A Drive To Sholay Hills - 28th April 2012

Some mails enthralls you, some mails irritates, and some mails make you ponder over the things what is going wrong...one such mail just shaken my strong confidence.  

My strong confidence said "Sri, am missing you!!!!"

Was thinking how to shrug off, and recharge the batteries, suddenly a bolt from the blue thought came in, even in my all time favorite movie "Sholay", Thaakur (played by Sanjeev Kumar...what a performance!!!), was in this kind of dilemma.  So he hired two samurai's to get rid of Gabbar Singh.  So this thought came in, and  messaged my trusted Samurai Sandeep, who didn't take a second to say "yes" (so far he never said "No"), and called "Girish", he wanted to drown in my friendly "ships" from a long time, he too obliged to my request.

What else could be the best place, so ventured in to Ramadevara Betta aka Sholay Hill in the wee hours of cool & "warm" Saturday 28th April 2012. 

We zipped on the Mysore road, and safely reached the foothills.  We were surprised to see a gate almost a kilometer before the main entrance.  After the query, it was found that, in and around the hills was declared as a forest reserve for Vultures, so the restriction would be soon on the early morning hawkers to catch the glimpse of the hill.

Giri-Preeti the new pair, started counting the steps, missing the count, and some how managed to get the count (hope it is correct!!! :-)).  Sandeep and myself on the freezing the frames spree.  We went on, the hills kept some breathtaking landscapes for us.  

I recollected all the sweet memories we spent during our education time.  There was no burden over the  shoulders, nor that am great and you are not kind of attitude, this made us to trigger the joyous moments during those days, where in we roamed past most of the tall hillocks in the Ramanagar belt.  The days will never come..but the memories will walk with us like a shadow all the way.

The outing was good enough to bring me back in to the stream of confidence. The love and affection of the new pair made me feel that love exists every where, and the height of the heart is important not the physical height. Both were complimenting each other word by word. This couple's understanding is just awesome, and I wish all the great times ahead in their life.  

We comfortably reached Bengaluru by 10.30 after a small pit stop near the Bidadi to savour the famous Tatte Idli, which proved to be hit with a great taste to fill the stomach.

Finally when I back to home, my mantra to happy life,  my confidence with a placard saying "we should have the heart to understand but not the wallet" was waiting in my home.

Kambala - March 10 2012

The cultural feat in coastal town - Joppinamogaru

The venue - Joppinamoguru

The name sounds very different..the event is something special..the atmosphere is absorbing..the sun is at his scorching best..but all these never impacted the great couples on the muddy field..that is buffaloes in pair...

The track for the record of Kambala!

I always wondered how the adjective word..can become a great "verb" on its own..i witnessed this turn around in a small village near the bustling coastal town of Mangaluru.

The man, the beasts..and the Kambala!!!!

The path to Kambala itself was a muddy road..that triggered the imagination of Kambala..whatever we read in the electronic media, printed media, the light and shadow media everything will get in to the back burner the moment you were in the location of the Kambala!!!!



My buddy Prashanth Kishan triggered this first trip in coastal belt for the alemarigalu group.  Our best group for all my treks so far lined up just like the eleven of champaner aligned in the movie Lagaan.

Prashanth's desire to put his footprint on Kambala being fulfilled!!!!

A memorable walk of about half a kilometer on a muddy track lead us to the "battle" ground of Kambala.  

The decked up track, the animals, and the raiders!!!!

The buffaloes were decked with colourful flowers, tapes, ropes and all..it looked like a bride entering a hall of fame.  Even though the buffaloes looked in aggressive mood, some were too sedate to heed to the demanding beatings of the riders, some were obedient, some of them were aggression personified.  You could witness all sorts of e-motion filled beasts.


The riders were powerful, multipacked, and brave hearts..it is not easy to run with those charged up animals in that path of slush.

It is true, that our heart is in the villages..Villages has the "heart"ificial image of the county...the cities are only "art"ificial. 

The Kambala - Chase begins!

The event which is a get away for the villagers who shred their efforts for the welfare of the so called white collared urbans, this is a real entertainment for them. The entertaining sport becoming a money minting mine is the sad part of the event.  nevertheless the event doesnt loose its charm just because of this.


