Kerala, Nature & Wildlife, Tamil Nadu

Explore the Best of Valparai on a Weekend

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My friends and I had heard sufficiently about the rich wildlife of the region surrounding Pollachi, its beautiful sceneries and perfectly trimmed tea estates. Valparai is a lesser known hill station in the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary (earlier known as Annamalai Wildlife Sanctuary). Kollywood stars and burnt out urbanites frequent this place to de-stress themselves and savor a slice of nature. Here, as one ambles past mud walled, thatched roof dwellings, granaries of farmers and tea estates fringed plateau, don’t be surprised if you happen to hear someone screaming ‘start camera’, ‘action’. This is a hot spot for movie makers with over 1500 movies and commercials having been shot here. And we too got lucky when we happened to visit the sets and share our homestay with the crew of the movie- ‘Madras cafe’ during this trip of ours.

A weekend itinerary was primarily planned by one of my friends and a few must-see items were pushed into the plan by me. Since this place falls on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, we decided to make it a three states’ drive including Karnataka. Accordingly, five of us started from Bangalore on a Friday night. Since it is also a bio-diversity hotspot, I had listed 5 animals on my ‘to-spot’ list while at Valparai. Valparai is the end destination after driving through 32 hairpin bends. Being a hill station, Valparai weather is specifically delightful with a cool climate throughout the year. It is usually the road leading to Valparai that is enjoyable with scenic vistas and photo-points. I had enlisted them with day 1 in the Tamil Nadu side of the sanctuary and then spending the second day on the Kerala side of the forested land.

Itinerary:

Day 0: Leave from Bangalore by night (Own car)
Day 1: Reach Pollachi before sunrise. Backwaters of the Aliyar dam, monkey falls, Loam’s viewpoint, Carver Marsh viewpoint, Congreve falls, Vinayagar temple, Birla falls, Balaji temple, Iraichalparai falls, Nallamudi Pooncholai viewpoint, ChinnarKallar hanging bridge trek, Sholaiyar backwaters (night stay at a homestay in Chalakudy)
Day 2: Athirapally falls, Vazachal falls and return to Bengaluru via Ooty.

The details:

Part 1: Tamil Nadu

During the night journey, I had dozed away on the rear seat of the car. When I opened my eyes to the misty morning dawn, our car was greeted by beautiful countryside with tree-lined roads, emerald fields of paddy, whispering palms and coconut plantations in the backdrop of the towering Western Ghats. We had reached Pollachi in Tamil Nadu. We waited near Aliyar park until 06.00.a.m. for the forest check post to open.

a. We registered our entry into the wildlife sanctuary there and proceeded on our journey. Our drive further towards Valparai, was an ascent along the winding road by the backwaters of the Aliyar irrigation dam.

View of the Aliyar backwaters

b. Four kilometers further from the forest check post, we reached the monkey falls. The waterfall is aptly named due to the many troublesome monkeys here. One even entered our car and happily carried away a bag full of fruits from the rear seat. Our drive continued…

c. Just as we approached the 9th curve (the Loam’s viewpoint), we were greeted by this gentleman who was calmly grazing on the edge of the steep rocks.
We scored off the first member on our list of top 5 wildlife to see- ‘The Nilgiri Tahr’.

Nilgiri Tahr – Photo credits: Samson Joseph

d. Continuing our drive, we stopped at Carver Marsh viewpoint adjoining the Kavarkal estate. On a clear day, we were told that one can see the Sholayar reservoir (2nd deepest dam in Asia) from there.

e. We then cruised past the Tiger valley from where we caught a good view of the upper Aliyar reservoir.

At the entrance to Sholayar / Kallyar estates

f. We covered Congreve falls (located in the Nadumalai estate), Vinayagar temple (Jayashree estate) & Birla falls along the way up. We got good view of the Manopally forest and the grass hills of the sanctuary.

g. Ox-bow lakes situated inside the protected area is supposedly the highlight of this region for those who can manage to get permission from the forest authorities. We failed at it since we didn’t have insufficient information on the channels for the permits.

h. We visited the Balaji temple and the nearby Iraichalparai falls along way.

Just along our way, it was time to score off no.2: groups of ‘Lion tailed Macaque’ were walking all over the road and around. Even before we realized, we had reached the hilltop.

Lion Tailed Macaque- Valparai

i. We stopped by and trekked through the tea estates to reach the ‘Seen god shrine’ at the Nallamudi Pooncholai viewpoint. An old man, who claims to have seen god, blessed us with some prayers and turned out to be an encyclopedia of knowledge about the local culture and history. He explained to us about the various tribal settlements in these hills… pointing out at colonies, he would tell- Kadars, Muthuvars and Malai Malasars. They are estimated to have 190 households in 8 settlements in the sanctuary.

While we walked towards our car, the women picking tea shoots warned us not to proceed further. She pointed at a herd of 8-9 elephants feasting around at a distance, thus scoring off no.3 on my list.

j. We then drove to ChinnarKallar for the hanging bridge trek. In spite of driving all the way, we refrained from shelling out 250 Rs. per head just for the entry which sounded to us more like a bribe at the forest check post. This place is among the highest rainfall receiving areas in India. No doubt that the Valparai weather is pleasant all through the year and is an upcoming weekend destination among the urban crowd of the nearby metro cities.

We put our car in reverse and just then… no.4: The giant flying squirrel (a young one and wasn’t flying though) crossed our road. We were excited…!!

k. After covering places in the Tamil Nadu part of the sanctuary, we headed towards the Kerala border. We saw a calm stretch of the Koolangal river and decided to spend some time there. We could not compel ourselves from not taking a sip of its crystal-clear waters.

And right there. we saw this little creature on no.5: ‘The common map butterfly’

The Common map butterfly

Part 2: Kerala

We registered at the border check post and prepared to enter the Kerala land. Thick rainforests on both sides accompanied us all the way till our destination. We happened to drive through what I think is one of the dangerous roads I have been through. With the Sholaiyar backwaters on one side and a valley on the other side, only one vehicle can pass at a time. Beautiful views for most of the stretch kept us in an awe. Tunnels have been bored through the mountains to supply water to Parambikulam reserve from the Nirar dam.

