the icy seductress

the soft gurgling noise of the icy rivulets fills the stark silence of the pitch black nights.

the silvery water keeps rolling and knocking against soft round pebbles that fill the river bed

the soft streams cradled among the rocky mountains seem to carry a strange divinity

I went to sleep every night with the same soft gurgling sound filling my ears, and the images of the clear blue water tumbling all along the rocks filling my mind before I lose myself into its magical hypnotism

dipping oneself into the hypnotic trance

I wake up each morning and walk over the icy rivulets and seat myself on the rocks by the river, often letting my limbs play with the flow of the icy waters. I kept wondering about the tiny streams flowing eternally, gracing rocks of all shapes, tumbling on and on, forming the shape of the land for huge distances, and making up the eternal cycle of life.

Clocks were seldom needed here as the river seemed tell the time in synergy with the sun and the thick mist. They together formed and dispersed all sense of time in the valley. They decide when you wake up and when you can summon enough courage to walk out of the tent. They decide when you get tired and when you get into slumber.

when ones very breathing moments are left to the mercy of the skies, the boulders around and the ever strengthening currents of the icy waters, life becomes a synchronous embodiment of the very same elements that surround us. In their company I had the strong sense of being alive as a human being again.

Left to the wild in a group of like minded and similarly witted human beings, man learns to create a sense of community and life among the forces of nature.

Felt like being close to the real purpose and sense of being human... again.. a sense of continuous rebirth :)

Image copyrights are owned by Cijo George

Maduraikku pogathedee..

After pacing around in the scorching heat of Madurai, I finally find myself in the temple complex of the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Kovil.

The first thing that catches my attention is the blissful ecosystem with the peepals and the neems hanging over the ever clean tiled street surrounding the  Amman Kovil. I would consider myself a criminal if I ever understated the bliss and calm around. The soothing hymns floating along keeps the air even more rhythmic.

For those with an appetite there are many options. But right now I am after the famous Jigardanda alone. Waiting for some space to be made after the heavy lunch I had at the wedding, not to forget the extra load of soft drinks and tea that I had.

The experience becomes even more blissful after couple of hours of roaming along the streets under the hot sun, carrying a sizeable bag. The heat is slowly getting on me, and sweat flows down my face but I was strolling slowly.

I had been to the Madurai Meenakshi Amman Kovil a couple of times before this, and I still had around three hours before my train back to Bangalore. Having lots of time helped me observe many things around me. The hawkers selling  a variety of colourful bangles and cosmetics passed by with their wares, and were followed by a father holding his son's hands and telling him stories while walking around the compound. I wondered how many times my father would have held my hands and took me to umpteen places telling me fake stories to prevent me from running away ;) That moment, I wished to be home, to stop roaming and sit besides him and listen to the stories that he has to tell now.

Snapping out of my emotional whirlpool after a moment, I decided to take a good look at the gopuram. I think it was the South one I visited first. After a few attempts at clicking photos, I felt like an idiot and decided to examine the art work with my eyes. Roving my eyes over the large structure made my neck pain and I decided to take in the sight at ease. So, very much unlike my usual practice to stand and walk for long hours, I decided to sit down and enjoy the marvel in front of me. Nothing else was in my mind when I was immersed in the beauty of the ancient construction. Each demon, each God, every mythical figure in it seemed to weave stories in my head as the facts about Madurai's history kept rolling into my head from some storage. I might even have had a full blown historical and artistic conversation within my head before I decided to snap out of it and tweeted the pic of the beautiful tower :)

the towering beauty

Seeing me sitting on the footsteps of a closed shop, staring at the sky, a couple of roadside palmists approached me and tried to make me take the bait by offering to predict my career, matrimonial ventures and even going as far as claiming that from my face it was clear something big was coming :) I managed to break out of their circle and walked to the next tower. On the way, I found a hand loom showroom where I decided to check out sarees for Amma and found even more beautiful ones than the ones I had bought from Pothy's a while ago. But after getting a firm scolding from Amma for overpurchasing I managed to filter only two good sarees from that shop and moved on.

