It all started during our first Himalayan trip in 2005, when we drove and trekked to Yamnotri and the itinerary got sync'd up so as to get our Ganga or Yamuna dip on Independence day. The next year, we chalked out a plan to trek Gangotri-Gaumukh-Tapovan and got our Ganges dip around 15th Aug again. Somehow, since then, its almost become a ritualistic routine to take a symbolic independence day Ganges dip in the Himalayas-- mostly Rishikesh-- every year! Since Sriram was out of India for a while, I took those dips on behalf of both of us the past two years, if not on 15th, centred around it less than a month here or there. I've termed this as "The Freedom Dip" now.
Unfortunately, this year, a lot of things have gone wrong though the freedom dip was initially planned. There was Gujjar community issue, followed by foggy airports, issues with rain-- flooding at first on railway tracks and then to country getting into drought now, a swine flu scare around us restricting travel, and finally, 15th Aug intelligence report warnings of terrorist attacks! All these have had an impact on working out a feasible travel plan up north for the celebrated dip. It deeply saddens me that the call to Rishikesh hasn't come through this year, but I do hope that I can postpone the same and take it sometime soon. And while I'm hoping, on "a great day for freedom", I'd rather hope that Sriram and I get to take this dip together instead of me alone!
Then again, like other things, all in good time...
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Tata Sierra, a temptation
Last June, I was in Bangalore around this time. I'd been planning to buy an old car for some experimentation in a village and I used to like Sierra as a child. So giving into temptations, I just walked into a used car dealer's and asked him if he had any Sierra Turbo. He had two and I asked him to get me the latest: 2001 model. Somehow, I was in a hurry to leave Bangalore and waited for hours for him to get the vehicle. By then it was pretty dark and I couldn't see the vehicle well. I liked the drive off it and trusting the fella, closed the deal. Next day, I picked up the car, but saw that it had many issues! Still, I paid heavy for the car, spent a lot over it on electricals, some A/C work and interiors, new speakers, insurance and drove from Bangalore to KA villages.
Unfortunately, I had to leave KA and end up in Vasai in MH, before any experimentation or major drives began. I drove fully packed to Mumbai and since five months, Sierra is lying mostly unused, sucking dust, with children having a gala summer vacation, scribbling over it with whatever they find, even stones or sharp objects. By such hurting, I decided to sell the car, got new art leather seats, JK Brute 4x4 tyres, A/C cooling coil, receiver-drier, expansion valve... well, the works, . I spent around 2.75L over all thus far. The offers I got are ridiculously low to even discuss. Best ones among them were with one chap agreeing up at 2L and another at 2.2L, if I get it to him. I planned to leave tomorrow, until few minutes back, when I went for some minor issues and fell in love with Sierra once again! I'm tempted to keep it now for a while and think over more, because I'll never find a 2001 Tata Sierra again.
I suppose human desires never end and I'm falling for it once more, but then again because I bought the vehicle for some use last year that didn't work out yet, I don't need to do away with it at such a loss.
Unfortunately, I had to leave KA and end up in Vasai in MH, before any experimentation or major drives began. I drove fully packed to Mumbai and since five months, Sierra is lying mostly unused, sucking dust, with children having a gala summer vacation, scribbling over it with whatever they find, even stones or sharp objects. By such hurting, I decided to sell the car, got new art leather seats, JK Brute 4x4 tyres, A/C cooling coil, receiver-drier, expansion valve... well, the works, . I spent around 2.75L over all thus far. The offers I got are ridiculously low to even discuss. Best ones among them were with one chap agreeing up at 2L and another at 2.2L, if I get it to him. I planned to leave tomorrow, until few minutes back, when I went for some minor issues and fell in love with Sierra once again! I'm tempted to keep it now for a while and think over more, because I'll never find a 2001 Tata Sierra again.
I suppose human desires never end and I'm falling for it once more, but then again because I bought the vehicle for some use last year that didn't work out yet, I don't need to do away with it at such a loss.
Kasargod to Gokarna, dawn to dusk
There's a trip I took a couple of weeks back (8th Jan 2009, Thursday) I'd been planning for over 2 years now. It was planned to be a bike ride initially and so it got postponed through the rains into winter, which turns out to be good biking season. However, I'd company and went by car instead. I totally forgot to blog it due to the fallen habit of procrastination. Now, I'm not sure if I'm interested to write details at this hour; I may paint it out in another weblog later on some day, but here's what it is in short:
- Darshana of six Ganesha temples between dawn to dusk on one single day, one in Kerala, the other five in Karnataka.
- This is known as the Ganesha coast, also known as the Parashurama kshetra.
- Drive to Kasargod in Kerala (We were at Honnavara in Karnataka).
- Night stay at Kasargod.
- Start from Kasargod early morning having darshana at six Ganesha temples, first at Kasargod, sixth at Gokarna (also known as dakshiNa kAshi).
- Six devasthanas are: Madhur Ganapati at Kasargod, Sharavu Ganapati at Mangalore, Aanegudde Ganapati at Kundapura, Hattiangadi Ganapati at Kundapura, Idagunji Ganapati at Honnavara and Gokarna Ganapati.
- The total distance is around 330 kms. To and fro clocked 630 kms on my car though.
A walk in the coastal rains
If you didn't know, coastal rains are mighty heavy. At times, they could be really scary even indoors, much less providing comfort to drive, and even lesser to ride a bike. There was a time, however, when in my sheer madness, I rode a bike from Bangalore to Honnavara during monsoon, brushing the coast Mangalore onwards and daring the coastal rains from Kundapura, that too at night! Of course, I've aged now and seldom get the enthusiasm to weather the weather on the highway! Last weekend, I'd fun driving in the ghat rains, heavy, washing away almost everything small on the roads; why I say small is because recently I moved from my small presence on the highway to a juggernaut of a vehicle: The Tata Sierra! Old habits die hard and when I'm on the roads, I remain as a tiny myself; this time that wasn't necessary, since I wasn't on the roads, but *we* were, the one with me making the we being the helluva SUV. :) Enough self-acclaimed boasting, I digress.
Today, I left the Sierra for some major pending works to “tame” it from its crooked roughness to original wildness and took a walk back in the same coastal rains, on the same coastal roads. Apart from wanting to enjoy the walk and surroundings, I wanted to avoid the torturous, back-breaking (literally), tempo journey. The initial drizzle gave a happy feeling, letting me watch the beautiful greens around. I haven't walked this stretch in a good weather earlier, most of the year being hot and humid. By the way, this is the only season when I feel like settling down near the coast. Of course, other than the monsoon is wet too, but the wetness then is pure perspiration, nothing else. Today was different; it was a drizzle threatening to turn into a downpour soon.
Barring the continuously moving heavy vehicles, picking the rain water off the tar and throwing onto you, on one of the busiest national highways I've seen, namely the NH-17, the walk was a pleasure. I was moving the umbrella sideways from the perpendicular to avoid the truck-tyre-shower bathing me again and again. But soon the threat came true and down came the rains the way it rains here. Except for the reading of time from the clock, most of the monsoon, it would be difficult to sense the time of day, the sun shining oddly near the twilight, after a completely dark and cloudy day. Well exaggerated? Be it so. And so it rained and the umbrella was soon protecting only my head (not that there's much to protect!). Funnily enough, when its pouring like that, you don't mind the trucks and buses showering ya. Its also fun to forget about your getting drenched and instead enjoy the joke on the fools motorbiking with an umbrella in one hand and speeding away, accelerating with the other. Some may call it daring, but I call it stupidity and utter disrespect for people and vehicles on the roads. More than that, its total ignorance towards coastal rains, that maketh the rules and breaketh the lives of those driving! I suppose it wouldn't be unfair if you accord the coastal rains more or less the same respect during a drive as you would to Himalayas during a trek.
Half the distance back home, my clothes were neatly washed. Then the rain seemed to die away and give the sun some job to do from his back seat lazying presence. My clothes decided to drip till the sun shone fully, marking the approach of noon, and then on, dry themselves the other half of the way back. However, when you're almost completely drenched, its not comfortable to slowly dry back during the walk; you prefer the rains instead. Else, its foolish to keep the umbrella open when the sun is shining, unless of course you're so very bent to keep your "fairness" from fading away. But if you close your umbrella, the head that you protected in the rains that passed is open to get wet from the showers off the tree branches and not to forget off-the-tar spray of passing vehicles. So the umbrella preferably reopens.
Meanwhile the clothes have become muddy and sticky, partially dry and you're no longer enjoying the walk fully. This is only because you're not completely dry or completely wet, wanting a digital world against the slow analogue drying! Since there's nothing you can do about it, except to pray for rains, you go back to enjoying the greenery, trying to imagine the view from the houses you pass by, comparing which one is better. The mind starts its breakaway journey into staying indoors watching the rains from the balcony and windows, building castles to have those balconies, windows and terraces, sipping soup or tea. Hah! by the time you return to reality, you're home, among people you know, who watch you and comment, actualizing a forced landing to a social order of not walking in the rains and taking care to stay healthy! :D
Today, I left the Sierra for some major pending works to “tame” it from its crooked roughness to original wildness and took a walk back in the same coastal rains, on the same coastal roads. Apart from wanting to enjoy the walk and surroundings, I wanted to avoid the torturous, back-breaking (literally), tempo journey. The initial drizzle gave a happy feeling, letting me watch the beautiful greens around. I haven't walked this stretch in a good weather earlier, most of the year being hot and humid. By the way, this is the only season when I feel like settling down near the coast. Of course, other than the monsoon is wet too, but the wetness then is pure perspiration, nothing else. Today was different; it was a drizzle threatening to turn into a downpour soon.