We reached Athirapally reserve just after sunset. We got a quick glance of the beautiful waters cascading down to join the Chalakudy river. It was soon dark, and we checked into Maria cottage (a local homestay) where we were made us feel at home and served some sumptuous Mallu food.

Next morning, we walked past the palm plantations to reach the Chalakudy river to freshen up. This place is frequented by elephants at all times, but we did not care. We enjoyed the clear but rapids of the water there. We took a refreshing dip before returning to our homestay. We checked out of the place after having a good filling Malayalee breakfast.

Post this, we went back to the Athirapally waterfalls. We walked down to the base of the waterfalls and spent good time there. We had to then continue our drive, as our target was to reach Bangalore by night. After a quick stop at the Vazachal waterfalls (it is more like water flowing down a steep rock than a waterfall), we decided to say goodbye to Kerala.

Athirapally waterfalls

Part 3: Karnataka

The original plan was to drive through the route covering Ooty-Bandipur-Mysore to reach Bangalore. But, since we were behind schedule, we could not reach Bandipur before the forest gates closed (the forest gates are open only between 06.00a.m. to 06.p.m.). So, we decided to drive back through the curvy stretch of Pollachi road again.

We further drove through Udumalpet which happens to be one of the windiest places in Southern India. Thousands of windmills dot the stretch on either side which is a sight to behold. It was dark in no time and we had to zip ASAP to reach our offices on the following morning.

Thus, ended our 50 hours’ drive, covering 1000 kms across 3 states!

Nature & Wildlife, Tamil Nadu

Kurusudai island- A new world off Indian coast

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Fisheries, Coastal police, wildlife conservation NGOs.. We have dialed any random and all possible numbers to get clarity and the permission to go to the Kurusudai island.. Thanks to Madhu, with a struggle for over a month to get permission from the authorities- the right phone number struck,  and we finally pulled it off… 🙂 Kurusudai is one among the 21 islands in the gulf of Mannar and a site of importance in research due to its rich marine bio reserves.

Gulf of Mannar marine national park area
Gulf of Mannar marine national park area

So, our last day at Rameshwaram- Our destination ahead was fixed 🙂 An early morning bus from Pamban dropped us half way till Manimandapam. From there, a rickshaw ride took us to Vivekananda memorial hall where the 2 forest guides, the oarsman and the motorboat were all waiting for us 🙂 without wasting much time, our boat set sail.. We could see Kurusudai island at a kilometer’s distance across the clear blue waters of the Gulf of Mannar. We had to contain our excitement lest be quoted as psychos by the people who accompanied us.

We stepped on land in no time- we were briefed about the island in the information center and were also instructed not to use our cameras for any sort of photography. There are nearly 3600 marine species spread around 10,500sq.kms of the marine reserve. 117 coral species, 13 mangrove species, 460 molluscan species and 12 species of sea grasses are found here.. A haven for a bird watcher too with over 217 species of birds found here.. And then our guided tour around the island took wings.. or rather.. set sail 🙂

We first sighted a vibrant red star fish seated comfortably on a barrel coral.. But we soon realised.. that echinoderms were the highlight of the walk.. about 100 species of echinoderms are found in this marine reserve. Sea urchins, Sea potatoes, Sea cookies(sand dollar, snapper biscuit, pansy shell, sea biscuit, sand disc, sand cake, cake urchin and sea pancake are other common names given for these relatively shy invertebrates), sea cucumbers (of varying colours and sizes)  dotted the entire shoreline of the island.. Sea lotus of different colours was another highlight of the walk.. We saw the marine plant- Pemphis acidula- an endemic plant to this area. The sea grass(Enhalus acuroidus) is another plant endemic to these reserves found abundantly all around. However, we were more keen on spotting the  Balanoglossus(Ptychodera flura)- which happens to be the only living fossil in the world which links vertebrates and invertebrates; endemic to this area as well.. However, our guide could not understand what we were trying to ask due to the language barrier of Tamil:(

Since it was low tide, we could walk into the sea- all along the shore where an infinite range of sea weeds, multi-hued reefs and sea grasses spread over the shallow bed of the sparkling water brightened up the entire ambience of the place. From shades of violet to red, the raised coral reefs of the Islands are not only a special attraction of the place but also chart high on the list of marine biologists. We also spotted a notable array of algae, sponges, sea anemones, cowries, volutes, whelks, crabs, strombids, tonnids, sting rays, oysters among others too..

However, in high tides– this island is a good sighting place for the endangered Sea cows(Dugongs) and dolphins(bottle-nosed dolphin, the common dolphin and the finless porpoise). The land is also home to 3 species of turtles which includes the Hawksbill, Green and Olive Ridley turtles. No.. we didn’t sight them… We had to be EXTREMELY LUCKY for that and needed more time(which we were deprived of:( )

However, the main purpose of this blog post…. Tourism is prohibited here and getting permission for a genuine research itself is such a tough deal.. And we really hope that the general public behave themselves when they encounter such rarity of sightings, do not pollute and RESPECT mother nature for the immense amount of patience she beholds and admire the beauty of what she has to offer.. it really hurts when we find even a small candy wrapper sailing or flying up in the otherwise clean atmosphere where so many other genuinely interested people put in their hearts and souls in the conservation activities. What we give only comes back.. Give respect and take respect.. If not, nature has her own ways to take a toll on all the disrespect..!!

Statewise Travel, Tamil Nadu

Offbeat Places to Visit in Rameshwaram on a Weekend

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This was a destination that my friend and I had been contemplating to travel for some time. The trip turned into certainty only when my friend had the confirmed tatkal tickets in her hands after a wait of over an hour in the queue at the railway station. Then on the following evening, the two of us commenced our weekend journey towards Rameswaram by boarding our train from Bengaluru cantonment station to Madurai. We had a few important things to check-off on our small list for places to see and things to do at Rameswaram. Since the travel tickets were confirmed in the last moment, we had barely any time to make hotel reservations. We decided to go there and find something for ourselves.