I didn't find the other towers to be as imposing as the Southern one, but they were pretty good as well. I soon found myself approaching the shopping areas and bagged some Amla and also managed to down a tasty cup of Jigardanda

 before I decided that I had eaten too much and started walking in the direction of the railway station, hoping I will take a couple of hours to reach. But it so happened that the railway station was too close :(

Tired after all the walk and all the food, I dropped my bag and sat down beside the platform, tweeting and whatsapping a bit even as my phone battery threatened to die out soon. All of sudden it started raining and I had to pick up everything and move to the first platform, grumbling all the way. My eager eyes soon found a notice which read "AC waiting room. Rs.10/- per hour. Tickets available at Platform I". It was pasted outside the waiting room, and so I guessed it meant I had to take the tickets from the ticket counter and went in search of it. Phew, it was a near 10 minute tired walk to get there and after another 5 minutes in the queue, the person at the ticket counter informed me that the tickets were available at the waiting room itself. I smiled a weak smile, thanked him and trudged back.

What followed was an hour of a repacking, recharging and telling the stories to all my friends. I stayed some extra time in the AC room until the train finally arranged and I had an uneventful journey besides a fully loaded

The murukkus, paan packets, kaaracheeva packet and couple of sarees bulged my bag as I put myself to a tough sleep among the chug-chug of the railgaadi :)

sayanora

Chasing the Monsoon - Part 2

This is a continuation of part 1 of the series "Chasing the Monsoon"..

Frenzy broke loose and we broke ranks and ran to check with the engine driver and guard of the train on this sudden appearance. Confusion prevailed for some time until one guy came running with news from the engine driver that our train was on the way and would arrive shortly. Finally it did, and we clambered on as fast as we could, thanked the guard and settled down.


Never in my entire life had I waited so eagerly for a goods train to arrive, and an arrival of a goods train in a railway signal always caused me to frown. But now after this experience, I have started respecting and appreciating goods train. I am sure that from now on, spotting a goods train would give me fond memories of this trip and the lifesaver it turned out to be.

Sitting in the guard coach, we had a good view of the surroundings, though light was dropping rapidly. We all peered out to catch a final glimpse of the majestic dudhsagar as the rain chugged along slowly. The sight was again majestic and incomparable to any other, but our cries of jubilation and self congratulatory gestures were replaced by silent awe when we moved further and the train took a bend and the upper half of the falls came into sight in the twilight, covered in all other sides by thick fog. It was a very special moment for us when I spotted this and cried out. All chatter dropped, everyone stood up in spite of the cramps and stood in awe drinking in the splendour of the falls we just conquered. I stand corrected. It can't be conquered. It conquered us. No pics. For your eyes and heart  only.

The guard was a friendly fellow from Rajasthan who chatted about his work and his railway interviews for which he had come to Bangalore once. Relieved, we settled to crack jokes, clicked pics and singing and making loud noises. All this lasted only for a while until we realized the sounds of nature filling us from all around. Apart from hushed jokes and random laughs, all were immersed in the beauty of the rainforest drunk in the darkness and sensual after the fresh showers. Luckily it didn't rain throughout the 1 hour it took to cover the remaining 8 kms. We heard stories of tiger, bears and porcupines spotted near the railway track by rail guards and about how the railway operates in the region. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. Everything went fine in spite of the tense moments, pain and the anxiety in between. All we wanted now was to hit the bunk.

We reached Caulem by around 8 pm and proceeded towards Calangute beach(75kms) in a single cab. It proved to be a difficult adjustment to cover so far a distance. But we did manage until Calangute, where after some confusion and walking in the rains, we managed to get ourselves rooms in the Falcon resorts near the calangute beach. Too tired to do anything else, the ones who had planned on a late night ride dropped it and all had pizza and hit the bunk.... snooze.. To Be Continued..

Chasing the Monsoon - Part 1

Rains - anyone who knows me in real life or any reader of my blog or my posts in Facebook knows that I love em. My love for mountains comes second. And hence the trip to Dudhsagar and Goa in the current season of heavy monsoon is justified with reasons for those who doubt.

The spark-
Don't exactly recall the spark for this trip. I think it just came forward during a discussion with my friend Aswin Pai.

The team-
The final team consisted of 11 people, off which excluding myself, I knew two others. One of them knew 7 others and the other brought his friend. We jokingly referred to our group as sleeper cells. I guess many of us will turn into real 'sleeper' cells in the aftermath of the trip.But that's a different matter altogether.