Barring the continuously moving heavy vehicles, picking the rain water off the tar and throwing onto you, on one of the busiest national highways I've seen, namely the NH-17, the walk was a pleasure. I was moving the umbrella sideways from the perpendicular to avoid the truck-tyre-shower bathing me again and again. But soon the threat came true and down came the rains the way it rains here. Except for the reading of time from the clock, most of the monsoon, it would be difficult to sense the time of day, the sun shining oddly near the twilight, after a completely dark and cloudy day. Well exaggerated? Be it so. And so it rained and the umbrella was soon protecting only my head (not that there's much to protect!). Funnily enough, when its pouring like that, you don't mind the trucks and buses showering ya. Its also fun to forget about your getting drenched and instead enjoy the joke on the fools motorbiking with an umbrella in one hand and speeding away, accelerating with the other. Some may call it daring, but I call it stupidity and utter disrespect for people and vehicles on the roads. More than that, its total ignorance towards coastal rains, that maketh the rules and breaketh the lives of those driving! I suppose it wouldn't be unfair if you accord the coastal rains more or less the same respect during a drive as you would to Himalayas during a trek.
Half the distance back home, my clothes were neatly washed. Then the rain seemed to die away and give the sun some job to do from his back seat lazying presence. My clothes decided to drip till the sun shone fully, marking the approach of noon, and then on, dry themselves the other half of the way back. However, when you're almost completely drenched, its not comfortable to slowly dry back during the walk; you prefer the rains instead. Else, its foolish to keep the umbrella open when the sun is shining, unless of course you're so very bent to keep your "fairness" from fading away. But if you close your umbrella, the head that you protected in the rains that passed is open to get wet from the showers off the tree branches and not to forget off-the-tar spray of passing vehicles. So the umbrella preferably reopens.
Meanwhile the clothes have become muddy and sticky, partially dry and you're no longer enjoying the walk fully. This is only because you're not completely dry or completely wet, wanting a digital world against the slow analogue drying! Since there's nothing you can do about it, except to pray for rains, you go back to enjoying the greenery, trying to imagine the view from the houses you pass by, comparing which one is better. The mind starts its breakaway journey into staying indoors watching the rains from the balcony and windows, building castles to have those balconies, windows and terraces, sipping soup or tea. Hah! by the time you return to reality, you're home, among people you know, who watch you and comment, actualizing a forced landing to a social order of not walking in the rains and taking care to stay healthy! :D
Jan 2008: Long-postponed MH trip
Its high time I make the long-postponed trip into Maharashtra, where I feel my Vitthala calls me now, after a long wail over years; a wait that has been a sob story in the cruel worldly life with the grossest of desires. I also know it would be a cleansing journey readying me for the righteous choice that I've been denying so far. The dip in the Urvadi is what I long for, with a darshan, at Pandharpur, of Panduranga Vitthala, that beautiful black deity that bestows jnAna to his beloved disciples, moving into their hearts and washing away the darkness with his all-illuminating presence! I also wish to bow at the lotus feet of my paramaguru Shri Samartha Ramdas Swami at Sajjangad, who thrashes all ignorance with his piercing words even in the simplest of his compositions, the Manache Shloka. I hope to get a glimpse of Truth there. Thats all I know I want to do this trip for; anything other than that would be an additional blessing for my path further. After the trip, when I return to wherever He may want me to go, I'd go happily... happier than now, I blissfully know so.
I cry my heart now for this sickly, impure, mortal bag of desires, to be invited onto this trip. May it happen this time, shri hari vitthalA; may it be Thy wish too, to accept me, for my eternal good.
govindasmaraNam
I cry my heart now for this sickly, impure, mortal bag of desires, to be invited onto this trip. May it happen this time, shri hari vitthalA; may it be Thy wish too, to accept me, for my eternal good.
govindasmaraNam
Working of Grace
(January 14, 2007)
Last, I’d written of helplessness. That helplessness has a bad effect on the negatively inclined; even for the optimistic, it could break his back! I was reaching a stage of desperation and from fear that it might lead into frustration, I decided to take a break from the break that I’m already on! I took a bike trip to Bangalore. At each pitstop, I felt more lost on whether I’m doing the right thing. On this 8-day trip, the first 6 days were miserable in terms of results. The efforts seemed to have led nowhere and there was no hope of them leading anywhere either. Such juncture practically drove me amidst helplessness and surprisingly, that brought along with it, a feeling of satisfaction and contentment of having completed my part of the job.
With that feeling, I rode out of Bangalore, stopping over at Kadur as I’d done going towards Bangalore too! Overnight, the grace seems to have done its job and moving towards Sagar, grace had taken me up into the heights of bliss and nothing else, including the reason for which I took the trip, seemed to matter. As soon as that happened, I felt my job was taken care of by Him who gave me this feeling! And so it was to be. I moved on to a complete halt at Sagar. It struck 1400hrs on the clock, the time for lunch. Even before I’d switched off the engine, Ramachandra called me out asking where I was, saying further that he’s been trying to reach me. Soon, we discussed the matter out. He asked me to have lunch and be back by 1530, so that he gets others in the job involved. I’d time enough to have lunch and take a off-load bike trip to Varadahalli and be back. I’d a beautiful darshan of Sridhara Swami, whose grace, I found, had been working all this while. I thanked him and continued with the people that Ramachandra had introduced me to. The place that they took me to seemed almost perfect and my decision was more or less taken in favor of the mango grove. I’m waiting for Sankranti and for the Sun to cross over towards north!
There are two more reasons why the mango orchard seems to be a perfect solution for me. For one, Hebbarji had suggested near 2 yrs back that that’s what will work well for an agricultural layman like me. For another, while at Bangalore, my Guru announced his blessings well in advance by somehow dropping a small mango in the outer pocket of my bag from the Heavens! I still have it.
Paani ke pyaase ko taqdeer ne jaise jee bhar ke amrit pilaayaa
Aisaa hi sukh mere man ko mila hai main jab se sharan tere aayaa mere Ram!
Last, I’d written of helplessness. That helplessness has a bad effect on the negatively inclined; even for the optimistic, it could break his back! I was reaching a stage of desperation and from fear that it might lead into frustration, I decided to take a break from the break that I’m already on! I took a bike trip to Bangalore. At each pitstop, I felt more lost on whether I’m doing the right thing. On this 8-day trip, the first 6 days were miserable in terms of results. The efforts seemed to have led nowhere and there was no hope of them leading anywhere either. Such juncture practically drove me amidst helplessness and surprisingly, that brought along with it, a feeling of satisfaction and contentment of having completed my part of the job.
With that feeling, I rode out of Bangalore, stopping over at Kadur as I’d done going towards Bangalore too! Overnight, the grace seems to have done its job and moving towards Sagar, grace had taken me up into the heights of bliss and nothing else, including the reason for which I took the trip, seemed to matter. As soon as that happened, I felt my job was taken care of by Him who gave me this feeling! And so it was to be. I moved on to a complete halt at Sagar. It struck 1400hrs on the clock, the time for lunch. Even before I’d switched off the engine, Ramachandra called me out asking where I was, saying further that he’s been trying to reach me. Soon, we discussed the matter out. He asked me to have lunch and be back by 1530, so that he gets others in the job involved. I’d time enough to have lunch and take a off-load bike trip to Varadahalli and be back. I’d a beautiful darshan of Sridhara Swami, whose grace, I found, had been working all this while. I thanked him and continued with the people that Ramachandra had introduced me to. The place that they took me to seemed almost perfect and my decision was more or less taken in favor of the mango grove. I’m waiting for Sankranti and for the Sun to cross over towards north!
There are two more reasons why the mango orchard seems to be a perfect solution for me. For one, Hebbarji had suggested near 2 yrs back that that’s what will work well for an agricultural layman like me. For another, while at Bangalore, my Guru announced his blessings well in advance by somehow dropping a small mango in the outer pocket of my bag from the Heavens! I still have it.
Paani ke pyaase ko taqdeer ne jaise jee bhar ke amrit pilaayaa
Aisaa hi sukh mere man ko mila hai main jab se sharan tere aayaa mere Ram!
