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June 9, 2016April 6, 2020

Avalabetta – Salvage from Rustiness

Things do change over time and you obviously have no control over time itself. Same was the case with me after I met with the accident in December 2014 that had put me into a financial crisis which still cripples me in terms of my travel life. I had to invest all my savings into getting her (the bike) back into shape and the incident had forced me into a debt which I was able to pay off only very recently. I had done 31000 KMs with her in the first two years of our life together and my odometer reading said just 35 something K before I went for this ride. Which means that I had done only around 4000 KMs in the last whole year and that is definitely a great a loss I suffered in terms of time. However, thanks to a handful of lovely relatives I have, my sanity was kept in check with the trips I made to many beautiful places like Goa with the pocket money they had given me. But there was always this feeling that I was missing something as the duration, for which I didn’t take my bike for a ride, increased.

It was at such a moment KV asked me to go for a ride to Avalabetta as a good-bye ride for him before he left to Germany for higher studies. I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be the one to back out from this ride no matter what and we made sure it happened. With two more of our friends joining with their Dukes, we made it six people on four bikes.

This was probably the first time I had such a mixed feeling about a ride and I can’t really ascertain the reason why. The fact that KV was leaving and our chances of more rides together was at stake (considering multiple factors) was always there in my mind and it kicked up that weird thought process inside of me. This is the process that eats up most of my sleeping time most days and makes me connect the dots that link quantum computing to the perfect recipe for the yummiest ‘Pani Puri’. Maybe this was the primary contributor to the mixed feeling I suppose.

I would honestly say that the ride was just an average experience by all aspects except for a very few things we managed to enjoy at Avalabetta. We were hoping that the ride would become different once we were off the boring highways but must say it was quite disappointing to find the lousy road, which often ran through pan shop Verandas, led to Avalabetta. The road had enough potholes, traffic, cows and the holy dungs to spoil the fun for the ride. Honestly the ride would have been extremely boring if it wasn’t for those amazing kids who tried to give high five to the riders passing by (I managed to give one to a boy). And trust me, you have to master the art of playing mazes to find the right road to Avalabetta once you are in the village road networks. Since we were no masters we got lost multiple times before we reached there.

About those feelings and mixing them in right proportion

First we went to the view point where the KSTDC guest house is situated and that was a place I really liked. The view was quite good, the place was very peaceful, and the guest house is located just at the right position in the right angle facing the right things. It would be worth the money if someone decided to rent this place for an overnight party. The place would be perfect for an evening barbecue, some chilled beers and it would be an icing to the cake if a late night campfire could be arranged. Unfortunately we couldn’t get much information about the place and all we could do was to listen to a local blabber mouth who acted like he owned the place. However, based on what he said, the place can be booked online through KSTDC websites. Maybe someday I might as well try that.

Next, we headed for the real Avalabetta ‘Trek’ as they call it :p. A few finely paved steps and a few beads of sweat on your forehead and, ‘phew’, the much hyped Avalabetta ‘trekking’ is over. Except for the beautiful temples on top, rest everything is just an average experience with a decent view and a slightly adventurous manoeuvring over rocks that definitely gave a tinge of thrill to all of us. The ‘LakshmiNarasimha’ temple is frequented by devotees and the myth has it that a holy cow appeared here ages ago when the ocean was churned by gods and demons. There is apparently the hoof marks of the cow on the rock here. The name ‘Dhenu Giri’ (Dhenu means cow) came from the cows that frequented this place following the mythical events. The Hill is also called ‘Avalakonda’ by the locals after the ‘Telugu’ version of ‘Avalabetta’.

There is one smaller temple on the hill top which is even more beautiful and peaceful. The huge rock situated just outside the temple on top is almost a vertical climb and scaling it could be called sort of an adventure. Someone has carved out holes on the edge of it in order to make it easy for the lunatics who would anyway attempt to climb it. Nevertheless, I and KV decided to go up the rock and I took the lead. Whenever we are halfway through pig shit, we start regretting about stepping inside it in the first place and the same thing happened with me as well. The rock was slippery and my hands were sweating already and I am no rock climbing expert to think rationally in such a situation. If it wasn’t for my stupid male ego and worthless pride, I would have at least slid back down even though I was stuck in a position where I couldn’t move forward or backward. However, the decisions were made in a few seconds I reached for the next hole to grab. A fall from there would definitely mean at least a few broken bones if I fell at the right place. The chances of falling to the wrong side were really narrow but had that happened, I am pretty sure that yet another place would be restricted for tourists from the tourism map of Karnataka. Whatever, I made it to the top I must say that the climb was really rewarding. The view was much better from there and the breeze, fresher.

Once I reached on top KV also started and the way I saw him climbing, I felt that, possibly, he had the same thoughts in his mind like I had a few minutes back. We came down and sat in front of the temple, clicking pictures and talking rubbish and our new hero ‘Anil Bharadwaj’ wanted to try his hand on rock climbing then.

I said the climb was indeed rewarding

Next, we headed to the famous ‘Avalabetta Cliff’ to click those ‘dangerous’ photos that pop up in almost all Avalabetta related searches. I must remind you that the place is infested with people and the weakness of us Indians in failing to resist our itching to spoil anything beautiful is clearly reflected there. The place is littered badly and pond beside the cliff looks nothing like what we see in the photos from Google search because all you will find is a dirty pool of water littered with cigarette buds and pan packets. There were multiple groups of people near the cliff and for some reason they were not confident of going to the cliff or to sit there. We didn’t have any time to spare since it was kind of obvious that people would follow once someone has taken an initiative for going and taking pictures from the cliff. We clicked as many pictures as we wanted and seeing the girls in our gang also go and sit there, the bunch of ‘monkeys’ who were only commenting so far became hysteric in just two minutes. The next thing we see is at least some 15 people crowding up the small cliff. It was quite possible for things to go wrong and someone to fall off the cliff because these so called ‘bros’ were only pushing each other by crowding in that minimal space available there. We felt the right thing to do was to leave the place and we did just that.

While coming back, we found a quiet and peaceful place to spend some quality time together. Anil was definitely a smart guy to get his Bluetooth speakers and the feeling was made heavenly with his awesome playlist I would say. We must have sat there for at least forty minutes easily and every minute of that was well enjoyed. Everything seemed so perfect with the cookies that KV brought, the music, the wind, and I don’t know if it is right to mention the joint that Sandeep had rolled :p. Whatever.

I think my feelings are easily distinguishable for anyone reading this post and I don’t want to point out which and what made me happy and annoyed me. But I want to say one thing that I realized after the ride. There are always good things and bad things in everyone’s lives, those ups and downs, turns and detours, and any such thing that you can think. However, none of it is in our control and the day we learn to accept this fact we will master the skills to handle any kind of situation in our life and move forward. Time is a relative thing and if we waste it on trying to ensure that only good things come in our way, we would only regret having wasted that precious time when we realize the all the good stuff that we missed out in our life. If I were to get annoyed by those potholes in the roads, litter on the hill, noisy people spoiling the atmosphere, I would have definitely missed out the best moments we had at the same place that will easily outnumber all the bad stuff that we noticed.

While in college, the thought of college getting over and things changing could have crippled us but rather than letting that thought hold us back, we went out and made memories that would last a life time. If I were to miss out on a ride just because someone whom I don’t like is also coming along, the loss would be just mine. There is no better satisfaction than the realization of having looked at the positives over negatives in your life because you will understand that those are the things that brought you happiness in your life. Things do change as time progresses and, I repeat, we have no control over it. Just try and make the best out of what you have got I would say. If you ever feel like you are less blessed in terms of money, or friendship, or relation, or any such thing, try to make the best out of what you have got. It might help to think about those people who are dreaming of only the life that you are living at the moment.

