“Ten thousand saw I at a glance

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”

How many of us get a chance to experience the beauty of these words from Wordsworth in real life? I did. I witnessed a ten thousand and more flowers at a glance. All of them occuring naturally in a valley – a valley with clouds hovering around and birds chirping away all the time. The place is called the ‘Valley of Flowers’, high up in the Himalayas, in the North Indian State of Uttarakhand.

Valley of Flowers

The journey started from Delhi. It was a few days before Commonwealth games in Delhi, and construction work seemed to be happening in every marg and sadak of Delhi. There was dust everywhere, and being the month of July, the weather was not too friendly. Everyone seemed to be covered by a layer of dust, and every place seemed to have something broken – to be fixed, and the heat was bogging down on my neck with every step I took on the roads. Nevertheless, this was the place which was the epicenter of a large part of Indian history, and the place that saw quite a lot of wars and bloodshed. Still, the city goes on like a wheel, oblivious to the weight of history behind it, or the complicated politics that’s being played all around it.

I had my ticket booked online on a private bus to Haridwar, from where I had planned to reach Rishikesh. This was the first of the many mistakes I did on this tour. It was not long before I learnt that private bus operators have no sense of reservations on their buses. Seat numbers do not matter, and despite having a reserved ticket, seat allocation was at the discretion of the bus conductor. I managed to get a front seat anyway, and hoped to see a lot of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand country life during my journey – a thing I usually love to do. A rickety ride in the bus started. I was happy to leave all the dust and chaos of Delhi behind, and head to the Himalayas.

Traffic in Old Delhi

Bus journeys out of Delhi towards Uttar Pradesh, are not one of the most pleasant journeys you can take. The highways are not empty and driver-friendly like those in Southern India. Being the most populous state in India (200 million people), towns in Uttar Pradesh never end, and there are people everywhere. The bus moved at a snail’s pace, and it took a lot of effort on the part of the driver to manage the bus amidst hordes of pedestarians and passersby. An alternative to the bus journey, is to take the train to Haridwar – better in terms of comfort and chaos. If you have the means, better take a flight from Delhi to Dehradun, from where Rishikesh is just 15 kms away.

The bus journey to Haridwar took 8 hours, including a massive traffic jam before Meerut, becasue of road construction work. As we reached closer to Haridwar, the weather cooled down, and I had the first of my bare minimal vegetarian thalis of this journey. Vegetarianism is the rule of the land in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand, and most of the time this translated to rice and dhal; sometimes roti and many times just aloo parantha with curd. The colder regions of course were liberally dotted with shops serving piping hot maggi. Another interesting thing to note wa that buffaloes were the ones pulling carts in this part of the country.

Ganga was gushing in full flow in Haridwar. I could see a lot of temples on the way, in and around the place. From Haridwar bus adda, I took another bus to Rishikesh. It was a journey of about 45 minutes, passing through some greener patches – which meant more chill. It was a welcome change, and soon I was in the town of Rishikesh, where religion was business. I was completely tired and exhausted after my day long journey, that I took a room and crashed for the night in Rishikesh, near the Laxman Jhoola. There was more in store for the days to come.

Rishikesh was a new experience for me. The whole town is centered around selling Indian religion to foreigners. For a place that is a center of Hinduism, yoga and spirituality, there were too many foreigners than I expected. And, there were as many places that served international dishes, as there were local eateries. One strange thing I noticed in Rishikesh was, shop-temples. Which means, every third shop in the locality was a temple – kind of a makeshift one, and the shop opposite to this temple was a paid footwear stand. There were gurus, yoga centers, meditation places, massage houses, and what not! This town is just the gateway to Garhwal – the land of Hinduism, spirituality and yoga.

Laxman Jhoola in Rishikesh

Next morning, I had to start quite early. Joshimath was a long distance away, and the travel could easily take a whole day. Garhwal roads are generally narrow ghat roads, and full of landslides. It takes special skill to drive long distances in these roads. Piligrims come in hordes, and there are umpteen buses queuing up on these roads all the time. Traffic jams and delays are the norm here, and it would not be surprising to reach your destination after a delay of 24 hours sometimes. Most buses to Joshimath start early in the morning, and the earlier in the day you start, the earlier you would reach Joshimath, or sometimes Badrinath.

I took an auto to the private bus stand in Rishikesh, at around 5.30 am in the morning. A number of tempo travelers and mini buses were queued up there to take all of the piligrims, foreigners, locals and office-goers to Joshimath. Some of the local travelers took up temporary seats next to the driver, as they would get down at places which were under an hours’ drive from Rishikesh. I got into a tempo traveler, and managed to secure a front seat where I can keep my extra-long legs stretched during the journey of 12 hours. There were Israelis around me – all of them going to Joshimath – the abode of Shankaracharya in the north.

A journey to Joshimath is an interesting one. The Shivalik ranges of the lower Himalayas offer spectacular views of the mountains, interspersed with temples, mutts, and a huge number of religious motifs. There are many towns that are of religious importance along the route. The journey is practically tracing Ganga upstream along its course. River Ganga is not known by its popular name all along from its origins. It is actually a confluence of a number of rivers. It originates at Gangotri, where it is known by the name Bhagirathi. Further downstream, it merges with rivers like Alaknanda and Mandakini among others. Towns at these confluences are called by the name prayag – we have Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag, Devaprayag and the like. We travel through all of these prayags to reach Joshimath, where it is still called Alaknanda.

Rudraprayag

The bus stopped for breakfast and lunch on the way. Piping hot aloo paranthas with curd during breakfast tasted heavenly making up for the weather which was becoming colder by the hour. The driver was maneuvering the vehicle through a lot of landslides, which were also being cleared up by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Roads to these distant reaches of India are maintained in a motorable shape because of the efforts of BRO. At around 6 pm in the evening, we still had a few more kilometers to reach Joshimath. My bottom was aching from more than 12 hours of travel, and I just waited to reach Joshimath and crash for the day.