The Himalayan trek - 2.1
(Published elsewhere on August 3rd, 2006)
(If you’re wondering what 2.1 stands for, let me clear it off at the start itself. 2’s for the 2nd trek up there in Himalayas and 1 for the first part. I do not know how far it will go, if any further)
And thus we started along the path of Ganges upwards of Rishikesh: Sriram, his uncle Mr. Devaru and me. We had stayed in a hotel bang opposite to where we were to take a taxi from. We were told on our vikram auto journey from Haridwar to Rishikesh that this place called Triveni Ghat is where the press/newspaper vehicles start off from anytime after 0300 hrs. This was to be a very comfortable time to leave Rishikesh in order to make it in good time to Uttarkashi for our agency to be contacted for guide, porters, tent, etc. We wanted to rest a little on reaching Uttarkashi before meeting our agency contact Mr. Pitambar and keep the rest of the day free to buy provisions for the trip. The verbal list of things was discussed over and over again for a final cut at Bangalore itself.
So we took a drop at Triveni ghat and on Sriram’s enquiring, we got ourselves a room at a newly built hotel called Ganga Guest House just opposite the (newspaper-)taxi stand. We’d our dinner at Rimpy’s just 4-5 blocks away on recommendation from Amit, the kid at the hotel reception. The food at Rimpy’s was fantastic and the menu had a huge range to pick from. The quantity of food deserves a special mention: the soup bowl was large and almost overflowing while the regular economy north Indian meal had *4* tandoori rotis, a vegetable, dal, some rice & raita. We ate to our heartful, not to mention the stomach and slept off for a few hours in our room.
The fun began the next day at 0330 hrs when we hit the taxi stand enquiring about taxis only getting confused with inputs that varied from “no one’s driving off before 0500 hrs” to “a taxi will come over anytime now and leave as soon as it is full of 10 passengers”. So we waited and got ourselves hopping taxis with our backpacks just to fill 10 passengers in one vehicle that were otherwise spread out in multiple cabs. Before 0500 hrs, we were driven to barricades that block the ghats during the night for safety reasons. On dropping a newspaper, the road was thrown open for our sleepy driver by the police!
The drive was scary, not as much for the curves and the hills but for the sleepy driver who stood up on the brakes whenever he saw a vehicle approaching us. After a while, I learnt that the driver was actually sleeping in bits at the wheel!!! This came as so much as a shock to me that Sriram and I started analyzing whether he was sleepy or the looks were sleepy. Not wanting to risk and on my insisting that the driver was asleep for good fractions of a second on a regular basis, Sriram and I started talking to SUD (sleeping ugly driver). We were not sure what to ask and went on with all sorts of nonsensical questions about the weather, road, blah blah… god-knows-what. At first, SUD was annoyed and nodded at each inquiry. Later, his sleep took a walk and he started talking some. Although assuring enough, we ran out of petty talk soon and SUD continued his sleep again. We tried much in vain, but success was reached only when a person in the backmost seat fell sick and vomited! SUD had to stop and that made him wake up much. Later, we found that he was as bad a driver, or even worse when awake! I wanted to pen this experience in greater detail just to say that although the journey began on a bad risky note, it taught us a valuable lesson of being careful ahead!
And thus we started along the path of Ganges upwards of Rishikesh: Sriram, his uncle Mr. Devaru and me. We had stayed in a hotel bang opposite to where we were to take a taxi from. We were told on our vikram auto journey from Haridwar to Rishikesh that this place called Triveni Ghat is where the press/newspaper vehicles start off from anytime after 0300 hrs. This was to be a very comfortable time to leave Rishikesh in order to make it in good time to Uttarkashi for our agency to be contacted for guide, porters, tent, etc. We wanted to rest a little on reaching Uttarkashi before meeting our agency contact Mr. Pitambar and keep the rest of the day free to buy provisions for the trip. The verbal list of things was discussed over and over again for a final cut at Bangalore itself.
So we took a drop at Triveni ghat and on Sriram’s enquiring, we got ourselves a room at a newly built hotel called Ganga Guest House just opposite the (newspaper-)taxi stand. We’d our dinner at Rimpy’s just 4-5 blocks away on recommendation from Amit, the kid at the hotel reception. The food at Rimpy’s was fantastic and the menu had a huge range to pick from. The quantity of food deserves a special mention: the soup bowl was large and almost overflowing while the regular economy north Indian meal had *4* tandoori rotis, a vegetable, dal, some rice & raita. We ate to our heartful, not to mention the stomach and slept off for a few hours in our room.
The fun began the next day at 0330 hrs when we hit the taxi stand enquiring about taxis only getting confused with inputs that varied from “no one’s driving off before 0500 hrs” to “a taxi will come over anytime now and leave as soon as it is full of 10 passengers”. So we waited and got ourselves hopping taxis with our backpacks just to fill 10 passengers in one vehicle that were otherwise spread out in multiple cabs. Before 0500 hrs, we were driven to barricades that block the ghats during the night for safety reasons. On dropping a newspaper, the road was thrown open for our sleepy driver by the police!
The drive was scary, not as much for the curves and the hills but for the sleepy driver who stood up on the brakes whenever he saw a vehicle approaching us. After a while, I learnt that the driver was actually sleeping in bits at the wheel!!! This came as so much as a shock to me that Sriram and I started analyzing whether he was sleepy or the looks were sleepy. Not wanting to risk and on my insisting that the driver was asleep for good fractions of a second on a regular basis, Sriram and I started talking to SUD (sleeping ugly driver). We were not sure what to ask and went on with all sorts of nonsensical questions about the weather, road, blah blah… god-knows-what. At first, SUD was annoyed and nodded at each inquiry. Later, his sleep took a walk and he started talking some. Although assuring enough, we ran out of petty talk soon and SUD continued his sleep again. We tried much in vain, but success was reached only when a person in the backmost seat fell sick and vomited! SUD had to stop and that made him wake up much. Later, we found that he was as bad a driver, or even worse when awake! I wanted to pen this experience in greater detail just to say that although the journey began on a bad risky note, it taught us a valuable lesson of being careful ahead!
Trek in the Himalayas
(Published elsewhere on July 27th, 2006)
After having done Yamnotri last August, our second trek in the Himalayas was between 15th to 26th July 2006 and to the source of the Ganges and Bhagirathi. I’m not posting details yet, but here’s briefly what it was:
15th: Bangalore-(flight)-Delhi-(train)-Haridwar-(vikram auto)-Rishikesh (Ganga hotel)
16th: Rishikesh-(shared taxi)-Uttarkashi (GMVN guest house)
17th: Uttarkashi-(taxi)-Gangotri-Chirbasa
18th: Chirbasa-Bhojbasa-Gaumukh
19th: Gaumukh-Tapovan
20th: Tapovan
21st: Tapovan
22nd: Tapovan-Bhojbasa (GMVN guest house)
23rd: Bhojbasa-Chirbasa-Gangotri (Mandakini hotel)
24th: Gangotri-(shared taxi)-Rishikesh (Ganga hotel)
25th: Rishikesh
26th: Rishikesh-(vikram auto)-Haridwar-(train)-Delhi-(flight)-Bangalore
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A Ramanashram ride - part II
Continuing from where I left off last month... On Saturday, after darshan and breakfast, I started off for Arunachala pradakshina on my bike! Its less than a km till the highway meets the tar road that goes around the holy hill; even the road's name tells it so.
Arunachala remains hidden between structures some times and at other, the trees shadow its presence. While you're trying not to speed away, there's a good chance that you may miss a few good glimpses although the hill's aura is inviting enough.
One of the bad things of being on a vehicle is that one can't continuously view the hill; walking paints a better picture. However, I took pit stops to click some photos and even tried some stupid on-the-ride video-capture! The image on the left is how the hill shone on my first few clicks.
As I rode a little further, I saw a make-do bench beside a tree meant to give some rest and shade to the devotees who walk around on the tar, quite a lot among them barefoot. Its a good burning-the-feet exercise during day time and in the evening too, as the tar takes its time to cool off. I was also barefoot, but thankfully on the bike! Last time, I did walk around the hill
but it wasn't with naked feet.
On this bench were three monkeys playing around and hunting for some food thrown (with plastic bags by some idiots) in passing. I was watching these creatures pass their time and mine nicely. It makes ya wonder why humans are at each other's throats while even animals understand each other, especially their own species, better!
I continued my ride switching off the camera after a while, thinking of taking another stop to click photos later. Its a belief that walking around Arunachala brings in many a virtues including pull towards moksha. Ramana Maharshi used to walk around the hill at an extremely slow pace, at times, taking over three days to complete one parikrama.
It was pretty hot and the muffler I'd worn to cover my head was making me perspire. The starting point of the circumambulation is the ashram at Arunachala's southern face, also qualifying Bhagavan as dakshiNaamurti. As long as the roundabout road is the only road in the vicinity, you feel being in a village with its associated tag-along calmness, soothing the effects of heat from the sun. But no sooner than you meet another road, you can feel the town's noise eating into the bliss emanating from your meditative parikrama.
As I passed through various faces of the hill, it
seemed to change the shade and emit different colors on to the sky. Of course, the sun was helping play this game too. I pulled over again to get a longer view of what you see on the left. I tried various camera angles and owing to no zoom on pocket digicam of mine, I got only approximate expressions of Arunachala. Now thinking, its only the convenience of this Vivitar that let me capture what you see here. The beauty of the blue sky and the white clouds flying over the hill.
There was some breeze around that eased the "pain from the heatwave". That last phrase doesn't sound authentic from a Mumbaite but I left Bombay over five years ago and Bangalore serves a better temperature through the year.
