Everyone had a good time here with Akshay and Nino getting to drive around the beach, Harshita enjoying her legs in water and and an exciting ride on the beach, Deepak getting some cool shots for his video etc. We left for Bangalore from here after the  sunset. 
Shushu’s Birthday
The events wouldn’t conclude just yet because it was Anshu’s birthday the next day and we had planned a cake cutting for her. My initial plan was to reach Rasta by midnight and have Rion and Sonakshi too for the cake cutting. But that became impossible because we left from Kannur really late and wouldn’t make it to Rasta by midnight. So, we decided to cut the cake at Mysore at 12 am. Even though it wasn’t very exciting, she was happy that she got to cut cake on the highway.
Conclusion
The trip was just too good and I was so glad that everyone came back to Bangalore with so much hapiness. This trip was something where no one was left out and everyone enjoyed everything. I am sure as hell that Fabid and Jince had the drive of their life with amazing Ghatt roads of Wayanad and Kannur, Nino definitely enjoyed the new gang of people and a trip which she was going to go alone otherwise, Harshita took her weekend travels to the next level with this one (yeah she travels on most weekends to places like HAL museum, Lal Bhag etc. :p Honestly she has seen more of Bangalore in one year than I have seen in 5 years), Akshay finally patched up with me after five long years and got to drive Fabi’s Baleno in the beach, Anshu got to come to my house finally and can now strike off Kannur and Wayanad from her bucket list and also got to cut her birthday cake on the highway (sure she couldn’t be happier), Deepak got to see more of Kannur and got to put his SJCAM And Canon to good use on this trip, the new gang of friendship and their company must be what made Amal so happy (also Nino, it took only hours for Nino and Akshay to become chuddy-buddies :p), and for me, the happiness of finally being able to take these buggers home is something I can’t define in words, I was just experiencing that feeling all throughout the trip, I was just counting the blessings, I was just feeling so grateful, happy people just expanded, family just expanded, Life is indeed too good 🙂 . To more such trips.
Photo Time

EDAKKAL CAVES

The Nagin Dance is just about to begin
Akshay wooing them girls with his charm
KARLAD LAKE
BANASURASAGAR DAM
HOMEEE
PALUKACHI HILLS TREKKING
LIGHTHOUSE & CLIFF WALKWAY, KANNUR
That’s from where a 35 Km long light streak goes off into the sea
This picture is for those get turned on by metallic gears
THE HYPED UP PART – MUZHAPPILANGAD DRIVE IN BEACH
Don’t think there are a lot of places on earth where you would see cars and boats parked side by side. That’s Kannur for you
Nino showing off her driving skills. Tbh, I was pretty impressed gurl
I hope that gave you the true ‘RoadGasmmm!!!’. Stay tuned to bikercult for more.
Videos coming soon
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Horsley. Musing.

I have missed out on a lot of things and moments in my life due lethargy. To call it lethargy is to put it in mild terms and laziness is the real enemy that I have been fighting for quite a long time. I would have possibly lost this post as well to that evil enemy if I hadn’t watched ‘Kammattipaadam’ the other day. No, the movie doesn’t deal with cliché bullshit that will inspire you to get your ass out of the bed and get shit done. The movie is not about a specific theme but tells us a lot about several things in my perspective. The movie got to the bottom of my heart in a lot of scenes and a lot of dialogues. Well, I am not going to write my first movie review here but I thought, it would be unfair if I didn’t mention about the movie that got me to write a blog post at 3 in the morning. Those who understand Malayalam, do watch this one. In the worst case you may not like it, but you won’t be bored and will definitely have a lot to reflect on once the credits start rolling up the screen.
This post is about the trip we made to Horsley Hills 7 months back and I just realized that it was total injustice I did to this beautiful place by not writing about it. To be honest, this post was never written not just because of my laziness but it was also majorly due to the fact that I was not much in favour of writing about the hills. Horsley was a magic for me. A magic that quite convinced me how contradictions and ironies could be as real and solid as anything that we find rational in our perspective. Horsley made me question whether the things what we perceive as coincidence are really coincidences or if they are related to anything that we know in a way that we don’t realize.
We all look for ironies or contradictions only to prove that something is wrong and I strongly doubt if we have ever had multi-dimensional thoughts about these two things. We look for contradictory statements while arguing with someone so that we can prove that they are wrong, but ask yourself if you have ever thought whether two contradictory statements could ever co-exist. I have never thought that way until I went to this place. Horsley showed me the magic of peace, calmness, beauty, and serendipity that was quite unmatched. I can say without a second thought that five of us had our serotonin levels at its peak for the entirety of the time we spend there. I grew in my respect to this place for making my trip, through the furnace like terrains of Andhra, totally worth. And I thought the better way to pay my respect to the hill was to keep it less known to people so that it gets exploited lesser. I decided to not write about the place in a hope to make it less vulnerable to human infection. I have reasons for thinking so.
I have never enjoyed calmness, peace, and beauty in any other place as much as I had enjoyed it here and I am very well convinced that all those qualities will slowly erode down the slopes of this beautiful hill once it becomes a popular tourist destination. I didn’t want to contribute my share to this possible tragedy and I decided to do my bit for this hill by keeping my mouth shut about it (I know that the audience of this blog is a negligible lot and the kind of attention that this particular post might bring to this place will probably be invisible. But, still). However, I have changed my mind and I thought I should start writing so that I can at least make an appeal to people to keep this place clean if they are planning to visit it ever.
This is a series of hills located off Madnapalle Town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh and has nothing in common with the geography surrounding it. There were five of us on three bikes and we had started off early morning around 6 o clock, which helped us to escape from the unforgiving temperatures of Andhra during the onward journey. You will enjoy the comfort of the Kolar express way up until Hoskote and this is definitely a good warm up ride before you hit the Hoskote – Chintamani road. The road continues to be four lane for a considerable distance more and then narrows down to two lanes. You will definitely be rewarded for the rest of the distance on this road if you are an early bird and make it to this stretch by daybreak. A few of the things that could play spoiler for this stretch, otherwise, is heat, very high vehicle traffic (including long distance trucks), and the occasional potholes that can be really annoying on a crowded road. However, you don’t have to worry about all these unless you decide to get up late for your ride.
