First of all, a very happy new year to everyone!
A starting is always great. Feels good to start something new, begin something. And the speciality of this new year is that today's date has all '1's in it. Today, I went for a trek to Moula ali, the hills there. The trek was titillating (thanks to all the dense fog that refused to lift away) and adventurous. Infact, the whole affair was so, it didn't enervate me as much as I thought it would! I caught up with an old friend and made few new friends.
What better way to start a day, ne! I came back home, and was greeted by many friends...all of whom asked me one common question : "What are your new year resolutions?"
I said quite casually (read phlegmatically),"None, what are yours this year?" being polite. (I never cared for peoople's resolutions, because i've seen, witnessed many people breaking them the very next day).
What's with this New Year ritual? the rite of making resolutions? Why do people make resolutions? and why make them only on the New year's day?
When you want to change for the better, everyday is a good day...why wait for Jan 1 then?How many of these resolutions are serious?
Hence, I've decided I'd make no resolutions (basically, idon't believe in the concept) under any occasion. I wouldn't make one until I need to change.
I hope this new year instills determination in everyone and turns out prosperous!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dandeli 23-24/10/2010
This was one trip i was very eagerly waiting for...reason: SINDHU (my best friend) had signed up for it. I was impatiently counting down days two weeks before 22nd (the day of departure).
22/10 : I thought I was going to be late and the ghac guys would curse me for making them miss the bus ( or worse, I'd be left behind!). i reached Chandan's (the event host) place and the two of us started toward MGBS together. We reached on time (thankfully!), but Sindhu had to wait for long.... anyway, finally, we caught up with our latest developments and chatted on about every damn thing on the face of the planet, not letting anyone have a sound sleep. The icing on the cake that night was Sindhu's seat...it wasn't stretching back! She couldn't really sleep....poor thing! The only reason we were forcing ourselves to sleep was that we had to enjoy the trip that was to start tomorrow. That night was one of the most MEMORABLE nights for the two of us.
23/10 : We reached Hubli in the morning and were told our bus was late. So we waited for the bus at the bus station and then hurled ourselves (and our luggage too) into the bus that was to take us to Dandeli.
A two hour long journey was made very interesting by dumb charades and antakshari that we played in teams. Everyone was an acting talent, when it came to dumb charades! So was everyone a nightingale when it came to antakshari!
two hours flew by, when we reached Dandeli...our destination. It started raining, taking the gilt off the ginger bread : No rafting! Can you believe it! We were all disappointed. I cursed the rains for having caused it all. And so we all settled into the two jeeps that were waiting for us, and in half an hour or so, reached Stanley's farm, our stay for the "sojourn". We had our break fast and then left for Kayaking and Jacuzzi. Kayaking needs a lot of arm power...which I lacked greatly...so the whole kayaking experience left me with a phantom load on my shoulders... I was imagining I was rowing even after we came back to the farm! After kayaking, we went to the Jacuzzi....no sooner had we stepped into it, that we started splashing water at one another. Everyone was having his version of fun with water. Some including Sindhu, swam too. After we had all got thoroughly wet and exhausted, we went back to the farm, where we had a late LINNER (when a meal at time between breakfast and lunch can be called BRUNCH, why can't we coin a word for a meal between lunch and dinner!). After we had eaten, a bonfire was set up, around which we all sat cozy. Two dogs too were among the beneficieries. We all had great fun playing games around the fire. And then suddenly there was a sudden pause in the game we were playing, when it struck midnight. It was 24th now, Shankar's birthday! Everyone was singing the birthday song. Shankar was given birthday bumps and a bonus BIRTHDAY BATH too! i believe you will never forget the water you bathed in Shankar! After the " celebration", everyone retired to bed, leaving a few nocturnals, who had fun even when they weren't sleeping!