At this break, I gathered that it wasn't far before I reached back the ashram and upset myself with the thought about the traffic that I'd be heading into. I sure wanted to make it before lunch hour, having missed the same on Friday, with enough margin for a wash.
In good time, I found myself struggling through thin crowded roads around the bus stand and Arunachaleshwara temple, with one-way signs pointing in confusing directions. I sped onto the highway just to meet more barricades and traffic pushing me to first gear. The view of Arunachala had also changed itself back under its veil of just-another hill at these noisy traffic junctures!
After some difficult feats, I made it back to the ashram. Having parked my bike and had a wash, I looked up the watch to tick around an hour of biking around, adding some breaks. The last 10-15 minutes of not-so-pleasant riding had added to my appetite, to be followed by a hearty meal and the usual blissful nap.
Arunachala remains hidden between structures some times and at other, the trees shadow its presence. While you're trying not to speed away, there's a good chance that you may miss a few good glimpses although the hill's aura is inviting enough.One of the bad things of being on a vehicle is that one can't continuously view the hill; walking paints a better picture. However, I took pit stops to click some photos and even tried some stupid on-the-ride video-capture! The image on the left is how the hill shone on my first few clicks.
As I rode a little further, I saw a make-do bench beside a tree meant to give some rest and shade to the devotees who walk around on the tar, quite a lot among them barefoot. Its a good burning-the-feet exercise during day time and in the evening too, as the tar takes its time to cool off. I was also barefoot, but thankfully on the bike! Last time, I did walk around the hill
but it wasn't with naked feet.
On this bench were three monkeys playing around and hunting for some food thrown (with plastic bags by some idiots) in passing. I was watching these creatures pass their time and mine nicely. It makes ya wonder why humans are at each other's throats while even animals understand each other, especially their own species, better!
I continued my ride switching off the camera after a while, thinking of taking another stop to click photos later. Its a belief that walking around Arunachala brings in many a virtues including pull towards moksha. Ramana Maharshi used to walk around the hill at an extremely slow pace, at times, taking over three days to complete one parikrama.
It was pretty hot and the muffler I'd worn to cover my head was making me perspire. The starting point of the circumambulation is the ashram at Arunachala's southern face, also qualifying Bhagavan as dakshiNaamurti. As long as the roundabout road is the only road in the vicinity, you feel being in a village with its associated tag-along calmness, soothing the effects of heat from the sun. But no sooner than you meet another road, you can feel the town's noise eating into the bliss emanating from your meditative parikrama.
As I passed through various faces of the hill, itseemed to change the shade and emit different colors on to the sky. Of course, the sun was helping play this game too. I pulled over again to get a longer view of what you see on the left. I tried various camera angles and owing to no zoom on pocket digicam of mine, I got only approximate expressions of Arunachala. Now thinking, its only the convenience of this Vivitar that let me capture what you see here. The beauty of the blue sky and the white clouds flying over the hill.
There was some breeze around that eased the "pain from the heatwave". That last phrase doesn't sound authentic from a Mumbaite but I left Bombay over five years ago and Bangalore serves a better temperature through the year.
At this break, I gathered that it wasn't far before I reached back the ashram and upset myself with the thought about the traffic that I'd be heading into. I sure wanted to make it before lunch hour, having missed the same on Friday, with enough margin for a wash.
In good time, I found myself struggling through thin crowded roads around the bus stand and Arunachaleshwara temple, with one-way signs pointing in confusing directions. I sped onto the highway just to meet more barricades and traffic pushing me to first gear. The view of Arunachala had also changed itself back under its veil of just-another hill at these noisy traffic junctures!
After some difficult feats, I made it back to the ashram. Having parked my bike and had a wash, I looked up the watch to tick around an hour of biking around, adding some breaks. The last 10-15 minutes of not-so-pleasant riding had added to my appetite, to be followed by a hearty meal and the usual blissful nap.
A Ramanashram ride - part I
/* The real cycle you’re working on is a cycle called yourself.
--Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance */
I started this weekend a day earlier to ride to Tiruvannamalai. Its been long since my first long ride and perhaps I was waiting for my bike to shape up from some unintentional evil doings to it by others! The back wheel had a Bullet tube *folded* into the tyre instead of the Suzuki Fiero sized! I got to know it to be the reason for uneven balance only last month, that too due to a puncture. I've never been thankful for a flat tyre till then and hope never to ever be again.
Briefly...
B'lore-Tiruvannamalai:
Dep: Fri, 0725 hrs
Arr: Fri, 1145 hrs
Average speed: 70-90 kmph
Top speed: 105 kmph
Mistakes: Hit 3 potholes, started late for the Electronic City traffic, had a late breakfast (tea, to be precise!)
Tiruvannamalai-B'lore:
Dep: Sun 1240 hrs
Arr: Sun, 1555 hrs
Average speed: 70-100 kmph
Top speed: 110 kmph
Mistakes: None known
The 4-6 lane highway past Hosur is a thrill. Ofcourse, many cars do not understand the meaning of *lane* still; trucks and buses, especially tankers, know these things better. Passersby do not care whether its their village mud road or a 6-lane highway; they cross roads as if they're shifting body weights! Animals understand flashes and honks better than these people. Okay, enough negatives, now for the better part of the journey.
Till Krishnagiri, the ride was just that: formula speed. Except for the sun torturing me due to my dressed-for-ill-health attire (and headache due to an extremely late tea), all went well. The bike seemed to find its increasing consistency in speed after learning little lessons at crossroads. There's not much of anything to look around on the NH-4, except some hills immediately after Hosur and just before hitting Krishnagiri. I had it in my mind that before cutting a left into NH-66 past Krishnagiri, there's a big flyover. Somehow, I lost that and stopped before taking it and checked up with a bullock-cart driver. I'm quite certain that he wouldn't have taken a flyover much so he asked me to make a left at the next signal. That missing the flyover cost me a signal and traffic that you're supposed to miss, but atleast I didn't lose my way :)
A couple more questions to localites put me on NH-66 which begins as a rather thin road in comparison to the golden lanes you leave behind. There seemed to be enough tar since my last bus visit to Tiruvannamalai in the rains erring my judgement that tar has been laid anew. Soon I corrected myself after maneuvering between some not-so-bad potholes and hitting a couple bad ones instead! I reasoned that I carried the speed from NH4 into 66 a little too far. But what I didn't guess was it was not to be low speeds at bad patches only, the road was full of potholes at many places, most of them where you least expect them to be. I'm reminded of Murphy's quote on this: When the govt errs, it errs in triplicate. Perhaps, thats why I was bound to fall for three bad spots! :)
I think I'm still stuck with negatives! The skyline improved with a good mix of sideline trees and hillocks. The uneventful highway by now had turned into all sorts of people and animals walking by: kids screaming at times, monkeys crossing across to catch on with their families, flocks of goats kept at their side of the road, etc. Even the boring straights had curved on this road, but not as much as I'd have liked... perhaps a ghat section would have helped! :) Apart from a few diversions on account of contractors playing on the road, there's only one thing worth mentioning: the first view of Arunachala! Just after entering Tiruvannamalai, there's an advt hoarding at a curvature in the road and once you cross it, behind rises Arunachala, waiting and watching over you with its broad fatherly shoudlers welcoming to hug you! If there was any discomfort in the journey, it was washed away at the first sight of Arunachala Shiva.
Then on, I was overcome with bliss from Ramanashram where peacocks were cooing even near noon. I parked and checked-in post darshan since it was lunch hour already. I'd a square meal at neighboring Seshadri Swami's ashram and slept for a few hours with a dose of medication for my full-blown headache. I was ready again after tea to catch on more blessings in the Samadhi Hall until dinnertime and sleep befell me.
... Part II: Arunachala pradakshina and return
--Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance */
I started this weekend a day earlier to ride to Tiruvannamalai. Its been long since my first long ride and perhaps I was waiting for my bike to shape up from some unintentional evil doings to it by others! The back wheel had a Bullet tube *folded* into the tyre instead of the Suzuki Fiero sized! I got to know it to be the reason for uneven balance only last month, that too due to a puncture. I've never been thankful for a flat tyre till then and hope never to ever be again.
Briefly...
B'lore-Tiruvannamalai:
Dep: Fri, 0725 hrs
Arr: Fri, 1145 hrs
Average speed: 70-90 kmph
Top speed: 105 kmph
Mistakes: Hit 3 potholes, started late for the Electronic City traffic, had a late breakfast (tea, to be precise!)
Tiruvannamalai-B'lore:
Dep: Sun 1240 hrs
Arr: Sun, 1555 hrs
Average speed: 70-100 kmph
Top speed: 110 kmph
Mistakes: None known
The 4-6 lane highway past Hosur is a thrill. Ofcourse, many cars do not understand the meaning of *lane* still; trucks and buses, especially tankers, know these things better. Passersby do not care whether its their village mud road or a 6-lane highway; they cross roads as if they're shifting body weights! Animals understand flashes and honks better than these people. Okay, enough negatives, now for the better part of the journey.