Joshimath was a small and simple town. There were Punjabi and Gujarathi restaurants around, and a lot of piligrims. The Shankaracharya Mutt of the northern direction is located here, and Joshimath is also the base for traveling to Badrinath, which is one of the four holy centers for the Hindus. Also, Indian and foreign travelers to the Valley of Flowers, and the Hemkund Sahib Gurudwara – all congregate here. So, Joshimath was quite a busy town. Mobile connection was intermittent. It was interesting to note that every third shop in the town was a barber shop, and at least one person was getting his beard shaved in each of the shops. I took a basic room for around INR 250 at the place where I got dropped off. It came with a TV, fan. and a western closet, and was more than a bargain. I shopped for snacks, tablets and the like, and after an early dinner, I retired for the day.

I noted down in my travel log that tomorrow was going to be a tough day.

(To be continued)

A mystical cover of mist slowly roves across the valley, and as it moves, a gentle drizzle of rain drops drifts in the air towards you. As you stand in the comfort of your balcony, the magic of the rain mixed with the myriad lights of the valley below transport you to a world so surreal that, doing nothing becomes all what you want to do here. Welcome to Yercaud.

For all the western ghats buffs among us, this idyllic hill station of Yercaud, nestled in the green bosom of the eastern ghats, comes as a surprise. A relaxing 4 hour journey from the maddening crowd of Bangalore lands you in Yercaud. Ideal for a quick weekend visit, Yercaud is one of those hill stations which still remain calm and peaceful, tucked away from the prying eyes of the tourist crowd. Apart from visiting a couple of view points, and boating in the lake, there is nothing much to do, and that is why you actually enjoy the beauty of this place.

The route is simple.

Bangalore – Hosur – Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Salem – Yercaud    (230 kms)

Once you reach Salem, you will reach a Y-junction where you will have to choose between going into the city, or continuing on the NH7. Take the road that goes into the city, and reach the five-road junction. Here, take left towards the Sarada-college road. After about 3 kms on this road, you will reach a signal where you should take left to reach Yercaud. There are sufficient sign boards all along to guide. The ascent is gradual and starts around 8 kms from here. The hair-pin bends are manageable if you have previous ghat-driving experience. Also, the roads are butter-smooth throughout the drive. Expect to pay tolls close to Rs.200.

One of the highlights of this drive is the breakfast at Adayar Ananda Bhavan just before you reach Krishnagiri. You can feast on yummy dosa, vada, idly, pongal and filter coffee. But the place is perpetually crowded and you will have to elbow your way through a crowd eager to pounce on the offerings as much as yourself. The food tastes good, and there are not too many good alternatives to this place. A2B also serves packeted snacks that you can carry and much along on your drive.

My enjoyable experience in Yercaud was also due to my place of stay. I chose GRT Nature Trails, a wonderful boutique hotel overlooking the Shevaroy hills. The hotel itself is perched on the slopes of the hill, and the view from here is spellbounding. The view is also available from the rooms. The rooms are super-comfortable and provided with 3-star facilities. One highlight is, they have a good collection of movie DVDs (English, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu) and books – ideal for anyone who just want to laze around in the room. The hotel property itself is tastefully done, and has a ‘Skywalk’ on the roof. This is a glass-floored walkway, some 100 feet above the valley below. At night, the whole of Salem town comes alive with lights, and it is a treat to watch. So, even if you do not stay here, it is worth visiting the roof-top restaurant to get a spectacular view in the evening.

There are other good accommodation in Yercaud as well. Check out hotel reviews on TripAdvisor. Hotel Shevaroys is an option I found pleasant and affordable.

Coming to food, we had our lunch at the GRT hotel’s restaurant. It was a buffet with a decent spread. The best part was the Tamil dishes on the spread – vazhaikai poriyal, karunai kizhangu varuval, poondu meen kulambu, and many other similar stuff. I and my wife relished the food quite well. The desserts were yummy and there was a lot of variety to choose from. The restaurant itself is quite comfortable and located at the highest point in the hotel, overlooking the valley.

A small lake in the center of the town attracts tourists. We chose a pedal boat, and pedalled as much as we could. The boat was too small for my size, and I had to really struggle to fold my legs and pedal. Choosing an oar-boat will be a better option – it comes with a boatman. Around the lake, don’t miss sampling the hot bhajjis. We also had bhel puri, but it was not much impressive. Adjacent to the lake, there is a deer park. It houses some animals in enclosures, and is ideal for a small walk around. My wife, especially, enjoyed the swings put up in the park.

There are a couple of view points – Ladies’ seat, Gents’ seat, Children’s seat and Pagoda point. There is a Servarayan temple, and a rose garden as well. These are your typical tourist spots, and can be covered in the morning. It shouldn’t take more that 3 hours to see all of them. The drive up to these view points and the winding routes are much enjoyable than the destination itself. Some vendors around these view points sell different varieties of fruits, which would be worth trying out. Monkey menace is omnipresent – so beware!

If you are interested in a bit of descent and climb, you can visit the Killiyur falls. But, expect flowing water only during the monsoons. Also, there is an All-Terrain-Vehicle (ATV) track near the Grange resort. It would be fun to try this out with a bunch of friends.

Despite all these, as I had mentioned before, spending a night here, and lazing around doing nothing much is the ideal way one should enjoy Yercaud. Some blogs claim that a day trip to this place is sufficient. My take is, you gain nothing in a day trip. Spend a night and relax in the hills; enjoy the sun rise and the sunset; boat in the lake; have a cozy dinner with your partner; take a small walk – eat hot bhajjis; wake up in the morning – drive around to the view points; have a pleasant drive back to Bangalore. This is how I would recommend spending a weekend in Yercaud.

We were done with our stay in Yercaud by noon on Sunday. I and my wife decided to take a detour to Hogenakkal falls near Dharmapuri on our way back. That was an interesting experience as well – but to talk about in another post. This is the route we took on our way back.