The friendly people, the atmosphere, the climate all added its own charm for this event. For non-enthusiastic kambalites, there were other attraction as well. The crispy water melons, the spicey pine apple, the money gambling game, the antartic crushed colourful ice..you name it , you can have it..that was the tempting atmosphere existed there.

Tempting attraction all the way!!!!

The candy, crisp water melons!!!

With a great experience of the trial of the events in the heart, and the memory card..slowly we tread back to the bustling town of Mangaluru..

The things I clicked on like tab :

• The organising the event of this magnitude
• The participants, the animals, the crowd
• The eateries, back water, scorching sun, but delightful weather

The things which forces me to press the dislike button

• The charged up animals
• The way riders are throwing their frustration by beating the buffaloes all the way in the muddy track
• The people who are controlling the animals once it reached the finishing line beating them repeatedly to gain control over them.

Over all..a satisfying experience...and the statement..

The heart of the country is in the artisitic village life...but not in the artificial urban life!!!!!

Seven Samurai's on Mangalore Sand Beach March 10-11 2012

There is always something special attached to the number "7"

Seven Colours, Seven Rishis, Seven Musical Notes, Seven days in a week, Seven Deadly Sins, and above all my favourite director Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, in the same league the united seven!!!!

Prashanth, Sandeep, Kishore, Yashdeep, Latesh, Somu, and myself the united seven of mangaluru exploration!!!

A great piece of vibrant, colourful, symphonic souls met in the KSRTC Bus stand on a little hotter Friday evening 9th March 2012.  This trip was triggered by ice cool smiling Prashanth Kishan.  He wanted to leave his footprint on an event called "Kambala" a characteristic coastal cultural festival of buffalo race on a mud filled watery path.

Seven Samurai's!!!!

No one said "No", all were eagerly awaiting for that friday night to board a bus to Mangaluru.  With out any dealy, our Rajahamsa flew from KSRTC bus stand towards Mangaluru by 23.00 Hrs. 

Prashanth's Foot Print!!!!

We breathed in to a small hotel "Lakshmi Nivas" by making our wallet lighter by few hundred for two rooms to accomodate the seven samurai's.  After a breezingly fast refresh, we were on the Mangaluru Road by 9.00.

Kadri Manunatha Temple :

This is a wonderful place to start our first coastal trip in the Alemarigalu Group.  The Temple complex is huge, and also the diety Shiva sitting prettily in blessing mood in the garbha gruha. This temple slightly resembles Dharmasthala Manunatha temple, but the similarity starts and ends in the temple complex.  The special attraction being a series of seven ponds filled with cool cool water.

Kadri Temple Complex

Just on the bank of the pond there exists the lord of obstacle remover "Ganesh" in a small mantap above the "Kashi Gange" flowing non stop from the Nandi's mouth.  The water whose origin left to the wild imagination, is very cool, and sweeter than sugar.

Few steps from here, there is a big giant "Hanuman" in a standing mode, blessing the piligrims all the way.

There are plenty of places to be seen in this temple complex, highly notable place being the caves of Pandava's or Pandav's guhe.   An interesting feature being, normally caves of mythological tag attached will be a never ending path, but this cave stops at 4th door, probably either it might have collapsed, or there will be some other reason. 

Seven Raavan's infront of Pandava's cave!!!!

We were fortunate that, we couldnt see neither pandava's or Kunti foot prints, but we could see romantic Rama and Seetha waiting for few Raavans's to poke in to their privacy!!!!!!

Tender Coconut was too tender to chop in the knife!!!!

While walking down the temple street, we found an amazing (as for as my knowledge is concerned) the tender coconut being chopped off using a knife instead of a sickle. 

Kambala = The Race of Buffaloes, and the Man :

Always the buffaloes name were tagged with the sluggish, slow pace, but anyone who visits Kambala, need to swallow the words with watery watermelon, and spicey pine apple! 