Till Krishnagiri, the ride was just that: formula speed. Except for the sun torturing me due to my dressed-for-ill-health attire (and headache due to an extremely late tea), all went well. The bike seemed to find its increasing consistency in speed after learning little lessons at crossroads. There's not much of anything to look around on the NH-4, except some hills immediately after Hosur and just before hitting Krishnagiri. I had it in my mind that before cutting a left into NH-66 past Krishnagiri, there's a big flyover. Somehow, I lost that and stopped before taking it and checked up with a bullock-cart driver. I'm quite certain that he wouldn't have taken a flyover much so he asked me to make a left at the next signal. That missing the flyover cost me a signal and traffic that you're supposed to miss, but atleast I didn't lose my way :)
A couple more questions to localites put me on NH-66 which begins as a rather thin road in comparison to the golden lanes you leave behind. There seemed to be enough tar since my last bus visit to Tiruvannamalai in the rains erring my judgement that tar has been laid anew. Soon I corrected myself after maneuvering between some not-so-bad potholes and hitting a couple bad ones instead! I reasoned that I carried the speed from NH4 into 66 a little too far. But what I didn't guess was it was not to be low speeds at bad patches only, the road was full of potholes at many places, most of them where you least expect them to be. I'm reminded of Murphy's quote on this: When the govt errs, it errs in triplicate. Perhaps, thats why I was bound to fall for three bad spots! :)
I think I'm still stuck with negatives! The skyline improved with a good mix of sideline trees and hillocks. The uneventful highway by now had turned into all sorts of people and animals walking by: kids screaming at times, monkeys crossing across to catch on with their families, flocks of goats kept at their side of the road, etc. Even the boring straights had curved on this road, but not as much as I'd have liked... perhaps a ghat section would have helped! :) Apart from a few diversions on account of contractors playing on the road, there's only one thing worth mentioning: the first view of Arunachala! Just after entering Tiruvannamalai, there's an advt hoarding at a curvature in the road and once you cross it, behind rises Arunachala, waiting and watching over you with its broad fatherly shoudlers welcoming to hug you! If there was any discomfort in the journey, it was washed away at the first sight of Arunachala Shiva.
Then on, I was overcome with bliss from Ramanashram where peacocks were cooing even near noon. I parked and checked-in post darshan since it was lunch hour already. I'd a square meal at neighboring Seshadri Swami's ashram and slept for a few hours with a dose of medication for my full-blown headache. I was ready again after tea to catch on more blessings in the Samadhi Hall until dinnertime and sleep befell me.
... Part II: Arunachala pradakshina and return
Vacationing: Car vs bike vs walk
I'm sure all know that this argument would never end... its like one man's food... still my two cents follow :)
I took a trip in the Himalayas driving ex-Delhi and trekking too, but I felt the car helped only to get all the cartons of baggage across, save us from rains and accomodate us due to lack of hotels & tenting ground in crowded cities. Its alright as long as our aim was comfort.
Bike would have pleased us more as Robert Pirsig clears in Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance using the analogy of watching a movie vs acting in a movie, I recall.
But I realized something more from the Himalayan trip. Driving is pleasure, yes. Riding is more pleasure, its a given, for me. But if trekking is the aim (of course, I would want to ride a bike in the Himalayas anyway), undoubtedly hitchhiking, buses or even wandering on foot between places (given infinite time :) are my choices. The reason is that in Himalayas, you tend to get stuck between landslides; more so during the rainy season that I chose to travel! With a car, or even a bike, its impossible to pass across these roadblocks; moreover, you can't even park & leave it midway on the highway. Personally, we would have made it to Gangotri and even Gaumukh, if we didn't have a vehicle: car/bike. The argument extends further to hold more water without motorable roads!
Haversacks are a big issue especially when not packed properly, if trekking is a plan. I'm not sure on the comfort of riding with a haversack on, between points. I like to ride lightweight. I'm sure frequent bikers know better.
I took a trip in the Himalayas driving ex-Delhi and trekking too, but I felt the car helped only to get all the cartons of baggage across, save us from rains and accomodate us due to lack of hotels & tenting ground in crowded cities. Its alright as long as our aim was comfort.
Bike would have pleased us more as Robert Pirsig clears in Zen & the art of motorcycle maintenance using the analogy of watching a movie vs acting in a movie, I recall.
But I realized something more from the Himalayan trip. Driving is pleasure, yes. Riding is more pleasure, its a given, for me. But if trekking is the aim (of course, I would want to ride a bike in the Himalayas anyway), undoubtedly hitchhiking, buses or even wandering on foot between places (given infinite time :) are my choices. The reason is that in Himalayas, you tend to get stuck between landslides; more so during the rainy season that I chose to travel! With a car, or even a bike, its impossible to pass across these roadblocks; moreover, you can't even park & leave it midway on the highway. Personally, we would have made it to Gangotri and even Gaumukh, if we didn't have a vehicle: car/bike. The argument extends further to hold more water without motorable roads!
Haversacks are a big issue especially when not packed properly, if trekking is a plan. I'm not sure on the comfort of riding with a haversack on, between points. I like to ride lightweight. I'm sure frequent bikers know better.
Holy Waters
I finished my long postponed trip what started as a small plan of just Rishikesh, expanding through Gangotri-Yamnotri-Rishikesh, to a full-fledged Mussorie-Yamnotri-Gangotri-Gaumukh-Rishikesh. As fate had it, we couldn't make it to Gangotri/Gaumukh, but only 50kms earlier, due to a series of landslides following an earthquake. Here's a brief account of happenings (and a long detailed one, I hope, would follow sooner than later; till then check the snaps):
13th a'noon: Flew Blr-Bby.
14th morn: Flew Bby-Delhi.
Here, we met...
The men: Sriram & me.
The machine: Hertz's Maruti-Suzuki Esteem (diesel).
14th morn-night: Drove Delhi-Mussorie.
14th night: Camped in the car at Mussorie... didn't get a hotel.
15th morn-even: Drove Mussorie-Hanuman Chatti.
15th even: Taxied Hanuman Chatti-Janki Chatti.
15th night: Trekked 2 kms and tented en route due to rains and slippage.
16th morn: Trekked to Yamnotri, found a hidden hot water stream among the cold water gushes, had a cold & hot water bath!
16th a'noon: Trailed, Taxied, drove to Uttarkashi.
16th night: Camped in a hotel due to diesel issues & barrier on the ghats. This hotel, next to the Ganges had a beautiful view from the balcony.
17th morn: Drove to near Gangneni, spent half a day stuck due to landslides.
17th eve: Drove back from near Gangneni, but got stuck amidst fresh landslides.
17th night: Drove back to near Uttarkashi & camped in the car.
18th morn: Drove to Uttarkashi, checked into the same hotel for a brief rest.
18th morn-even: Drove Uttarkashi-Rishikesh.
18th even-20th morn: Stayed at Sivananda ashram, Rishikesh, had great satsanga, took Ganges dip on 19th & 20th.
20th morn-even: Drove Rishikesh-Delhi, got lost in Delhi after visiting MLBD book stores & had a wild drive to Hertz/airport in order to not miss the flight.
20th even: Flew a delayed Delhi-Bangalore.
20th night: Hit the sack.
13th a'noon: Flew Blr-Bby.
14th morn: Flew Bby-Delhi.
Here, we met...
The men: Sriram & me.
The machine: Hertz's Maruti-Suzuki Esteem (diesel).
14th morn-night: Drove Delhi-Mussorie.
14th night: Camped in the car at Mussorie... didn't get a hotel.
15th morn-even: Drove Mussorie-Hanuman Chatti.
15th even: Taxied Hanuman Chatti-Janki Chatti.
15th night: Trekked 2 kms and tented en route due to rains and slippage.
16th morn: Trekked to Yamnotri, found a hidden hot water stream among the cold water gushes, had a cold & hot water bath!
16th a'noon: Trailed, Taxied, drove to Uttarkashi.
16th night: Camped in a hotel due to diesel issues & barrier on the ghats. This hotel, next to the Ganges had a beautiful view from the balcony.
17th morn: Drove to near Gangneni, spent half a day stuck due to landslides.
17th eve: Drove back from near Gangneni, but got stuck amidst fresh landslides.
17th night: Drove back to near Uttarkashi & camped in the car.
18th morn: Drove to Uttarkashi, checked into the same hotel for a brief rest.
18th morn-even: Drove Uttarkashi-Rishikesh.
18th even-20th morn: Stayed at Sivananda ashram, Rishikesh, had great satsanga, took Ganges dip on 19th & 20th.
20th morn-even: Drove Rishikesh-Delhi, got lost in Delhi after visiting MLBD book stores & had a wild drive to Hertz/airport in order to not miss the flight.
20th even: Flew a delayed Delhi-Bangalore.
20th night: Hit the sack.
A month to Ganges...
... and a year to Kailash; I'm living on these thoughts today.
