My Malanad Dairy

Two things which I am unable to resist: A strong freshly brewed filter coffee and rain drenched and ever so little sun kissed Malanad. The combination of these two is my view of paradise

Well, as September rolled by this year, the rain gods decided to spend a lot more time with its eternal love - Mother Earth. There was water everywhere, fields inundated, Dams pushing to the Brim, and greenery everywhere you could look
Even cities like Bangalore which is devoid of much greenery turned a bit green

 Standing outside my office and looking at the rains pounding the concrete walk paths. i was deeply immersed into its melancholy and at that very moment, my thoughts drifted away from the office to the world outside, the places where I have set my foot, the places where I have slept through the night listening to the Night Jars and the Cicadas, The Mountains which I have climbed which has humbled me ... The western ghats and the Malanad.
A picture of Malanad is not complete without its gushing waterfalls and in a jiffy i was thinking about the gorgeous Jog Falls.
That was it...I decided It is time for me to pay a visit to the Malanad and have some conversations with my long lasting love
Well for me Jog falls is not just about visiting the magnanimous falls, take some pictures of the falls, selfies and updating to social sites. For me it is a journey to serenity.
I will talk to you about this in a moment

As i made my plans, the day was 24th Aug 2018, I timed my trip to coincide with my nephew's wedding at Sagar. Sagar is the outlet to Malnad if I can say
 I landed at 5:30 am in Sagar bus stand after a tiring night journey and as a ritual I found the first hotel where i could get my morning cup of my brew
I decided to walk around the city and experience the day break....As i trudged along enjoying the cool breeze made even more sweeter with the overnight rains, I could see on the horizon, the shadows of the mountains, i could see the areca plants swinging slightly to awaken the sleeping dawn
In few moments, i saw the perennial fight of the sun and the clouds which is so synonymous to maland rainy day break's. It took a while and the war-ravaged sun final broke out
While this was happening, I realized the town which few minutes back was so dead, just leap out into action. I saw people out on the road, carrying their large umbrellas heading to the market. Few hard men trying to load 2-3 sacks of flower into an auto which was just unloaded from a bus
A tea seller on the street setting up his impromptu vending machine, Auto's with draped tarpaulin's starting up their engine. Private bus conductors yelling the nearby places to draw attention to possible commuters
This ecosystem is so tightly integrated and works so harmoniously, you have to see it to believe it

This was where I felt I belonged
After a quick freshen-up, I headed to the wedding...after a heart warming and belly filling lunch I was eager to hit the road
I went to the local bus stop and boarded the first bus to Jog Falls. Enroute to Jogfalls, you will encounter two small town's Talguppa and Kargal where you will see a quick churn of passengers
Once I was seated next, i struck a conversation with the old man next to me. As it turned out, it was a very interesting conversation
We initially talked about our wherabouts and when we comfortably chatting, he told me he was 80 years old. He was born in 1938 and when India got independence he was 9. He narrated a strange story
He said during the freedom struggle, people in his village wanted to take Britisher's head-on and wanted to fill up their jails. So they decided to cut sandalwood trees which was banned from cutting. The British would then arrest them and put them in Jail. Very soon the Britisher's realized this wasn't working, so they came up with a unique way of punishing the offenders
They would take the offenders to the middle of the jungles around and leave them there. The offenders would then have to find a way back to civilization which most would but with some hardship. We all know what happened after that.