The squad included me, Anshu, Rion, Sonakashi, and the new dude Mayank. Rion and Mayank own a Duke 390 and an RC 390 respectively and I could feel the irritation caused to them by me and my slowly aging baby R15 on the expressways. They had to ensure that minimum throttle was used to ‘keep up’ with my pace on their mighty beasts during the highway stretch but all of us managed to be on the right rhythm once the express ways were over. You will totally enjoy the ride up until the border if you watch out for occasional trucks and potholes. Fair share of curves with good visibility is guaranteed and one can be reassured that they won’t get bored of riding for a major share of the travel. However, things change once you cross the border and I got a bit insecure about the driving style, which I would call reckless, of the local populace.
You will find autos, bikes, tractors, bullock carts etc. appearing in front of you suddenly out of nowhere and I would warn you to be extra cautious to remain safe for the remaining stretch. Autos will stop at intersections, the drivers will look at you, give you a feeling that they are going to wait until you pass them, and when you are confident enough to maintain the throttle level at the same and approach them, they will cross the road without giving you a clue about what is happening and a second’s delay in your response could turn out to be fatal. I couldn’t rule out this kind of behaviour to be odd cases since this is the way of driving I witnessed for the rest of my ride through Andhra.
The next stretch of your awesome ride starts when you start the ascend towards Horsley hilltop which is a good 9 Km of fine engineering. Zero potholes, perfectly even surface, numerous curves and hairpin bends with good banking, mesmerizing view of the valley on one side of the road which will later give way to the mind blowing eucalyptus forests that shadows the tarmac for the remaining stretch etc. are just a few awesome things to mention about the climb. We did not find even a single vehicle during the entire ride to the hilltop and we enjoyed the eerily calm atmosphere created by the forest by the sides of the road.
The Hilltop
The eerie atmosphere remained even after we reached the hilltop because what we rode into was a something that looked much like a ghost town. There was a small village on the left side of the road as soon as we reach the top, which promised a human presence but there was nothing evident to suggest anything in that direction. My pre-ride research had suggested that the hilltop was inhabited by a small pack of local tribes and people of other communities who moved here over the period of time but the human activities here seemed to be very minimal. The irony is that there are numerous buildings including a police station, bungalow, club house, hotels, restaurants, resorts etc. but a good percentage of them remained locked from outside even when we left the hill at around after 12 o clock. This is definitely not something I am complaining about the place but this is the reason what made the trip totally worth.
The famous rocky slopes that you see in google image search results is right on the left side of the road as soon as you reach the hilltop and we parked our bikes and walked down the serene hill further down (There is a fine you have to pay if you take your bike down on the slope and get caught). The area covered by the slope is so huge that it could accommodate enough people for a ‘SunBurn’ event and was left totally to us for the entire time we spent there. We had reached here before 9 o clock and unlike the extremely dry, and hot geography of the plain, the hill had very cool atmosphere with an amazing vegetation that would make one question about the location where it is situated. We sat there until after 11 o clock enjoying the beauty of the place over some drags of fine grass. Honestly we didn’t do anything silly except for the creepy stories Rion tried to narrate to contribute to the haunted look of the place. Rion is one smart chap who kept the life up during the entire trip with his jokes and timely dialogues. No wonder why he became an Army officer in the making and I would be proud to call him Lt. Rion Varghese soon enough once he is out of the academy. I remember the story that he quickly made up about the place being haunted when a random tractor passed beside the restaurant where we were having lunch. He picked up some quick points that all of us had noticed about the place and connected all of them to tell us that the place is haunted and the tractor that went by was used to dump the dead bodies. This will sound silly when you read about it now but was totally an entertainer while we were at the restaurant enjoying our food.
You can stare at the vast expanse of the land until your eyes hurt but you still won’t get bored of the view. With the cool breeze and pin-drop silence, this hill is a perfect example of that mighty artist’s wonderful creations. There is this song lyrics in ‘Kammattippadam’ in which the son asks his dad ‘whether the food we consume, whether the mountains that we see are ours?’ and his dad replies saying that ‘they are not ours, but everyone’s son’. Upon hearing this lyrics, I remembered the innumerable times I sat on hilltops staring at the beauty surrounding it and asking myself if there was a way I could grab what I see and keep it with me for the rest of my life. I would ask this every time I admired the nature because most of the times what I saw was just peace and nothing else. I would tell myself that I rode to this tranquil world which would soon become fiction for me as soon as I ride back into the real world where I belong and later realize that it is just a lie because it is not the place that I live, where I really belong.
The movie tells on a light note about the hell that man have made this beautiful earth and it reminded me about what I was thinking while I was at Horsley. I was just thinking about what I keep on telling myself every time I go for trips and it is nothing but human beings were possibly what went wrong with creation. However, this particular thought contradicts my own belief because I know that there are all sorts of people and it is not collectively that we contributed to anything bad that happened to our beautiful planet. Because there are millions of people who contributed to the cause making everyday life easier for every one of us and the people with the wrong attitude could still be a minority.
However, this minority can cause a much severe impact on places like Horsley than the positivity spread by the good lot. Used syringes, and broken beer bottles spread around the slope is the perfect example for our lack of respect towards things that need to be respected. I was just hoping that tourism in this hill failed and the place somehow lost its position on the tourism map so that it will be preserved without any damage. Anyway, I leave it up to fate because I firmly believe that everything that happens, happens for a reason and the coincidences we see are not really coincidences after all. How we happened to choose this place for the trip is a very strange story, and this story is something that tells me why coincidences might have something meaningful behind them, which we will find out only if we dig deep enough.