The deck was well prepared with ankle deep muddy water, dressed, and charged up buffaloes, and multi-packed Kambala riders.  The view, and the location was in completely agressive mode.  The trail for the event itself was breath taking.  The pair of buffaloes, the man, and crowd were yelling, cheering, screaming to make the atmosphere even more hotter than mercury level in the thermometer.

This village cultural festival for a recreation is in to a money minting sport now, but the charm of village rustic look, people, the eateries all were having its own distinct flavour.

My stomach was laughing for the way I was stuffing him with more and more water melons, spicey pine apple one after the other.  We literally lost the count of how many pieces had altogether, that much was the freshness, sweet, and the taste of these summer fruits.

Sandeep jumped with the joy, when he saw the Antartic Colourful Ice Crush getting squeezed in to one cup.  He was ably supported in the mouth watering sport by Prashanth, and Somu.  I was happy to see the kids in them coming out in this fashion!!!

When clock ticking sent an SOS signal saying, guys, your bags are stuffed with swimming costumes, please make use of it, then we realised it is time to visit Taneer Baavi Beach.

Taneer Baavi Beach:

A smart, short, user friendly guy who was feeding me all the information about this beach told me that, this is the best place to get down, and venture in to the beach, there will be plenty of good people (He winked his eys at me!!!) to make the setting sun even more beautiful, so heeding to his words we all changed our brain to swimming mode, and dived in to the waters. 

All of us had a great time over there, Sandeep the deep photographer was leaving no stone unturned to capture the "colourful" evening in his new tilting screen DSLR.  His enthu was tasted, and tested by Saint (Yashdeep), and Smarty (Latesh) by making him wandering around for taking good shots.  My head and stomach was aching too much by laughing continuously nonstop. 

The sky, and the beach, the sand were basking in the fading sun light, by that time, our timer screamed saying it is time to catch up the bus.

The dinner was a delightful one, as the group was split in to two - one heading towards a "spicey" poster veg resturant, and the other non veg group in to some delightful staple.

When we were back into our room, stomach, and eyes are full, dream and the goddess of dream were waiting for us.   

Next day, after having some delightful breakfast, we ventured in to Lord Krishna's abode - The Udupi Temple.  The darshan, and the meals were excellent in its own way.  The lord krishna, the greatest crisis manager the world ever seen, is, and was always my inspiration.  Visiting him, and taking a blessing filled my energy level to the brim.

Malpe, The St. Mary's Island:

Beach is beach, whether it is one or the other, but some places holds its own significance, beauty, and surprise.  One such place is St. Mary's Island in Malpe.  After paying an entry fee of Rs.1/-, we boarded to a speed boat which took us to the island after paying Rs. 85/- per head for to and fro journey to the island. 

The moment all of us landed in to the island, the first thing we did was look for the best place, and we found, and dived in the waters.  Here waves are kind of rough, but not alarming.  Keeping the concious mind, and body, we played enough there.

There was cat walk, Esha deol's emerging style from the movie Dhoom (by Yashdeep), Pregnant Superman's jog (surprise), Urmila's Tanha Tanha (by Latesh), Dipping in the water but still posting a killing smiler look (by prashanth), Slip of Slip (by Somu), Krishna...Krishna...Krishna meditation (by Kishore) all made me forget my inhibition towards Sun's scorching heat, and headache.

The Geography says, this island formed due to the volcanic erruption, the pillared rock formation all amazes you.  But i would like to say, the emotions, the frustration, the anguish, boredom all erupted indifferent forms were the reason for the spectacular formation. 

This is a perfect pot-boiler place for a family trip once in a while!!!

When our tired body, but the highly recharged heart left Mangaluru shores, we were flying high on the dreamy mesmarising islands of ambitions, desires, and the goals.

The high profiles lights :

1. One of my dream to visit St. Mary's Island after seeing in many movies especially my favourite song from Kannada Movie Hrudaya Geethe starring my heart throb Kushboo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP9R3YT0AWM&feature=fvst

2. Saint (Yashdeep) will think twice to wear the thinking "Cap" (Hat) again!!!

3. Kishore will never forget the Somu guided second darshan of lord krishna!

4. Saint(Yashdeep) - Smarty(Latesh) spoil sport effort during Sandeep's Durga Maatha's photo

5. Somu's not looking at us stance while coming back from the island - We were laughing like anything all the way

6. The charged up Spicey poster Dinner in the second floor!!!!!!!!

7. The water melon, the spicy pine apple, and the antartic crushed colourful ice

8. Pet me ghadbad, and the ghadbad ice cream!!!!!!!

9. Not to forget..the user friendly Mangaluru people who guided us all the way with complete information...hats off Mangaluru and its people!!!