Any way this is where my conversation with him stopped on  pre-independance and continued towards what he feels about the cities, how he makes those few annual trips to Bangalore with the farmer community
How his grand children working in Bangalore cant see him when he is in Bangalore due to long commute times
This banter went on for a while and his destination arrived. He bade me a good bye and smiled at me...I wish i could have spent more time with this unknown stranger, but there was the larger cause beckoning me
A 45 minute conversation, thought me history which I am sure was never recorded in any wiki page or found in any mobile app. Truly sometimes putting your phones off and talking to people you meet gives you a new perspective to everything...It is soul searching at times
As we headed towards the falls, the bus did multiple stops in the Jog town which is predominantly occupied people working in the Power generation plant
Finally it was my time to alight, I quickly bought the entrance ticket and headed towards the falls. As i approached it I could hear the loud cheers and roars of people as they got a quick glimpse of the falls
With rain's showing no mercy and nothing to give me cover, i decided it is time to let go any apprehensions and enjoy the rainy moment
As i stepped towards the well maintained viewing area, the rain got heavy, I decided to wait it out all the while gazing at the carpet of fog in front of me
As i waited out in the wet and cold rain, water dripping from my forehead into my eyes, running into the back of my wet shirt, i could see the fog lift.
It was like unveiling the most beautiful painting painted ever. I strained my eyes and crained my neck to get over a hundred other people out there, to see visuals of a lifetime
Slowly behold the fog started to move right to left
Roarer and Rocket was in its full glory. If you know they are two of the four parts of the falls - Raja, Rani, Roarer and Rocket
Roarer is a two step drop, the first is a small drop and  then the water drops further down and as it drops, it twirls and hurls itself down. Maybe thats why they call him the roarer
If roarer is the young and angry brat, Rocket is the good boy, a mommy's no-nonsense child dropping down in a straight line. It just feels as if Rocket has nothing to do with its family and is completely unnerved by the antics of Roarer
While I was admiring these two boy's in full glory. It seemed that Raja and Rani were in a state of bliss. They wanted to be uneventful and covered. I hardly got to see them except for  a brief second when I could get a glimpse of the hurtling Raja filled to its content with a milllion gallons of water. Rani decided to play the rightful wife and kept herself so very close to Raja so much that she was enveloped in his gushing droplets
I stood there for more than an hour and this hide-and-seek game continued. Between me and Jog, Rain and the cloud break's.
Finally my nemesis - Hot filter coffee was the tie breaker, the urge to have a good coffee found me heading to the nearby Kamat restaurant.
Hot filter coffee and Pakoras was so good that before i realized it was gone. On a cold wet rainy evening, nothing can taste better. As i savoured the after taste of the pakoras mixed with the thickness of grounded coffee, rain drops constantly pounding the ground, sweet smell of the green and visuals of Jog falls playing endlessly in my head, i felt this was the moment of truth - an unexplainable malanad odyssey.
It was getting dark, the clouds were getting thicker and the rain stronger. I headed out of the restaurant and then saw that the crowd had thinned out
I took this opportunity to spend some more time with my love. I decided to find another point from where i could see the falls from a different view
When the clouds' parted now i could see the valley behold, the valley which in its abode is a living heaven full of native endemics of the malanad ranging from the newly discovered ants to medicinal herbs. The abundant flora and fauna here is a micro ecosystem of its own. The Sharavathi wildlife reserve is very unique bio-diversity region and i have been blessed to have explored them on foot few years ago
As i decided to head back I waited for one last time for the fog to lift up. I looked at the mighty falls and thought nature was kind enough to let me see her in her crowning glory
I  headed towards the main gate with the wind beating down my cold back and a blank mind gazing into the twilight. At this moment I couldn't resist to look back once and as i did i could see the defining roar of the crying child was now being put to sleep by the ever thickening fog and the lullaby of the birds returning to their roosting bays
I felt light in my head, and with a happy hearty singing an unknown song I made my way to the bus shelter to take the bus back.

The Treasure Trove of Happy Moments

I had promised Arnav(My son) that I will take him out over the weekend...

The weekend dawned on me at 5:30 and I hit the running track, after a 15 KM run, I knew the day was still young and off course very long

We hit the road, Me belted in the front seat and Arnav next to me, heading towards Innovative film city...The city of Every Kid and Adult's Imagination.... All good things never come easy so was this trip...We had almost reached our Destination when my son decided to test his dad's ability to handle crisis....He Puked all over himself and I realized that there was no way I could clean him up and take him to the Innovative film city..

Arnav wanted to go home too..But I knew it will be a big let down for the little kid, who is been talking about this to me for more than a week

For Once, I didn't get angry or frustrated, I decided to drive down to the nearest village to find him some clothes, so drove 10kms to Bidadi and Carrying Arnav ( already dressed down to his vest and brief :D) to the nearest Dress store

We got a funny look from the shop keeper but I was in no mood to explain, Got him some good clothes dressed him up and he was ready to rock and Roll and we drove back....45 mins lost, but we still were staring into a beautiful pleasant afternoon

As we entered the Filmcity, or fun city you can call it, I could see the excitement zoom up in Arnav and he took off from the entrance.

We tried our hand at Archery, Shooting and all the fun things, but what was to come was a surprise element

THE TRAMPOLIN-Bungee Jump..Arnav stopped and he was awed by the length of the Bungee cables and how he could let himself loose, I was a little worried not sure how it will all play out, but once he was strapped up, the world was at his feet.. .Like a trained Gymnast he was soaring high and dropping low....His mind focussing on the movements of the Cables, he occasionally would look at him and throw the Victorious smile :)

While Arnav effortlessly tamed the bungee Trampolin beast..not once.  But thrice..I eased him into a perfect horse ride... I don't recollect when I rode a horse but with Arnav saddled with me...It was a blissful ride for 10 mins....It seemed that the Horse was in perfect harmony with Arnav's excitement...First horse ride for Arnav was a memorable one

As we passed the Tribal museum uninterested and couple of other attractions, the next stop was the Carousel...