Apart from the ‘philosophy’ :p

I know it shouldn’t always be the boring stuff because information is what people are looking for :p

· Getting there

o KMs – 110Kms from Bommanahalli, Bangalore

o We took outer ring road till Hebbal, and NH-7 afterwards till Chikkaballapur

o Take a left from the town (make sure that you are on the service road because the highway takes an underpass to cross the town and you might miss the turn)

o Once you have taken the left turn, make sure that you ask the local people for directions whenever you come across a junction because one would easily get confused here. And the local people have a helping attitude here.

o There is a nicely paved road from the valley to the hill top that will make the ride much easier

· Things to do

o The guest house premises are beautiful and give a very nice view (I felt like this view was better than the one from hill top). Still haven’t figured out how to book the guest house for an overnight stay.

o ‘LakshmiNarasimha’ temple (cave temple)

o Climb further beyond the temple and the summit is beautiful place to be.

o Take the path next to Lakshmi Narasimha temple to reach the cliff and the pond.

·Things to remember

o There aren’t any shops nearby and it is almost impossible to get any sort of food nearby. It is better to carry whatever you need before going there.

o Also, it would be really worth if you stopped at the ‘UP PUNJABI DABA’ while coming back because the food here is spicy and yummy (these guys have taken the definition of spiciness to a whole new level). And do not forget to try the Lassi here.

o The Daba is near the junction were you take a detour towards Nandi Hills.

o I am not sure if it was because of the time we chose to go, the places was kind of crowded and therefore you have to think about your priorities before deciding to go here.

Picture Time

The Bharadwaj show off :p

That is some family affair there…

Me and KV on top of the summit

Things that matter…..

The ‘Act Natural’ pose 🙂

For the daring woman she is 😀

Watching the world over :p

Weapons of choice 😀 B|

So, when we came out of the Daba, we saw this car that looked like it was riddled with bullets :p … leaving it here for the curious ones 😀

Photos – Anil Bharadwaj, WickedFrames

July 15, 2015April 7, 2020

SAVANADURGA – SOLITUDE AND LOVE

When I started this blog I was concerned about lot of things. I was concerned about everything from page template, content quality, and even the view count. Even though my idea of starting this blog was to share my happiness with people around me, it turned out to be something more. The number of people visiting my page, liking the posts, and sharing them started to bother me. Those statistical figures started to make me both happy and sad and I caught myself in a position where I was contradicting my own principles. I was never a person who really cared about how other people saw me and how well my thoughts were received by them. I have always despised those who tried to get attention but in the end I found myself begging for it. I found myself in the most pathetic state I could ever imagine. And let me tell you, these thoughts never happened to me overnight and they were completely the outcomes of prolonged observations, reflections, and thoughts about myself. Like most people, I, too, make the stupidest decisions when I am depressed or stressed and the solution I found was to get rid of the root cause of the problems. I thought about not blogging for a while and yeah I really did that.

I didn’t take my blog off the internet like those teenagers who deactivate their Facebook account but I really did something equally stupid then. I didn’t write about two beautiful trips I had made thinking that it would help me to bring myself out of the state I was at, then. However things do change and it is supposed to be that way. Recently I met one of my school friends and had a long chat and it was only when we were about to part he mentioned about my blog. He told me that he liked my blog very much and asked me to keep it going. When I reached home I really gave it a thought why I actually started blogging in the very first place. Then I thought about the number of times I have re-read my own posts about old trips. And whenever I did that, I got a feeling like reading someone’s experiences. Made me relive all those amazing trips I made. It was only then I knew why I started this blog in the first place. I just wanted to share the happiness that I enjoyed and I wanted to relive those days one day when I won’t be able to go to those places physically. That is the only reason why I am going to write about these two trips that happened long back.

SAVANADURGA

If you ever asked me about a place that gave me the happiest of moments in my life, I would doubtlessly say that it is Savanadurga. By the time I went to Savanadurga I had realized that each time I visited a new place I got this feeling that that was the best place I have ever been to. If you had been following my blog since beginning, you would understand that I speak about every place I visit with so much love. That might be because every square feet of land on this earth has to tell us its own unique story. The trip was kind of special to me since it was my first ride with my new riding fraternity ‘YRC’ and also that was my first solo trekking to some hill.

Savanadurga is a quiet and peaceful destination despite the high number of pilgrims that frequent the ‘Savandi Veerabhadreshwara Swamy’ and ‘Narasimha Swamy’ temples located at the foot hill. Located 60Kms off from Bengaluru, the hill located in Magadi road and is considered as one of the largest monoliths in Asia. Known locally as ‘Kaligudda (Black hill)’ and ‘Billigudda (White hill)’, the two hills that form the Savanadurga, the earliest record of the name ‘Savanadurga’ is associated with the 14^th century record by ‘Hoysala Ballala III’ and is called as ‘Savandi’ then. The place holds historic significance as it has the legacy of being the capital of Magadi rulers, and witnessing several wars which resulted in transfer of power over the region between Magadi Rulers to Mysore kingdom and from Tipu Sultan to British Empire.

Even though the tourism associated with the region is mainly about pilgrimage that has been going on for generations, I found the trekking uphill to be more comforting and soothing. I couldn’t find the calm and peace which I felt when I visited the ‘Devarayana Temple’. The temples and the surroundings are overcrowded with pilgrims, tourists, and street vendors and is noisy for most part of the time but the number of people giving a visit to the ‘Nandi’ idol on the top of the hills seemed very less and the vast expanse of the hill also makes the trekking trails look virtually deserted. Maybe that was because of the time I went for the trekking.

I have always said that solitude is the best feeling once we get used to it and I just loved every second I spent in Savanadurga. Smiled at all random strangers, spoke to some, shared my water with people who asked for it, enjoyed the wind like I never did before. Trust me, it was a tiring trek even though it is not as tough as ‘Kabbala Durga’ and there were kids carrying loads of tetra packs and bottled water uphill on their head just to make a living. I respect the kind of hard work and I hope and pray that their experiences turns out for their own good.

CLICK HERE TO KNOW HOW TO GET THERE

WE STARTED THE RIDE EARLY MORNING AND REACHED THERE BY AROUND 8:00 AM

IT WAS A HAPPY FEELING TO RIDE WITH THE NEW FAMILY. HOWEVER, THEY ALL CAME ONLY UP TO THE FOOT HILL AND WENT BACK SOON.

TREKKING BEGINS THROUGH LOVELY BUSHES

THE ENORMITY OF THE HILL HASN’T COME PERFECTLY IN NONE OF THE PICTURES BUT IT WAS HUGE AND BEAUTIFUL

THESE ARE THE GUYS I WAS TALKING ABOUT EARLIER. HE CARRIED THE LOAD ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP

THE VIEW OF TEMPLES AT THE FOOTHILL

MESMERIZING SKIES

VIEW OF MACHANEBELE DAM THROUGH THE REMINISCENT OF AN AGES OLD FORT

THE HILL HAS BEEN USED BY DIFFERENT EMPERORS FOR MILITARY PURPOSES AND I AM NOT REALLY SURE WHETHER THESE CONSTRUCTIONS ARE FROM THOSE ERA.

THE HILL OVERLOOKS MACHANEBELE DAM AT A DISTANCE AND THE VIEW IS JUST BEAUTIFUL. I LOVE THIS PICTURE FOR THE GRADIENT IT MAKES.

THE TOUGHER THE GOING GETS, THE BETTER THE FEELING GETS.

THIS WAS ANOTHER GUY WHO SOLD JUICES AND WATER ON THE HILL AND HE WANTED TO BE CLICKED. HE ALSO CLICKED A FEW PICTURES OF MINE AS WELL.