Me and Anshu were having lunch at office cafeteria and were discussing about which place to go for a trip a week before we went. Anshu suggested the name Horsley and suddenly gave a very puzzled and confused look right after mentioning it. I said we could consider it even though it is in Andhra and I agreed to research about it. The funny thing is, both of us didn’t know anything about the place at all and that was the reason for her puzzled look. In fact, Anshu can’t even remember where the name Horsley came to her mouth from. She claims that it was the first time she said that word ever and she had absolutely no idea whether a place with that name really existed. For some reason I had an image that such a place existed and it was in Andhra but I too didn’t have a legitimate information about the place prior to this incident. When you look at the series of events that happened, everything is purely coincidental. But, just like the Breaking Bad dialogue where White tells Jesse about the probability of so and so things happening in order for a particular situation to occur was very narrow and that fact itself proves that things don’t happen just coincidentally. I like to believe that there is much more to all these than just a coincidence. It might take some more time to figure out though.
The township on the hilltop is aimed at resort tourism and there are a quite a few resorts to which people had started coming by noon. The deserted look might have had something to do with the time of our arrival and I might be wrong in the judgement I made about the human presence here. However, we found it quite difficult to find some food because most of the hotels were not operational at that time but we managed to find one that was open after some searching. They had just Puri, Dosa, Chutney and Bhaji if I recollect correctly (7 months is long enough to forget minor facts I guess) and we ordered the same for us. The food was quite good and we spent some more time there since we were the only customers and the guy at the place was in no rush to ask us to leave.
We didn’t delay it much and started our ride back because Mayank had a flight to catch the same day. The cool weather on the top was replaced by the furnace like plains once we reached down and the ride back is something I would like to erase out of my memory. I could literally feel the heat radiating out of the ground and all of us grew quite tired by the time we covered half the distance. Not to mention the increased traffic and annoyance caused by it but yeah, happiness comes with a price every time and I would like to think only about the time we had spent on top of Horsley.
Horsley you beauty, I promise to come visit you again. Don’t lose your charm.
 Photoboothhh!!!
Roads get uneven often but was never bad enough to bother us
I like to Moo it! Moo it!
Babes had a good time up on the hill
Hero Mayank :p
Most part of the township roads and pavements were covered in purple (I hope I got the colour right 🙂 )
I showed them cookies
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Pushing beyond the Limits. Rides that reveal the material you are made of

In my opinion, there are two kinds of travellers in this world: the kind that enjoys the place they are visiting, more than the travel, and the other kind that enjoys the travel more than the place itself (comparison made in relative terms and doesn’t mean that either parties enjoy only one thing strictly). Well, I belong to the category that finds travel more thrilling and that is one reason why I ended up spending more time sleeping in hotel rooms rather than going out and exploring the destinations in a couple of trips at least. I am more than excited to share the experiences from the most adventurous trip I have had so far.
This wasn’t a planned trip and everything that happened was just spontaneous and that’s probably why the trip was just too amazing. I set a couple of personal records in the trip which involves the longest distance covered in a single day (766.1 Km), longest trip I have ever done (1498.3 Km in 45 hours), longest time I spent on my bike in a single day (14 hours of riding on the first day, 18 hours in total on the road until day one was completed. 15 hours of riding on the second day and 19 hours in total on the road), longest hours and distances covered in the night ever (more than 6 hours and 300+ Km of night ride on day one and 7.5 Hours and 400+ Km on the second day). You will possibly think I am a bragger when I say all these figures but you will understand why I am telling all these only if you read it along the lines of the fact that I belong to the second category of travellers: the kind that enjoys the travel more, and factors mentioned are the ones that make every ride more adventurous, exciting, and beautiful for us. The story won’t be complete if I don’t mention them.
How it happened
It was a Friday afternoon in the office and would have been just business as usual if I hadn’t got a phone call from my uncle asking me to deliver a package to his friend in Kottayam, Kerala. There was nothing exciting for me in the request until he told me that he wanted it delivered that weekend itself. That weekend meant nothing but the next day and considering the places I had to go and the distance I had to cover, going by bus was obviously out of question. I was already thrilled about the ride and was checking out routes in the map by then. I told him that bike was the only option to go and he would have to convince mom to approve the trip (yeah, I think anyone will easily understand what this particular part means. No matter what a badass you pretend to be, it’s not going to happen if mom says no) . He didn’t sound very confident when he said he would do that and that was understandable considering the fact that uncle is my mom’s youngest brother and he himself receives his share of lectures and advices even now. However, I was happy since I had passed on the responsibility to his head (that’s what Indians love the most right? Passing responsibilities to someone else’s head). I still wasn’t done with the paper works and permissions because the request was not yet submitted for approval from my brother but that wasn’t a difficult thing to get at all.
Tasks involved going to Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu (around 410 Km from Bangalore), buying a medicine, delivering it to a place called Uvhavoor, Kottayam, Kerala (around 430 Km from Thanjavur) and then coming back to Bangalore by Sunday night so that I could go to office and continue the routines uninterrupted (which wasn’t what happened actually, by the way). I sat with paper and pen and after a few minutes of calculations I decided that it was possible to cover until Uzhavoor on day one if I left Bangalore by 5:00 AM at least on Saturday. I wanted to leave office a bit early to get some good sleep and was getting thrilled every time I thought about the next day’s ride. Oh boy, it’s time for adventure.
The trip
I had set alarm for 4:00 am the previous night but I have no memory of hearing it and I got up at 5:00 am instead. It was okay even though I was getting late by an hour because I had considered one hour buffer in case if things were getting late. I left home by 6:00 am and there was already enough sunlight to make the ride easy. The ride on TN expressways are cliché and you can use the same description even for your 100th trip on these roads. However, there was something to the fun factor because roads were crowded than usual and the frequent lane changes to pass vehicles made sure that the ride wasn’t getting any boring on those stretches.
Namakkal – Trichy
This was the second best stretch I covered during the trip and it was a two lane road spread across the beautiful paddy fields of Tamil Nadu along the banks of Kaveri. The road was not that great in terms of tarmac quality considering the usual standards of TN roads but was definitely good enough to not spoil the fun of the ride. There were potholes occasionally but not bad enough to bother you during the trip. Since this is the same route that goes to Velankanni, you will see a lot of pilgrims clad in saffron clothing and would probably make you wonder if this is an Indian version of ‘Camino De Santiago’ with number of pilgrims increasing for every Km you cover. The number of pilgrims might have had something to do with Nativity feast that was less than three weeks away.