Next month, I'm planned on a trip to Gangotri & Yamnotri; two of the many sources of holy Ganges. In this connection, there are two things that happened today. I was reminded of the following Meera bhajan by Sriram, who is the other half of the team.
calo man gangA jamunA tIr
gangA jamunA nirmal pAnI, shItal hot sharIr
bansI bajAvat gAvat kAnhA, sang liyE balabIr
mor mukuT pItAmbar sohE, kuNDal jalakat hIr
mIrA kahe prabhu giridhar nAgar, caraN-kamal par shIr
I also chanced upon this from the Rig Veda today, while going through the book, Sacred Waters, by Stephen Alter:
The waters of the sky or those that flow,
those that are dug out or those that arise by themselves,
those pure and clear waters that seek the ocean
as their goal -- let the waters, who are
goddesses, help me here and now.
Need I say more?
Next month, I'm planned on a trip to Gangotri & Yamnotri; two of the many sources of holy Ganges. In this connection, there are two things that happened today. I was reminded of the following Meera bhajan by Sriram, who is the other half of the team.
calo man gangA jamunA tIr
gangA jamunA nirmal pAnI, shItal hot sharIr
bansI bajAvat gAvat kAnhA, sang liyE balabIr
mor mukuT pItAmbar sohE, kuNDal jalakat hIr
mIrA kahe prabhu giridhar nAgar, caraN-kamal par shIr
I also chanced upon this from the Rig Veda today, while going through the book, Sacred Waters, by Stephen Alter:
The waters of the sky or those that flow,
those that are dug out or those that arise by themselves,
those pure and clear waters that seek the ocean
as their goal -- let the waters, who are
goddesses, help me here and now.
Need I say more?
Cruising to Honnavara - precursor
My much awaited vacation is in the offing. I'll be driving to Honnavara with my parents this Saturday to be back only the next Sat! This is the first time I'll be driving this far in my Wagon-R, though I've taken a trip earlier on my bike on this sector.
Yesterday, Sriram gave finishing touches to the drive planned via Shimoga. He's been over these roads more no. of times than he can recall. So he didn't really need a map while chalking up route plans for me. We're scheduled to start around 0630-0700 from Bangalore, towards Tumkur. Tumkur is expected to pass by in a couple of hours, depending on our break at Kamats', past Nelamangala, for b'fast and lunch packaging. Once this is done, I plan to drive till Shimoga before we have our luncheon and continue again till we break at the Sharavati viewpoint. This will be our final stopover before we arrive at our destination: Honnavara, factually Karki.
More, on return.
Yesterday, Sriram gave finishing touches to the drive planned via Shimoga. He's been over these roads more no. of times than he can recall. So he didn't really need a map while chalking up route plans for me. We're scheduled to start around 0630-0700 from Bangalore, towards Tumkur. Tumkur is expected to pass by in a couple of hours, depending on our break at Kamats', past Nelamangala, for b'fast and lunch packaging. Once this is done, I plan to drive till Shimoga before we have our luncheon and continue again till we break at the Sharavati viewpoint. This will be our final stopover before we arrive at our destination: Honnavara, factually Karki.
More, on return.
A lonely bike trip... part I
We'd been planning treks, long drives and what not, for what seemed like ages then. We had to start somewhere. With the time constraints of our group members with all individuals being free at different times, the plans were leading nowhere. This was it... a day off on Monday was to get us five continuous days of vacation. We all had been waiting for such an opportunity. But
then again, I forgot Murphy (from the Murphy's law, who else?) while I planned out something. Sriram was busy with his CA studies, Raghav was to look at his house construction, Anya was tied up with something else. That left me stranded alone to keep to my own commitment of kick-starting something. I decided a to-and-fro native (Honnavara) trip: going via Mangalore and returning via Shimoga.
Well, I started by luring Raghav by proposing a bike trip instead of a car drive! He got tempted but my motive was unmet when he reported this back home. They didn't want him to go then. There was no point in messing with others' plans. So I thought, on behalf of all, I'd to get a do-it-myself package. The deal was clear: it couldn't have been my second wife, Maruti Suzuki
WagonR... I was just not too comfortable with her! Thats when I made a so-called brave decision to ride with my first one, Suzuki Fiero! All of this was decided on Thursday, Aug 14, 2003. Mentioning this to my landlady led me to some hitches. She refused to allow me to go and even threatened to call my parents. The fear came from the fact that the rains were crazy and the coastal highway drive is too dangerous when Karnataka rains were to go crazier with the cloud-seeding plan! Some convincing got me luck and I began backpacking my gear.
My initial plan was to start in the wee morning hours, but Sriram insisted that one shouldn't start on a long ride/drive while its still dark. There's some scientific analysis that seems to say that most accidents occur when the person starts out while its dark and gets carried into the light through hours of driving and that the body can't adjust to the changes. Well, had he known me as such a lazy fella, he wouldn't have probably spent such time explaining; I started only quarter past seven. It took quite a while to pack stuff at night and I woke up late enough not to be able to start at 0600hrs. Finally, I started with my obeisances to the Sun.
As I went over the ring road towards Mysore Road, it felt really nice, but with a slight fear of this seemingly arduous ride. Within a short while, I touched West of Chord Road. As per Sriram's instructions, I'd kept the pace well below 70kmph till I hit the outskirts of Blore. I passed by ISKCON in some time thence and took a deep left towards Peenya and passed towards Nelamangala. I'd to stop by and enquire to ensure that I don't miss the NH-48 I was looking forward to. There was quite a bulk of traffic at the start of NH-48. These trucks and buses that go a longer distance than what I call long-distance ride are really rough on the poor riders. They seemed to overlook the fact that small vehicles also belong on the tar for atleast having paid their taxes! Those juggernauts had my confidence lowered till bad negotiating between vehicles got me out onto visible empty stretch of tar. Thats when I sped up to decide on safe consistent speed. That struck out to be a good 80kmph and this is what I maintained through my journey.
The weather was comfortably pleasant needing not more than my windcheater and the surroundings appeared to be increasingly scenic as I rode away from Blore. I soon found a comforting position on the bike: resting the feet on the pillion foot rests, while my backpack was hooked on to the handles and laying on the petrol tank! There were break times when I shifted my legs over the leg-guard for a change of position. The surroundings gave a picture of true India, the beauty that it is. I didn't have to change gears from 4th to below it for a real long time, but it sure reminded me of how badly Fiero needed a 5th too!
The journey turned out to be becoming more blissful than ever and I could feel the confidence building... what this was, I can't express in words... it was a feeling I've been yearning for and always will. Somewhere down the line near Hassan, I'd my breakfast at Kamat's. I was told that this one's a nice place to feed yourself; so I did. The food didn't mean as much as the wash did. The countryside had blown quite a lot of dust on my face due to frequent lifting of the visor for fresh air breathers. I also made it a point to share this freshness with my brother, Prashant, over phone. My parents didn't know till then that I'm on this (crazy) tour. I very much managed to convince them of my safe riding, or rather had to!
When I set off back on the bike, I thought I was maintaining good pace. I knew well that I'd to improve it because the average speed is going to decline rapidly once I get to the Sakleshpur ghats (the biggest in Karnataka). The weather kept me company till there. Just when I saw the ghats rise in front of me, I pulled over to put up the monsoon wear. The rainywear trouser (?) belonged to Sandip and was way too short for me, but I'm much thankful for having borrowed it. It'd begun to drizzle and my avatar was funny for passersby. I wasn't too much in a mood to even let that bother me. Fiero's roadgrip has scared me many a times; still, this ride had let Fiero prove itself. Thus, the test began.
The curves and V-pin bends, all had me sure that no speed is low speed for such zones. Twice, I landed on the opposite lane after the turns! Although the upstream traffic seemed too slow to cause any harm, one can't assume so about all of the vehicles and be sure that other vehicles are the only ones that cause damages. One could lead off the road, into a tree or stuff like that. I was more careful following these thoughts. Its like telling yourself to apply brakes, not to the vehicle alone, but to your life too. Maybe, its going faster than you can handle. Its worth taking a pitstop in life once in a while and seeing whether you have led yourself well enough? The speed may have enthused you so much as to not let you think if the direction is right!
Anyway, so here I was riding safer than ever. Okay, the speed was higher still, but safer... somehow I think I know well enough that lower speed doesn't necessarily mean more safety. Enjoying the ride, I reached the viewpoint of Sakleshpur ghat. There was this hoarding that read the huge rainfall mms that this region receives. My memory fails me here. Maybe, if I'm able to dig this info out of somewhere, I'll update it over. There was an elephant's picture on one board that meant something I forget now. Forgive the old man, will ya all? The view was beautiful and I felt like spending a lot of time there. I must've spent over an hour there trying to click some photographs, before I started downhill.
So far, the tar was laid enough smoothly. The ghats showed otherwise at one stretch on my downward trail. These potholes made it miserable while the rain didn't make it easier to brake on a downward journey. It was much steep to allow indecent braking on a plain road, even on a sunny day, without having to meet unpleasant incidents. As I made past some of these unavoidable pockets, I saw small water streams on my right making their way beneath the bridge I was on and forming a good waterfall on the left. This, I stopped by to click. The weather and my skills, both, made photos turn up bad. There on, the road just seemed to drop into Mangalore. The sun showed up as I picked speed on the road fast losing its curvature and straightening up into a plain highway. Soon, the jackets weren't helping me keep my comfort and I pulled over by Surathkal to pack them back. There, I'd made it a point to make my geographical location felt to Raghav. He studied at KREC, Surathkal and was pleased to have a chat with someone who's just in front of its gates!