MACHANEBELE DAM SHOT WHILE COMING BACK FROM SAVANADURGA

SAVANADURGA SHOT FROM A DISTANCE

SOMETIMES YOU GOTTA TAKE A BREAK, STOP AND LOOK BACK. IT ALWAYS FEELS BETTER TO REALIZE HOW FAR YOU HAVE COME.

April 18, 2015April 7, 2020

Highway to Heaven – Ooty ride

Every journey in our life is our expedition into new meanings, new perspectives, and new lessons. If your everyday ride to your college or workplace meant unique experiences for you, just think about how amazing it can be when you are riding to the queen of all hills? For someone like me, who defines his vibe around the intensity of the rides he makes, the Ootacamund ride was something that took me through multiple dimensions of thinking, all at once. To put it in simple words, the ride meant everything from ecstasy, stupidity, guilt, realization, and satisfaction for me. Well, I can’t even remember how many months back I went for the ride but I can clearly remember every bit of the ride crystal clear.

There were five of us on four bikes (including one pillion) and another five on a car but both the teams started from Bangalore separately. We started riding by around noon and all of us were equally excited about the ride and had decided on making maximum use of the GoPro cam which we had rented for the trip. Riding till Mysore had the same feel as usual and except for the intermittent rains, there was nothing much interesting happening in that stretch. Except for the lunch break at MacDonald’s, Channapatna, we rode non-stop till Mysore and took a break once we entered the Mysore – Gundulpet Road.

The real ride started from there and there onwards it was all about the adrenaline rush and pushing the gauge needle towards the red zone. We didn’t bother much to track our speed-o-meter but it always said something above the hundreds whenever we gave a look at it. The elegant curves spread far into the distance dancing around the beautiful valley and it was an exciting experience to maneuver our ride through them at decent speeds. Only if the GoPro battery lasted long enough to enjoy the most beautiful part of the trip [Sigh], it had turned off shortly after entering the Gundulpet road. Less traffic and extended vicinity contributed to the inspiration for twisting the throttle even more and we were pushing each milestones behind us without much delay. Our first stop on this road came when we reached KV’s favorite temple which is situated on the middle of the Ooty road (he has told me earlier that he wants to get married in this temple). We started getting a feel of the Ooty weather from that spot itself and the sun had already started descending behind the hills. KV went in for a short prayer and right when he stepped out of the temple, a white Scorpio came and stopped beside him in movie style. The uncle stopped to tell us this much and he said it right away when he rolled down his windows – “your parents trust you guys with your bikes. Think about them before doing anything stupid”. Eventually the family turned out to be KV’s acquaintances and they drove off to Ooty afterwards.

It made perfect sense with whatever that uncle told us and that, I consider, as the lesson number one that we learned during the Ooty trip even though we have discussed the same thing among ourselves much before. If your parents are letting you ride a high speed bike far away from your home, it is only because they trust you with your bike. If you have got a pillion companion who is always ready to sit behind you without a second thought, it is only because they trust you with everything you do with your bike. If your fellow riders do not have any problem with your riding style or speed, it is only because they too trust you. Always be responsible and never give your loved ones a reason to think that they were wrong about you.

My nerves started dancing when the ascend through the hairpin bends started and there are no words for me to express the excitement I could feel after entering the thick wilderness of Bandipur forests. It became pitch dark within a while and soon it started pouring also. I felt like paradise with the rain and the forest and the ride was something that can only be experienced and not explained. We had significantly reduced the speed and I was riding at around 30-40 Kmph once it started raining because visibility was very less in that situation. The humps were a big problem for us due to lack of markings or indication and it was very difficult to identify them from a reasonable distance and controlling my bike over humps with a pillion in that weather condition was quite difficult. I, still, can’t remember clearly what happened when I jumped over one of the humps but my bike skidded off tossing me and my pillion to the right side of the bike (still in the middle of the road). I regained my senses within a second and rushed to carry my pillion out of the road. Then I took my bike also to the side and I had absolutely no idea about what to do after that because everyone else in the group were far ahead of us by then. But we didn’t have to wait for even two minutes and that is what I believe to be god’s care for us in our tough situations. An innova car of a Malayali family stopped and the uncle made room for Anshu in the car even though the car was jam packed. They left for the forest check post and I followed them in my bike and the others were all waiting at the check post by the time we reached there.

I was all cool once I realized that the situation was under control but you can’t even imagine what I was going through during my ride from the accident spot to the check post. There were many things that roused the matured guy in me and the first thing that caught my attention was the elephant I saw in the next curve after starting from the accident spot. It was only at around 40 meters distance from where I fell and all I could think of was, what would have happened if I had fallen in front of that elephant? A chill went through my spine when I saw the elephant and it had made my mind so numb that I didn’t see a wild hog and a bear few curves down the road (the other guys told me about those scenes once we reached the resort). Even though Anshu’s injuries were all minor, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about the biggest mistake I made before starting the ride. I was all equipped with riding gears including kneepads, gloves, armored jackets, helmets and can you make a wild guess on what was my pillion’s protective gear? She was protected by an iron clad sweat shirt, skin-fit jeans, ballerinas and a hair clip. I don’t know if it was stupidity or ignorance or selfishness that held me back from thinking of giving her also some riding gears. All the while when I was ripping off through the curvy roads, I forgot the fact that a pillion was sitting behind me without even a helmet. Now whenever I think about this fact, the same chill runs through my spine again and again. And that was the next lesson that the cool Ooty roads taught me. Never again a ride with a pillion who is not protected with riding gears. Better alone than gambling with someone else’s life.

One good thing about our age, right now, is that we are all stupid and therefore we all easily forget all seriousness of our life. We had all forgotten about the accident within an hour, for the same reason, and the rest of the night was totally fun. KV is the best guy for finding amazing places and the stay couldn’t be made any better than this quiet resort inside a jungle in Masinagudi. We all sat in the verandah for so long and Sandeep and Anshu undertook the job of entertaining all of us. Masinagudi was somewhat like a teaser before the beginning of Ooty chapter and the fun packed rides were still waiting for us. We started for Ooty by day break the next day and it was from this day onwards we started noticing how much KV and Sandeep rips off actually. These two had to wait for us somewhere throughout the trip because we were never able to catch up with them even after doing our best on the curves. It started with the narrow pass in between Masinagudi and Ooty and everytime I tried to stick behind those two, I felt like my engine was going to explode if I didn’t let my throttle go. This is one stretch that every biker must do at least once in their life but also be extremely careful on this stretch since it is one of the dangerous passes I have been to [this is one pass where non-Ooty registered vehicles are not allowed to climb down and this signifies how steep and dangerous the road, actually, is].

It didn’t feel like we took much time to reach Ooty because every kilometer was challenging and interesting in that stretch. We reached Ooty by breakfast time and went to Virtue Bakes,KV’s favorite pastry shop in Ooty. One must try the chocolate doughnuts here and everything we tried was yummy here. We headed to Kodanad view point next and I really cannot judge which one was more interesting – the ride or the view. The place was so peaceful and the view was brilliant but I enjoyed the ride even more (KV and Sandeep might laugh when we say this because they reached 15 minutes before us here :p. But in the end it is not just about the speed and hence our statements are valid. ). If you think that I am exaggerating about the roads, you can have a look at this five minute video (it is too amateurish but I assure you that you will get an Idea of what I am talking about from this video 🙂 ).

Another thing that deserves mentioning is the ride inside the Doddabetta forests. Pure off road conditions amidst the thick wilderness. You might even see bison if you are lucky enough. however, this road is restricted for civilians and it is better that you go here only if you have some local friends to accompany you. the forest guards had stopped us in between.