Trichy – Thanjavur
This was my first ever visit to Trichy and I must say Trichy is just a beautiful city from whatever I saw in the short time I spent on its roads. I just loved the way the roads and traffic were managed and I never ran into any bottlenecks which is a commendable thing for a city that big. Another thing I noticed is the cleanliness which amused me so much that I got suspicious if it was just the areas that I saw during the ride that was clean. I googled about cleanliness of the city when I was back in Bangalore and wasn’t surprised to learn that this is the 6th cleanest city in the country. The Thanjavur road cut through BHEL area and some other central government establishments and the regions are so beautiful, calm, and peaceful. There were a couple of temples on the way that gave a hint that the city has a good architectural taste as well.
I wasn’t lying about beauty of Trichy roads. 
…and the architecture
I didn’t get a feel of Thanjavur since the expressway went around through the outskirts towards Saliamangalam. I had to travel another 20 Km to reach Papanasam, which was my final destination. The expressway ends shortly after Thanjavur and till Saliamangalam, the road was under construction. However, once you take left from Saliamangalam towards Papanasam, the ride gets really soothing with the greenery of paddy fields on either side of the extremely narrow village road, which looks much like floating in a green sea.
Beginning of the adventure 
The adventurous part of the ride started from Papanasam because my whole schedule got delayed by at least 3 hours here. The medicine I came to buy, was made available only by around 5:45 PM even though I reached here by 2:00 PM and I was able to start from Thanjavur only by 6:00 PM. I was getting concerned because it was a risky shot to ride until Kottayam the same day since I still had to ride another 420 Km out of which only around 160 Km was expressway. This meant my average speed would get hugely affected and I would have to ride the winding stretches of Western Ghats at night after being deprived of sleep for a very long time. This was definitely not a wise thing to do and I decided to ride until Dindigul and crash at some hotel and call it a day.
There was a problem with Plan B as well because I would be around 250 Km shy from my day one target and this meant I would have to ride another 250 Km extra the next day. Altogether, that would make it a ride for more than 850 Km for day two which was not very feasible since half of that distance was crowded two lane roads on which it gets real difficult to average more than 60 Kmph usually. However, after weighing down all the factors, I decided to stay at Dindigul itself since I was getting tired with each minute that passed and I usually avoid pushing my body beyond its limits when I have to ride or drive due to safety concerns. I set a target to reach Dindigul by 8:30 pm so that I could get proper rest and start off by early morning next day.
I crossed Trichy soon enough and was heading straight on the expressway thinking that I was in the right direction. Even though there were a couple of busy junctions and cross roads on the highway outside Trichy city, there were no major intersections that suggested a major route change but the fact was that I had to take an exit right after city in order to get on to the Dindigul expressway. I rode on the Madurai expressway for at least 15 Km before I got suspicious and it was already dark by then and it was getting difficult to find some help. I decided to ride further ahead until I found someone to ask for directions and luckily I met a cab driver after a couple of minutes. He told me the obvious thing that I was on the wrong road had to head back to city to take the Dindigul road. However, he told me there was an easy route that would take me to the highway but it was not a proper road and went through the paddy fields but would eventually intersect with the Dindigul expressway. He advised me to consider that option if I was confident enough to navigate safely through the road. I decided to go for the second option and I didn’t have to regret it at all.
The road was not proper and that was quite understandable because there was only one small village on the entire stretch and didn’t seem like the road was used much other than for farm vehicles. There were ten kilometres of bumpy ride with paddy fields on either sides and I told myself that it was making my day. Finally I hit the Dindigul highway and switched to safe ride mode. My safe ride mode at night on express ways involves keeping the speed checked at less than 80 Kmph and ensuring that I have a clear visibility of the road ahead. What I usually do for this is finding some vehicle that goes at around 80-90 Kmph and follow it at a distance on a different lane. There are two reasons for doing so, one: I have clear visibility until the car with my own headlights and beyond the car with its headlights and two: In a possible case where I need to slowdown such as a hump or a pothole, a dog or human jumping in front, I will get enough time to respond based on the car’s behaviour.
However, all the vehicle’s where zooming past me definitely at speeds more than 100 kilometres per hour and I had to remain patient until I was able to find the right car. Finally, I found a swift desire that was going at around 90 and decided to tail him. Luckily he was there until Dindigul and I reached the city by around 8:30 PM which was really good in terms of time. I started looking for hotels but most of them were full and the ones that were free was damn expensive. I called upon my brother to check for rooms online but he too had only disappointing news for me. While he was still checking for other options, I decided to ask some porters, who were sitting beside the road, about road conditions until Kumily. This was because Kumily was midway between Dindigul and Kottayam and was only 150 kilometres more from Dindigul. It would have been really beneficial if I was able to complete this stretch because it would help me to cut down the extra kilometres I had to do for the next day to just 100 kilometres from 250. The only reason for not considering this option was safety because, keeping aside Theni and Cumbum towns in between, there are no major towns or villages on the road and I was not sure about getting help, god forbid, if I got into some trouble. My friends who travel this road often also warned me to avoid it even though it wasn’t entirely a risky affair.
The porters I met (not just the porters, people of Tamil Nadu are extremely good and humane as far as I know. I have had only the best experiences with them so far. I know some of you might come up with arguments with respect to politics but that is an entirely different context) were so nice and encouraging that they gave me every details I needed to know about Dindigul – Kumily stretch. They reassured me that there is frequent vehicle movement on the road and it wouldn’t be difficult to get some help in case of an emergency. By the time I had finished the conversation, my brother also called me up and he suggested me to go to Kumily and stay there for the night. I was morally recharged to take up the challenge and it was then I saw a Kerala RTC bus heading to Kottayam passing by. That would have been a lottery for me if I got to tail that bus because I wouldn’t have anything to worry at all in that case. I told the porters that I was going to follow that bus but, concerned, they quickly checked the route and found out that it was going around Pollachy which was not the route I was supposed to take. Even though I was disheartened a little bit, the porters gave me confidence and told me to just hit the road.