24/10 : Everyone woke up at 4 am and was ready to leave for the Dandeli wildlife sanctuary. It was 6 am by the time we reached the entrance of the sanctaury. After reaching, we all got down the jeeps and started trekking towards the Cavla caves. Little did I know that Dandeli was a spider infested forest...Famous for it arachnid treasure! I, being an arachnophobe, was only wait for a spider to move so i could scream! We trekked for a long time,and climbed 500 steps (people took the pain to count the number! ) down, to reach the Cavla caves. The caves sheltered a temple of Lord Shiva. A few went into the cave,while a few were trying to get rid (which they finally were successful in doing) of the leeches that they had gotten on their feet. After a little break at the caves, we retraced our route back to the jeep, waiting for the rest of the group. After everyone had settled in the jeeps, we started back to the farm, to have our breakfast. After the breakfast, we were in splits: we had to choose from one activity that day- jacuzzi, or river crossing. After quite a few vacillations, a lion's share of the group went for river crossing, while the rest went to the Jacuzzi. Soon the river crossing-group joined the jacuzzi group (river crossing had taken ten minutes or so because the water level of the river was disappointingly low). After this reunion, we all had fun together, until we got exhausted. And then, we returned to the farm, where we had lunch (dessert this time was fruit custard!) and started packing to leave. It was evening when we got our call to settle into the jeeps. We would go to Hubli in the jeeps, fromwhere, we'd catch a bus to Hyderabad. On our way back home, we listened to a love story (I tell you, it could make a record breaking novel, a superhit movie, or an endless daily soap! ), pausing only to have dinner. Then we fell asleep, (this time, the seat Sindhu had taken while coming, was quite flexible! ).
25/10 : We reached Hyderabad at 9 am, where we parted ways, with memories we'd cherish for a lifetime!
22/10 : I thought I was going to be late and the ghac guys would curse me for making them miss the bus ( or worse, I'd be left behind!). i reached Chandan's (the event host) place and the two of us started toward MGBS together. We reached on time (thankfully!), but Sindhu had to wait for long.... anyway, finally, we caught up with our latest developments and chatted on about every damn thing on the face of the planet, not letting anyone have a sound sleep. The icing on the cake that night was Sindhu's seat...it wasn't stretching back! She couldn't really sleep....poor thing! The only reason we were forcing ourselves to sleep was that we had to enjoy the trip that was to start tomorrow. That night was one of the most MEMORABLE nights for the two of us.
23/10 : We reached Hubli in the morning and were told our bus was late. So we waited for the bus at the bus station and then hurled ourselves (and our luggage too) into the bus that was to take us to Dandeli.
A two hour long journey was made very interesting by dumb charades and antakshari that we played in teams. Everyone was an acting talent, when it came to dumb charades! So was everyone a nightingale when it came to antakshari!
two hours flew by, when we reached Dandeli...our destination. It started raining, taking the gilt off the ginger bread : No rafting! Can you believe it! We were all disappointed. I cursed the rains for having caused it all. And so we all settled into the two jeeps that were waiting for us, and in half an hour or so, reached Stanley's farm, our stay for the "sojourn". We had our break fast and then left for Kayaking and Jacuzzi. Kayaking needs a lot of arm power...which I lacked greatly...so the whole kayaking experience left me with a phantom load on my shoulders... I was imagining I was rowing even after we came back to the farm! After kayaking, we went to the Jacuzzi....no sooner had we stepped into it, that we started splashing water at one another. Everyone was having his version of fun with water. Some including Sindhu, swam too. After we had all got thoroughly wet and exhausted, we went back to the farm, where we had a late LINNER (when a meal at time between breakfast and lunch can be called BRUNCH, why can't we coin a word for a meal between lunch and dinner!). After we had eaten, a bonfire was set up, around which we all sat cozy. Two dogs too were among the beneficieries. We all had great fun playing games around the fire. And then suddenly there was a sudden pause in the game we were playing, when it struck midnight. It was 24th now, Shankar's birthday! Everyone was singing the birthday song. Shankar was given birthday bumps and a bonus BIRTHDAY BATH too! i believe you will never forget the water you bathed in Shankar! After the " celebration", everyone retired to bed, leaving a few nocturnals, who had fun even when they weren't sleeping!
24/10 : Everyone woke up at 4 am and was ready to leave for the Dandeli wildlife sanctuary. It was 6 am by the time we reached the entrance of the sanctaury. After reaching, we all got down the jeeps and started trekking towards the Cavla caves. Little did I know that Dandeli was a spider infested forest...Famous for it arachnid treasure! I, being an arachnophobe, was only wait for a spider to move so i could scream! We trekked for a long time,and climbed 500 steps (people took the pain to count the number! ) down, to reach the Cavla caves. The caves sheltered a temple of Lord Shiva. A few went into the cave,while a few were trying to get rid (which they finally were successful in doing) of the leeches that they had gotten on their feet. After a little break at the caves, we retraced our route back to the jeep, waiting for the rest of the group. After everyone had settled in the jeeps, we started back to the farm, to have our breakfast. After the breakfast, we were in splits: we had to choose from one activity that day- jacuzzi, or river crossing. After quite a few vacillations, a lion's share of the group went for river crossing, while the rest went to the Jacuzzi. Soon the river crossing-group joined the jacuzzi group (river crossing had taken ten minutes or so because the water level of the river was disappointingly low). After this reunion, we all had fun together, until we got exhausted. And then, we returned to the farm, where we had lunch (dessert this time was fruit custard!) and started packing to leave. It was evening when we got our call to settle into the jeeps. We would go to Hubli in the jeeps, fromwhere, we'd catch a bus to Hyderabad. On our way back home, we listened to a love story (I tell you, it could make a record breaking novel, a superhit movie, or an endless daily soap! ), pausing only to have dinner. Then we fell asleep, (this time, the seat Sindhu had taken while coming, was quite flexible! ).