In the carousel on two white horses we sat...for me it was a long forgotten memory.  For him it was a never ending beautiful present.. The horses went round and round, high and low, Arnav at one point told me he was taller than me....I smiled at him....Deep inside me I realized the day is not very far off when he will outgrow me in height, but the untold anxiety that every parent nurtures for 15-20 years that his/her kid will outgrow his/her love never ceases

I tried my hand at the Mini golf course and that left Arnav wondering why the ball is so small. He didn't like me treating the ball so well, He wanted me to hit it as hard as I can :)....

The haunted house left him in a monkey clutch around my neck...I was gingerly taking every step waiting for the next whacky thing took jump out at us...The 15 mins in the haunted house was a scary experience for Arnav

For once I saw Dinosaurs in real life thro my son's excited expressions. as we walked through the Dino Arena 

The Mirror Maze was like a crossword puzzle to me, hardly got it right. We would have been stuck long enough if arnav..had not fond us a way out

We rewarded ourselves with hand licking ice creams :) and cruised through Bangalore highway traffic with ease to get home

At the end of the day, when I look back, seeing Arnav soar to a height of 30 feet on the trampolin left a smile on my face...it was Indeed a sense of fulfillment and now a repetitive desire for him

My life's little Journey

It is about 5:00 AM and the train slowly chugs in the darkness towards a railway station.


I getup from my berth and stretch myself, sling my backpack on and walk towards the door.



I put my head out and I can feel the chill in the air and I see that we are slowly but surely inching towards a laid back station



Etched on the yellow concreted board “Bhadravathi”. The place where I was born and attached to it is fond memories galore



I step out of the train and the smell of charcoal is tingling the air, well not sure if everyone can smell it , but I surely can..It is the sweet strange burning smell of charcoal not far away from the Furnace of VISL Factory.



I feel the fresh air on my face and look around if I can find some coffee..No luck.



I step outside the station and it is cold outside…I look around…The buzz of people trying to get into Autorickshaw’s to their destinations….Within minutes…the crowd has melted away.



Some distance away, I see few people huddled around a small fire to keep themselves warm. Old tired legs of daily labor, supporting crumbling backs and eternally blessed by time weathered rugs



I find a small gaadi selling coffee. I treat myself to my first morning coffee. The drink which has defined me…the drink which breathes in a life into me….



I take the rickshaw to Old town and as the auto starts and moves on I hit the old bridge. Looking out, I see the first rays of sun hitting the not so clear waters of the once upon a time mighty river.



I smile to myself……..



There were days during the hot Summer Afternoon’s of yesteryears wherein me, my cousins would cycle 5-6 Kms, scale a 8 ft wall of a mosque and hit the Bhadra Channel.



Immersing ourselves in the Bhadra River and feeling the slightly cold water consume our warm sweaty bodies was paradise on earth. A joke or two with cousins, an ice candy on the way back and cycling bare foot…It was a full life….those moments are priceless



I am shaken up when our auto hits a pot hole on the road. The auto navigates these potholes at 10 Km/hr speed and I am clinging to the side bar to make sure I am not thrown around.



I pass through the main street of Old town and I am flooded with a barrage of thoughts….confusing and comforting…



As I look at the Old town police station and the Jain temple next to it and I am immediately taken back to those days when we I used to be a part of RSS at Bhadravathi.



We would enthusiastically participate in these meeting at Kanakamantapa. We didn’t know why we were there but we simply loved it. As kids, we didn’t understand either the motive of RSS or the political undercurrents of RSS



All we knew was go there and stand in line and do Surya namaskara and eat those mouth watering laddus on some special occasions.



On Raksha Bandan day the RSS team would gather at the Jain temple and we would get those orange bands which we would have to tie on our hands



More bands you have on your hand the more proud you feel proud and I remember I used to sometimes envy my friend Prakasha as he would manage to get hold of more than 2-3 bands



The road starts winding up slightly and I pass the Keshava Madhava mutt. I vividly remember the Diwali night when I stumbled across the steep steps and cut my forehead.

I barely remember what happened after that but what comes to my mind is the picture of a stout friendly doctor Chandramouli, whose love, sweet medicines and motorcycle ride’s never deterred me from seeing a doctor



I also remember the little open area outside the Mutt where me and my cousins would play literally till the cows came home.