I decided to have some snacks and get a coffee boost before starting the final stretch for the day and started off to Kumily. The Dindigul-Theni-Cumbum route is a beautiful two lane road that is simply amazing. My worries and fears went for a toss as soon as I hit the road and I simply enjoyed my ride throughout. In fact, this was the best stretch I did in the entire trip. Beautifully constructed road lined with reflectors and moderate curves was a perfect finale for an amazing day. My only stops during the final stretch included one coffee break at Theni and a prayer break at the St. Mary’s shrine on the Cumbum – Kumily pass section. There was a happiness and relief after I said my thanks to mother Mary for keeping me safe during the entire ride and admired her beauty for a little while before starting off to Kumily. The pass section, even though short, is a small feast for a rider and can be really enjoyed, responsibly. After a thorough checking of my bag by both Tamil Nadu and Kerala police at the border (think twice before taking weed across the borders I tell you) I reached Kumily finally by 12:30 am. I checked into the first hotel I saw and crashed as soon as I could.
I got up by 6:00 am because I knew I was on a tight schedule and had no time to spare with my destination still another 100 kilometres away. I had started from Kumily by 7:00 am and reached Uzhavoor by 11:00 am. The Kottayam – Kumily road is an awesome stretch to do on a bike and I was thrilled to start the day with such a good ride. I handed over the package to my uncle’s friend and started from there by 11:30 after taking a good rest. I knew I would get tired and the 5 hours of sleep was not sufficient enough to revive me from previous day’s exhaustion but I had no choice but to keep it going until I reached Bangalore. Even though I was not tired by then, I knew I would be tired by evening and therefore I had to cover a significant distance before that happened. I stopped for lunch by around 12 and started off with my calculations.
I realized I was running late and even if I rode non-stop, I would reach Salem only by 7 pm. This was not a good idea because I knew my body wouldn’t be able accommodate so much exhaustion. I thought about two options, one: leave bike at Fabid’s house in Palakkad and go to Bangalore by bus and two: get a good sleep at his place and continue the ride. I called up my brother to check bus tickets and yet again, the results were disappointing and thus option one was scratched off. I called up Fabid’s dad to inform him about my plans but unfortunately they were not going to be at home in the evening. I decided to just keep riding and in the worst case to take a hotel in Salem and get a good rest. I started off and luckily the roads were not crowded at all for Kerala standards and I made it a quick run to Thrissur.
I had reached Puthukkad signal and while waiting for the signal, I remembered the last time I stopped at a red signal there. That was in December 2014 and a Traveller van hit me hard enough to cause damages amounting to 23000 INR to my bike and possibly a lot more to myself in case if I was not properly geared up (invest in riding gears I tell you, it will be totally worth it some day). I decided to take rest on the service road and that’s when it struck me that Suraj’s house was near Puthukkad and he is home on vacation. Bingo! I messaged him and he called me and, thank my lucky stars, he was at home and I finally found a place to take a good nap. He and his parents had come down to celebrate Onam at home and I got a proper sleep for three hours at his home after having amazing ‘Payasam’. I hope they had a real good vacation. I had evening tea and snacks from his home and started from there by 6:15 pm. He showed me the new Royal Enfield classic 500 he gifted his dad and accompanied me until highway on that beast.
Ride until Palakkad was a bit difficult considering the overcrowded road and occasional potholes and too much light glare that was hurting the eyes. Even though I was feeling much energetic after the good sleep, I just wanted to hit the Coimbatore – Bangalore expressway so that I could ride tirelessly for the remaining distance. I had my dinner at Walayar, the border town, and headed straight to Coimbatore. The L & T highway was rather difficult at night because of the newly developed potholes and high vehicle density. Due to visibility issues, I had to tail behind a mini-truck until I reached the Salem express way.
Coimbatore to Salem was smooth as butter with convenience of three lanes for a major share of the stretch, and amazing visibility enhanced with reflectors on all required regions. However, Salem to Bangalore was not as smooth as the previous stretch because it was more crowded and there was always a chance of people suddenly jumping in front of the bike which made me over-conscious. I had to stick to my plan of tailing vehicles in this stretch to be on a safer side but it was getting really difficult to find a car that was going under 100 kilometres per hour. I was switching between different cars every ten minutes to maintain my speed and it was then a TN registered Hyundai Verna appeared. Somehow, he figured out that I was tailing behind cars and he took it upon himself to be my pilot. He passed me and then on adjusted his speed every time I had to catch up, cautioned me with indicators whenever an intersection or U-turn came, or whenever we had to slow down. He accompanied me until before Krishnagiri and we honked at each other as courtesy when we parted our ways. I would like to thank him once again for the kindness he showed to me that day.
Krishnagiri to Bangalore is our usual playground and we used to come here quite often as college students for dinner and stuff. But, a problem had developed with my right hand finger by then because it had got infected from a wound that happened almost a week back. Due to heavy riding and stress on my hand, the wound got infected and I had to remove my gloves when the pain became unbearable. The pain was getting real bad with each passing minute and I just wanted to reach home somehow. Finally I made it to Bangalore by 2:40 am and my finger had swollen up like a marble. I had to go to hospital and get an injection before I could go back to home and get some sleep finally.
Amazing photos from the Amazing trip
Namakkal – Trichy road
Below is the state of Kaveri’s main body. Decide for yourself if water is a need.
Below is just one from the many pictures I took of several branches of Kaveri that I happened to cross. They all look just like this. Decide for yourself if water is a need.
Thanjavur
Heard you guys liked contrast!
Saliamangalam. The last batch of sunlight I banked on, on day one.
I kinda realized that I don’t have a lot of pictures of myself. Hence the selfi, before starting the final stretch of day one after the pit stop.
Remember I told you about them reflectors and beautiful roads. Now see them.
Pic of bae with Cumbum town in the background. Taken from a point at half way through the ascend.
Anddddd… day one has ended.
Kumily
Kuttikkanam
People traveling through Kottayam – Kumily road should definitely try the food at this restaurant. It is very close to Kumily and serves yummy food at really cheap price.
Time for some RoadGasm
Mehh!!