10. The final one : India is known for superb penetration of inteligence information network..that was noticed when Yashdeep was on the updating mode all the two days..and the latesh dating all the way with updating skills..way to go these smarties!!!!!

Kumara Parvatha - Dil Chaahta Hai - 04-Feb-12 to 05-Feb-12

KP=Kumara Parvatha

SP = Shesha Parvatha

KP: Hey SP I heard Sri is visitng us this weekend! am excited for his arrival

SP: Ya last time, he visited me, and since you were shivering with cold, and covered yourself with thick white blanket, he couldn't see you properly. 

KP: Ya i know, but this time he is coming with his trusted lieutent Sandeep, and Swamiji.  And all the three are coming with an dedicated intention.

SP: oh is it. 

KP:

Sandeep is searching for his elusive "Shanthi" in his fourth attempt 

Swamiji missed so many golden opportunities which sri had provided last year, so he is determined to make it up this time

and sri is coming with his own emotional mission, which is going to be narrated in his own style, and now over to Sri!!!!

Sri : Thank you KP, and SP for the beautiful Intro. Here I go

This time four of us decided to embrace warm winds on Kumara Parvatha, but final moment Somu - The play-boy, due to professional commitment noded his head down.  Three "S", Sandeep, Swamiji, and Sri were there at the foot of the hill with out any back bone breaking experience.  Thanks to nicely laid out Shiradi Ghat Road, and for the beautiful bus...KARNATAKA VAIBHAV.

Super bus - Vaibhav by KSRTC

Driver yelled at us "last stop...kukke".......then only we wokeup from our deep slumber,such a smooth journey it was!  After a quick refreshment, we walked slowly but surely inching towards Kumara Parvatha Peak.  This time we planned out nicely.  Instead of keeping the final goal as the target, we had broken the final target in to multiple pieces with time frame keeping in mind the body, and bonding conditon of all of us.

The first phase to forest check post we reached as per the plan, took a nice piece of rest, after a small nap we started again. (We deliberately avoided Bhattara mane..that proved very great piece of master stroke for our trek this time).

Reached comfortably Stone Pillared Mantapa.  Had little breakfast, filled stomach with cold breezed water in the stream.  We were on the path again. 

Up the stone mantap valley, Swamiji started feeling dizzy, and he said he can't make it, and he would like to reach back Bhattara mane.  But myself, and Sandeep, peppered with good talks, and energy filled conversation, and made him as our leader to lead the path till valley near the Sheshaparvatha.  We promised him that by looking at the valley, he will not regret his decision to trek that path all along.

The valley near the Sheshaparvatha base

When we reached valley near the sheshaparvatha, he was totally became energetic, and said, you people made no mistake by bringing me this far.  He was totally charged up from then on.

After a small photo session, and little break for filling the stomach, we started the treaded path to summit the Sheshaparvatha. 

Here again, Swamiji lifted his hands, and said not at all possible to put even a step further.  We persuaded him for nearly 15-20 minutes, and he oblized again (probably cursing both of us).  From here on our pace was slowed down, at this point we had made up our mind that, we will leave swamiji in the tent just after the Sheshaparvatha forest, and we continue to hit the peak.  But keeping in mind the spirit of the team, we curbed our instinct, and decided to give our limbs a rest.

Pitcing tent in the forst after Sheshaparvatha

We pitched the tent next to the Sheshaparvatha forest.  There was one big team who carried all the provision to prepare a delighful dinner,  had already set up the fire for the evening.  We joined them, had a nice photosession. 

Wonderful group of people!!!