The plan-
Trek from Castlerock to Dudhsagar falls(15kms) with the luggage, continue to Caulem(8kms) if time permits and then continue to Calangute beach for accomodation.
Next two days, visit every beach in north Goa, see and explore as much as possible until the bus from Panaji leaves to Bangalore on Sunday evening. Monday, all go to office happy and relaxed. Read further to know what really happened.

Day 0
Met the sleeper cells at the Bangalore city railway station and boarded the train(Rani Chennamma Express). After nearly an hour of shifting people around, we all ended up in nearby seats. Cracked jokes, broke ice, clicked photos, weaved expectations.

Day 1
Beautiful morning at Londa. Had pav bhaji and some poor breakfast. Loaded up on eatables. Arranged cab to carry all 11 in the rain, in one Sumo. Fun ride with more jokes,getting to know each others and loaded up on more food and anti-leech supplies. The need for the former was underestimated and the latter overestimated.

Reached Castlerock by 10.45am and started the final dressing up with anti-leech and anti-rain packing. Saw many new techniques to ward off leeches for first time in my 3 years of travel. Felt the tension and anxiety on many newbies. Some proved toughies. The gang that chose to sit on top of the cab while taking jungle routes gave some wild moments to enjoy :) Started off along the rails in the direction pointed to by the train driver, ah I almost forgot being reprimanded for posing for photographs on the train engine without permission. So we started off with nice scolding and the rains picking up almost immediately as all put on the rain coats. Many were new coats and people were discovering methods to keep it on in the gushing winds.

 The start was amazing owing to the thick rains, and fog building up all around. Everyone got into rhythm and kept on. Soon the rains dropped but we happily kept on, using the chance to click photos and crack jokes on each others. I was picking up the fluency on Hindi that I had lost for sometime owing to not practising it :) Soon, we realized the folly of walking with the heavy loads and covered with rain coats. Slowly, one-by-one the rain coats started coming off and groups started forming based on pace. Normal and steady pace for an hour or more.

Goods trains and engines kept appearing on the tracks from time to time. The leading person signals the group to get to the dry ground along the track and it gets cleared in a sweep once the engine is in view. The initial encounters were filled with wonder and excitement, but soon we got used to it and just made sure we kept track of time differences between trains to know if we would encounter one in a tunnel. Some crazy math was also being talked about.

Speaking of tunnels, those are one of the major attractions in the Konkan railway route and the same applies to the section we were climbing. There were nearly 10(the last one was numbered 10 and the first 1, otherwise we didn't keep count) and they varied in lengths, shape,lighting and other special factors. Some had cracks through which light filtered in, creating enchanting shapes for the photographers, not that much successful efforts were made, owing to the need to make pace and pitch darkness inside. Others were bent, pitch dark, filled with litter or had roots hanging down. Some had water dripping in at points, making excellent subjects for photos. It was exciting and challenging at times to walk through these tunnels with the limited light supply we had.

With some short breaks in between for refreshments and photographs, we took nearly 5 hours to reach our destination. At many places we had to leave early to reach the falls before sunset and to avoid being stranded on top of the desolate mountains in the rains. Many newbies broke down and slowed down. But the moment we reached Dudhsagar falls, we were once again filled with excitement. One km ahead lie our destination and we dragged on.

The falls. There is so much I can tell about the falls. I watched the gang which reached earlier relaxing,  munching on snacks and people getting their portraits photographed in front of it. I dropped my bag, took out the camera and climbed on the side railings and lie there for 5 mins looking at the waterfalls without switching on the camera. I observed the v-shaped streams crashing on the middle platform to join once again as one single stream. I also observed the rivulets trying to make new paths all around. There were even some mini Dudhsagars around. The flow was uniform and one could track a sheet of water making its way from the top, getting split by the lone tree at the top(its very high. India's fifth tallest I believe). One could feel the immense force with which the water was flowing from its rumbling and tumbling. My shoddy shoes had resulted in excruciating pain in my feet and ankle after walking 15kms on the uneven rocks laid between tracks owing to the flat and thin soles. I don't remember how long I lie there, but I felt the energy from the falls getting transferred into me, and the pain was dissolved and washed away by it into the jungle. The soul content,and body rested, my mind made many journeys in the short period we were there. Clicked a few photos and walked back to Dudhsagar station to catch the last goods trains scheduled at 6pm to take us to Caulem. Didn't realize that I hadn't eaten a morsel of food that was carried up and it anyway went into one of the other poor guy's tummy :)