Here are some pictures of this seductive beauty called Idukki
Pala bypass 
That is the hotel on the left where I had my lunch on day two
I just like this picture for some reason
Below is Aluva Puzha (Periyar River). Dedicated to those romances that flowered and also to the ones that failed around it. This river never failed to serve the happy ones and the depressed ones alike.
Always good to have someone waiting for you at home while returning from long journeys 
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Kodai II: A story of Betrayal and Vengeance… Buhahaha

We all have fond memories of many ‘first times’ in our lives. Most of those are moments we all want to keep close to our heart till the day we die and all of us like to look back at them only with a smile on our face. The first time you got on a plane or travelled by a train (that you remember, of course), the first time you saw the sea, the first time someone let you hold the steering wheel, the first time you drove, the first time you rode a bike, the first crush, the first love, the first time you kissed and what else? The list would go on and on. Beautiful, isn’t it? Are you not smiling already, thinking about that first kiss of yours?  Well, how about the first time you passed out on a party? Didn’t see that coming, did you? Okay, this story starts with a party that went as awesome as it could be and the consequential passing out parade that followed (jk, it was just me that passed out)
So, it had been more than a year since we left college and the phenomenal apartment D306, Ramanuja Enclave, that we called home for the last two years of college. Nostalgia had started creeping in and it felt like memories were already getting rusty (thanks to people who left Bangalore over the time). It was at such a moment Susu (Read Suraj Sugathan) announced his arrival on a rescue mission as he was coming to India on a vacation. Sheikh told us that he would be in Bangalore by September 2 and entitled us to arrange a place for the party. It is always a problem when the person who used to be the event manager of the squad asks you to arrange things yourself this time. However, we were lucky enough to get our old apartment for a day to party after a bit of confusion and it was just going to be the beginning of an awesome long weekend (me and Anshu were set to leave to Kodaikanal on a trip with another set of friends on Saturday morning 3:00 AM and this post will eventually come down to that in a few more lines)
Susu had come with one bottle of JD and another bottle of Glennfiddich and the Mallu genes have this habit of starting to function right away when exposed to presence of alcohol (especially the expensive ones, we drink them only at parties thrown by others). It didn’t take a long time for the squad, comprising of mallus mostly, to gulp down both the bottles and to start entertaining ourselves. It was some peaceful rounds of card games for the first few hours but by around 1:30 AM we all wanted to go to our old hang out place over NICE road near the apartment. This is an incomplete over-bridge built across NICE road and we used to come here for star gazing while we were in college (only after getting high). The grain juice had started doing its magic but, despite the lame jokes and the silly acts, I was in total control until I decided to take a nap on the railing.
The CULPRITS! 
My head started getting heavy when it was time for me to get up and go back to the flat and by the time I reached the flat, I wished if I could puke all the poison out. All I wanted to do next was crash on a bed and take a nap until my ‘other set of friends’ arrived to pick me and Anshu up. Now, gentlemen, the twists and turns start from here onward. I only remember falling on the bed and it was then I passed out. I opened my eyes the next day morning hoping to wake up into the fine greenery of Kodaikanal but what was in front of me didn’t look anything like Kodai at all. It took me five minutes to realize that I was staring at the light yellow walls of Ramanuja enclave and it gave me a shock to see Jince, Abin, and Susu lying next to me on three other beds. It still didn’t occur to me that my so called besties left me behind and continued with their trip, and I was about to go and wake Anshu up when Abin told me she was not there.
Now on I would definitely understand if someone spoke to me about betrayal because my so called friends did to me what I would have never done to them(I know you bitches have your versions of the story but I am holding the keyboard and I own this show, huh). Any normal person would have expected their friends to carry and put them in the car in that particular scenario, but my friends are not friends friends, and they tried to wake me up rather than carrying me to the car and four heavy men failed miserably at one simple mission. It was around 9 AM and I was sulking in a Kengeri apartment, still hung over from last night, thinking about what kind of a failure I am and it was then the spontaneity kicked in and I decided that I am going to Kodai no matter what. Luckily, Fabi hadn’t taken my bike home and I asked Suraj to drop me to Satellite bus stand so that I could take a Bus to Salem. I got my bus around 10:00 AM and my epic journey started from there.
If it wasn’t for sheer determination, this trip wouldn’t have happened and I would have slept until half past noon at least because I felt like my high lasted until around 2:30 PM. Somehow I managed to get inside the bus and took a window seat and all I did until I reached Salem was, sleeping in different positions abiding to the space constraints set by the majestic design of TNSTC buses. Bangalore to Salem is around 200 Kms and on an average speed, you should be able to reach in 3 hours or maybe 3.5 hours. You get up after 3 hours and realize that you are nowhere close to Salem. Then you get up after around 3.5 hours and you realize you haven’t made much progress from the place you were at, half an hour ago. Now you get impatient and you are not sleeping anymore. You are trying to stay awake, despite the bad hangover, hoping that you will reach Salem in any moment. And finally you reach at Salem at 2:30 PM after travelling for almost 4.5 hours.
If there was ever a slow racing competition among State Transport Corporations of the country, TNSTC would remain the unbeaten champions till world’s end. Also, I understood the logic why they don’t have any Volvo/Scania or any such luxury buses in their fleet because driving these buses at  less than50 Kmph is not humanly possible. Instead, they have got numerous categories of services starting from ordinary, town to town, bye pass rider, fly over service, express, 1 to 3 etc. etc. but you wouldn’t be able to distinguish these buses unless you know to read Tamil because all these categories use the same green/brown buses with a label on the front wind shield that says what kind of service it does. If you are thinking about what difference it makes to travel on an ordinary bus and an express bus, here is how it goes: Suppose there are ten stops between start point and end point. The normal bus would stop in all the ten stops while an express skips 3 or 4. Considering the speed factor, they all travel at a comfortable 50 Kmph. It would be blasphemous to say that TNSTC buses would ever drive into accidents because they never ever travel at speeds that would remotely qualify for an accident. Oh wait, I shouldn’t be ignorant about the possibilities of accidents or irritation caused to other people sharing the same road with these buses due to their snail pace. Whatever, I need to reach Kodai man.