25/10 : We reached Hyderabad at 9 am, where we parted ways, with memories we'd cherish for a lifetime!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Moula Ali 1/8/2010
The first day of the eighth month..coincidentally...the first sunday of the month...Friendship day!
We went for a trek trip to Moula Ali hill. We assembled at the Moula Ali arch (kamaan as in the vernacular language) at 6.30 am. From there, we climbed around a hundred steps or more to reach an entrance at a point on the hill. From there, we went to the hilly area...the place we were to do the actual trek. There were a few more steps we had to climb to reach the top of the hill...we were asked not to step on the black stone that made up a large part of the first step...I learnt from my fellow trekkers that it was a holy stone brought from the Mecca.
On reaching the top of the hill, we had introductions so short that defined brevity. Then we made a circleand had a warm up session. After we had flexed all the important muscles, we climbed up and down a hill slope...FUN!!!
After the up and down rounds we moved on to a place full of rocks, boulders, whatever you want to call them. We climbed our way down the rocky, rough terrain with a lot of prudence and judgement. But the Rock climbing we did our way up was real fun... the rocks on the way up were close by and grippy enough to climb them without difficulty.
After we climbed up, we explored the ruins there... here we spotted lots of arthropods..butterflies, centipedes, millipedes...which some made crawl on them...and injured them too... We also witnessed a variety of flora.
All through the trek we had powerful wind blowing...cool, but powerful. I was being pushed back by the winds...seriously. Resistence was a problem. We ambled around the place for a while observing the kites and other little birds that flew by, fighting their way against the winds.
And finally we had a great photo session around. And tea time.... the climax...
After the tea, we all parted ways to our homes, with an experience to remember.
We went for a trek trip to Moula Ali hill. We assembled at the Moula Ali arch (kamaan as in the vernacular language) at 6.30 am. From there, we climbed around a hundred steps or more to reach an entrance at a point on the hill. From there, we went to the hilly area...the place we were to do the actual trek. There were a few more steps we had to climb to reach the top of the hill...we were asked not to step on the black stone that made up a large part of the first step...I learnt from my fellow trekkers that it was a holy stone brought from the Mecca.
On reaching the top of the hill, we had introductions so short that defined brevity. Then we made a circleand had a warm up session. After we had flexed all the important muscles, we climbed up and down a hill slope...FUN!!!
After the up and down rounds we moved on to a place full of rocks, boulders, whatever you want to call them. We climbed our way down the rocky, rough terrain with a lot of prudence and judgement. But the Rock climbing we did our way up was real fun... the rocks on the way up were close by and grippy enough to climb them without difficulty.
After we climbed up, we explored the ruins there... here we spotted lots of arthropods..butterflies, centipedes, millipedes...which some made crawl on them...and injured them too... We also witnessed a variety of flora.
All through the trek we had powerful wind blowing...cool, but powerful. I was being pushed back by the winds...seriously. Resistence was a problem. We ambled around the place for a while observing the kites and other little birds that flew by, fighting their way against the winds.
And finally we had a great photo session around. And tea time.... the climax...
After the tea, we all parted ways to our homes, with an experience to remember.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Dudhsagar 24-25/7/2010
Friday night: At 9:00 pm we all boarded the train that was to take us to Castle rock. We were all exhausted for the night and so got to our berths and slept tight.
Saturday: After waking up, we all realised our journey was still not over. the train got delayed for an hour making the remaining four hour journey, a five hour one! To kill time, we all started playing dumb charades. During the game, we discovered great PhD holders...masters of the game... you know who I'm "referring" to, don't you, Dudhsagar gang?
We finally reached Castle rock. By then it was noon. We all "disembarked" ourselves and our luggage, at the station and had our lunch. Then we set out for our 14 km trek to Dudhsagar. We had to walk along the railway track that led to the Dudhsagar station. The railway track was cut along the western ghats and so we experinced an ecstatic panorama of the foggy(and rainy) hilltops, and the little waterfalls that fell from different little hills surrounding the valley. There were wild banana trees with flowers blooming. We heard cries of a variety of birds and animals, though I couldn't personally figure out which one belonged to which. We also got off the track umpteen times to let the trains go by. We saw snails and monkeys on our way. A few of the members of the group got to see leeches( sucking their blood) too!