Yercaud – Salem – Omalur – Mecheri – Pennagaram – Hogenakkal

Hogenakkal – Pennagaram – Palakodu – Rayakottai – Hosur – Bangalore

I liked this route better because of the greenery, variety in terrain and small villages that come in between. In contrast, the spectacularly laid NH7 is a bit monotonous and boring. So, it could be a good option to make this detour while driving back.

In short, Yercaud is definitely a worthy break for a weekend visit from Bangalore.

Lumiere is Bangalore’s newest (and the only as far as I know) organic restaurant. It is located at Doddanakkundi on the Outer Ring Road connecting KR Puram and Marathahalli. Look out for the decorative ‘Jalsa’ restaurant as you drive by, and Lumiere is right next to ‘Jalsa’. The restaurant is on the fourth floor of a narrow building. The basement parking lot was very narrow and could hold around 5 cars, thats all. However, the restaurant itself is quite spacious and well decorated.

Ambience

The ambience in the restaurant is quite refreshing. The decor has been tastefully done with an elegant stairs leading up to the next level being the center of attraction in the restaurant. There was enough lighting, and to fight the noon-time scorching heat of Bangalore, they had pedestal fans all over. This was definitely an eyesore, as you don’t want to see tens of plastic-looking fans all over the place spoiling the feel of the decor. But they have chosen fans in lieu of AC to be environment friendly it seems. There was also an air cooler next to our table, which was causing more discomfort than anything else. The seating was reasonably comfortable, and the there were large table mats that could hold all of your cutlery, plus some juice glasses. There were some paintings on the wall, and carnatic music was being played in the speakers. Overall, an interesting ambience.

Food

We had booked the lunch buffet. There is a difference in price for the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian buffets, and this is really appreciable. We were served beetroot-ginger juice as a welcome drink, which was surprisingly tasty. The chicken clear soup was ok, and there were wheat breads and bread sticks and accompaniments. The main non-vegetarian dishes were Fish manchurian, fish masala, Chicken schezwan, and a chicken gravy. The fish dishes were refreshingly good and tasty, especially the fish masala.

Chicken pulav was good, but tasted more like chicken fried rice. There was something called ‘herb rice’ on the vegetarian side, which was nice. The veg noodles left a lot to be desired. I tried only the lady’s finger with salt and pepper from the vegetarian side, which was okayish. The desserts were nothing extraordinary. There was some kind of khoa sweet, rice kheer and fruits salad. We washed it off with a cool saunf sharbat, which I had for the first time, and found it surprisingly nice.

I don’t know if the ‘organic’ tag of the restaurant made any difference to the taste of the food. Nevertheless, the food was fresh and tasty. Even items which I do not normally enjoy were good enough in this restaurant. The best part is, they update their lunch menu everyday in their website. Full marks to this. In summary, the food was above average.

Service

This was the best part of the experience. The service was really good. The waiters were all prompt and at their heels to cater to the customers. The used plates were being cleared in no time, and the water glasses were being refilled even before you know it. Also, they answered all our questions on the food items patiently. I would rate the service excellent.

Verdict

Organic food is a new upmarket concept that is catching up in the big cities. Still organic food is rare and quite expensive too. However, this restaurant is priced reasonably (Rs.375 for non-veg, and Rs.300 for veg buffet), and the quality of the food, ambience, service are all good. Parking at peak hours could be the only setback. Overall the restaurant is worth trying – you might actually find the ‘organic’ part interesting after all.

Rating: 3.5/5

I would like to highlight these points:

• This trek is now not allowed. It is illegal to actually walk on active railway tracks.
• You may be questioned by railway authorities if found trekking here. And, believe me, they do not want people walking on active railway tracks and bridges.
• There were incidents where the train had to slow down when the driver saw some people on a bridge, and it is an uphill journey, and slowing down train makes it difficult to pick speed again, which is not nice for them.
• There is not much fun now, as the bridges have been laid with metal sheets, and it is not as exciting as walking on concrete sleepers alone for support.
• You won’t be allowed to tent or camp at Yedakumari, as senior officials visit these stations often, and it is an active station now. Civilization is more than 2 hours of walk from there.
• You won’t get permissions anywhere to do this trek.

It was two in the morning. From the cozy comfort of the KSRTC volvo, we got down at a dingy little tea shop in the highway town of Donigal. The plan was to start the trek from the Donigal railway station. After sipping uber-hot cups of tea, we enquired how far it was to the railway station. The chaai shop guy said it was 3 kms. We started walking in the darkness of the night, with the sole light from our torches swaying up and down the long stretch of the Bangalore-Mangalore highway. Every other second, the silence was broken by a crazily speeding vehicle that was hell bent upon driving us away from the paved road into the muddy footpath. The seven of us talked, laughed, chatted and walked.

After several minutes of walking (it should have been 60 minutes), and definitey covering a lot more than 3 kms, we reached a place that somewhat resembled a railway station. A steep climb up from the road took us to our planned starting point – the Donigal railway station. It was 4 am, and it was pitch dark. The station guards were asleep in the rooms, and we did not want to wake them up. We knew that trekking on a functional railway line was illegal, and were pretty apprehensive that they would drive us away from the station. Silently we tip toed to about a 100 yards away from the station entrance and sat down on the platform for the day light to start peeping out, so that we could start our walk on the tracks.

After about an hour, we started. Walking on a railway track is by no means child’s play. It is difficult, it is painful, and it is dangerous. One wrong step, and you would instantly fall down and bang your face into the concrete sleepers. We had to keep all our torch lights on while walking. The width of the sleepers was in such a way that the middle of our feet started paining slowly. Nevertheless, we knew we had to cover 18 kms of such track-walking, and we were prepared. We had to reach Yedakumari – our destination station by noon so that we could make it before dark to the highway. So, we continued our walk in the dark for the next 3 kms or so. That is when we reached the first bridge.