I had to get down from bus even before it reached the bus stand because the puke I wanted to make last night had reached my throat 12 hours later. And listen people, I am a gentleman and don’t like causing trouble to other people. I humbly requested the co-passengers to make way for me to get out of the bus so that I don’t puke on them and that was the quickest response from anyone I saw during the entire trip. I got out of the bus but struggle was real since I was in the middle of the city. I had to find a proper place to puke so that I don’t dirty the city (yes, I am a pro-Swachh Bhartian) but the nausea gods were not much in my favour. However, I spotted an opening on the drainage cover and ran towards it with no time to spare and started my job right away. It felt much better once it was over even though I got a little tired after that.
The reason why I shared my throw up story is not because I thought that anyone would get fascinated by that but because I wanted to tell you about two uncles who were standing next to me at that time. They came and helped me in a very commendable way when I was about throw my stomach up in the drain. They told me to wash my forehead, then face, back of my neck and ears once I was done throwing up and, trust me, it did help me feel much better instantly. However, the thing that surprised me was something else. One of them offered his hanky to me thinking that I didn’t have one. Honestly, I would never be kind enough to offer my kerchief to some random stranger to clean up his belly juice and the incident made me realize how, good people can still be found around. That was moment number one where faith in humanity was restored in me during the trip.
I walked towards Salem bus stand and entered a hotel for lunch. I ordered meals (rice and sambar would remain my favorite food at any given time) and it was there at the hotel the moment number two happened. I had requested for a spoon since my finger was still dressed due to an infection but the hotel didn’t have steel spoons, so the waiter got me a plastic spoon. Another waiter who was standing nearby saw me struggling with plastic spoon to put rice in my plate and he went and got one more plastic spoon and asked to use them together so that it would be easier for me(this was done without request). Even with both the spoons it was not that easy to transfer the rice on to the leaf and this guy transferred the rice with his own bare hands. I know you might go ‘ewww’ over the hygiene factor but I know he did it only out of his innocence and compassion and it did make me happy.
I started searching for a Dindigul bus hoping that I would get a Kodaikanal bus from there according to what had conductors instructed me. I got on a Madurai bus that was about to leave and managed to get a seat. The bus started from Salem bus stand by around 3:00 PM and I was hoping to reach Dindigul by 6:00 PM or something. I got my next shocker when the conductor told me that the bus would reach Dindigul only by 7:45 PM. That’s when I started getting paranoid because I was not sure whether there would be buses from Dindigul to Kodaikanal late night. I made friends with two co passengers who sat beside me and they reassured me that there would be buses to Kodaikanal throughout the day from Dindigul and not to worry about it. I eventually realized that people were all talking to each other despite being total strangers and that was obviously a great way to pass time in that slow moving bus. Clock was ticking past 7:40 and there was no signs of bus reaching Dindigul yet and that concerned me a lot. Bus reached Dindigul only by around 8:15 PM and the trip was getting adventurous with every passing moments.
Despite reaching late to Dindigul, I was somewhat relieved thinking that the next bus would take me to Kodaikanal and told myself that there was no reason to worry at all. I walked towards the nearest bus I saw and asked the conductor when the next bus to Kodaikanal is and the way his eyebrows made a formation wasn’t comforting at all. He told me to go to the next terminal and ask in the enquiry and I just followed the instructions. The officer at the enquiry counter told me that there was no bus to Kodaikanal but I can take one bus to Batlagundu village and I might get a bus to Kodaikanal from there. The Batlagundu bus had already started and was on its way out of the bus depot when I started running towards it. There was no seat and the bus was overcrowded considering the fact that there wouldn’t be another bus to Batlagundu in a very long time. I had to stand and travel for one hour and ten minutes to reach Batlagundu bus stop and another kind guy helped identify the ramp where Kodaikanal buses would stop. It was around 9:30 PM and I was informed that the next bus to Kodaikanal would come at 10:00 PM and it did come at that time but left for Kodaikanal only by 10:30 PM.
It was a 3 hour long journey to Kodaikanal from there and I would reach by around 1:30 AM as per the calculations, which would have been fine in a normal case. But I had a problem. My final destination wasn’t Kodaikanal but Poomparai village which was tucked inside the forest 22 Kms far from Kodaikanal town. Even though it was only 22 Kms it was almost a 2 hour long journey considering the road conditions and the terrains and the last bus supposedly would leave at 1:30 AM from Kodaikanal. People in the bus told me that the next bus would be at around 3:30 AM if we didn’t make it on time to Kodaikanal for the 1:30 bus. My fingers were crossed but the fact that there was absolutely nothing I could do about it made me remain calm and I decided to sleep off on the bus.
I was very excited when the bus reached earlier than ETA at 1:10 AM because I thought I would be able to catch the 1:30 bus to Poomparai. I thougt of taking a taxi to the resort if the rates were reasonable but obviously Rs. 1500 for a 22Km ride didn’t make any sense at all. I sat on the lonely and empty lane beside Kodaikanal bus stand waiting for the 1:30 bus to come. Also, my phone was dead by that time and there was no way of communicating with anyone. It was already 2:00 AM and there was still no sign of Poomparai bus. When it was half past 2:00 AM I understood that there is no 1:30 bus and the only bus going to come next is the one that was supposed to come from Batlagundu later. I could have taken this bus if I had waited at Batlagundu skipping the first bus I took. Finally the Poomparai bus came at around 3:40 AM and the conductor was a bit skeptical when I asked him about Club India resorts. He asked me if I was willing to walk to the resort if he dropped me at the intersection and I said yes.
I wasn’t even puzzled why everyone was so skeptical when I told them about going to Club India resort until the bus dropped me at the intersection and conductor showed me the road I had to take. The bus left right after I got down there was literally nothing I could see around myself. No moonlight, no flashlight, no phone but just the hope that I was looking in the right direction. I was able to identify a trail that went down from the public road and I started walking down on that trail. After a few meters, I saw a moderately illuminated field that looked much like a flat lawn at a distance and I concluded that it was the resort and started walking towards the light. I could see people flashing lights at distance and I tried to get their attention by trying to switch on my phone but it didn’t work out. I kept walking towards the light and with every step I took, I was getting less convinced that it was the resort. I reached the building that I was targeting, after around ten minutes and was panicked to see that it was an empty building.