This Mutt was my abode of happiness, my mysterical palace, my den of surprises, my playground and what I called my home in the first few years of my life



I clearly remember a little passage between the building and the Adjacent wall where you could barely squeeze through and come out at the other end



Whenever I would get into this little tunnel of mine, as a little kid I was scared, but the adventurous child in me would egg on. The little spiders on the wall, the creepy ants and the smell of moss would make my travel through this alice adventureland of mine an event to remember

The building remains even today but alas not the tunnel



Tied to these memories are the countless Saturday night’s I spent at adjacent Rama temple singing Bhajans and falling asleep, all the hard work for a morsel of yummy Prasadam…When I think of all this and those gone-by years, A twinkle lights up in my eye and there is a battle brewing between my eyelids and the eyes to hold the pearl drop of tear.

Eventually the eye lid win’s and the pearl drop is rescued from the clutches of its tormentor and falls to my lap....My eyes are moist....As you grow older.. the tear’s dry up but you cry more…What a contrast…to those glorious growing days



The auto rickshaw winds it way up and I hear the early birds waking to greet the morning glow..It is a divine jugalbandi of the morning sky and the chirping birds… It is always an eternal tie….you never can have a winner



The next 15-20 seconds, I see a mash-up, Collage of life. A young kid bidding good-bye rubbing his eyes to step-in to the real world from his beautiful dreams, An old lady welcoming the day break with beautiful rangoli in front of the house, the sweat smell of cowdung being smeared to the just wet ground, A priest taking his one of the many baths of the day, a Milkman cycling his way up the road with a smile of accomplishment on his way, the ringing of temple bells far away… As I soak into this mystic morning miracle the autorickshaw comes to a grinding halt

I am at my Grandma’s place, I get out of the auto and when I open the gate, the creaking sound welcomes me. I am ushered inside and then over a hot cup of coffee I exchange pleasantries.

As I mull over what to do next, I am overpowered by the tiredness of the journey and before I realize I am into a deep slumber



I am woken up by some frantic activity happening very close to me…It is the day of the water Supply….All the neighbors are busy ferrying loads of water to the house from a little tap right outside my house.



As I gingerly step outside, I see the bright sky, and the smiles of my neighbor …. Each Smile had a reason…..a feeling of happiness……”It is nice to see you again” when these words are uttered…. You feel this is where I belong…You feel like a lost traveler returning home…You feel gratified



The rest of the day I spend meeting friends, relatives and then as the Afternoon Sun has handed over the baton of life to the cooler evening, I take a stroll to the Narasimhaswamy temple.



As a young kid, this less than 0.5 mile would feel like eternity for me…and now I cover this distance in 10 minutes….The shops..the tiled houses..The mosque enroute… the hardly motorable road…has thousands of stories hidden in them… and I look around… I have a role to play in each of these stories…The Chandra’s shop where I would take the 25 Anna’s which my grandfather gave me to buy kodbale… The old bakery which sold some yummy Benne Biscuit… The drain which smelled awful in the morning, but had a melancholy of its own…The mosque which was mystifying to me all the time…I always wanted to see what is inside..but never dared to… The tiled houses on the other side of the road, where I had few friends, and the so-felt never ending compound of the temple, which I have clambered umpteen times just to get my kite flying few feet higher…. I just cant help smiling



As I enter the temple premises…I feel very light…I feel attracted…I feel divine..I feel satisfied…I feel accomplished….

As I bend down and enter the temple, the smell of camphor welcomes me, the oil lit lamp flickers with authority in the light breeze blowing into the temple..It was a question which I had to answer… What took to me so many days to come back?

While I am waiting and adoring the beautiful idol of Lord Narasimha, I am drawn towards the two old pictures hanging in front of the Garbagudi…Hiranksha and Hiranyakashipu



Here is where the stories told by my grandfather took life….As a young kid, these pictures would literally translate the stories my grandfather told me about lord Narasimha into a live play…Everytime I would look at these pictures, I would be mesmerized, scared deep with-in and feel the largeness of the lord. Even today more than 30 years later. I still can’t take my eyes of these pictures…While the picture has soiled and aged with time, it has left a lasting impression in my heart and mind



I step out of the temple and sit and take a parikrama of the temple… I feel a belonging to every stone.,,,Every piece of this temple. As I sit on the parapet, I look at the old tree next to the temple…The tree which has fuelled many of my dreams….this was the tree whose ripened fruits would provide me the adhesive for my kites….. This tree would provide the adrenalin rush and wake the adventurer in me trying to climb up its huge branches to pull off those fruits

Unlike me even after 30 years, this tree still stood looking at me and mocking with all its fruits…..The message was clear..



It was living old and I was dying Young in the materialistic world of mine



As I was returning home, I could see the sun setting in the west….the temple bells ringing…the not-so-bright orange street lights trying to ape the beautiful Evening setting with little success

As I was about to open the creaky gate and step into my house…I heard someone calling… I looked around…there was none….