KODANAD VIEW POINT

We had lunch at a sandwich place while coming back and I should appreciate the fact that we can find amazing eateries around Ooty that are pretty reasonable in pricing. Our next destination was Catherine falls and we all spend quite some time here for two reasons. First reason being the awesomeness of the place and second one being the call Anshu got from college. She got shortlisted for internship in a company and it was both a happy and sad news for us. We were happy for her but we were also sad because she had to cut short the trip and go back that evening itself. Akshay also decided to go back for accompanying her and the trip lasted only for a day and a half for those two. We all sat there for some time without talking and decided to end our trip for that day.

CATHERINE FALLS (THERE WASN’T MUCH WATER THEN)

KV MEDIITATING 😛

Satheesh uncle was such an efficient and generous host and the night would have been so gloomy if it wasn’t for the barbecue party we had at uncle’s place. He owns a 150 year old English Bungalow in Kothagiri and his house is facing the valley. You can have a look at Coimbatore in all its magnificence at night sitting in his front yard and that view is what I miss most about Ooty. I so want to own a house like that somewhere in Nilgiris. We all settled in his hall room for the night after dinner and we spent some time watching the go pro videos of that day on uncle’s widescreen TV.

BARBECUE PARTY AT SATHEESH UNCLE’S HOUSE

The next day was quite adventurous even though we didn’t take our bikes this day since uncle had made a nice itinerary for that day. We went to a farmhouse so close to the forest and had our breakfast there and we went for a little trip into the forest on a rented Jeep. It was a fun experience for us to ride on the top of the Jeep through the swamp. We concluded our first group Ooty trip with lunch at KV’s home and I envy this guy for so many things now. I have never seen a home located in such a sweet spot anywhere else. We started for Bangalore by afternoon and the ride back was also a great experience. (I found the shoes Anshu had lost in the forest when we fell down, while going back :p ).

FAREWELL PICTURE

OOTY II

The excitement of the first trip was so much that we went to Ooty for the second time within months. This time I couldn’t go on my bike and had to rent a pulsar once I reached Ooty. The bike was brand new and was in very good condition. We required no introduction this time since we had already been to this place once. The only change was that we stayed at KV’s home during this trip and I simply fell in love with his family. Our evenings always started with yummy homemade snacks, went through dinner and lot of blabbering and would wind up with Jenga or Pictionary. I had some of the best days of my life during this trip and I am damn sure that I will never ever forget them in my life. I owe to KV a lot for making it happen and I truly wish I could give something like this in return for him.

The phase two of Ooty trip included a visit to the Emerald lake, a trip on the Nilgiri express, visits to nearby places, and classy restaurants (I could really visualize the meaning of classy after seeing these places). Earl’s secret is a hill top restaurant set up in all English style in an elegant ambiance. We spend close to 2000 rupees just on brownies but every bit of it was worth. We headed to railway station to take ride on the heritage Nilgiri express. This was a fun filled ride which started with the “D Compartment” and “Decibel meter” [only close people will know this story and I can explain it to anyone who is interested. Am not writing much about it here since it is not so interesting :p ]. At least half of the passengers in the train were shouting and howling whenever the train went through a tunnel and this train ride is something everyone must do in Ooty. Uncle was waiting for us at the Ketti station and we went to Culinarium from the station. Culinarium is a posh restaurant attached to the Pony needle factory and the place was so awesome that we took photos of its toilet :p (however the food wasn’t that great but the ambience was amazing).

THE NILGIRI EXPRESS JUST ABOUT TO ENTER ONE OF THE TUNNELS

We didn’t go to many important places during this trip but wherever we went turned out to be of importance for us. I have made a compilation of clips and put them into a video (too amateurish :p but yeah for the sake of it 🙂 ) since the beauty of the Ooty roads couldn’t be portrayed by words. I am also putting a few photos from my first solo trip to Ootyalong with this post. Enjoy maadi 🙂

ROUTE PLAN AND TOTAL DISTANCE

Bengaluru – Mysuru – Gundulpet – Bandipur – Masinagudi – Ooty
Total distance covered – around 600Kms

PLACES VISITED

Bandipur forests
Kodanad view point
Masinagudi
Catherine falls
Emarald Lake
Kothagiri
Doddabetta
A ride on the Nilgiri express train

PLACES WHERE WE ATE

Virtue bakes (yummy food and reasonable rates)
Earl’s secret (yummy food but expensive)
Culinarium (great ambience but food is not so great)

PLACES WHERE WE STAYED

We had stayed mostly at KV’s relatives place but there is this awesome resort in Masinagudi wehre we stayed for the first night called ‘Whispering Windows’. It is located in a very beautiful and peaceful spot and Rs.4000 per night per room was very reasonable. Even though we didn’t rent any other hotels or resorts during our trip, I can get you information about good places to stay in Ooty if you are interested.

I THINK IT IS TIME FOR PICTURES 🙂

Sandeep’s excitement after seeing the camera :p

Arakkal King in style :p

Jince’s beauty 🙂

This is the famous flying squirrel of Ooty (it just jumps long distances and glide swiftly)

Pictures from my first ride to Ooty

Lake Emerald

At Earl’s secret

This is a panoramic view of the farmhouse near forest

For more trip stories click here 🙂

Photo Courtesy: Kiran Vasudev

January 7, 2015April 7, 2020

The Dravidian tale: Karnataka – Tamil Nadu – Kerala

I have understood that I should play with creative drama in the posts only if the trips aren’t really interesting and since I am not that great with that part of blogging, I decided to improve on the things I am good at (Yeah that is riding by the way in case if you had no idea about what to guess). So I will just get straight into the business and tell you about one of the awesome trips I have done so far and I will try not to bore you much. The 1280Kms trip started and ended in Bangalore and went through Salem – Namakkal – Theni – Kumili – Kuttikkanam – Idukki – Kannur – Wayanad – Bangalore. I had been thinking about this trip ever since we went to Kodaikkanal early this year. And by the way, the blogging experience so far has made it clear to me that the people visiting my blog are generally not much interested in the crap going on in my head and they are rather curious about the places and roads. So let me take you through the ‘itinerary’ step by step.

BANGALORE –SALEM

This is one obvious expressway that every south Indian will be familiar with and one of the best roads I have seen so far (By build quality, speed and safety). Bikers may not find the expressway appealing because, for us, the roads start getting beautiful the slimmer it gets. But trust me, I had fun on this road despite it being a three lane road because I was riding when it was dark. Now I wouldn’t recommend rides in the dark because the chances of danger increase as the lights get dimmer. The bike headlamps have comparatively low vicinity as to that of four wheelers and other bigger vehicles and one may not notice in case if animals or people jump in front (people jumping on to these high speed roads are just monkeys who can talk and wear clothes). Even though there aren’t any potholes or bumpy roads, there are chances that things fell off trucks and other vehicles might pose a threat.

However, you can still ride this road in the dark if you are confident enough and cautious. Here is the raw technique that will help make the night rides slightly easier: “Identify a car moving fast enough and follow it at a breakable distance.” And when I say breakable distance here, it only means “the damn breakable distance”. You keep following it by its tail and you shove your bike up his ass the moment he slows downs or breaks for some reason. You have to do this (the technique of following i mean, not the shoving part)only if your lights are not powerful enough and you should do this only if you are responsible and careful enough.

SALEM – DINDIGUL

I reached Salem by dawn break and it was quite sunny by the time I entered the Salem – Dindigul highway. I had my breakfast at Sharavana Bhavan and headed to Dindigul. Man, this was an awesome stretch that go dancing around the hills and the empty lands and is surrounded by beautiful landscapes all around. My only regret is that too many butterflies had to end their lives on my helmet and I could do nothing to help it. The view of the Kaveri River on the expressway is another beautiful thing to see.