Filled with joy and now wearing chappals instead of the treacherous shoes, I felt more comfortable and we all covered the remaining kilometer in a jiffy. At the station we were presented with a troubling proposition. The officials at the station had no way to authorize our ride on a goods train and they were now not sure of its time and also whether it would be a goods train. An engine would not allow 11 people to travel on it. The next confirmed train was at 2AM next day. So our chances of survival hung upon the goods train coming up soon, in the right direction and the guard allowing us in, within 2 minutes that is allowed for stoppages. The rains were picking up, light fading, cold biting, insects invading, food supplies emptied and soon tension was high. Also we had to figure out where the guard coach would stop and after wild estimations of length and number of coaches we started walking towards the expected spot and spread out. Everyone was exhausted and each minute spent waiting on the tracks, fully loaded and wet, filled with anxiety was gruesome. Some were fully exhausted,but were in high spirits to catch the train and escape from the jungle rather than waiting for the next train in the desolate railway station without supplies or walking the remaining 8 kms in the dark and dangerous rain forest.


 

We must have waited for a good half an hour before heard the rumbling on the tracks from a distance. With the red light on the other track, we had all our eyes on the track leading to Caulem. We even saw a glimpse of the trains headlights coming through a tunnel. I had a sinking feeling that the sound was coming from the wrong direction and when the lights too came from that direction, my worst fears were confirmed. I shared it with the group, but none of us wanted to believe it and so we continued our wait. Finally the train did turn up, but in the opposite direction indeed. Oooops... 

                                              TO BE CONTINUED...

Feel the earth

Walking outdoors for long distances on bare foot has always fascinated me. But I didn't think too much of it..until now. I see people not recognizing it as a talent, but madness and lowliness.

They don't realize the pleasure of feeling the ground with your feet. It too has nerves you see.
You can perceive the lay of the land, the temperature and the level of traction it provides by just standing still. You feel as a part of the Earth, and it becomes easy to mould Earth chakras :-) or do Earth bending :D

Walking bare foot is challenging. You have the heat on the tarmac, the cold of the water and the weather to handle. Also there is the uneven land, the pointy stones, rocks and random dirt. Just walking fast on the tarred road can bruise and tear the skin off the smooth soles.

You got to be more careful when you do more intense activities like running, jogging or overcoming obstacles in the path. The stress signature on your feet during these activities is different from that experienced when you wear shoes.

I have seen many an expert runner, hiker, biker or climber turn to bare footed versions to get maximum kick out of it.  The simple joy of bouncing on your bare feet, jumping off your bare toes or tipping and balancing on the bare heels is worth the pain.

So today, I just walked out of my home and decided to explore my area. The same area that I covered on foot and on cycle all throughout my childhood. Good that it was already dark as I had the coolness of the night to support my goal. I walked a good 5-6 kms through residential areas where people eyed me suspiciously for walking through the busy streets bare footed and in shorts and a dingy shirt, with even the hair in shabby condition. I ended up exploring the newly completed railway over-bridge to the KSRTC bus stand.  It was a good experience to again walk through the place I used to pass by frequently and almost always in those lonely journeys to and fro Mysore. Walking amongst the crowd in the bus stand was fun, checking out cordoned off areas and keeping a keen eye on the ground for hostile terrain.

All throughout this mad walkathon I was thinking about why people despise the simple and natural ways of life, and embrace the built up and artificial setups. People walk smartly in their good dresses, drive in their good cars and look down upon people who don't seem to have similar possessions. They assume and build a position of power and confidence for themselves through such acts. I feel pity for the souls whose sole satisfaction on being alive is derived from the confirmation that the presence of these possessions provides them with. tch tch

I ended up reaching home feeling good and it was anyway in between a scheduled power cut. So i rested well and ended the madness with a tumbler of hot and strong home-made tea and got refreshed after washing. The sole and the heels have some injuries, that shows I have a long way to go before I attemptthe mad stuff I imagined in my head. :-)

Hope to see more bare foot adventures in immediate future ..