I turned back and alighted those two little steps…knowing that this is place where I will always hear my name being called…. The place where I will always have a place of my own…Where my memories will always be treasured for generations…where my heart will always have a song to sing

A relentless Ordeal - A moment of Glory

My first visit to one of the most beautiful and well preserved natural wonders of the world "THE GRAND CANYON " was in the summer of 2003.









All I could do was stand gazing at the endless canyon in awe and as I was looking down into the Canyon, a friend of mine commented " You know you can get to the bottom and people hike down"


The spark was ignited.... The urge to head down the Canyon.

I made many visits after that to the Canyon but never headed down.

My pursuit of experiencing the depths of the Canyon was set into motion during a casual lunch talk with my cricket team.


One of my friend brought up this idea of we hiking down the Canyon and this brought a smile to my tired face.... I jumped on the idea and very soon we were planning for the trip


Camping down the Canyon needed preparations well ahead of time and it was something we all agreed would be too dificult to coordinate with our varied work schedules


So we decided to take the other route out " A day hike " - Rim to River and back.



This was humanely possible, but this adventure bordered the bravery and insanity.


The choice was ours.... And this message on the national parks website stood boldly mocking at us.

"Over 250 people are rescued from the canyon each year. The difference between a great adventure in Grand Canyon and a trip to the hospital (or worse) is up to YOU. DO NOT attempt to hike from the rim to the river and back in one day, especially during the months of May to Sep"


We decided to take the beast of a challenge head-on, we decided to do it on Oct 1 2005 ( Until Sep, getting permits werent easy)



Now came the preparation and the team...10 of us signed up for it and only one among us(Prashanth) had done it before.


Living in Arizona for a while surely made me appreciate the fact that temperatures inside the canyon would surely be atleast 10-20 degrees higher than the temp at the rim and to survive in these temperatures and extreme dehydration, we needed to be supremly fit.

We trained for a couple of months by climbing the hills around during weekends. We learnt to conserve energy and the art of hiking smarter


The big difference between this hike and most other hikes is that here you are going downhill first and you are climbing up when you have most of your energy reserves expended.

This was always going to be a test

The D-Day.

We had to start the trek very early in the morning to ensure a return on the same day ( technically before 12:00 midnight :)) so we decided to start the previous night and stay at a hotel close to the GC overnight


That night, before I hit the bed, I checked all my gear and sunk into the cozy bed... The next day in my life would be one of the most memorable one...

The ordeal begins

It all started at 6:30 am at the trail head. I was still a little sleepy and the caffine in me was trying hard to battle out the weary eyes. Eventually the caffine won and I was in the best of my spirits


On my first steps on the trail, the Indianism in me was awakened, I touched the trail , felt the dry mud in my hand and said a small prayer and let the mud drop off, watching it slowly mix with the ground. I looked up and the sun was shining brightly ever....

"Welcome to the land of the Sun"

The strategy was simple , we divided ourslef into three groups, 4 in the front, 4 at the rear and two in the middle. Myself and Sarma ( a supreme athlete who was regularly doing half marathon's) were the lucky lettuce in the sandwich



We took the Kaibab trail on the way down, the beauty of this trail is that it is one of the shortest trails to go down to the canyon bottom, about 6.2 miles, but it is also a steep descent so pretty harsh on your knees.

As this is a dowhill trail and you are doing this in the early part of the day , you tend to neglect the thought of hydrating yourself timely, this can spell disaster.


I was aware of this and I sipped from my camelpack( water container backpack) every few mins, my partner Sharma was almost sprinting down and I was always playing the catchup game.


















Another friend of mine Aman was happily clicking pics of the Canyon with his SLR, very little did he realise how wrong was his choice of packing a bulky SLR for a treachorous hike like this.

All along the trail, there is very little water available and very little cool spots to rest. So it was extremly important for us to keep the water reserves , until we reached the bottom. All along me and Sharma talked, chatted and generally our spirits were very high. We also spotted some Iguana's and some squirell's

Enroute many mules carrying loads of travellers passed us. It is amazing how these mules manage to maintain their footholds on these sharp declines. I Guess they were created to do so...

The strain on the ankles and knees started to show up after an hour into the trek, I could feel my knees begging me to stop abusing them :), but alas I had no choice...

The first signs of any man made creations is a bridge which you can see from halfway into the trail..Getting to this bridge is another hour's trek from the first time you spot it
















By the time we got to the bridge, I was covered with sweat and dust....Sweat and dust in 90F and minimally hyderated is a great motivator to give up the ordeal



But the hiker in me...was always going to be the winner, we just moved on....

By 11:30 we were at the bridge, a couple of poses for the camera and another 30 minutes, we were at the bottom..