· Why Salem – Dindigul Exp way is 100 times better than Bangalore – Mysore highway

1) This is a real expressway ( :p )

2) Dividers are wide enough with sufficient space for vehicles to take u-turns without interrupting the moving traffic

3) No cows, bullock carts etc. on the roads

4) Relatively very less people jump in front of your vehicle

5) Very long vicinity

6) Lot less cow dung on the road than the Karnataka ones

Aminadhaap Vasanth

Special name right??? Yeah the guy too had something special about him (maybe because of his awesome beard. I should have taken a snap 🙁 ) and I am glad that I made a new connection on this trip. I had a strong feeling that I would meet a rider on the way and I wasn’t wrong about my instincts. I met him just before I crossed the river Kaveri and I waved at him and he returned the gesture. We stopped at a coffee shop and had a nice chat for quite some time and altogether I felt very nice. We discussed about our bikes, the riders we know, the clubs we know, interests, riding styles, preferences etc. during that short time and I liked this guy for some reason. Maybe because he told me about his best friend’s fatal accident without much exaggeration and melodrama and it sounded much like the genuine feelings that one can have for a close friend.

DINDIGUL – THENI

The ride on the expressway ends by Dindigul and the awesomeness begins once you divert towards the Theni road. This is a beautiful stretch with moderate curves and traffic and this is the same road which you take while going to Kodai. The neighborhoods are relatively more inhabited and this will give you a feeling of slight congestion but there is no reason to think that the riding experience will be bad. Considering the Sabarimala festival season, the traffic could not be considered as a bothering thing and I think the roads will be even less occupied once the festival is over.

TN-64-D-7xx2

How will you feel when a bunch of young guys speed up and overtakes you just to cheer you up?? I felt like a celebrity and I returned the gesture of courtesy when those boys in the Figo waved at me in appreciation. Thanks for the love anonymous people.

THENI – CUMBUM

This is the stretch that is often alleged by motorists for its bad condition but trust me it is nothing like the opinions that you see in crappy forums like team-bhp. Yes it is true that there are patched regions in a few places but they shouldn’t matter to bother you unless you are a chubby broiler kid who only enjoys the comfort of air-condition, smooth suspension, stupidity and arrogance. All the patched stretches might add up to 20Kms and this is not a figure that can bother someone who is travelling a 500+Kms distance on a single day. Plus, these stretches are only inside the towns and not on the other areas. It is like you ride through smooth roads and the road ends right before the town and starts again right when the town limit is over.

The last snap before the ascend started

Velmurugan

The encouragement didn’t stop with the boys in the Figo and I met my next ‘fan’ at a petrol bunk after Theni. His name was Velmurugan and he striked a conversation by asking the price of my knee guards when I stopped at a petrol bunk to fill up the tank. I told him the cost in broken Tamil and then came his next question “Where are you coming from?” Yeah that is right, in pretty good English he asked me everything he wanted to know and that kind of English is not usually expected from someone riding a Splendor with slippers, lungi, and a shabby shirt in a remote village. That was a moment when I felt proud about our country’s education system (now you might say that it could be an exceptional case but being a south Indian I know this was not a mere exceptional case. I wish the same quality of education gets established in the northern states as well in near future). In the end he told me this much: “I appreciate your courage and I wish you all the best, enakku vanthu cumbum varekkum ride panna mudiyale, you are doing a great job”.

CUMBUM – KUMILI

You say goodbye to the planes and start ascending the Ghats slightly after cumbum and then you are entering the scenic beauty of the renowned “HIGHRANGE”. ‘Highrange’ is the alias for the Ghat regions of Idukki. The journey through the thick forest and the hairpin bends is a beautiful thing but it is highly advised to do this stretch during day time. You will experience the most unique border crossing experience when you enter the Kumily town from Tamil Nadu because it will be like looking at two opposite color gradients in a matter of few seconds. Kumily is a town built right on the border and the wall of the last building in the town is the beginning of Tamil Nadu while travelling to the opposite side. You will also notice the difference in life style and people right at the moment when you enter Kumily town.

KUMILI – KUTTIKKANAM

You just stick to the one highway which you see in Kumily and that will be the Kottayam – Kumily road. You will have to take an exit to the narrow ‘Kattappana’ road if you want to go directly to Idukki. One thing I always say about Kerala roads are that they are sexy and seductive and equally dangerous. You might even feel like doing a knee drag on the curves, because they are that damn beautiful, but suddenly a truck or bus will appear from nowhere. Be extremely careful and stick to the extreme left of the road all the time while riding anywhere in Kerala. Just remember that the private bus drivers do not care about anybody’s life (not even theirs) and therefore don’t take a chance. The ride through the tea estates amidst the mist is an experience that can only be felt but not described.

KUTTIKKANAM – IDUKKI

This is not an interesting stretch because the roads are uneven and filled with patch works and there is nothing great to see on the way except for the engineering marvel of Idukki arch dam. The Idukki Arch Dam is a beauty that everyone must see at least once and this will be open only during Onam, Christmas and Easter for visitors. You can also go for a boating inside the reservoir (if you really have the balls to imagine yourself in the middle of the country’s second largest and world’s 22^nd largest dam).

Meter reading at the end of day 1 🙂

That is the highly sophisticated navigation tools I used during the trip :p

IDUKKI – KANNUR

This was a speed run with just the thought of reaching home and this is the stretch where the worst things in my life happened. First of all, I had to experience a traffic congestion like I have seen never before anywhere. Secondly, my first major accident happened on this road during the ride.

That is her last picture in good condition before the accident 🙁

In Calicut. Travelling through Kerala will always guarantee you a great treat for your eyes

Beautiful numbers on the meter when you end the day’s journey 🙂

KANNUR – BAVALI – MYSORE – BANGALORE

The Kannur – Bangalore roads through Wayanad are all equally beautiful and the Bavali road is a must ride road for every rider. Wayanad will always welcome you with a blissful treat for the eyes and if the roads were a drawback of this beautiful hill earlier, now even the roads have been made so good. Needless to say about the wild life that you get to see in the Bandipur Reserve, but you have to be really careful while riding through the forests. Stopping is not advisable because the behavior of wild animals are obviously unpredictable (even though not as worse as humans :p).

If you don’t like these roads, you will never like any good road on earth

Feel like twisting your wrist a bit?? 😉

And you wouldn’t get to see wildlife so close in any other sanctuary roads

THINGS ABOUT THE TRIP

· Longest single ride so far

When I completed my day one at Idukki, I had done 611Kms in 11 hours and that was the longest distance I have done so far in my riding life.

· First major accident

Yes you heard it right. There is this saying that it is easier to meet with an accident in India if you obey the traffic rules and that is what happened in my case. I slowed down when I saw the light turning from green to yellow and it was still yellow by the time I reached the signal line and stopped. I had fixed my feet on the road and took my hands off the handle to relax a bit and might have had passed a good 5 seconds when it happened. BANG on my back and first I hit the road with my face down and my bike hit its left side and on the next toss the bike was on my body with its right side over me. Me and the bike had gone for a toss of at least 5 meters and trust me it wasn’t really a good feeling.

People and the cop who ran to the scene first thought I was seriously injured and they carried me to the road side (People in Kerala are very nice and sensible in such cases that they will make sure that an accident victim gets immediate medical help). Bike wasn’t a complete mess except for the fibers. By god’s grace all that happened to me was just one burn due to silencer and bruise on my leg and nothing else and I will always be thankful to god for safeguarding me. The people who gathered there were about to rush me to the hospital but I convinced them that I was alright.

I appreciate the fact that the traveler driver stopped and realized his mistake and apologized but was disappointed to realize how negligent vehicle drivers are about two wheelers on road, once more. Anyway I didn’t make a big fuzz out of it for two reasons, one that I survived the accident with minor injuries and the second one that the guy earns his bread and butter through that one van.