Our Itinerary:

Day 0: Evening train to Madurai from Bengaluru Cantonment railway station.
Day 1: Arrival at Rameswaram and visit to Ramanathaswamy temple (TNSRTC bus from Madurai to Rameswaram)
Day 2: Visit to Dhanushkodi (Local bus from Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi), Rameswaram local sightseeing (hire an autorickshaw for half day), Sunset & Beach walk near Pamban bridge.
Day 3: Visit to Kurusudai islands (Local bus to Vivekananda Mandapam & hire a local boat from there to reach Kurusudai islands), Return to Pamban boat jetty; Return to Bangalore (Train to Madurai & change train from Madurai to Bangalore).

The details:

Day 1– Arrival at Rameswaram and visit to Ramanathaswamy temple

The train reached Madurai by 7.20.a.m. After freshening up at the station itself, we left for our main destination. The TNSRTC buses are quite frequent and it took us a journey of 3.5 hours to reach Rameswaram. Enroute, we passed through Ramanathapuram- the last stretch of mainland India. Once we reached Mandapam, the entry point to the island town of Rameswaram, we had our excitement running at its peak. For the next 15minutes, our bus was cruising over the bow shaped road bridge that oversaw the famous Pamban rail bridge. Pamban bridge is an edifice of engineering that is still standing strong on its 100th year in commissioning. This is a bridge that would connect us to the other side of the land, to a town that would host hundreds of stories from the Ramayana during our stay there, over the next couple of days.

After arriving at the Rameswaram bus stand, we noticed the tourist office that stood right opposite. We wanted to try our chance to get permission to the Kurusudai island and hence, registered our names as tourists in their logbook. This island is a protected area and we had tried hard to get permission for our visit even before starting our trip. Though indirectly, our random chance visit to the tourist office in fact helped us BIG time (Click here to read the story in detail).

Lord Rama is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Then, why is the city named after Eshwar? It is important to know at least this while you are there in Rameswaram. Here goes the story… Ravana, (a Brahmin) was a devotee of Lord Shiva (aka Eswaran). On performing penance, Ravana was blessed with a boon by Shiva such that- anyone who tried to harm Ravana would face Brahma dosha. Further, during the war between Rama & Ravana, Rama (a Kshatriya) killed Ravana who then happened to face the wrath of the dosha. Rama then, had to perform pooja to Shiva, the only one who could help him out of the dosha. Here, Eswaran helped Rama. Thus, the name to the town- Rameshwar. I was told that there is a similar story for a town called Ravaneshwar in Lanka.

We walked towards the temple road, roamed around a bit and finally checked into a decent looking hotel close to the main temple. After freshening up, we headed to the main landmark of this pilgrim town, Sri Ramanathaswamy temple. The world’s fifth largest monolithic Nandi statue guards the entrance of this temple. We were overwhelmed to walk across the longest temple corridor in the world and felt blessed after bathing in the water from the 22 sacred wells on the temple. Since it was quite a tiring day due to all the traveling, we decided to sleep early as we had a long day of exploration on the itinerary, next.

Day 2: Exploring Dhanushkodi and local sightseeing at Rameswaram

On the following day, it was Holi: The festival of colors. We were sitting at the Agnitheertham beach at 4.30.a.m watching hundreds of devotees taking a holy dip in the sea. But we were waiting for something else. We were waiting to welcome a day that would unfold with a palette of the best colors that nature could show. Although the wait was long, it was only by 07.00.a.m. when we witnessed what is by far, one of the best sunrises we had seen till date.

Sunrise viewed from Agnitheertham beach
Sunrise viewed from Agnitheertham beach

We boarded a bus from there to Dhanushkodi- The ghost city. Although a visit to Dhanushkodi was one of the most awaited part of the trip, it was not our best. From all the stories and experiences, we had imagined of Dhanushkodi, we had expected to need at least one full day there. It is a place that we wanted to explore and not run through which can be best done only if one had a vehicle at his / her own disposal. However, we were at the mercy of public transportation on this budget trip. Like all visitors or “tourists” who had come down there, we too had to settle for a tour of this deserted city in one of the local tourist buses. A round trip was completed in about 3hours with a cost of 100Rs per head not satiating our need to see more of this abandoned town.

  • Apart from the few main structures and temples (old railway station, church, temple of the floating stone, etc.) that you would see during your tour package(local bus), a few other things that you can do during your trip to Dhanushkodi are:
    • A walk through the waters of the Bay of Bengal till the Kodandaramasamy temple is a must do. The water level never goes above your knees.
    • The Ramasetu or the Sethusamudram is something that can be visualized if you have a proper guide with you.
    • A drive on the asphalt road that stretches up to Dhanushkodi is something to die for. With the calm Bay of Bengal on one side and the rough Arabian sea on the other, the drive is every traveler’s delight.
    • On your return, you can cover Jada Teertha & Nambu Nayagiamman temple (both located at just a couple of kms before Dhanushkodi.
Ruins of the old church
Ruins of the old church

One hour up on our watches and we were back in the main town. We settled a deal for Rs.250 with an autorickshaw guy who would take us on a quick visit of the major places around the town. Some of the places thus covered include:

• Gandaparvatham / Rama paadam- the highest point in the island town from where one can catch a good view of the scenery around.
• Sugriva Teertha (a small pond)
• Saatchi Hanuman temple
• Bhadrakali Amman temple
• Rama Teertha
• Krishna temple
• Lakshmana Teertha
• Five-faced Hanuman temple- The floating stones used for the construction of Rama Sethu can be seen here as well.
• The house of former President of India, his honor: A.P.J. Abdul Kalam- It is now converted into a museum.

Sri Rama theertham
Sri Rama theertham

An interesting thing we noticed in the architectural style of all the structures in Rameswaram was that with the Ramanathaswamy temple being an exception, all the other temples that I have mentioned above are typically built in the Nagara style of architecture. Having covered Rama, Sugriva and Lakshmana teertha, we were curious to enquire if there was a ‘Sita Teertha’ too. Our guide cum autorickshaw driver nodded and brought us to a place on the highway. And to our dismay, he pointed to a small tank by the roadside. It was filled with green stagnant water and a good mosquito breeding ground. “Damn…!! this patriarchal Indian society…!!” I exclaimed.