We crossed 10 tunnels to reach Dudhsagar, and a 11th one to reach our final night halt. The largest of the tunnels was half a kilometre long. It was leaky everywhere, and pitch dark, just like the other members of its "brethren". The smallest tunnel was hardly hundred metres long. The horizontal abyss of the tunnels had many perilious snares in them. We had railway track bars haphazardly laid on the track. We were as blind as bats without torches in the hands. In the scanty light that strived hard to chase away the darkness, we struggled our way out of each tunnel and started counting down the number of tunnels to be crossed.
After crossing the last tunnel, we let a sigh of relief...not out of fatigue, but out of pity for the aching feet.
We left our bags at a safe but wet place and rushed down to take a look at THE Dudhsagar waterfall(which happens to be the second largest in India, if i'm not wrong). The mere force of the water droplets that splashed from the waterfall, was pushing me away. True to its name, the descent of the waterfall was as white as milk. The stream that the fall formed was very violent at the beginning of the course. But as it crossed the bridge that we stood on, it was tamed a little by the arch of the bridge it crossed. A few little falls, along the course of the river, acted tributaries to it. Watching it from the top was a sight to relish.
The rain and the waterfall conduced in perfect proportions to the water content in our dresses...we were drenched head to toe...literally...not one single part of our bodies was spared. After the waterfall episode, we went back to our venue of night halt, which I dont have words to describe. We dragged our aching legs up a staircase only to find a wet surface! But we were thankful we atleast had shelter on our heads. We set up tents and had our dinner...which as anyone can guess, was cold by then...but I think it was one of the best dinners anyone could have had in such a place and situation. After dinner, we retired into the tents. But a few people got unlucky as the tents could accommodate only 12 people in all, and we were 18. These unlucky people, the ones that couldn't fit into the tents, had a hell of a night. Sleepless, wet, cold and what not....sigh....
Sunday: we went to pay a last visit to Dudhsagar, and were all packed, ready to leave. We reached the Dudhsagar station and waited for the train to arrive. We hurled ourselves into the train that came and took our seats, waiting impatiently for it to reach our destination. We then got down at Londa, where we had to spend time till the evening. Some of us went to a nearby river, while some went to the market. we whiled away our time until it was time for us to do some serious packing and last minute checks. Our train arrived on time and we settled in our seats. As the train gathered speed, we called the whole gang to one of the alcoves and started playing Dum charades again, but this time, with twists. after everyone got bored of it, we switched to another game, which we played until we were asked to keep our volumes down for the hundredth time. Finally, we all went to sleep. the next morning, we all parted at different points, but with a memory involving every single person in the group, a memory to be cherished lifelong.
I'm writing down the name sof the group members:
Chetana
Bhavana
Priyank
Sapna
Shraddha
Niha
Nandan
Nataraj
Prashant
Pratik
Praveen
Ranjit
Venkee
Phani
Varun
Satish
Jitendra
Aditya
Vikram
Saturday: After waking up, we all realised our journey was still not over. the train got delayed for an hour making the remaining four hour journey, a five hour one! To kill time, we all started playing dumb charades. During the game, we discovered great PhD holders...masters of the game... you know who I'm "referring" to, don't you, Dudhsagar gang?
We finally reached Castle rock. By then it was noon. We all "disembarked" ourselves and our luggage, at the station and had our lunch. Then we set out for our 14 km trek to Dudhsagar. We had to walk along the railway track that led to the Dudhsagar station. The railway track was cut along the western ghats and so we experinced an ecstatic panorama of the foggy(and rainy) hilltops, and the little waterfalls that fell from different little hills surrounding the valley. There were wild banana trees with flowers blooming. We heard cries of a variety of birds and animals, though I couldn't personally figure out which one belonged to which. We also got off the track umpteen times to let the trains go by. We saw snails and monkeys on our way. A few of the members of the group got to see leeches( sucking their blood) too!
We crossed 10 tunnels to reach Dudhsagar, and a 11th one to reach our final night halt. The largest of the tunnels was half a kilometre long. It was leaky everywhere, and pitch dark, just like the other members of its "brethren". The smallest tunnel was hardly hundred metres long. The horizontal abyss of the tunnels had many perilious snares in them. We had railway track bars haphazardly laid on the track. We were as blind as bats without torches in the hands. In the scanty light that strived hard to chase away the darkness, we struggled our way out of each tunnel and started counting down the number of tunnels to be crossed.