· Longest time spent on the bike at one single stretch

It took me 13 hours to reach home from Idukki and this was the longest time I spent on my bike ever on a single day. I had only completed halfway when the accident happened and riding the bike after taking the tetanus injection and the bruises on my leg wasn’t an easy deal. My hands were paining and ass had gone numb ( :p ) by the time I reached home and to be frank this was one time I really got tired of riding.

· Longest trip by far

I did a total of 1273Kms by the time I reached back to Bangalore and this will be my longest ride until I set my next personal record.

THINGS I LEARNT

Well, no trips end without having taught you a few things worth to remember and yeah this one, too, did.

· Take sufficient breaks and rests

Long rides are fun but make sure that you take adequate breaks and give yourself some rest when you are tired. I had reached Theni in 6 hours and I wanted to finish the first day so quickly. But my pushing beyond the limit had its effect on me and by the time I entered the kerala border, I was tired like shit and had to stop every now and then and I could feel the loss of concentration also. My concentration drop was pretty serious that I took a wrong turn and travelled an extra seventy Kilometers.

· Ride for your own happiness

It is never about the speed or style or sound or anything because it is just about what makes you happy. You like riding slow? Ride slow, you like riding fast? Ride fast? Just remember that never ever ride your bike to show off because you will be doing it for someone else then.

· You got to fall a hundred times before you learn to walk

Yes you fall down. You might fall many times. Like the saying goes, your failure is when you are scared to get up and walk again. I am not boasting but I was not scared to ride the remaining 200+Kms after the accident and the first thing I checked after the accident was if the bike was still in riding condition. Maybe I am crazy or stupid or something but my fear also went for a toss along with the accident and I am still proud of my parents for dealing it with exceptional courage. Bad things happen to your life only to make you fit for the events yet to come and they are never meant to bring you down. Hold on and keep the fight going till the end. Never give up.

· God has got a plan for you and it is for your best. Keep the faith

Yes I do believe in this. I am not hear for any argument or explanation but I am just so happy to experience the love and protection of my savior. Just keep the faith.

The route Map

END NOTE :p

They were coming from Guntur, AP, and they are pushing the chariot to Sabarimala. I met them at 250Kms from Bangalore. The devotion deserves a salute.

That is where the stolen water is going 😉 :p. Pen-stock pipes carrying water from Mullaiperiyar to Vaiga reservoir

This is the beauty of Ghats

Lower Periyar dam

That is Kabini at a distance

So here are the damages

November 24, 2014April 7, 2020

the machine arttt…..

All machines will have a tale to tell. A tale that is unique, a tale that is original, a tale that is a pure outcome of passion, dedication and commitment. I happened to witness the first stage of K1000 rally this week and got the opportunity to get inside the circuit and click pictures. What I saw was pure machine art and the story is something which I cannot express in words but can only be felt by heart. The best I can do to describe the event is to show you pictures and here goes the memories of K1000 rally stage I, Bangalore.

When met with passion and dedication, a machine gets its life.

With the man behind its wheels, it is incarnated.

It was a lucky coincidence that we got to drive behind Gaurav Gill till the Stage I of K1000 rally, Bangalore

That was the only Evo 9 in the event. Even though the team couldn’t perform well, I respect the driver for having such an enthusiasm even at such an old age.

The Evo 9 was a sexy beast indeed

Let me be me. The polo preparing for the event.

Yeah you can get a glimpse of Gaurav here 🙂

Some random FMSCI official trying his hand in the circuit :p

That is the safety car and man, it was hell lot of a show to see him ripping off.

The only lady driver in the event. Now this is what I call real ‘women empowerment’ . Good going Harshitha 🙂

Lined up for the battle. Stage I, K1000 rally, Bangalore

Maybe the timings were bad, but Reyaz Farook indeed put a show.

Kabbala Durga Trek

Well, lot of them speak about living in the present. Yes we should live in the present but how about the interpretation that we give to that advice? We should live in the present to make the best out of the moments, to unhook ourselves from the past, to look forward to future, to find new reasons. But it never means that you should live ignorant, careless, or think about shortcuts, momentarily pleasures and happiness that won’t last long.

We planned our Independence Day ride to Kabbaladurga which turned out as an awesome trekking experience. However I wouldn’t want to write anything about the seasonal patriotism that rouse us for two days in a year and make us throw the national flag on the road sides the next day. This page is just about some crazy decisions which eventually gifted us with the some of the fun filled moments in our life.

Apart from the riding experience, this story tells about our decision to climb the hill from the wrong side :p . We had parked our bike on a place, which we thought to be the starting of the trekking route, and started walking only to realize that we were not on the right path. However, we had this crazy idea to find a new route and go up even though there was a huge protest from Vindhya and Reuben. They followed us while me, KV, Sandeep and our new guy Nirmal went ahead looking for possible trails. There was cutting of bushes, climbing rocks, crawling on knees through tunnels made by bushes and all possible crazy stuff on our event list.

To be frank, the result was a dead-lock point where there was no going ahead (the bush was twice my height by then), scars and blood on hands, Nirmal’s jacket spoilt by thorns and shouting from the two lame people who were playing spoil sport right from the beginning :p 😀 . But there was a lot more to the trek than the disappointment. A lot of adventure, lot of craziness, lot of fun and a lot of memories.

Now you might wonder why I talked about living in the present and momentarily pleasures. Yes, I am coming to that. Living in the present was just about our decision to go for the trek and the options to choose momentarily pleasures were many, which we didn’t. We could have directly gone to the regular trek trail and climbed the hill instead of wasting all our energy and emptying the only bottle of water we had, exploring a useless route. We didn’t have to take the pains of scars from thorns and didn’t have to get our cloths spoilt. We could have climbed the hill up and down in half the time we actually spend in total.

But would I be able to see KV laughing hysterically like I have never seen before? Would I be able to see Sandeep all excited and full of energy? Would I collect the porcupine spine (my first treasure from all the trips and treks)? Would I be able to make such beautiful memories? Nope. Even though unknowingly, I preferred long term treasure over momentarily pleasure.

It would have given us a moment’s comfort if we had chosen to climb the hill through the regular trails but would have never compensated for what we were about to miss. Climbing the 1000 meter hill (will have to walk around 2kms to reach on top) without even a single drop of water and that too on empty stomach might seem stupid but the soothing ritual and the splash of theertha on your face by the temple priest in the end is invaluable. My only regret would be that I lost my flag in the forest while we were trying to find the new route.

HOW TO GET THERE

100Kms from Bangalore

Ride to Channapatna through SH17 and take a left turn from Channapatna town

Another 25Kms after the left turn towards Kabbaladurga. Stick to the left side and take the deviation towards left when the first deviation comes.

Stick to the road and you will reach Kabbaladurga

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Carry sufficient water while climbing
Food options are minimal. Therefore remember to keep some light food in your bag
Avoid heavy backpacks because the climb is long and tiring

PICTURES

Kabbala Durga

Reuben rides pretentious Enfield When he is not riding a real Enfield

It was good to have Nirmal along with us

Vindhya was fed up of ‘freaking paparazzi :p ‘

Reuben’s ‘Do i really have to do this bro?’ face :p

‘Oh my goddddd!!!! am doneeee 🙁 ‘

‘Oh wait.. they are clicking picture .. I should look pretty 😀 ‘

Beliefs and rituals

Kabbalamma Devasthana

The pond that quenched our thirst 🙂

The mystery hole :p

Sandeep was telling me his gost stories 😀

Nirmal just wanted some place to sleep. Reuben is yet to reach 😉

Some fort built by Tippu apparently

Photo courtsey : Wickedframes, Kiran Vasudev, Vindhya C ( you have really got some photography skills man )

Contradiction….

All of us have it inside us,

Hidden, dormant, and waiting to come out if given a chance.

All that matters is how often do we let it out.

Differences are figured out based on that.