There were all good reasons for me to panic and I decided to walk towards the next building that was lit. I reached near the building but there was a moderate sized trench built around it and hence I couldn’t reach inside the compound. I started shouting ‘Anna, Anna’ hoping that someone would be there inside but the only response I got was the barking of a dog. I was about to give up my hope after about two minutes when I heard somebody getting up inside the building and opening the door to come out. It took some time for the person to point his flashlight at me because I was standing at the backside of the building. However he came out and I explained to him my ordeal and a chill went down my spine when he made me realize where I was and what kind of an idiot I was.
My friends were so great and responsible that they didn’t find it necessary to warn me that the resort was in the middle of a jungle. Literally a freaking jungle crawling with bison and wild boar at night. Yeah, Anshu had told me to give them a call once I reached the resort entrance from Main road so that they would come and pick me up since the building was around 800 meters inside. Firstly it was more than a Km inside and secondly there was no proper road leading to the resort. The guy whom I met was a farmer at night watch protecting the cattle and the crops from possible wild boar attack. The flashlights I saw were not security guards of the resort but other farmers watching over the crops. I understood the severity of the situation I was in when the farmer didn’t allow me to walk to the resort. I had asked him to show me the way so that I could go and he asked me what I was saying when there are possibly so many wild animals around. I asked him if he could drop me to the resort and I would pay him and he explained to me it wasn’t a matter of money but he couldn’t leave the cattle in case some wild animals sneaked inside.
However, he was kind enough to not leave me alone out in the dark and he called out for another watcher in the next hill and woke him up. He entitled the other guy to walk me up to the resort but I still had to walk up to the second guy from the hill where I was standing, so that he could accompany me from there. The first farmer told that he would show the flashlight and asked me to follow it until I reached the next guy. I was scared enough but I walked towards the second flashlight following the trails flashed by the first guy. There were so many ditches and loose mud that covered up until my ankle but I kept walking and finally reached the second guy. The second one wasn’t very impressed about the idea of waking him up in the middle of the night and he didn’t speak even a single word throughout the walk. It gave me shivers when I realized that the guy kept flashing around to see if there were any animals nearby and I only wanted to reach the resort somehow by then.
The eventful journey on four different buses came to an end by around 5 AM after 19 long hours on the road and I took that sleep I deserved much, afterwards. I decided to sleep until afternoon while others decided to go on a small trek nearby. I had had my share of trekking the previous night and it was very thoughtful of them to let me sleep until I felt good. I found out that my feet had got hurt with thorns and twigs despite wearing a shoes and I cleaned everything up after taking a shower.
We headed to Vattaikanal that afternoon to have brunch at the famed ‘Altafs’ café and also to visit the Dolphin’s nose cliff to take those awesome pictures. Even though we reached Altafs at around 2:00 PM, we got our food only by around 4:00 PM. The place has great food and an awesome view with shitty service. There are only two waiters and they treat the customers as if they would be happy to see us leave the place. However, the food was great and the view was awesome from the café. But our dolphin’s nose plan didn’t work out that day because it was already getting late. We came back to the cottage by night and had made arrangements for an awesome campfire which totally made our day. The ‘I have never done that’ game that we played at midnight put some light on some cool facts about my old friends and new ones and those facts were indeed fascinating for me.
Mushroom Facts
This was my second trip to Kodai and the search for Magic Mushrooms turned out to be disappointing yet again. I might have to wait until the next trip to witness the magic of those shrooms. I am hoping that the wait would be totally worth it because Kodaikanal is a small place to visit so many times otherwise, honestly. We returned from Kodaikanal the next day and if it wasn’t for the awesomeness of Dolphin’s nose cliff, the trip would have been rather a boring one because we didn’t do a lot of other stuff during the trip.
People in the trip
Honestly the trip would have been boring if it wasn’t for the awesome people whom I was traveling with. Nino was amazing as always and she lived up to the expectations by introducing me to some great people to travel with. And we always used to carry a bundle of excitement with us in all our trips and that bundle, without doubt, is Anshu always. Even though that bitch ditched me and went ahead with the trip, we had great fun together at Kodai. Solomon handled all of us really well and took it upon himself to be the DJ for the trip. And there was enough time for laughter with Vinita’s and Vanessa’s awesome timing at making dialogues directed at us. Vanessa had made some promises to me during the trip which she never kept though 🙁
‘Adventurous’ and ‘Stupid’ are two different things
We are all young and hot blooded and would do anything to feel that adrenaline rush inside of us. But I want all of you all to remember that being adventurous and being stupid are two entirely different things and there will be no point in screwing up your life over your stupidity. I would call my journey till Kodaikanal an adventurous one because I had a thrilling experience all the while. The second part of my journey, from Kodaikanal to Poomparai, is something I would call utterly stupid and senseless. The first thing to do before setting out on a trip or back-packing across a new place is to get an initial idea about the place itself. I should have checked where the resort was located and how to reach there and I should have abandoned the idea of going to the resort when it was pitch dark in the night. Honestly, I would have abandoned the plan if I knew it was in the middle of the jungle. My idea of the resort gate and the road inside was that the resort had a huge compound with a gate and once I was inside the compound I would have to walk another Km inside the compound. I was expecting a security guard at the gate who would guide me to the resort when I reached there but all the revelations happened to me too late.
Photoss
Vattaikkanal road

Let’s get that philosophical pose done
Not sure if it is common in Kodaikkanal for bison to be found even in crowded areas
The views remain mesmerizing always

Dolphin Nose at a distance
Them ladies admiring the nature
Yayy that’s us and the shivering of knees is not visible in the picture 😀  
It is indeed an experience to look down from Dolphin Nose cliff but please be extremely careful and responsible here.

Vanessa always takes advises seriously
The Israeli breakfast at Altaf. It was good.
Time to head back home