Half the ordeal was over.... the tougher half was yet to come.....



















The sand on the banks were very hot, there was very little shade around... I got off my footwear...gulped few sips of water..... All I wanted to do was get my clothes off and take a dip in the water...

I headed towards the water and planted my foot into the water and.......whooooaaa....the water was bone chilling cold..

This is what I call " Canyon's way of getting back to us for exploiting it"..... A hot day... A tired Hiker.... Weary legs looking for salvation in the cool water...... So close yet so far.....

All I could afford was to get a handful of water and gingerly washing my face with it.....

The heat of the day , the tiredness and the cold water started a mild headache.... First signs of how tough the next half day was to be..


We spent an hour at the water front, had a burger for a meal, chatted with few rafters who were rafting the canyon and started our ascent back......



















We would be following the Bright Angel trail back up. This trail follows the river for the initial part and then starts the ascent..Most part of the trail during the second half of the day, you will be walking in the shadows . This is why most prefer to take the bright angel trail back























This trail is about 11 miles from where we had rested.


The short break had a large role in keeping me going for the first hour or so, also the roaring river on the right side was a treat to watch...once we got off the river and moved inside the canyon, the emptiness of the canyon started to take over my strength.


Every 100 meter we needed a break and the uphill climb didnt help the cause in any way.


By now our team was into three distinct parts..... The first group had gained atleast 15 minutes and were ahead and the group behind us was atleast 20 minutes behind us....


After a while, me and Sharma werent talking much, but just trying to make up as much as ground as possible....


The moment I dreaded the most came....Sharma was slowly dehydrating himself, his body showed no signs of desire to gulp more water..and very soon Sharma had one of those deadly cramps....The Cramps were so bad that he was crying out loudly and had difficulties breathing.


I put him in a shade and then gave him some water and some salts... It took almost 30 minutes for him to recover and be in a position to walk again.. All the while, I didnt see a single soul around, no hiker passed me..

I was all alone in the deep Canyon with a friend who was struggling to keep himself from passing out


I felt very helpless against the forces of nature.... A lesson learnt ..Never overestimate your strength against the nature.


Nature always win's


Half the distance to the top is the Indian Garden's. This is a place where water and good amount of shade is available.

I wanted to get there as quickly as possible as my water supply was running out very fast.

The last mile walk to the Indian Gardens was one of the most desperate hike's. I was told that you can be assured that you are nearing Indian Garden's if you see a large space of Greenry enroute.


Every time I spotted a few trees I thought, just across the stretch was the Indian Garden's and every time I was disappointed. The disappointment didnt last long and I did happen to make it to Indian Garden.

A Cliche surely it is.....


The moment I reached the cool shady clearing I just crashed on the wooden bench there.... Exhaustion was clearly getting the better of me now... After a while , I filled in my water bag and drank lot of water...Drinking excess water can also be very dangerous in these conditions


Hiking in the Canyon one can lose one or two quarts (liters) of water per hour and heatstoke, Diaoreaa can hit you in no time.


The urge to constantly drink water gets on to so much, that if you dont curb your desire you can drink too much of water thus lowering your sodium in the blood due to constant sweating you can get into a situation called as Hyponatermia which can be fatal.


Another sypmtom to watch out is Hypothermia : A life-threatening emergency where the body cannot keep itself warm, due to exhaustion and exposure to cold, wet, windy weather.


The group which had started ahead of us was at the Indian garden's and that is when we were informed us that two of our friends in that group were unwell and very tired. One of them had extreme nausea and the other had passed out couple of times

This was very scary knowing that we still had atleast another 6 miles to climb up.

we started the climb again and very soon, we could see the sun dip at the horizon... Trust me... a sunset in the canyon is one of the best visuals any human eye can see


It surely lifted us.. the beautiful sun set, the changing colors of the Canyon, the chirping birds water bottle filled :). A moment to relish


All good things dont last long...neither did this moment..Just behind this came the dark night and the eerieness of the canyon.

This time of the day is very crucial for a hiker..The temp dips rapidly and your body has to adjust to this drastic change... The temp can come down from 90 to 45 in less than two hours time

To compound your woes the cool winds start to hit you. My niggling headache was now slowly getting worser.

It was just me and Sharma and the dark Canyon .


In the darkness you have to be extremly careful on the trail and ensure that you stay close to the trail. One wrong step and you could be history. In some places the drops are more than 500 Ft deep. The torch light is your best friend in these situations. The countless number of loose rocks on the path dont help either. Managing to walk without stumbling on a rock in that total darkness was a huge challenge


After about two hours of trek we could see the light of the bright angel lodge. I cant tell you how happy I was. We thought we were so close to the top now..