We were done with local sightseeing by early evening, and still had a LOT of time left until sunset. Standing on the road bridge and peeking down at the train tug over the century old engineering marvel- Pamban was a sight not to be missed. So, we decided to head towards Pamban bridge.

Once we saw a train pass over it, we decided to stroll around a small fishing hamlet that we just across the street. We got some good clicks of the Pamban from the boat jetty in this fishing hamlet. While straying around there, my eyes fell on the light house that was located a few meters across the village. We asked for directions and reached there in less than half and hours’ time. While we waited for the gates to the lighthouse to open, we tagged along with a few kids, our new friends at the fishermen’s cove. With the kids excited to converse in English with us, we did so while taking a walk further down to the seashore. With a magnificent view of the sun setting in the backdrop of the Pamban in the distant end, we settled down under the shade of a mangrove tree until the sun went down completely.

The sunset from the fishermen's cove
The sunset from the fishermen’s cove

It was soon dark, and we had to head back to the temple road for a safer crowd. We bought some peanuts masala from the vendor on the seashore and found a comfortable seat for ourselves to catch some peaceful time. It was a full moon night.

On that wonderful day: We had seen the faint horizon emerge out from the pitch darkness of the sky that brightened into broad daylight with a series of color change and then the white sky of the day fade into the black of the night … And again, the night’s sky was lit up by the beautiful full moon… Yes… We had witnessed one COMPLETE day…

Full moon lit night sky as seen from the Agnitheertham boat jetty
Full moon lit night sky as seen from the Agnitheertham boat jetty

Day 3: Visit to Kurusudai island and return to Bengaluru

Based on some local contacts, we had got a last-minute permit to visit the Kurusudai island. As per the directions given, we had to check out early and catch the 8.00.a.m bus from Akka-Madang to Vivekananda memorial hall. Our boat was waiting for us with the guide to take us to another world- A world of exotic marine animals- ‘the Kurusudai island ‘. (A more elaborate article on this visit can be read by clicking here). To sum up- “We were lucky to get there”.

From Kurusudai island, we got dropped at the Pamban boat jetty. Our boat was anchored somewhere amid hundred other boats and hence, we had to walk across through knee deep sea water to get to the shore. This walking experience was unique in its own way as one doesn’t get such a sight in any other boat jetty. We had to place every step of ours’ so carefully that we did not want to accidentally step on and kill the in-numerous star fishes or sea cucumbers that were lying on the shore bed.

We walked further up to the Pamban railway station and bought our tickets for the 12.00. O’clock train to Madurai. And soon the train arrived. We boarded and our hearts were pounding hard with excitement. We had bought tickets for a train…. A train to Madurai which would actually ply over the Pamban bridge, an experience that we were waiting to live through. It was an even special ride since it was a journey over the historical Pamban bridge on its 100th year of existence. We couldn’t ask for more…!!!

View of the bow shaped road bridge from the Pamban bridge
View of the bow shaped road bridge from the Pamban bridge

In 4 hours, we alighted at the Madurai junction… But yeah, even as I was wondering how everything went so fine through this entire trip, the surprise was waiting for us at the station- our train to Bengaluru would arrive 3hours late. And what followed is… history.

Have you visited Rameswaram? What was the purpose of your visit, Pilgrimage, family vacation or backpacking? What is your story from your visit? I would be excited to hear from you!

Bangalore day trips, Karnataka

Day tripping at Tumkur

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It was exactly a year ago, that I decided to celebrate my birthday by taking a short trip and break from my work. Mom and I drove our car from home in Bangalore at around 8.00.a.m. and headed towards Tumkur with a plan to spend the entire day outside. We wanted to cover as many landmarks in Tumkur as possible.

List of places covered:

  • Devarayanadurga hills: This area has two ancient temples, also a reserved forest area at Naamada chilume
  • Koratagere: Goravanahalli Lakshmi temple and the reservoir nearby.
  • Siddaganga Mutt: You can combine this with a short trek up the Siddaganga hilltop.

First, we headed towards Devarayanadurga hills where the twin temples are located. A winding road along a picturesque landscape lead us to Yoga Narasimha Swamy temple atop. The view from the top was beautiful with early morning dew settling on the warm rocks. We got the first aarathi (Pooja) of the day and rushed to Bhoganarasimha Swamy temple situated at the base of the hill. It is the custom that the doors of the later opens only after pooja at the hilltop.

Top: The view of Devarayanadurga hills; Bottom left: the temple pond at Yoganarasimha temple; Bottom right: Bhoganarasimha temple

From there, we drove towards Naamada chilume. This is a small spring nestled amid the greenery protected by the forest department. It is believed that Lord Rama rested at this place enroute to Lanka. When he woke up in the morning, he did not find water to make his vermillion (Naama- in Kannada). Hence, shot an arrow to a boulder from where a small spring emerged. This is a perennial water source even till date. This is part of a reserve forest area and there are a few spotted deer kept in an enclosure. Nothing very exciting about this place, we would have skipped it if we had known.

Top: The road to Naamada Chilume; Bottom left: A guesthouse at Naamada Chilume park, Bottom right: the water spring where Lord Rama’s arrow struck

From there, we lost our way and reached the main road after a very long drive. We asked the locals for directions towards Goravanahalli. This village is famous for the Lakshmi temple and better known for- Late Kamalamma, the holy lady. We finished our pooja amidst the crowd, took turns to make a wish at the wishing pillar. There is a small lake and a reservoir at a walkable distance from there. We went up there and had our packed lunch with the cool breeze and a good view. Soon after, we planned our next destination- Sri.Siddaganga Mutt.

We were blessed with the holy water of Siddaganga. We took a stroll around the huge campus of the mutt and were awestruck with the service rendered to the society. And then, we were in for a BIG surprise… An occult of the least expected. We felt blessed when we got the darshan of his holiness Sri.Shivakumara Swamiji… It is when least expected, miracles happen. Swamiji who is fondly called ‘the walking god’, was gracefully sitting on the porch of the Mutt and blessing the visitors. Even after several days of planning to get an opportunity to see him, people consider it hard to be able to see him. And there I was, right at his feet, taking blessings from this Holy man. I was thrilled, ecstatic and had goosebumps. Only countable people on this planet have this magical aura around them (according to me), and he is one!