The railway track to Mangalore passes through some of the most picturesque hills of the western ghats. The train pulls up through these ghats chug-chugging along the bridges and tunnels. The whole stretch of the railway line passes through a number of such bridges and tunnels. Walking on these bridges is supposed to be the most thrilling part of this trek. You are high up in the hills, walking on the bridge, with ground at more than a 100 ft below your feet. You have nothing to hold on to, and one wrong step could leave you hurling down to the valley below. You have to be really careful and alert. And the tunnels are another story. If the train comes through when you are walking inside a tunnel, all you can do is wedge yourself in the small 4 ft space in between the speeding train and the tunnel wall, as the train brushes past your face. It is a shaky experience.

But we did not get to experience all the thrill. A metal sheet had been laid all through the length of the bridges, and it took away half the fun already. Walking on these metal sheeted bridges was a piece of cake. Contrast it with the earlier situation where you had to cross planks that were a foot and a half apart, and a couple of hundred feet high in the air. This track was previously abandoned, and train movement started here only in 2005. Around 3 to 4 trains pass through this route every day, most of them goods carriers. Since some repair work is going on in these tracks all the time, the railways decided to lay these metal sheets so that the workers can walk through the bridges easily without fear.

After walking for around 7 kms, we sat down to have breakfast. One of us had brought nice puliyogare, and the hunger made us lick it down to the last morsel. One thing I have to mention is, all along the route, a number of railway workers keep working on repairing the tracks. The kids in these groups keep asking you for biscuit packets. It would be a nice idea to keep some biscuit packets to give these kids.

Along the path, there were steep hills in some places, lining the track, and they had put metal meshes to keep the rocks from falling into the track. Rajesh displayed his monkeying skills by climbing up one of these meshes and posing for the camera.

As the day progressed, it was getting hotter and hotter, and the pain in our feet was tending to unbearable. We were looking for some kind of water source so that we could cool our heels. Soon we found one. A stream flowing through the ghats was good enough for us to jump into immediately. We played in the water for around an hour. The water was chill, and the stream was deep at places. But we had been to a lot of such streams in our treks, that we found no problem with it. The pain in our feet reduced a little, and we regained some of the energy lost due to dehydration. I should say that everyone doing this trek should carry at least 2 litres of water. That is what saved our day.

We had lunch at a small elevated place along the track. I had prepared nice tomato thokku the previous night in Bangalore, and carried it along. We had a feast on readymade chappatis and tomato thokku. A few packets of MTR ready-to-eat sambar rice packets also helped. Re-energised after the lunch, we started walking again.

As we were nearing the Yedakumari station, some of the railway offiicials who were inspecting the tracks stopped us to ask why we were walking on the tracks. They said we could be arrested for tresspassing on railway property. We had to blabber this and that, to escape from them. They warned us, and told us not to walk on the tracks. We sheepishly nodded our heads, and continued once they left. After walking 18 long kms, we finally reached the Yedakumari station, where a new shock awaited us.

By the time we reached Yedakumari, we were all panting and gasping. Our feet were completely sore and it pained like we could not keep another step ahead. We asked the guard in the station how to reach the highway from there. Shock! He asked us to walk another 4 kms, where we would get a forest path on the right. We had to walk into the forest from here, to reach the highway.

Swearing and cursing, we started walking again. This last 4 kms was the most painful of the whole trek. When we reached Yedakumari station, we had thought the trek was over, all the pain was over. But when we were told to walk another 4 kms, our spirits died away instantly. What a pain! Finally when we all made it to the start of this forest path, we could no longer stand. We all sat down to rest. There was hardly any energy left in us for the day. We were wondering aloud how we were going to make it through the forest to the highway, when our saviors appeared.

A jeep magically appeared on the forest path. It was some railway jeep, which was supplying gas cylinders for welding the joints in the tracks. We just casually asked the driver how far it was to the highway. He said 7 kms, and through the jungle, with elephants moving around. What??? We had expected the walk to be 1-2 kms, but never imagined it would be 7 kms. We were shell shocked. Then came the relief. The jeep guy offered to take us down to the highway. He said, it was dangerous to walk through the forest, and asked us if we wanted to hop into the jeep, so that he would drop us in Sakleshpur. We immediately jumped into the idea. What a relief that was!

Later we learnt that the jeep came there only once in 15 days. I don’t know if it was mere coincidence, or something else that the jeep came to the right place to pick us up at the right time of the day, as though it was waiting to carry us only. It was a long and bumpy ride to Sakleshpur. We had to cross a river in the middle, and the Mahindra jeep effortlessly accomplished the task. We also saw a lot of elephant dung along the forest path. In about an hour, we were in Sakleshpur bus stand.

That night, we stayed in a hotel in Sakleshpur, and the next morning, climbed a rustic and bumpy bus to Bangalore, with a whole lot of memories about an unforgettable and painful trek on the tracks.

You can take a look at the trail for this trek here. It has been mapped at TripNaksha
http://www.tripnaksha.com/index.php?option=com_trailembed&tview=134&trailname=Sakleshpur-Greenroutetrek&tmpl=component&theight=475&twidth=475

Dell

My PC broke down one fine day, and I decided to make my long term dream to own my first laptop come true. But hell broke loose from the day I ordered the laptop. (Yes, I ordered it, because DELL does not sell it off the shelf. And, I wanted a Studio 14 with Core2duo and with the maximum RAM memory they can stuff in, which was not going to be available off the shelf anyway). Coming back to hell, the laptop I ordered on Jan 4 did not come to me even after Feb 4.

Life came to a standstill, similar to traffic in Bangalore, which grew to insurmountable magnitudes, all the pleasures of life seemed to hopelessly drain into Ulsoor lake and I had to spend several sleepless nights in pain and anguish in this one month, because I had no PC. Finally, Brahma, the unworshipped god, decided to heed to my prayers and voiced a curse that Dell should give me an Intel Core i3 laptop instead of the Core2Duo I had ordered, and Dell had no other option but to execute the order of the one above. Dell gave me a wonderful looking laptop, and exported me to my ‘second life’. Phew!

Marriage

I was admiring the sheer beauty and awesomeness of my new laptop, when I felt a sharp excruciating pain at the back of my neck. I groaned in agony, and reached out my hand to the back of my neck to feel what caused the pain. It was a bite – an insect bite – to put it in comfortable words – a bug bite. Then it dawned upon me. I had been bitten by the marriage bug!