Since I'd planned to have Udupi Krishna's darshan, I sped by on this dangerous NH-17 that I'd gotten onto. Most people have no traffic sense whatsoever, or lose whatever they have, once they reach this infamous national highway. I say this from my childhood memories of accidents told of on these roads. My native village stands off this NH-17. I found this road to be less exciting than the earlier ones I'd taken, the stink of the coastal fish adding to it. I wanted to get as close to Udupi as fast as possible. So I did. The arch on the highway seemed to invite everyone to pay a visit. I wanted to gather my blessings and in I went, riding between crowded lanes not really guiding me anywhere as I reached close enough to know that I was in the vicinity of devasthana but not knowing where it was. Parking the bike and walking seemed to be an only option when I met a deadend. Finding the mandir, I felt blessed already. It has a small entrance that might go unnoticable save the shops around that people bought offerings from. This is one temple where the presiding deity, Krishna, faces away from the door.
The story has it that a Shudra was forced to pray from outside the temple and Krishna turned around to give darshan to him alone! That shows how all are equal in God's perspective. Since then, everyone was forced to go around the pradakshina to have a peek at the Lord from a small window. Finishing my darshan, I went over to other mandirs in and around the campus. There's a go-shala where I could see cows wandering about, feeling at home and making me feel so too. There were these beautiful kids dancing on stage, perhaps belonging to some school run by the sansthan or so. Just outside the temple there was a guy with his elephant blessing people who give it something. I also tried it out. Smartly, the elephant took the coin with its trunk, gave it to its master and then put the trunk on my head to gesture a bless.
On the way back to the highway, I lost my way and quite some precious time. My hunger found its fill just when I reached NH-17. It was 1800 hrs by then and high time I'd lunch too. I'd a quick snack and was on my way while it was darkening. Sriram had asked me to witness the beauty of the sunset at Kundapura, but I was beginning to get panicky not knowing how far
I was from my target and after having driven much distance from Udupi.
I reached an overbridge besides which was a small temple with an idol of Shiva majestically sitting over it. This, I'd to take a picture of. It didn't seem like a convenient location to park with vehicles ripping by. I managed to click one or two shots when the drizzle that had just begun warned to be a pour soon. I decided to pick up more speed and try to arrive before 2000hrs atleast. This was not to happen. The road seemed never-ending since I could no longer enjoy the surroundings, not being able to see them in the approaching night. It wasn't until the clouds above dropped huge drops of water that I felt I should've driven faster before the rain. The rain drops drilled their way into the layers of jacket that I'd worn some time back. Within no time was I feeling as if I was being swept away in river, with little control, if at all. The heavy coastal highway rains, with no lights whatsoever, intimidating passing by 4-, 6-, 8-, etc-wheelers, seemed to threaten the safety of my riding I was harping on. The world around me seemed to vanish into the night as I knew not -- through my glasses, visor and waterfall-like rains -- where the road was. At one point, I started doubting whether there was a road below the wheels! I was wiping the visor & specs every now and then with my hands and hanky, atleast enough to be sure that I could see through the glasses if a pull-over place is around. Sometime then, my prayer was answered and I saw a petrol bunk that I somehow got to, over unseen puddles filled in kind of ponds that were formed beside the road. It felt as if my bike jumped off some height off the highway but still it was a relief to be able to be seeing something.
What a view it was, mighty scary rain it seemed, as I stood underneath one of the structures. Even there, I was being lashed by the rains almost from all directions in a few minutes. Enquiring at the gas station on how far I was from my target gave no comfort. To top it, I was worried of the rulers of the highway --truck-drivers-- getting drunk and driving beside me. I knew I had not more than an hour before these enemies of the fellow-riders step on the pedal. I felt the burden of having to decide between the devil and the deep blue sea!
From nowhere, I was given a solution to ride by following some visible vehicle, keeping only safe-distance between us. I refueled just to be sure I don't push my baby along on a rainy night. This trick worked wonders, except for a couple of wrong judgements. One of them was to follow an over-speeding car while the other was to follow a truck that pulled over too soon. Over a period, I was back on my confidence of driving in the rains. It slowly turned into a blissfully pleasant ride. I, who always found riding in the rain unsafe, felt being accompanied by some great level of reassuring faith. The bike itself seemed a friend... the rains telling us a wild story... meaning no harm though. I found myself listening to the music of the tapping waters, with no hurry of reaching anywhere. I was around Bhatkal when the rains turned their volume low. I knew I was around 60kmph all this while and that went up a little with pinching rains hurting the skin lesser. Since then, the downpour switched back and forth into a drizzle. About that time, I approached some hills on my sides that appeared to have been cut off to make these roads. These were visible as the lights of moving vehicles flashed on them. I knew I was nearing Honnavara. But it took me a longer ride than I thought it would be before I saw Honnavara. I'd crossed Sharavati bridge that had made me wonder if I was riding over the waters as a ship sails.
From Honnavara, it was a known road that I'd travelled earlier on vans, buses and as a pillion rider on motorbikes & bicycles. I knew this stretch of the journey would make me nostalgic. In these thoughts, I took a deviation off the NH-17 into my village lane, Karki. I looked up my watch that ticked 2130hrs. My aunt and standees around were shocked to hear my mode of transport. I took a pleasing cold bath pulling out loads out of the fresh well waters. I called up Bombay to mention my safe-reaching and to assure them of no back-breaks, thanks to the grand machine that Fiero proved it is.
The tasty dinner was followed by a blissful sleep that took me back on the ride into the night... the night that I'd slept as well as stayed awake!
(Fri, Aug 15, 2003: 0715 BSK- Iskcon- Nelamangala- [NH-48] Kunigal- 1500 Channarayapatna- Hassan- Sakleshpur- (Shiradi)- (Uppinangadi)- Mangalore- [NH-17] Surathkal- Udupi (Udupi Krishna Mandir) 1800- Kundapura- Bhatkal- Honnavara- 2130 Karki)
then again, I forgot Murphy (from the Murphy's law, who else?) while I planned out something. Sriram was busy with his CA studies, Raghav was to look at his house construction, Anya was tied up with something else. That left me stranded alone to keep to my own commitment of kick-starting something. I decided a to-and-fro native (Honnavara) trip: going via Mangalore and returning via Shimoga.
Well, I started by luring Raghav by proposing a bike trip instead of a car drive! He got tempted but my motive was unmet when he reported this back home. They didn't want him to go then. There was no point in messing with others' plans. So I thought, on behalf of all, I'd to get a do-it-myself package. The deal was clear: it couldn't have been my second wife, Maruti Suzuki
WagonR... I was just not too comfortable with her! Thats when I made a so-called brave decision to ride with my first one, Suzuki Fiero! All of this was decided on Thursday, Aug 14, 2003. Mentioning this to my landlady led me to some hitches. She refused to allow me to go and even threatened to call my parents. The fear came from the fact that the rains were crazy and the coastal highway drive is too dangerous when Karnataka rains were to go crazier with the cloud-seeding plan! Some convincing got me luck and I began backpacking my gear.
My initial plan was to start in the wee morning hours, but Sriram insisted that one shouldn't start on a long ride/drive while its still dark. There's some scientific analysis that seems to say that most accidents occur when the person starts out while its dark and gets carried into the light through hours of driving and that the body can't adjust to the changes. Well, had he known me as such a lazy fella, he wouldn't have probably spent such time explaining; I started only quarter past seven. It took quite a while to pack stuff at night and I woke up late enough not to be able to start at 0600hrs. Finally, I started with my obeisances to the Sun.
As I went over the ring road towards Mysore Road, it felt really nice, but with a slight fear of this seemingly arduous ride. Within a short while, I touched West of Chord Road. As per Sriram's instructions, I'd kept the pace well below 70kmph till I hit the outskirts of Blore. I passed by ISKCON in some time thence and took a deep left towards Peenya and passed towards Nelamangala. I'd to stop by and enquire to ensure that I don't miss the NH-48 I was looking forward to. There was quite a bulk of traffic at the start of NH-48. These trucks and buses that go a longer distance than what I call long-distance ride are really rough on the poor riders. They seemed to overlook the fact that small vehicles also belong on the tar for atleast having paid their taxes! Those juggernauts had my confidence lowered till bad negotiating between vehicles got me out onto visible empty stretch of tar. Thats when I sped up to decide on safe consistent speed. That struck out to be a good 80kmph and this is what I maintained through my journey.
The weather was comfortably pleasant needing not more than my windcheater and the surroundings appeared to be increasingly scenic as I rode away from Blore. I soon found a comforting position on the bike: resting the feet on the pillion foot rests, while my backpack was hooked on to the handles and laying on the petrol tank! There were break times when I shifted my legs over the leg-guard for a change of position. The surroundings gave a picture of true India, the beauty that it is. I didn't have to change gears from 4th to below it for a real long time, but it sure reminded me of how badly Fiero needed a 5th too!