Sri Siddaganga Mutt
A nandi carved out of a rock at Sri Siddaganga Mutt with the image of Sri.Shivakumara Swamiji

With that, it was a wrap to our day tripping, and we headed back home, feeling all blessed (literally! With a long day of temple visits) and having a small peek into history and mythology here and there along our way.

Trekking enthusiasts have a lot of options around Tumkur. I have covered these places on separate occasions.

  • Siddara Betta: A trek and a holy place
  • Madhugiri Betta: A trek with a good view and has ruins of an old fort atop
  • Siddaganga Betta: A hike accessible near the mutt, offers good view from the top with some mythological spots along the way.
  • Seebi: A place for those interested in history
Time Travel, Work Life

Break out free.. Happy new year 2014

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<02-Jan-2014>

It is that time of the year yet again, when everyone wishes good for their near and dear ones.. And for me- it was time for another surprise gift at work with a thought to ponder for the year ahead.. Remember- I received an aquarium from secret Santa in 2013 ? This time, I had a paper crane placed on my table with ‘Happy New Year’ written on it… It looked sweet 🙂

And then the man behind this message, himself spoke. ‘Do you get what it means?’

“Hmm yeah.! Its the paper I had circulated in office for everyone to write the farewell message before Mr.ABC left.. You’ve made an Origami bird out of that and returned it to me.. That’s sweet.. Thank you :)” I said.

“Yeah.. But, this is the one from Prison Break..” he explained.. “Anyways.. Happy new year :)” he said.

The lead character in this TV series sends origami cranes with coded messages on them to his significant other. The cranes signify the fact that everything will eventually be okay. (I think that’s what it means in Japanese culture).

This little thing on my table was trying to communicate to me that it was time for me to start finding a way to break out.. Break free from the monotony of life.. Oh yeah..!! This simple piece of paper craft makes so much sense to me now..!! And it is high time I start considering it.. Thank you sooo much friend… for putting that reminder on my table.. I will now be reminded when I see it every morning until I find my way.. 🙂

Time Travel

The Year that was- 2013

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It is the 1st day of the new year.. But, before embracing the new palette of lessons, I would like to sum up the gonebys.. The YEAR 2013- has been so much to me.. Both personally and professionally..

 On the professional front :

  • Jan-13 is when I completed my probation term and earned a designation to call myself..
  • 2013 is when my independent address to the top management, heading a supplier audit, handling a dealer audit solely and chairing an affiliate meeting all happened for the first time.
  • Two good friends/ Teammates bid farewell to the organisation.
  • New job roles, new team, new responsibilities, The year has been quite a roller-coaster ride.

 On the travel front– the year started with a farewell to the lead planner of all our trips..

To sum up: 2013 has made up for every aspect of travel- liesure, adventure, exploration, fun, tradition & profession.

A coin that I hold close to my heart - it represents happiness- double in 2013
A coin that I hold close to my heart – it represents happiness- double in 2013

 And now… the other chunk- “My personal life”

  • The year in which the wedding bells chimed for 2 of my besties as they entered the next phase of their lives 🙂
  • The year in which my mommy celebrated the peak of her career with her promotion 🙂
  • A year for facing the wrath of moral policing – shelling out fine for drunken driving at mid-night 😦
  • A year in which I recklessly forgot almost ALL important birthdays.. 😦
  • Time crunch in this year has shrunken my social circle, but that’s what I want to thank the year for- time does not give everyone the opportunity so early in life to pick those few friends who will stand by you till the end.

2013 has given me more joy and less grief than any of those gone-by yester-years.. A BIG THANK YOU to the year that blessed me with love & happiness with the most wonderful people on earth until the very last moment of the year 🙂

Karnataka, Nature & Wildlife

Tiger Census Part 1- The Chase

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Tiger Census is a week long quadrennial event conducted all over India at the same time. A total of 5,00,000 sq.kms area – 17 states- 40,000 forest beats to be covered with 2000 personnel pulled in to count an estimated 1700 tigers nationwide. The event was scheduled from 16-Dec-13 to 23-Dec-13. With 2 days of training, the census will be done in 2 parts. The 1st 3days will mainly concentrate on tracking the carnivore population(including tigers, leopards etc) through critical carnivore trails and the next 3 days will be through specified transact lines identified to count the herbivores and evaluate the healthiness of the carnivore habitat.

The public can participate based on an online application and selection procedure. It is purely voluntary wherein, 1 volunteer will be accompanied by 2 forest guards and allocated a specific beat inorder to spot the mighty one with the stripes..!! The forest department would provide bare minimum logistics (read it food) However, beddings need to be carried by the volunteers themselves 🙂

So all said and done, I was shortlisted as a volunteer for Kallahalla Wildlife Range in the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Last minute preparations, arguments with folks for permission, hunt for a notary for getting the indemnity bond attested.. I was all done and all set for the LONG week ahead 🙂

Day 1: After getting misguided by google maps a couple of times, I had arrived at the forest office in Kallahalla by noon. After the enrollment formalities were done, there was a small briefing for the volunteers about the do’s and don’ts in the forest. We were not in a luxury campsite, we had to remember and be alert always. We were then directed to the camp to grab some rest before the hectic week ahead 🙂

The camp itself was in the middle of the national park that boasts of the highest density of tigers in India. The shelter we had to look upto during our next few days was an old abandoned 3 BHK house which once served as a forest staff quarters. Now, there laid only the walls and a thatched roof with no doors, no electricity and no phone connectivity. We would have the privilege of being greeted by wild animals at our door step every morning and reptiles creeping in to the living room every now and then. We did not have to be surprised even if one fine morning, the tiger himself waved a ‘Hai’ at us while sitting on the porch.. The only things that we had with us to protect ourselves were our sleeping bags, camouflage clothing, trekking boots, torches and some insect repellents. That evening, we opted to sit out in the open, under the clear starry sky until the biting cold of the December night froze us. It was just a day past full moon 🙂

Day 2: We all assembled by 6.00.a.m in front of our camp where I was introduced to Mr.Swamy & Chikkanna. They were the guards who would accompany me through the due days ahead. Chikkanna was a ‘Kaadu Kuruba’ tribal person. He could recognize the forest with just it’s sounds and smell. He knew every grain and twig in the forest. Swamy was a Bachelor’s in Biology. Chikkanna’s role was to manage the team with the survival skills for the deep jungle and help identify things with their local names. Swamy would then document everything with the local and their scientific names. And me? I was a general public, getting aware of various aspects of forestry and the habitat census procedure itself.