Sandeep, and myself rushed to the top of Sheshaparvatha for a sunset freeze.  What a fine show it was, even though we were slighly dissapointed with spoilsport attitude by the clouds, and mist, neverthless it was a good frame to be freezed.



Sunset near the Sheshaparvatha!!!



We returned back to tent, had a generous evening chats, and slept at 19.30 in the tent, and we promised KP that will be touching its feet by early next morning.

First at doing its workmanship!!!

Woke up at 5.30, and we started packing our stuff, and just winked our eyes at our swamiji, he too winked back, and said he is ready to summit the KP.  We couldn't believe, but we convinced ourself that, for his age, Sheshaparvatha itself was a big achivement. 

All of us packed our stuff, and headed towards KP.  After the forest trial was over, we met few people who were coming down, and they told us that, it will take maximum 15-20 minutes to reach the top.  Swamiji was jubiliant at his best, and he decided to reach the peak at any cost.

Tridev - Swamiji, Sri, Sandeep in order from left!

We kept on inspiring him, and finally when we landed at the KP's feet with tears in our eyes, a small cool breeze just wiped our tears, and said "guys you made it".

Sandeep found the "Shanthi"

yes you are right, Strong intention will lead to strong determination!!!

Am happy reaching this far!

Finale:

1. Good Shiradi Ghat winding Roads

2. Good decision of Sandeep for selecting KSRTC - Karnataka 
    Vaibhav..better than Raja Hamsa

3. Swamiji's trying nature...even though he was tired to the
    maximum

4. Sandeep found the elusive "shanthi" in his fourth mission

5. Sri - A Tribute to his father, where he could able to connect to
    him in the minutes of silence at the top.

KP: Hey SP, howz the mission

SP: (Wiping its tears rolling down the cheek) Hey KP, people will come and go, but this seems to be an emotional journey for all the three trekkers.  Am proud to get stamped from these three human beings.

KP: You were lucky, at least you met them twice, for me this is the first time

SP: Don't worry, Sri had promised me that, he will get his buddies, Latesh, Yashdeep, Prashanth, Somu, and Kishore here, so we can expect one more fabulous trekking experience in this year.

KP-SP: Hey guys reach back safely, Lord subramanya had blessed you by keeping three seats in Rajahamsa at 21.45.  Just convey our wishes to your "Alemarigalu group"..Take care..Sigona matte

Republic Day Flower Show - Lalbagh

The flowers always blossoms without having any intention to satisfy itself.  The fragrance are not meant for the flower but for the others.  

A great example how our life should be..

A casual walk in to the Lalbagh made me to think the lines above.

The world requires peace, fragrance, and continuous fight against our own negative feelings.

100th year of Botanical Garden Show!!

The ticketing made electronic this time (not sure they had introduced this time, or previous since i had missed the previous outing).  That was the first step to keep controlling the crowd flow.  Then it was neatly monitored all-round. This was a sign of success.  

Tiny pockets of Islands of Flowers, Frutis, Vegitables!!!

A floating tiny islands of flowers, vegitables, fruits was a attraction this time.

The man behind the construction of Glass House ...John Cameron...

The man behind the botanical garden....Krumbeigal

A neatly decked flowers in the form of Saanchi Stoopa depicting peace preached by Bhagavaan Buddha impressed me lot.  Even though it could have been better, but the effort by the Lalbagh staff highly commendable one. 

The peacock standing majestically explains the vibrant color of India.  Unity in Diversity, the peacock feather has multiple colors.  

The fight against our own negative feelings which can kill the enthusiasm aply spread accross in the form of Sand art.  Sand shows how to get adjusted to the situation.  If you pour water in to it, it will absorbs, if you spread across in the sun, it dries.  This is the law of life.  Allow the peace to sink in, and then spread across the world.  

When the good feelings spreads its like a pigeon show...all flew away in a sync makes the picture a perfect one.

The public always behind any revolution, so we need re-public entries  to bring the country to the front.

Jai Hind, and Standing ovation for the lalbagh authorities for putting a great show of fragrance and peace.

The low points:

1. Littering the park of plants

2. Sky high price of edible commodities which is available for 
    almost half the price outside.

3. Mad crowd, who doesn't care for others.