I did not realise that January 2010 – the month I had promised my parents I would signal green for marriage – had already come! I was caught completely off-guard when I was asked to give a photo of mine in which I looked everything but what I really am. Wait! That is not ethical – I tried to say, but was swat down heavily with the ‘Kosu-bat‘, and the photos I hated the most (From the enna-kodumai-sir-idhu list) were ripped off from my Flickr albums. The photos have been doing rounds all over Karnataka ever since, trying to attract a suitable ‘cow-girl’ for my parents (Adhaanga… maattu ponnu).

BMTC

In other news, BMTC has found a new passenger in me. Born with insanely large feet, which only accept shoes of size 12, I realised that I could not reduce my footprint. So, as a counter-measure I decided to reduce my carbon footprint by shunning my car and going to office in BMTC. Nice. The ride in the Volvo buses has been smooth for the past month and a half. Taking a bus to office has a whole set of advantages – right from taking off the tenshun of driving from your head, to letting you listen to the mellifluous voice of Goundamani in your ipod. Come on… everyone knows the unspoken truth – sight adichifying and jollu vittufying (revolutionary terms from Tamil language equivalent to the English term ‘ogling’) at the bus-traveling figars – the best way to spend the 45 minutes to office constructively. (Especially if you work in a detested-by-the-fairer-sex  industry like mine). Mission is accomplished I say.

Watched a Tamil movie called ‘Tamil movie’. (Tamil Padam in Tamil). Ayyoo… how many Tamil…!!! A bold venture into the parody movie genre in Tamil. It was refreshing. Despite having irritating actors like Venniraadai Murthy and Paravai Muniyamma, the movie was interesting enough. For a first kind of effort from a first time director, the movie was commendably good. Hope it yields more movies of the same genre in future.

Aayirathil OruvanThe story is based on the struggle for power between two Tamil kingdoms – the Cholas and Pandyas. The Pandyas destroy the Chola kingdom, and the Cholas are forced to flee their capital, Thanjavur. But while escaping, they take along with them the idol of a Pandya god. The Cholas establish a secret settlement in some remote foreign island, with the hope that some day they will be resurrected back to the Chola kingdom by a messiah. The settlement is well protected by seven blockades, all of which one has to cross, to reach the place. The movie is based in the present day – a 1000 years after the Cholas are overthrown. A group of archeologists and armed men, led by Reema Sen go in search of the lost city of the Cholas, how they cross the blockades, and reach the place. Now, the twists are exposed – the Chola settlement is still alive in the foreign island, and Reema Sen is a descendant of the Pandyas, bearing a grudge to destroy the Cholas and bring the Pandyan idol back.

The movie is an adventure-treasure hunt kind of movie – at least it looks so in the beginning. The first half of the movie is all about the voyage, and the blockades the crew faces one after the other – all done in hollywood style. Karthi sizzles as a cocky coolie, Reema Sen gives a decent performance as the leader of the expedition and a Andrea does nothing more that just appearing in the scenes.The narration is catchy, and the background score is quite indulging. The crew escapes strange creatures, wades through cruel looking tribes, shoots down hundreds of red-colored men and crosses a quick-sand ridden desert to finally reach the lost city of the Cholas. The audience eagerly get ready for the team’s adventures in the new land. And then, the trouble starts…

The director seems to have become suddenly ambitious. He could have finished it off a hollywood-styled adventure movie with bigger dangers and barricades that comes the team’s way, all of which they successfully break to attain their goal. But instead, the director choosed to become adventurous. He keeps the lost Chola settlement alive in the remote land, and makes Reema Sen the descendant of the Pandyas, seeking to destroy the Cholas once and for all. From here, the movie becomes a torture porn, using the excuse of war, superstitions and agony. The director aspires hard to show how barbaric the Cholas are, and how crude things move about in this land, which makes the audience say, ‘Yuck!’. The script becomes slow, and all characters other than Reema Sen bear a zombie like dumbness about them, while Reema Sen becomes the like of a blood sucking vampire. The audience soon start looking at their watches, mocking at the silliness of the things happening on-screen, and how the movie that started off in a great way, was getting into the boring old rut.

Right from the start of the movie, where a voice narrates the backdrop of the story to the dialogues renders by both the female leads, the pronunciation of Tamil is grossly bad. The difference between ‘la’ and ‘zha’ in Tamil has been sadly ignored almost everywhere. Another thing that was odd about the dialogues was the so-called ancient Tamil used by the cave-dwelling barbarian Cholas. It could have been in normal Tamil itself – at least it would have reduced the zombie-ness of the characters. When a lot of logic has been compromised in the movie, I don’t see the reward in painstakingly bringing in an ancient diction of Tamil, which only alienates the characters from the audience.

‘Logic’ is something missing thoughout the movie. Cell phone works seamlessly in a place which has never been explored by humans. The army from India is able to get to a foreign land and kill hundreds of people there, without any issues or implications. If the army could be air-dropped in the Chola-settlement so easily, why should the crew travel over land, facing so many dangers and losing so many lives? Why do the Cholas look, act and behave like barbarian cannibals? Even though they are shown to have magical powers, how do they get cheated so easily by a girl? When all of the Chola women are raped and tortured by the army, how does Andrea escape, always standing by the side, watching all the horror?

Two good things about the movie are its stunning camera work by Ramji and wonderful music by G.V.Prakashkumar. The songs are indulging, and the background score is good too. ‘Un mela aasai thaan’ and ‘O Eesa’ are tunes that linger along. The computer graphics looks amateurish at some places, but the overall cinematography is quite good.

Reema Sen has given a splendid performance in the second half of the movie, as a vengeful and ruthless female. Karthi disappears in the second half and reappears to sum up at the end. Andrea is more conspicuous by her lack of any part to play in the second half. Parthiban is a huge let down. The most hyped character of the movie – the Chola king – behaves no more mature than the leader of a cannibal tribe. He is speechless and expressionless most of the time, except when they show his large eyes in close-up, trying to make up for the boring screenplay.