After a while the light completly disappeared and we couldnt see a thing, I was so crestfallen... the trail had taken us deeper into the Canyon..


Sharma was so exhausted he could not walk anymore and every 5 steps we had to rest. I had to constantly egg him on ...At one point we thought we have moved off-trail. If that was the case, we knew our chances of making to the top that night was very slim... and we also had to live the night fearing the nocturnal residents of the Canyon


Every step we took was a challenge for the human mind...a battle between the mind and the body, the desire and desparation.


At about 10:30 PM, we sighted the Bright Angel light again and our joy knew no bounds.

We wanted to rush towards it, but our bodies were not our ally.


The last mile took us more than an hour and by the time we got out of the trail it was 11:00 PM

The 16+ hour Ordeal was over.... Looking back at the Canyon.... All I could see was a sea of darkness. This was my moment of Glory.... I flashed my torch light inside the canyon and shouted out.... I knew the Canyon was a mamoth for me to win over, but atleast I had stood its test.

This was my moment and I was living it.. I hugged Sharma and we smiled looking at each other.

We rested breifly near the fireplace in the lodge and we actually drove back the same night to Phoenix, All of us took turns to drive.

My thighs and legs were constantly shivering and for the next two days they were vey sore....

I have visited the canyon many times after that and every time I look at it.... My love towards it grows even more..


You just cant stop loving the Canyon....


Another new desire has seeded in me... The desire to do the rim-to-rim in a day ( North Rim to South Rim)....


I am awaiting the day when I am backpacking into the Canyon to relive that moment again

Cheers

Girish

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Kanoor Kote – An epitome of Lost Glory

Kanoor Kote – An epitome of Lost Glory


What better way than to spend the New Year’s Eve in the lap of lush green nature. I have been doing this for the last few years and no other better person to join me in this endeavor than my close buddy Manjunath.

This time around we decided to experience the bountiful Glory of the kanoor kote, very few men of the contemporary generation have set their foot in this place.

On 29 Jan 2007 we hopped on the bus to Sagar. After an overnight journey we reached Sagar. After another good hour’s of sleepy wait , we hopped on to another bus which would take us to “ Hosagadde” . This was from where we had to start our trek

We reached Hosagadde by 10:00 am and on an unusual December hot morning we set out on our long 36 km trek to Kanoor kote
The first hour or so was exceptionally relaxing, enjoying the nature’s beauty and gulping in unadulterated oxygen. A breakaway feeling from the Monstrous traffic and the perennial slavery to IT

As it is always with Nature, it isn’t a easy beast to handle we realized that we were lost and were in a wrong path. As it usually happens with us we found a good Samaritan who guided us to the right Path.

After about two and half hours of trek and miss-treks we reached Gowadara mane. This was our first stop. – Dabbe Falls

Gowdara mane is at the top of the falls and from here to get a glimpse of the roaring beauty of Dabbe is an hour’s downhill trek. It is more than two miles deep( Trek distance) and getting down this route during a slippery rainy season with leeches for company is surely a Herculean effort.

DONOT attempt to go down this path in Rainy season.

We had our gear with us, A rope with fasteners, water and some swimming costume. After about an hour’s downhill climb we came to the Vantage point… The first view of Dabbe Falls

Dabbe in its full glory was roaring down hill. The silence of the forest and the constant rumbling of the falls was a memorable experience

Here it is where nature separates the lesser mortals from the men. To get down to the bottom of the falls one has to maneuver two twenty feet (20 feet) drops. The difficulty is not with the drop but the slippery downhill slide following it. One wrong step and you are history…..

Time for Contemplation… Me and Manju weren’t very sure whether we wanted to it. On one side was the lovely dabbe opening her arms and welcoming us into her abode on the other hand is the menacing smile of a broken arm/limb or the eternal kiss of death

We chose to walk into the abode

Manju, the braver of the two…. Decided to head down first. With the rope hanging from a wooden stump he lowered himself slowly. After few feet of descent he had to maneuver a sharp crevice and I was shouting all different ideas from top. The only way was to go around it and with utmost precision Manju was able to maneuver it.

Few feet down and I had my heart in my mouth when Manju missed a foot hold and was almost swinging freely with the rope before he managed to grab a shrub nearby

The time had come for me to go down and a nervous me descended myself. Manju guided me down…. Well when some one has done it..things always look easier

The next couple of hours were Nirvana for us… we yelled, laughed, sang. It was just the two of us and nature for company. All we could see was endless greenery, all we could hear was the roar of Dabbe and the territory challenged birds who were chirping with utmost anxiety.