We are all good and we are all bad,

The choices are made by us,

And the choices vary from time to time,

Depending on situations and circumstances,

Sometimes it is not even by choice but by fate.

You are distinguished by the decisions that you make when you have options to choose,

Whether we truly understand the choices that we make or not.

We choose to wear the mask of humanity but carry out the evil hiding inside us.

We choose to instill peace by professing violence,

Our guns speak justice and missiles speak freedom,

Yes. We are a contradiction to ourselves,

Our actions speak against the reasons that we vouch for.

This contradiction is there everywhere.

Sometimes the mask might seem evil but there will be virtue hiding behind it.

The people that you think to be the toughest might be the kindest.

The orphans of the enemies can be seen under the shelter of their parents’ killer,

Being shown the light of hope which they must have thought to not exist,

Being taught to prefer reason over emotion.

We are all contradiction to ourselves.

August 9, 2014April 7, 2020

Wet trails……The cloud hunt :)

You don’t ride unless you ride in the rain and you don’t ride in the rain unless you get your balls soaked :p . Yeah I have rode in the rain a lot but this time I felt like it was for the first time. Maybe because I was little disturbed for random reasons or maybe because I got a full free road with heavy raining and elegant curves for a little long time. I just got to enjoy every bit of the ride and once more it was just the road, me and my baby. If you would ask me what was that one thing I loved in this ride, I would tell you without thinking much that it was the rattling of the rain drops on my helmet visor that blew me off today.

I just took random lefts and rights and kept on riding until I reached the Machanabele dam (I wasn’t expecting to reach here). I had little too much time to reflect on lots of things during the ride and all thanks to the clouds that were generous enough.

Of everything that I saw today, it was those tiny little rain drops, which didn’t stay on the visor for more than a second that caught all my attention and won all my love. Does it signify anything? It might. Maybe not. It all depends on how we look at things. Everything is just a matter of time. The same ‘you’ who was there a second before and the ‘you’ who is there in the current second might be two contradicting entities if seen that way. The influence of time is something that is definitely beyond the reach of our imagination but it is seemingly immense.

A rain drop that was there on your helmet visor made you fall in love with it. Had it stayed there for a few more seconds to divert your attention enough, it might have taken your life too along with it. We all want to jump a signal light hoping to save a few seconds but none of us think about the price that we might have to pay with precious hours and days for that one second where everything went wrong. We cut in a lane traffic to save a few seconds only to realize that it cost us a lot more minutes instead. We reach on judgment about people based on one wrong second where they went totally against us and we easily forget the multitudes of days they spent making us smile. Everything is just a matter of time.

All of us are in a rush but none of us really know where we are heading to. None of us want to think that it is just a matter of a few seconds and it will pass. If we had the ability to believe that the times are meant to pass and pages anew are waiting for us unopened, we would have definitely lived a better life. A life that is meaningful and a life that is worth. We wouldn’t snatch what we don’t deserve and we would have fought for what we love.

I wish to start over. I am just going to erase out of my memory everything that can get me hooked to the past. I am just forgiving everyone who have hurt me directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally. Because I know that that too was a matter of time. Things would have been different if I had waited for the moments to pass. And I apologize everyone whom I have hurt. I just want to experiment if peace can prevail. Because if I cannot nurture it inside myself, I am sure that I can’t vouch for it anywhere else. Now on I will try to keep my calm and think to understand why a few seconds are bad in my life and I would try to find a way out of it. Because when I let anger take over my mind I know that I am just losing my battle against life. Do what seems impossible and bringing peace is one among them. Let me not get over-attached with things and people because even the happiness, I suppose, is momentarily. They too might pass and if you had developed your happy life around a few things and a few people, you will be shattered when they are not around anymore.

Let me see if I can keep my calm at those people who cut lanes without indicators, who expose their true genetic traits while they are behind the wheels. Because if I succeed, I will be proving myself that I am capable of much better things in my life.

Just like the rains that wash away the dirt from the roads even if they are meant to get dirty again. Just like the rains that quench the thirst of men who pollute the clouds that bear them. Just like the rains that can be a soothing touch on your face in this second and transform to a destructive power in the coming few. Just like the rains that do the most difficult things, I just need to teach myself to do things that once I never thought about.

PICTURES FROM THE RIDE

I thougt that this road would take me to the top of the hill in the picture…… It didn’t…

A different view of Machanabele dam. I went for a mini trek :p . Climbed the hill close to it.

Why not a selfie?? 😉

“The tough conditions doesn’t stop me from being myself…” workers on commute..

let them embrace the earth with bare feet..

let them know the pleasure given by the roughness of the sands..

let them know how earth smells..

let them play, fall and scrape their skin on it and let them share their blood with it..

For it is from the sand we came and for it is to the sand we return..

let them love it so that they won’t harm it when they grow up..

one, the energy that drives me….

one, the reason that drives me…

Price of happiness? One indicator and a few scratches :p …. The off-road insanity at Kanva

Someone with brains once said that life is all about ups and downs and you can’t call it life if it is smooth like a straight line. Obviously this is a thought to ponder upon and I am trying to relate this to a few things that came to my mind. There won’t be even a single kid who learnt to walk without falling down and scraping their skin and I do think that it is a law of nature. And obviously we may not find a parent who wouldn’t let their kids to try walking on their own for the fear that they might fall down. They know that the fall is inevitable and they let it happen because they have seen a lot more people doing it, they have seen people practicing a practice and that practice becoming quite common among general society. And in my perception that is the problem with our community.

We are, unfortunately, capable of doing only those things which others do or the things which we are allowed to do or others show us to do. We take up engineering or medicine or some other main stream degree because we have seen thousands doing it before us. We do things because our society asked us to do it. We don’t do things for the fear what the society might think. We let others see the world through our eyes or, to put it in a different way, we see what the society wants us to see. We are afraid of pursuing a degree or career that we were passionate about, we are afraid of being with the people whom we love, we don’t have the confidence to point at someone and declare that he/she is mine for the fear of what society might say, we wear dress that society approves of and we live a life that they are happy about. But, in the end, what have we got? What did we live for? What was our purpose?

To join the crowd is always easy but it takes courage to stand out. It does make a difference. It is not about whether you should join the crowd or stand out; it is just about doing the things you love in your life. Living a life that others ask you to live is just like taking photos using automatic and manual mode. Automatic is always easy to manage and satisfactory photos are always guaranteed. No one will ever complain about the lighting or color but it also means that no one will ever say a ‘wow’ looking at the picture you took. On the other hand taking pictures in manual mode is always adventurous as you have to take care of all settings to get the picture proper. Sometimes you might be left with useless pictures that will make you a laughing stock in front of others but once you get the hang of it, you will be making spectacular pictures with your machine.

Life is very similar to this. You can live your life with predefined default settings and live a life that was quite satisfactory without inviting any negative attention from anyone. But, how about a choice that will let you take the steps that you planned, for your happiness, and let you live the life you wanted? Obviously you will hear lot of criticisms and murmurs from all sides but once you make it to the other end of the road, you have done everything you wanted with your life. If death comes and knocks at your door then, you will welcome it with a smile.

I had my first official accident in our last trip 😉 , which was to Kanva reservoir and Sholay hills near Ramanagara, and if the above written blah blah sounds like a justification for that crash I just want to let you know that I am not trying to do it. Of course it is not a glorious thing to fall from your bike at 75+ Kmph and to feel proud about it. Also nobody should be riding to say hello to tragedies. All I am saying is that the crash wasn’t unexpected and all of us were just extra cautious to keep our rides on track at 80s and 90s through the loosely packed off road mud track of the reservoir bed. But we were not ready to sacrifice our fun for the sake of safety (this will sound absurd but it doesn’t mean we were trying to put ourselves in danger. We were extra cautious and I fell down only because my front tire got trapped in a loose mud pit which seemed like a plane surface from distance and caved in as I rode inside) and the result was indeed sweet (except for the gone indicator and scratches on my fairing :p ). We just added one more memory to our best riding experiences and the jerks and vibrations from the uneven trails of reservoir bed is nothing that can be compensated by anything else.