The movie is a new venture in Tamil. I have always wondered when the Tamil movies would move ahead of love, revenge and sentiments. This could be a first step, at least the first half. If the excessive gore, barbarianism and blood shed is removed, the characters are made to talk normal Tamil, and the movie is cut down by half-an-hour, the effect could have been completely different. Overall, the movie is nothing close to a must-watch!

I finished my last year with an eventful vacation in Goa, enjoying all the beaches and birds of the west coast.

What’s more exciting?

The new year for me has already begun thunderously, with my write-up on Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary getting published in The Banyan Trees.

You can read my article here. Many thanks to Dhivya.

The Banyan Trees is a new-age online monthly magazine that gives a platform to display creative content. The Banyan Trees team has been doing a great job, and the magazine has improved a lot since its first issue in November 2009. I wish them all the best in their effort. A neat looking flash version of the magazine…

http://static.issuu.com/webembed/viewers/style1/v1/IssuuViewer.swf

What’s even more exciting?

Looking at the wonderful show put up by the Banyan Trees, I have been lately thinking about starting my own magazine. It will be a collaborative effort, with the help of friends. Watch out for the first issue very soon…

Image Courtesy: americanbedu.com

It is sometimes funny how the simple name of a person metamorphosizes into a hundred different avatars just based on the person trying to pronounce it. The sounds in the names might get beaten black and blue depending on the nasal capabilities of the pronouncer.

Let us take my name for example. DEEPAK. A simple and harmless name with just two noticeable sounds. But the pity is that one of these sounds should closely rhyme with an extra-vulgar super-insultive English word that is often represented by special characters in its written form. So, some cruel callers of my name might choose to call me DEE-%$^#.

Then comes the infamous Tamil teacher at school who prefers to bite hard on the first syllable in the name till it is on fire. The second syllable is, however, monetarily so much valuable. This makes my name THEE-BUCK.

There are more people belonging to the Tamil diaspora who will not be too keen on passing the BUCK so easily. Definitely this sound has to be localized considerably, as in, THEE-BUCKKU – in a coveted Tamil style, or its shortened form – THEE-BU.

Miles away, the English-speaking phoren people, with little or no knowledge of the minute intricacies of the multitude of Indian languages, render new dimensions to the name, munching and punching it into newer shapes, so that my name becomes D’PACK. A better shape would have been a six-pack.

I consider myself enormously blessed and gifted to not have a name as dangerous and diabolic as my brother’s. He is called KIRAN. This name is tossed and torpedoed much violently than a frog on the frying pan. He starts from KI-RAIN and KI-REEN and gets upgraded to KI-ROON and KI-RAN.

If simple names dance with so much glee on our twisty tongues, you can easily make up your mind about the big list of complicated and outlandish names.

The government decided to include the citizen’s father’s name in the electoral ID card, so that people can be more profusely identified, like, M.Kumaran, son of Mahalakshmanan. An unfortunate citizen’s father’s name happened to be ‘Kadarkarai’ (Seashore in Tamil). The hyper-educated officials of the Election commission decided to print his father’s name in the card, in letter as well as in spirit. The result – his father’s name was printed as “The Beach”. May be they found he was a Son of the Soil.

The ancient Tamil kingdom should have been a land of extraordinary scholars and exemplary tonguesmen. How else can you justify the common man pronouncing extra-terrestrial names like Peruncheralirumborai and Thirikoodarasappakavirayar! I believe special tuitions were given for pronouncing these names right. The current Tamils are no less in giving names as long as the Beach-Tambaram railway line. Balasudenthirarajan and Ramanujarajendran are not historical, but very much contemporary names walking around us.

Image Courtesy: givemeaname.com

A person I remotely remember from my childhood had the name “Soodi Kodutha Sudarkodi” – a name actually given to Aandaal – the Meera Bai of the South. For non-Tamil readers, I would like to point out with a slight smirk that this is similar to naming a child – ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’.

The home minister of India Mr.Chidambaram bears the name of a town in Tamilnadu. However, he is not alone in this feat. Town names such as Madurai, Palani, Tirupathi, Tirumalai, and Kaasi commonly acquire special status as the first names of people.

The Members of the Mallu-land like to KISS… (Keep it simple, stupid!). Rarely would we have come across Mallus with names exceeding two syllables. Biju, Ciju, Ribu, Tanu, Jiby, Simi, Rinu… the list is endless. Of course, Beenamol and Kunjumon have to be interspersed in between these in order to give us the option of breaking the monotony with a smile. Over the years our minds have been rutted to nail names such as George and Mathew directly into the coconut trees of the Mallu-land.

Even the simple names of the Mallus have beware-of-names type of surnames. There is a rumor that certain Mallu surnames are usually generated by writing a random syllable generator in Perl, with only two constraints. (1) It should be a mix-up of syllables, rendering any kind of attempt to remember by a member of the human race, impossible, and, (2) It should end with ‘-il’. Thazhathidathil, Thevaruparampil, Puthenuvetil are some samples. Let us not get started with Prasadaramanakooti!

Funny customs in some families could lead to non-funny situations. For example, I had a friend in school. His family has a strange custom of rotating only 2 names for all male members of the family. He was named after his grandfather, as, ‘Chinnasami’. His brother was named after his own father, as, ‘Chellasami’. So, his brother becomes Chellasami, son of Chellasami, and brother of Chinnasami, also grandson of Chinnasami. I used to find it embarrassing to call his name standing outside his home.

Much ado has been made about the older names. Tuning our focus to modern names, most parents nowadays like to create names for their kids, with combos which have never been used, ever. May be it is their effort to make their kids outstanding by making their names standing out. A person I know has named his kids Migal, Kayal and Iyal. (It is up to the Tamil scholars among my readers to dig into the etymology of these names).