Like two tired infants we drifted into the arms of dabbe falls… we closed our eyes and laid to rest our wearied bodies in the waist deep waters

All the while my thoughts were drifting to the rope uphill climb. I wasn’t really very sure how we would climb back.

At 3:30 PM we decided to head back, the demons of agony was laid to rest when we roped our self up to the vantage point with very little difficulty.

But ahead us lie the taxing climb up hill. Every twenty steps we needed a break and by the time we reached on top, the sun was setting in the west.
We reached Gowdara mane and we were thinking of camping there for the night, but the non responsive host changed our plans and we decided to continue our trek to Kanoor Kote.

We were accompanied by Gowdaru to some distance.

Please note donot attempt to do this trek without a guide as it is just impossible to find your way around here

By sunset we had reached a tiny hamlet in the forest, a single thatched roof house. We were welcomed and with their permission we decided to camp nearby.

Any day it is a nice feeling that there are other human’s around in addition to the nocturnal species for your company

We set up our tent and were thinking of cooking our first meal for the day when our host offered to serve us dinner.

A sumptuous hot meal in the middle of the forest…… tending to the tired muscles…….. nothing but cool forest winds and the occasional flapping of the oil lamp.

It surely cannot be described. I will leave it to the reader’s imagination.

We got into the tent and that was paradise…..

The next morning we set off early …. at 6:30 am …our first stop was Kanoor Village… It was about 8 kms from where we had camped.

Kanoor is a small town/Village, Just one asphalted road (I should say semi asphalted) . A bus a day… few houses..

That’ s Civilization defined for you. It is not even seen in the map

We reached Kanoor by 9:30 am. We were guided by our last night host all the way.

At the village, some of the villagers were persuading us not to go to Kanoor Kote as we would not make it back to Gerusoppa by night fall and trek was tough and would have to go through really thick forests

But we were determined and we decided to go ahead. This time around it wouldn’t be a walk in the forest but a very well timed trek. We couldn’t afford to loose on time as it was very critical. We took timed breaks to tend to our weary bodies and an occasional sip of water (water was premium) and it was getting very hot

After about 3 hours of trek, we still hadn’t reached the fort. We were a worried lot….. not sure whether we were on the right track and this time we were all alone, no person to guide us.

At one point we couldn’t go any further as we ended up with a forked road and we didn’t know how to proceed. I was taking a shot at one path but Manju wasn’t ready to be the explorerJ.

We waited there not knowing what to do

At this point… we heard couple of voices and out there were two villagers climbing up the hill and heading to their lonely houses in the thick of the forest
We stopped them and asked them directions, they also posed for few pictures with us

We now were on the right path and it was way past noon. The forest cover was so thick that it felt as if the sun had already set

After about half an hour’s walk we could see the sign’s of the fort. An old inscription stone caught my attention. There was lot of carved pictures on it which seemed to be telling the story of the glorious past.

We moved on and lay ahead in front of us was the majestic Impregnable fort built by the Keladi rulers. We were dumbstruck with the view.

I slowly moved towards the wall and touched it with my hand and it sent a chill down my spine.

An old fort with so many untold stories, two young trekkers all alone in the forest… The closest human race was about 10 miles away. A moment to cherish

We slowly walked inside the fort though a small opening in the fort wall.


Here I was in the middle of history ….witnessing a battle for supremacy.

No guns or swords but the perennial struggle of the walls of the fort that were being constantly sieged by the creepers.

Nature was it’s at wildest best...

We decided to explore the fort and we moved deeper into the fort.

It was an eerie feeling when I walked into the fort... I cannot explain it… everything about the fort seemed mysterious.

Every wall of the fort, the deserted well, every picture carved on the walls were looking at us

The fifteen minutes we spent was a thrilling experience

I was always worried about the reptiles underneath the hugely overgrown weeds we were walking through; any small sound was raising my senses.

It was past 1:30 Pm and we decided to head back. On the way back I turned around and looked at the fort one last time

The fort was looking back into my eyes with a wry smile…. The moment I entered the fort I felt that I had captured the fort but that wasn’t true, there was mystery hidden in its core and it was beckoning to be unraveled

I decided at that moment that I would surely come back… Kanoor Kote beckons to be explored

We trekked down 10 Kms and reached Gerusoppa. These 10 Kms were very tiring and the heat and exhaustion was catching up very fast

Finally we reached Gerusoppa by 4:00 PM took a boat ride to cross the river and took the bus to Bangalore via Shimoga

It is three months since we went to Kanoor and every time I close my eyes and think of the fort, I visualize the mystery of the fort, the lost kingdom and the inscribed Stones

For now it will remain an enigma to me……. A Sweet memory captured in the clutches of time.

“ An Epitome of lost Glory”

Terrific twosome Girish and Manju