Mr.Swamy saved the camp as the reference point in his GPS and the three of us marched towards our beat. We stopped by every now and then to make a note of the different animal scats that we found along our way. Also, the forest grass cover, vegetation, commercial trees, medicinal plants, herbs, shrubs, every thing were recorded. The scat samples that we collected in small sachets included those of wild cat, barking deer, rabbits, sambars, spotted deers, bears etc. along with that of the tiger as well.. Further ahead, as we marched a few kilometres into the thicket, we reached a small bit of moist land. We spotted aleast a dozen of jungle fowls around there. We walked around the place and noted fresh pug marks of a tiger mother & a cub who had just dropped by, to quench their thirst. We proceeded further and the sight I encountered next needs a special mention. Atleast 50 parakeets emerged out of a small bush when I walked by. It was truly Awesome 🙂 I cursed myself several times for not being able to identify the innumerable bird species I came across all the way. We saw a tree-full of langurs, Malabar giant squirrels and sambars. We encountered a pack of wild dogs(dholes) who surely were upto a well laid strategy. However, the day soon ended without any major direct sighting of the tiger.

Day 3: Another day, filled with anxiety began at 6.00.a.m. We were greeted at the entrance of the transact line by some wild hogs. The 2km stretch of the transact was covered without any sightings apart from elephant dung all the way. Further downhill, we saw fresh tiger scat and I had already started to crib about having missed a glimpse of the striped beast by a few minutes 😦 Peacocks, barking deers peeked into our way at times. We then grabbed some wild berries from one of the trees along our way. We consumed it only after it was okayed as ‘Safe for consumption’ by Chikkanna.

When we continued our walk further, Chikkanna stopped us suddenly and asked us to stay still for a while. He pointed- “Elephant..!!” He concentrated on the sound and again said- “There are 2..!!” Within moments, we heard the thumping sound of the elephants moving towards us.. 100mts.. 50mts.. 10 mts.. SHIT.. We saw them both right there.. “RUN…”Chikkanna commanded.!! The three of us just ran… and the elephant mother & calf duo followed us… We ran.. they ran.. We ran further. “TREE..” Chikkanna pointed. And we three climbed and reached the top of the tree within seconds. (It is unbeleivable how you end up doing things that you have never done before, when it is for life.. I had never climbed a tree before. Atleast not one this high..!!) The duo continued towards us. Swamy grabbed a few crackers from his bag and lit them one by one. After bursting 5-6 crackers, the elephant duo decided to spare us. Although petrified a little bit at my first near death adventure, I descended the tree and continued our walk further.

We passed by something that looked like a tiger’s den with few bones stranded here and there. We reached Kiggere- the tropical moist deciduous part of the forest. It is a grassland, where we saw herds of spotted deers grazing all around. We rested there for a while and feasted on the fruits that we had collected along our way. The second leg of the day continued here on, towards Kebbekatte.

Climbers, creepers, bushes, thorns- we waded them all.. and suddenly pug marks appeared from nowhere. “The tiger has just walked down to the watering hole-200mts down the line(Kebbekatte), we might be lucky“- Chikku said. “Shh..” followed an alarming sound. “It’s a tusker.!! He is close..” We looked around and couldn’t find any trees this time. We real7sed that we were stranded between an elephant chase. Swamy reached out to his supervisor over the walkie-talkie to inform him of our status. He was informed that we were stuck midway and it was not possible for help to reach us from either ends of the beat. Without an option, Swamy lit a couple of crackers this time. And, we were all releived for getting lucky again, for the 2nd time.. We then walked towards Kebbekatte. It was an unfortunate day for us as we had just scared the tiger away which was spotted by the other beat who had arrived there before us.

Day 4: My heart kept thumping a little harder than usual. I felt a bit nervous while I was heading towards the jungle. My fingers were crossed all the way hoping to have no more adventures. I felt it was okay even if I did not spot a tiger, but wanted to reach back alive and kicking. I kept walking blindly behind Chikkanna who lead Swamy and me. We had to literally find our way out of the bushes which had overgrown all of us, blinding our way further. We could not even see if a tiger sat by, snarling at us. I heaved a sigh of releif when I got the 1st glance of the Kiggere grassland. the 1st part of the beat was accomplished, peacefully..!! Chikkanna moved into the bushes to answer the nature’s call. And so did Swamy, behind another one. I was trying to pacify my thumping heart standing all alone in the meadow. Tigers are mostly spotted in open grasslands, I had read. Then, on hearing the trumpet of an elephant, Chikkanna emerged out of the bush. He signaled Swamy to join us asap. He explained to us that the tusker was calling for a fight and is moving towards Baalekatte(our route further). We walked ahead slowly along the same route. Suddenly, Swamy pointed out to our right and screamed- “Run Run… its a Herd.. Herd..

It took few seconds for Chikkanna & me to believe our eyes. We had forgotten to look out in other directions while we were concentrating on the lone tusker. About 10-12 gigantic pachyderms were marching towards us, at a distance of barely 20mts from us… We three started to run… Chikkanna shouted- “The tusker & the herd, both are heading towards Baalekere, let us run towards Doddkere“. We three ran..

Tadan…. Another tusker stood right infront of us…. We three were surrounded by these pachyderms from 3 sides.. Chikkanna and Swamy ran.. I followed them.. While the two were running much ahead of me, I got entangled in between a thick bunch of creepers. “F**K… This is it..!!” I thought. But, I saw god in disguise running towards me with a dagger in his hand and free me out of the tangle. It was Chikkanna. After running for a distance, he had turned back to check on me. On noticing that I wasn’t there, he had come back.