Kanva reservoir

We were a little confused when we saw the reservoir because all we saw was cows grazing inside reservoir bed instead of water :p. We kept our hope and went to the other side of the reservoir expecting to find water but disappointment was the result. On further research on internet, I understood that the reservoir is an artificial lake fed by the Kanva River and there won’t be water all time of the year. So in case if you are coming here to enjoy the waters, better make sure that it is the right time to find water. We went in a rainy season only but we don’t know the apparent reason for why the lake was dry.

However, this is a very good picnic spot and a great place for off road adventures. There are numerous trails inside the bed with very good visibility even for Kilometers but these roads are best suited for cars than bikes because of the loosely packed earth. Or else you should come here with proper bikes that can do offroading (it wasn’t a great idea to do that shit on an R15 here :p ).

· How to get here

– Kanva is around 60Kms from Bangalore and there is only one right turn to take from the Mysore express way

– Travel around 8 or 10 more Kilometers from Ramanagara Kamath ( or 6 or 7 Kms fromTaj biriyani paradise) and you will find a temple with a banyan tree and a small ground in front on the right side of the road.

– Next to the temple is a narrow road that goes inside towards Kanva reservoir. Just stick to the road and you will reach the reservoir straight

Sholay hills

Mesmerizing is the only word to explain Sholay hills where the epic movie was shot. The hills are simply as interesting as the movie and the best part is that you can reach the top most point without taking much of trouble (except getting tired as shit) because proper steps are made till the top (tourism department did a good job here J). You will be climbing nearly 400 steps ( yeah we counted :p I counted 386 and Vasu counted 389) till you reach the temple and then again you have to climb further up to reach the top. Climbing up the vertical steep just by trusting the rocking hand rail was little scary though. However, we realized that our effort got paid once we reached on top. The wind and the view were just mind-blowing. There is a small pond on the top of the rocky hill but it is not very clean to look at.

· How to get here

– While coming back from Ramnagara, you will reach a small town before Bidadi and there is an exit to the left from Mysore road ( There is an arch at the beginning of the exit road)

– Just go straight until you reach the checkpoint. Park your vehicle here, pay the fee and start climbing. ( better carry water with you because the climb up and down will take a few hours

PHOTOS

IF YOU WANT TO TORTURE THIS GUY, LEAVE HIM WHERE THERE IS NO NETWORK..

COW’S GONNA POOP FACE FOR DUCK FACES ARE TOO MAINSTREAM 😀

COOL GUY SANDEEP B)

YOU CLICKIN ME BRAHHH??? I DON’T GIVE A RATS F*****G ASS BRAHH… B| …. BADASS SHREYAS (chumma kidding 😉 .. he is another cool guy i met in my life 🙂 )

IT’S KINDA AWKWARD TO HAVE SOME CUTENESS IN THE PICTURE 😛

LOOK AT THE TRAILS… IT IS SERIOUSLY SO LONG

I DIDN’T SAY MESMERIZING FOR NO REASON B|

FABID AND REUBEN ‘BROMANCNG’ 😛

Die with regrets? Never… Go to Kodai ;)

You can die either with a contended heart and a smiling face or with regrets. The choice is yours. As we all know, it is always the things that we didn’t do that haunts us more than the things we did in our lives. None of us can deny the fact that we all have stood clueless at some point of time, looking back at the path through which we came, thinking about the things we didn’t do and flooding our mind with regrets. Most of the times, we were denying ourselves the minute pleasures with the motive of satisfying people around us( so called loved ones ). Even I have done way too many sacrifices like that and it took me some time to realize that the people who loves you truly would not want you to sacrifice anything that you love, for them. I am not trying to get philosophical here but the recent trip to Kodaikanal has got immense significance in my life.

This might be one of those trips where I have made compromises for the love of my friendship but it eventually turned out as of the best decisions I have made in my life. When I created this blog, I had the thought of dedicating it solely to bike rides but I can’t help but to write about the Kodai trip we made on two cars recently. I had bunked a full day class just to get my bike serviced for riding to Kodai the next day ( I would be left out as the lone rider with everyone else coming in car) only to change my mind and find myself a room in one of the cars next day. The change of decision happened overnight and it was definitely an outcome of various thoughts and considerations. I just wanted to enjoy every single seconds of the trip with these idiots even though I knew I would miss my bike so badly.

Normally people would have thought about the losing hours and declining attendance percentages ( especially when you are a Christite ) and about the huge sum of money that you have to spend when you are already broke before thinking about a sudden trip plan. One might call us stupid but that was a unanimous yes to the trip from everyone and all other thoughts came only afterwards. That was one trip where I was totally myself once more and the trip gave me back the things and fun I thought i had lost for ever. This trip proved to me that life is simpler than it looks like. Maybe it is because of the perspective through which we look at life. Maybe there will be a smoother and swifter path waiting for our attention only if we change our angle of view.

All I got to tell you after the trip is that, do everything that you are passionate about in your life. Never give room for regrets. Become what you wished to become in your life. Chase your dreams. Just make sure that you have got your own reasons behind the things you do because once you have chosen a road, you will definitely reach a point where there is no turning back. You should be obliged only to those people who deserve it. Your life is yours.

To speak about Kodai, this is one among the coolest hill stations in South India and the meaning of ‘Kodai’ in my mother tongue means fog and yes the name suits the charming hills perfectly. One must go to Kodai for its cool climate and that is something you won’t get to enjoy anywhere else. There are not many remarkable places that are worth to be added in a travelogue but the places to chill out are way too many. We were on a quick drive that included two days and one night and that time window was obviously too small for sight seeing. So we just had maximum fun in and around Kodai town and the lake.

The lake is indeed a magnificent one with a circumference of around 9kms and very spic and span environment. You won’t find any trace of thrash in the Kodai municipality and all the places are well maintained ( except for congestion). You can go for bicycle, tonga or horse rides around the lake at pretty reasonable rates and try some great falls like Anshu did :p ( you should learn to ride bicycles moti :p ). There are numerous shops around the lake that sell everything from handicrafts to home made chocolates. The Kodai home made chocolates are a must try and they are very cheap too unlike the Ooty ones. The Tibetan bazaar run by Tibetan refugees sell items like blankets and sweaters and you can find a good deal here also.

The streets of Kodai echoes the chants ‘Mushroom.. mushroom’ and it is totally up to you to decide on what to do with the tempting calls. By the time we finished roaming around the lake, it was late night and we had to settle a few things about the rooms and shrooms :p, so we had to head back. To be frank, fooding in Kodai is not so cheap unless you find some good places at moderate prices. The Royal Tibet restaurant at the end of the vegetable market is one good option for great food at reasonable prices. Astoria Veg is a good breakfast place but bit pricey.

We had breakfast from Astoria Veg and headed to the park and played stupid games and clicked pictures till afternoon. All you can say when 20 year olds run around, falling and getting mud on their clothes, in the middle of a crowded park that is meant for kids, there is this freaking inner happiness that nothing else can buy you. We concluded the trip with a visit to he Bear falls where we couldn’t find water but homo sapean feces :p.

To remember

– 90 percentage of the road to Kodai is express way ( only around 80Kms two lane and curves), and therefore you should think twice about taking your bike there. You will get bored unless riding is there in your blood.

– Climbing up to Kodai is through narrow curved roads and you have to be very careful about oncoming vehicles.

– Plan your trip for a few days at least so that you can enjoy Kodaikanal to the fullest, peacefully.

– Carry enough clothes that can keep you warm ( it is really very cold :p ).