Sanskrit names uncommon in the South like Dhruvesh, Hritesh and Saharshita are among those being commonly conferred nowadays on kids in Chennai. I am sure, when these kids grow up, they will have much more complaints than I had, to write about the way their names are handled by the name-starved public!

Buying stamp papers in Bangalore has changed ever since this article was written. The procedure now is like this:

1. Go to any sub-registrar’s office in Bangalore.
2. Procure an ordinary stamp paper from one of the shops nearby which sell these (not very hard to find).
3. Get the first page of the agreement typed, which mentions the name & address of parties between whom the agreement is executed.
4. Go to a window in the sub-registrar’s office, where you pay the necessary fees, and get the paper ‘Franked’.
Franking: A stamping machine is used to render a red-colored stamp on the paper, authenticating it, and showing the stamp value (also has sub-registrar’s signature).
5. Voila! You are done. This works for all types of documents, including rental agreements.

Note: I have noticed that in some cases, where the first page of the agreement is not typed, the name and address of the parties is written on the stamp paper itself (on the stamp), and the franking is done on that.

Buying stamp papers in Bangalore has been quite an ordeal of late. The serpentine queues in front of the State Bank of Mysore would be a nightmare for anyone who could even think of buying stamp papers. (Read here). Besides, it eats up almost the whole day, and comes as a curse for working professionals who are in need of stamp paper. So, what is the easy way out?

E-Stamping! The Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited is the company which has been authorized to sell e-stamp papers across Karnataka. (Check their e-stamping website).

There are quite a few e-stamping centers in Bangalore, where you could get a stamp paper with the denomination of your choice just within a few minutes. However, instead of the papers printed with the rupee note kind of stamp at the top, here you would get an e-stamp. This is essentially a printed information with the document number, and a couple of other numbers, and it says Government of Karnataka e-stamping with the national emblem of three lions on it.

Stamp papers - Before and After (Courtesy: www.chowchowbath.com)

A couple of days back, I had been to the Domlur BDA complex (Near the Domlur bus-stand, adjacent to Domlur fly-over), which houses the Sub-Registrar’s office. I wanted to get an e-stamp paper. I was given a form to fill, where I had to mention the type of document, the first and the second party details (name and address should be suffcient. PAN number in case of high-value registrations), and sign it. The form should be given at the counter with the amount for which the stamp paper is sought. The amount could be paid in cash, or by way of demand draft. I guess this depends on the total amount being paid. I had to wait for approximately 10 minutes, and then the person at the counter gave me the e-stamped paper. The whole process took me just around 15 minutes. The stamp duty for different types of instruments is displayed on the notice board in the office. It is also available online here.

The e-paper is as authentic as the normal stamp papers. Also, since this has authentic numbers printed on it, anyone can verify the authenticity of the e-paper by logging on to this site (http://www.shcilestamp.com) and entering the appropriate numbers from the e-stamp paper.

The working hours for the e-stamping facility in Domlur BDA complex is from 9:45am to 4:30pm with a lunch break from 1:00pm to 2:30pm. It is open from Monday through Saturday. In addition to Domlur, this service is also available in Jayanagar and Koramangala sub-registrar’s offices (SHCIL branches). The government is also looking at making e-stamping the only way of buying stamp papers in future, as this eliminates all duplicate stamp papers and scams, and also renders authenticity to the papers by way of printing these numbers and making them available online.

Thanks to Kiran for providing useful information in his journal.

Addresses of SHCIL e-stamping centres in Bangalore:

Head office:
SHCIL, Bangalore Stock Exchange Ltd.,
Stock Exchange Towers, 51, 1st Cross,
J.C. Road, Bangalore,
PIN : 560027
Ph: (080) 22995246, 22995236

Jayanagar:
Shop No.7, Ist Floor,
#44, 33rd Cross, Jayanagar, 4th T Block,
Bangalore
PIN : 560011
Ph: (080) 26991062, 26991060

Koramangala:
Shcil, # 103, 1st Floor, Mig
Khb Colony, 17 Th Main, 5th Block
Koramangala, Bangalore
PIN : 560034
Ph: (080) 25529149, 25529150

Malleswaram:
Shcil, No.13 Vasant Milan, 1st Cross,
Malleswaram, Bangalore,
PIN : 560003
Ph: (080) 23318225, 23560525

Domlur:
Shcil, Domlur BDA complex,
Near Domlur Bus Stand, Bangalore
PIN : 560038
Ph: (080) 25352907

But before getting into the finer details of the story, let me take you to South Coorg, or Kodagu as it is known, where it all started, with an adrenaline pumping white water rafting experience in the Barapole river.

The Rafting

The upper Barapole river that drains the Brahmagiri range of hills in the Kerala-Karnataka border, gets its lion’s share of water during the Southwest monsoon. During this season, towns are flooded, bridges are broken and normal life goes to coma. So, when we decided to raft in Barapole in the middle of July, we were highly apprehensive if we would make it, thanks to the incessant rains which had cut of a large chunk of the Kodagu district from the rest of the world [Click]. However we were assured that this was the season, and rafting would happen at any cost.

So, five of us made it to Kutta, a small town in South Coorg, in my friend’s Fiat Palio Stile on a Saturday morning to conquer the sneering river of the south. The route taken was Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole – Kutta – Iruppu. (Route Map) The drive through the Nagarhole sanctuary was scenic, where we saw dozens and dozens of grazing spotted deer, till our eyes were tired. We reached Kutta in less than 5 hours, and called up our homestay host, Mr.Timmaiah, who gave us directions to reach the homestay from Iruppu.

Travel Advice: If you head to Coorg for a river rafting experience, the best thing to do would be book a homestay. There are a plenty of homestays aroung the Kutta-Iruppu area, which give stay and food as a package. Call up the homestay, who can fix you a rafting trip in the Barapole, and there would be no hassles. We had a great experience at Irpu Homestay, with a friendly host, lovely mountain views, cozy rooms and home cooked food – all in a budget.