The monsters were close, we continued to run.. I again tripped over a snake that crossed my leg.. I leaped over and continued to run. Meanwhile, Swamy had lit a few crackers and planted them along the way. Out of 6 odd something crackers, only one bursted. The sound was good enough to shoo the tuskers away.. We continued to run and reached the safe confines of a tree trunk on the otherside of Kebbekatte lake.

After a short while, we met the group from the other beat and headed towards Sulekere along with them. This was the last option we had, to catch a glimpse of the striped monster. We waited there for a long while hoping for him to come there to drink some water. We saw bisons and other animals walking in there, but hard luck- we could not spot a TIGER 😦

And thus ended our tryst with the wild.. The pug marks were all accounted which will be matched with the camera images captured by NCTA and a compiled report will be out in a few months’ time 🙂

Whether it was my chase of the ‘Tiger trail’ or if it was ‘Me getting chased for being in the elephant trail’, I don’t know. But what I’m certain was ‘The Chase’ was over..

Well wait, did I say the chase ended? No wait, our adventure followed us all the way to Bangalore and stayed with me for atleast another month. You’d be excited to know…. Click here to read Part TWO!

Random rants

I hate to grow up..!!

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Recently, I had been to my hometown on a weekend.. The few hours I spent with my little cousin made me all nostalgic about the good old childhood days I spent there.. He took me to the front yard of the house and placed his pets in a line.. “On your mark.. get set… Peeeee” went his whistle.. It was a race organised by him for 3 tortoises & a cane turtle that he found in the paddy field.. Just as the race began, the turtle turned backwards and began to run(or walk rather).. I saw my little brother panic.. It was very funny and I found it very cute at the same time..

The Tortoise & the turtle race
The Tortoise & the turtle race

There are some small things about life that you miss a lot when you grow up.. The little innocence of being a child, those priceless toys- sand castles, straw tents, slushy puddles, paper boats, pull carts of dried coconut tree branches.. We ran naked around the house and the estates- We NEVER knew what SHY meant..

Children enjoying their shower in a small stream amid the greens of our estate
Children enjoying their shower in a small stream amid the greens of our estate

And then, when we grew up a little more, we did it for competitions- To see whose paper kites flew higher and stayed longer in the sky.. Whose wooden top spun longer, Which catapult shot the farthest, Who had the most number of marbles.. Who caught most number of dragonflies in the empty horlicks bottle.. Who lit the room brightest with their collection of glow-worms.. And further, I remember- stealing an empty glass jar and a cotton towel every weekend with my older cousin- All just for the sheer sake of fishing in the stream nearby.. And, we’d be the proud fishermen of the collection in my grani’s lotus pond..

And then.. Our capital increased… Our toys also got more sophisticated.. We started boasting of our collection of tazos, TV-video games, hot-wheels cars..

My little cousin's collection of cars
My little cousin’s collection of cars

We would wait for guests, uncles, aunties to come home.. Cuz they would buy Cadbury gems for us.. Parle poppins, Blue n yellow wrappered Aasay toffees.. We did not expect any expensive chocolate bars..

Ofcourse I witnessed the era of Beyblades & Pokemons too.. But, I considered myself a little more grown up by that time..

Soon I started to earn enough to suffice the crunch for that ONE most expensive toy that would COMPLETE my collection of toys.. But, it is too late now for I have over grown the age of collecting toy cars.. Now people respect me only if I have the REAL ones.. and that too the MOST expensive ones.. Chocolates should be imported and a little bit of rum/vodka in it would spike it up.. Tents mean only those paid camping in expensive holiday resorts.. Now, I frequently fly in aeroplanes.. Spin at the casino.. Even to get into a slush pool.. I’d pay a fat deal at an exotic spa…

SHIT MAN..!!! How I wish… that innocence was not gone.. How I wish.. I had NEVER grown up…

Nature & Wildlife, Tamil Nadu

An Offbeat Guide of Best Things to do in Ooty

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While considering Ooty to Bangalore distance, the Ooty is one of the favourite haunts for Bangaloreans, along with the people from nearby cities like Mysore, Coimbatore, Chennai etc. Popular for its well-groomed tea estates, the pleasant Ooty weather although the year has earned it the title of ‘Queen of Hills’. We were nine friends in two cars on this monsoon weekend trip to explore Ooty district. But this trip was planned by skipping all the tourist places of Ooty and exploring the lesser known corners of the district. We started from Bangalore on a Friday night at 2.00.a.m. hoping to reach Bandipur by 6.00.a.m. That’s when the forest check-post opens, and we hoped that could spot some wild animals along our way. But, due to frequent pit-stops, we made it to the check-post only by 7.00.a.m. Nevertheless, we spotted a good number of elephants, peafowls, fox, deer, sambars, wild boars etc. With so many sightings, it was quite a good start for a trip, I must say! The itinerary for our weekend is as given below.

Itinerary:

Day 0: Leave from Bangalore by night
Day 1: Explore Avalanche forest reserve, explore Ooty, stay at Masinagudi
Day 2: Trekking and other activities at Masinagudi, Wildlife safari at mudumulai forest or Bandipur range, drive back to Bangalore through Bandipur. (Visit Himavad Gopala Swamy temple, if time permits)

The details:

Part 1: Avalanche and Ooty

First in the visit list was the Avalanche, a steep & breathtaking climb of 35 hairpin bends with deep valley covered by thick white snowy clouds on one side led us to Udhagamandalam a.k.a. Ootacamund a.k.a. Ooty. Without wasting much time amidst the maddening crowd of tourists there, we drove down another set of 34 hairpin curves- 25 kms further from Ooty to reach the forest check post of Avalanche. Thick rainforests on either side, bumpy waterlogged potholes and scenic view of the Emerald dam backwaters at every turn, accompanied us all the way till the start point of the eco-tour. Once there, we hired the forest jeep for a 24 kms drive through the Shola forests- A place that was BEAUTIFUL.

Enroute to Lakdi spot @ Avalanche
Enroute to the Bhavani temple at Avalanche

On a clear day, one can see the dam from this place. If one is lucky, he could spot a leopard or an elephant on the way, we were told. Since we were there during monsoon, the thick fog made the visibility poor adding onto the adventure of our jeep ride. On this eco-tour, we visited a century old Bhavani temple, innumerous waterfalls and ended at a beautiful spot called as ‘Lakdi spot’. It had a small stream cascading down in full fury and then running through the shola grasslands surrounded all around. After spending some time there and getting all drenched, we realized that we were all wet till the bones and chattering with cold. Thus, decided to head back to our cars at the entrance.