The journey turned out to be becoming more blissful than ever and I could feel the confidence building... what this was, I can't express in words... it was a feeling I've been yearning for and always will. Somewhere down the line near Hassan, I'd my breakfast at Kamat's. I was told that this one's a nice place to feed yourself; so I did. The food didn't mean as much as the wash did. The countryside had blown quite a lot of dust on my face due to frequent lifting of the visor for fresh air breathers. I also made it a point to share this freshness with my brother, Prashant, over phone. My parents didn't know till then that I'm on this (crazy) tour. I very much managed to convince them of my safe riding, or rather had to!
When I set off back on the bike, I thought I was maintaining good pace. I knew well that I'd to improve it because the average speed is going to decline rapidly once I get to the Sakleshpur ghats (the biggest in Karnataka). The weather kept me company till there. Just when I saw the ghats rise in front of me, I pulled over to put up the monsoon wear. The rainywear trouser (?) belonged to Sandip and was way too short for me, but I'm much thankful for having borrowed it. It'd begun to drizzle and my avatar was funny for passersby. I wasn't too much in a mood to even let that bother me. Fiero's roadgrip has scared me many a times; still, this ride had let Fiero prove itself. Thus, the test began.
The curves and V-pin bends, all had me sure that no speed is low speed for such zones. Twice, I landed on the opposite lane after the turns! Although the upstream traffic seemed too slow to cause any harm, one can't assume so about all of the vehicles and be sure that other vehicles are the only ones that cause damages. One could lead off the road, into a tree or stuff like that. I was more careful following these thoughts. Its like telling yourself to apply brakes, not to the vehicle alone, but to your life too. Maybe, its going faster than you can handle. Its worth taking a pitstop in life once in a while and seeing whether you have led yourself well enough? The speed may have enthused you so much as to not let you think if the direction is right!
Anyway, so here I was riding safer than ever. Okay, the speed was higher still, but safer... somehow I think I know well enough that lower speed doesn't necessarily mean more safety. Enjoying the ride, I reached the viewpoint of Sakleshpur ghat. There was this hoarding that read the huge rainfall mms that this region receives. My memory fails me here. Maybe, if I'm able to dig this info out of somewhere, I'll update it over. There was an elephant's picture on one board that meant something I forget now. Forgive the old man, will ya all? The view was beautiful and I felt like spending a lot of time there. I must've spent over an hour there trying to click some photographs, before I started downhill.
So far, the tar was laid enough smoothly. The ghats showed otherwise at one stretch on my downward trail. These potholes made it miserable while the rain didn't make it easier to brake on a downward journey. It was much steep to allow indecent braking on a plain road, even on a sunny day, without having to meet unpleasant incidents. As I made past some of these unavoidable pockets, I saw small water streams on my right making their way beneath the bridge I was on and forming a good waterfall on the left. This, I stopped by to click. The weather and my skills, both, made photos turn up bad. There on, the road just seemed to drop into Mangalore. The sun showed up as I picked speed on the road fast losing its curvature and straightening up into a plain highway. Soon, the jackets weren't helping me keep my comfort and I pulled over by Surathkal to pack them back. There, I'd made it a point to make my geographical location felt to Raghav. He studied at KREC, Surathkal and was pleased to have a chat with someone who's just in front of its gates!
Since I'd planned to have Udupi Krishna's darshan, I sped by on this dangerous NH-17 that I'd gotten onto. Most people have no traffic sense whatsoever, or lose whatever they have, once they reach this infamous national highway. I say this from my childhood memories of accidents told of on these roads. My native village stands off this NH-17. I found this road to be less exciting than the earlier ones I'd taken, the stink of the coastal fish adding to it. I wanted to get as close to Udupi as fast as possible. So I did. The arch on the highway seemed to invite everyone to pay a visit. I wanted to gather my blessings and in I went, riding between crowded lanes not really guiding me anywhere as I reached close enough to know that I was in the vicinity of devasthana but not knowing where it was. Parking the bike and walking seemed to be an only option when I met a deadend. Finding the mandir, I felt blessed already. It has a small entrance that might go unnoticable save the shops around that people bought offerings from. This is one temple where the presiding deity, Krishna, faces away from the door.
The story has it that a Shudra was forced to pray from outside the temple and Krishna turned around to give darshan to him alone! That shows how all are equal in God's perspective. Since then, everyone was forced to go around the pradakshina to have a peek at the Lord from a small window. Finishing my darshan, I went over to other mandirs in and around the campus. There's a go-shala where I could see cows wandering about, feeling at home and making me feel so too. There were these beautiful kids dancing on stage, perhaps belonging to some school run by the sansthan or so. Just outside the temple there was a guy with his elephant blessing people who give it something. I also tried it out. Smartly, the elephant took the coin with its trunk, gave it to its master and then put the trunk on my head to gesture a bless.
On the way back to the highway, I lost my way and quite some precious time. My hunger found its fill just when I reached NH-17. It was 1800 hrs by then and high time I'd lunch too. I'd a quick snack and was on my way while it was darkening. Sriram had asked me to witness the beauty of the sunset at Kundapura, but I was beginning to get panicky not knowing how far
I was from my target and after having driven much distance from Udupi.
I reached an overbridge besides which was a small temple with an idol of Shiva majestically sitting over it. This, I'd to take a picture of. It didn't seem like a convenient location to park with vehicles ripping by. I managed to click one or two shots when the drizzle that had just begun warned to be a pour soon. I decided to pick up more speed and try to arrive before 2000hrs atleast. This was not to happen. The road seemed never-ending since I could no longer enjoy the surroundings, not being able to see them in the approaching night. It wasn't until the clouds above dropped huge drops of water that I felt I should've driven faster before the rain. The rain drops drilled their way into the layers of jacket that I'd worn some time back. Within no time was I feeling as if I was being swept away in river, with little control, if at all. The heavy coastal highway rains, with no lights whatsoever, intimidating passing by 4-, 6-, 8-, etc-wheelers, seemed to threaten the safety of my riding I was harping on. The world around me seemed to vanish into the night as I knew not -- through my glasses, visor and waterfall-like rains -- where the road was. At one point, I started doubting whether there was a road below the wheels! I was wiping the visor & specs every now and then with my hands and hanky, atleast enough to be sure that I could see through the glasses if a pull-over place is around. Sometime then, my prayer was answered and I saw a petrol bunk that I somehow got to, over unseen puddles filled in kind of ponds that were formed beside the road. It felt as if my bike jumped off some height off the highway but still it was a relief to be able to be seeing something.
What a view it was, mighty scary rain it seemed, as I stood underneath one of the structures. Even there, I was being lashed by the rains almost from all directions in a few minutes. Enquiring at the gas station on how far I was from my target gave no comfort. To top it, I was worried of the rulers of the highway --truck-drivers-- getting drunk and driving beside me. I knew I had not more than an hour before these enemies of the fellow-riders step on the pedal. I felt the burden of having to decide between the devil and the deep blue sea!
From nowhere, I was given a solution to ride by following some visible vehicle, keeping only safe-distance between us. I refueled just to be sure I don't push my baby along on a rainy night. This trick worked wonders, except for a couple of wrong judgements. One of them was to follow an over-speeding car while the other was to follow a truck that pulled over too soon. Over a period, I was back on my confidence of driving in the rains. It slowly turned into a blissfully pleasant ride. I, who always found riding in the rain unsafe, felt being accompanied by some great level of reassuring faith. The bike itself seemed a friend... the rains telling us a wild story... meaning no harm though. I found myself listening to the music of the tapping waters, with no hurry of reaching anywhere. I was around Bhatkal when the rains turned their volume low. I knew I was around 60kmph all this while and that went up a little with pinching rains hurting the skin lesser. Since then, the downpour switched back and forth into a drizzle. About that time, I approached some hills on my sides that appeared to have been cut off to make these roads. These were visible as the lights of moving vehicles flashed on them. I knew I was nearing Honnavara. But it took me a longer ride than I thought it would be before I saw Honnavara. I'd crossed Sharavati bridge that had made me wonder if I was riding over the waters as a ship sails.
From Honnavara, it was a known road that I'd travelled earlier on vans, buses and as a pillion rider on motorbikes & bicycles. I knew this stretch of the journey would make me nostalgic. In these thoughts, I took a deviation off the NH-17 into my village lane, Karki. I looked up my watch that ticked 2130hrs. My aunt and standees around were shocked to hear my mode of transport. I took a pleasing cold bath pulling out loads out of the fresh well waters. I called up Bombay to mention my safe-reaching and to assure them of no back-breaks, thanks to the grand machine that Fiero proved it is.
The tasty dinner was followed by a blissful sleep that took me back on the ride into the night... the night that I'd slept as well as stayed awake!
(Fri, Aug 15, 2003: 0715 BSK- Iskcon- Nelamangala- [NH-48] Kunigal- 1500 Channarayapatna- Hassan- Sakleshpur- (Shiradi)- (Uppinangadi)- Mangalore- [NH-17] Surathkal- Udupi (Udupi Krishna Mandir) 1800- Kundapura- Bhatkal- Honnavara- 2130 Karki)
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