In no time we reached the homestay where we were greeted by our friendly host, Mr.Timmaiah. The homestay was seated amidst the green setting of the Brahmagiri ranges, and we could see white cotton clouds traveling innocently across the green background. We were surrounded by coffee plantations, and the sound of the gushing waters of Iruppu falls could be heard even from a kilometre away.

Soon after a hearty meal comprising of vegetable biriyani, aloo curry and chicken masala, we were on our way to the rafting site. The rafting takes place at a place called T.Shettigeri, which was around 15 kms from where we stayed, and a guide accompanied us all the way to here.

We were greeted by Kamal, who was our raft guide. After paying the organizers, and after signing some documents, we were given life-jackets, helmets and an oar. Kamal briefed us about the commands and safety measures. The whole thing was quite professional and he made sure everyone got it right. After 10 mins, we were in our raft, and out into the roaring river waters.

The gushing sound of the river water made us more excited and we looked forward eagerly what the river had for us in store. The initial few minutes was a practice session. Kamal gave us orders, and we followed it religiously. Forward, Backwards, and a lot more. We got a good hand at the commands soon, and set out on our raft. After a few metres of rowing, we were at our first rapid – the Morning coffee. It was a simple rapid, and the effort was miniscule though it flowed quite ferociously. Soon we were through it. Kamal kept giving us commands so that we cross each rapid at the right place and with the right momentum.

Rafting in Coorg

We came to a part of the river where the water was not too fast. Kamal said, if we wanted we could jump into the water. Oh my god! I was just thinking if I should jump, and the time I could decide, the rest of them were already in water! Now, I had no option. Slowly, I too got into the river. And wow! It was exciting to be for the first time in neck-deep water, with no land under my feet. Of course, I believed in those life-jackets. We stayed afloat for a couple of minutes, when Kamal ordered us back into the raft. All of my friends got in, and pulled me up into the raft. It was an experiene.

The next two rapids were a bit more challenging. We had to meticulously follow Kamal’s commands, and also balance our weight in the raft. The rapids were called The Grasshopper and The Wicked Witch. We were enjoying the ride thoroughly. Those in the front went in and out of water in each rapid. Soon, we were approaching our last and the most challenging of the rapids – The Milk Churner.

On the Raft

Kamal stopped before the rapid and instructed us. We were asked to sit tight, and follow his commands. This could be dangerous, unless we did it from the right direction. He told us where to swim to in case we were thrown off the raft. In a moment we were in the Milk Churner. The raft bounced up twice, angled to the right and pushed and pulled us as much as it could. We were all soaked in waves completely, and when we knew what was happening, we were out of the rapid. Phew! We heaved a sigh of relief, and thundered a loud hurray, for having done this adrenaline pumping adventure. We had a hell of a great time, and I was already thinking when I would do it again.

That night, we had a hearty meal, talking over the experiences of the day, and hit the sack soon after.

The Chase

The next day, we made a trip to the Iruppu falls, which was bursting with water. The mild and gentle falls I had seen in my previous visits was gone, and here was a monster. We had a nice fun taking bath in the waterfalls. We were back for lunch by 1 pm. Had a sumptuous meal, and started our return journey. We passed through Kutta, and after entering our vehicle details and signing the register, we entered the dark forests of Nagarhole for the second time in our trip.

The journey was mostly uneventful, with lazy looking spotted deers smiling and waving at us every 100 metres. We noticed that every group had a male and 3-4 females. We also saw a couple of barking deers, a sambar and a jungle fowl marching happily with its chicks. We were soon tired of spotting deers, and were traveling gradually at a slow pace in the Nagarhole forests, when the incident happened.

I was at the wheel, and my friend beside me. I was just looking at the road, as I was fed up of deers. All others in the car were fast asleep. My friend suddenly started repeating frantically, Elephant, elephant!! I just alerted myself, and looked ahead carefully. The road was empty. But, by the side of the road, there was a large clearing, and a huge elephant with large tusks stood there agitated. It’s tail was raised as if it was furious, and was angrily pulling down a branch of the nearby tree. I have never seen an elephant in the wild, and all I have seen are elephants in the temples meekly accepting coins from the devotees, and showering them with blessings

I slowed down the car and moved gradually towards the elephant to get a good glimpse of it. We were almost there, and the elephant was beside us on the road, facing the car on the side. Suddenly, the elephant got highly agitated for some reason. It shook its ears wildly, and gave a deafening trumpet. We were already scared. Someone nudged me to drive ahead fast, and I slowly moved ahead. Now, the elephant was just behind the car. I looked into the rear view mirror, and the elephant was moving towards the car.

A heart-in-the-mouth moment, and I stepped on the accelerator. The car slowly gained momentum. My eyes were fixed on the mirror, and I could see the huge beast running fast towards us with it head bobbing, and dust kicking out in all directions. We were clearly terrified.

I drove away as far as I could. The tusker charged for another 100 metres. Soon I saw a jeep coming in the opposite direction. I just could not think what the jeep guy was going to do. If the elephat had continued the charge, it would come straight and bang on the jeep. I didn’t want to think about anything, and kept driving. The moment the beast saw the jeep, he saw a threat fast approaching, and changed its direction. The elephant moved away from the road, and steered clear into the forest.

We stopped the car a kilometre ahead and thought what an escape it was! Had we been behind the elephant, with the elephant attacking us from the front, we would have had the day of our lives. Just as we had crossed the elephant, we were safe. But, the incident left a huge impact in our hearts. What more could we ask for? A drive through the jungle where we were chased by an enormous tusker. Phew!

We made it to Bangalore in another 4 hours, with loads to tell our family and friends.

More information on Rafting in Kodagu:

• Irpu Homestay – Mr.Timmaiah, Ph: 08274-244233, or +91 94486 47932
  
• I read about Irpu Homestay in Rohan’s blog.
• The place is 15kms before Wayanad. Good driving directions here.
• Information on Coorg Rafting at Getoffurass.
• Neelesh’s blog on rafting in Barapole.
• A nice writeup on a Coorg rafting trip organized by BMC.
• Photos from this trip on My Flickr