One of the many waterfalls tucked away in the Avalanche forest
One of the many waterfalls tucked away in the Avalanche forest

From Avalanche, we commenced our drive towards our next and the main destination of the trip: “Masinagudi. Masinagudi is a part of the Mudumulai forest range, the extension of Bandipur National park (in Karnataka) towards the state of Tamil Nadu. Since Ooty is the only and the last town before heading towards the forest area, we decided to take a short break there. We filled our cars with fuel, withdrew cash from the ATM and bought some Ooty chocolates along with other essentials before heading towards the cottage we had booked for our stay. Our stay was in a private estate adjoining the forest fringes or rather say it was located within the reserve forest itself. It was late evening (already dark) by the time we reached our cottage. (NOTE: The forest check-post closes by 06.p.m)

A view of the valley from one of the hairpin bends of Ooty
A view of the valley from one of the hairpin bends of Ooty

Part 2: Masinagudi

We parked our cars at the Singara check post, beyond which the roads are drivable only with a 4WD/SUVs to reach the cottages. Two Mahindra Jeeps were arranged by the cottage guys itself. This 3 km ride from the Singara check post to our cottage was a GRAND welcome in itself: Our road was blocked by herds of elephants, bison and deer. These encounters took our excitement to a soaring high…!!

After a quick round of dinner, we all got ready for the highlight of the trip- The night safari: at 00.00 hrs. in the night, who can believe if we say we drove in an open jeep into the heart of the national park in search of a tiger that was feasting on its latest kill..?? Our safari guide and his clients had been lucky to get this rare sighting on the previous night. And once we were there in the middle of the forest, the screeching engines of our jeep halted, lights were switched off. It was a new-moon day. So, there was no moonlight even, only the open sky with the twinkling stars guided us through. The only 2 sounds we could hear were that of the orchestra of the cicadas and the pounding of our anxious hearts. What we all discovered right there, in the middle of nowhere was “ETERNAL BLISS”. Even after a thorough search through the remotest corners of the grassland, we could not find the tiger until 2.00.a.m. Although we spotted a few other animals, we were definitely sad about the fact. But the bumpy ride to the forest and back was an experience in itself that was all worth it!

Next morning, we were greeted by the excellent view of the Blue mountains (Nilgiris hills) through the window glasses. We all jumped up for the guided walk along the stream, lining the boundary of the reserve area. We captured some rare fauna like the Nilgiri langurs, Malabar grey hornbill, Malabar giant squirrel, peafowl etc. in our machine-gun-sized cameras. The climb to the tree top house is also worth a mention that gave us a good view of the forest around. It was afternoon already by then and we had to pack up for our return journey towards Bangalore.

At Bandipur National forest
At Bandipur National forest

Contrary to the normal boring return journeys when all are usually exhausted and silent, all the 9 of us were jumping off our seats every now and then, until we crossed Bandipur: We encountered at least 24 elephants including a herd with a new born, at least 20 peacocks all set to open up their feathers as it had started to drizzle, sounder of wild boars etc.

For someone who finds peace in nature, this was a magical trip! This is that ONE trip that I would love to do all over again and that time, it would be for a longer stay here… in the cradle of mother nature.

Work Life

The inevitable change – Job rotation

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<16-July-13>

Having completed 2 years of work- I can say I have put in my best to handle work in 2 areas(filling in for another member). As explained in my earlier post: The car hospital job, I have loved my job as a neurologist, dermatologist and as a general physician. Even though the hospital wasn’t a great place for the doctors- the nature of work was a great pushing force to wake up every morning and board the bus to office..

In what seems very unusual compared to other employers, this place does not believe in letting a person to settle in one area, specialise and build a comfort zone.. When they find someone picking up things soon, they bring in a change with something called as job rotation. In the last 1 year, I have been considered for this change thrice:

job-rotation-objectives

Option 1: Customer Relations: This is an extension of the ward boy job

Once the check-up, surgeries and trans-plantations are done, it is the time to handle the patients’ reactions. The Out-patient Dept.(OPD) or the CR does that. You don’t need to be a doctor or a technical guy to do that.. Situation 1: A few come back complaining that they lost their bananas in the car during service- You only have to promise to give them a replacement to close the call. Situation 2: Some hear kala-kala noise while some hear laka-laka noise. Some find durr-durr sound while few others find tur-tur sound (read the sounds as you want to) All are referred to from the engine. All you have to do is record the voice of customer(VOC), find the root cause and convince them. Such occurences are not isolated and have to be dealt on a daily/hourly basis. This post for a quality person at the CR was later withdrawn due to managerial issues.

pareto_chart_customer-complaints

Option 2: Quality Planning

Considered to be one of the powerful departments in the company- I was on the TPL(Top Priority List) for the barter of candidates for an intra-division rotation. But, it was a definite NO from my side for the job which is definitely non-technical.. Great tools like setting the company road-map, hoshins, quality rules sounds alluring but it is definitely NOT my thing and I was enjoying my surgical job more.. Finally, after a week long drama and refusals to give away candidates like me 😉 – another guy was pulled in for the role 🙂

Option 3: Claims reduction- THE destination

I really have no idea why this one had to come to me.. Numbers and I don’t share a comfortable relationship.. Moreover, there is no clarity on the roles and responsibility of the PIC here.. But, there are reasons galore which has finally led me to accept this new intra-department rotation. So now- cutting down on medicines, not giving free replacement for broken parts, heavy diagnosis charges for scans, X-rays etc. all to reduce warranty and increase profitability is going to be my work..

images

I would like to move forward taking the positive things of this change.. Setting new targets, standardising rules and paving a new way itself is going to be a challenge I am going to set for myself.. Taking it by my stride- It is going to be a good learning opportunity and a great way to prove myself and make all those people envious of the same job that was rejected by them….

P.S.: All paretos/graphs do not hold any references to real values.

getting lost in traveling through places and time…