After crossing the last tunnel, we let a sigh of relief...not out of fatigue, but out of pity for the aching feet.
We left our bags at a safe but wet place and rushed down to take a look at THE Dudhsagar waterfall(which happens to be the second largest in India, if i'm not wrong). The mere force of the water droplets that splashed from the waterfall, was pushing me away. True to its name, the descent of the waterfall was as white as milk. The stream that the fall formed was very violent at the beginning of the course. But as it crossed the bridge that we stood on, it was tamed a little by the arch of the bridge it crossed. A few little falls, along the course of the river, acted tributaries to it. Watching it from the top was a sight to relish.
The rain and the waterfall conduced in perfect proportions to the water content in our dresses...we were drenched head to toe...literally...not one single part of our bodies was spared. After the waterfall episode, we went back to our venue of night halt, which I dont have words to describe. We dragged our aching legs up a staircase only to find a wet surface! But we were thankful we atleast had shelter on our heads. We set up tents and had our dinner...which as anyone can guess, was cold by then...but I think it was one of the best dinners anyone could have had in such a place and situation. After dinner, we retired into the tents. But a few people got unlucky as the tents could accommodate only 12 people in all, and we were 18. These unlucky people, the ones that couldn't fit into the tents, had a hell of a night. Sleepless, wet, cold and what not....sigh....
Sunday: we went to pay a last visit to Dudhsagar, and were all packed, ready to leave. We reached the Dudhsagar station and waited for the train to arrive. We hurled ourselves into the train that came and took our seats, waiting impatiently for it to reach our destination. We then got down at Londa, where we had to spend time till the evening. Some of us went to a nearby river, while some went to the market. we whiled away our time until it was time for us to do some serious packing and last minute checks. Our train arrived on time and we settled in our seats. As the train gathered speed, we called the whole gang to one of the alcoves and started playing Dum charades again, but this time, with twists. after everyone got bored of it, we switched to another game, which we played until we were asked to keep our volumes down for the hundredth time. Finally, we all went to sleep. the next morning, we all parted at different points, but with a memory involving every single person in the group, a memory to be cherished lifelong.
I'm writing down the name sof the group members:
Chetana
Bhavana
Priyank
Sapna
Shraddha
Niha
Nandan
Nataraj
Prashant
Pratik
Praveen
Ranjit
Venkee
Phani
Varun
Satish
Jitendra
Aditya
Vikram
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Rains
My mood fixers, my emotional panacae, the rains..
I'd always hated books which had the words, "....the sun smiled down/ the golden sun shined bright and gay, clear skies and gleaming sunlight..." you know what i mean....
Why don't happy scenes start with a cool breeze that turns into a softly caressing wind? Why don't dark, thick, nimbus clouds cover the whole sky and all greens look greener and everything starts looking new.
The whole affair starts with the sky turning deep grey, and the winds blowing cool and fast. Then, when the first drop falls from the heaven, the thrill that I feel is inexplicable...It must be perspicuous to poeple who love the rains.
The smell of the damp mud...hmmmmm...who doesn't like it? I love watching people's smiles reach their ears... Happy for the monsoons to have turned up... Splashing gaily in the puddles that the waters fill. Little children happily sailing paperboats and racing against their friends. little, fallen leaves and flowers flowing with the streamlets.
I feel happy when I hear frogs croaking everywhere around my house. the crickets chirp from the dark corners. I love the cool weather that the rains leave behind. Everything everywhere wet. Little streams flowing on roads, the smell of hot, fried savouries.....mouth-watering...!
I sit near the window and watch the clouds and the directions the raindrops change with the course of the wind. Aren't we like the raindrops too? Changing DIRECTIONS per the course of fate and chance. The overall aesthetic pleasure that the monsoons provide is beyond verbal explainantion!!!
I hope we have six month rains and the periods extend to stretch throughout the year!!!
I'd always hated books which had the words, "....the sun smiled down/ the golden sun shined bright and gay, clear skies and gleaming sunlight..." you know what i mean....
Why don't happy scenes start with a cool breeze that turns into a softly caressing wind? Why don't dark, thick, nimbus clouds cover the whole sky and all greens look greener and everything starts looking new.
The whole affair starts with the sky turning deep grey, and the winds blowing cool and fast. Then, when the first drop falls from the heaven, the thrill that I feel is inexplicable...It must be perspicuous to poeple who love the rains.
The smell of the damp mud...hmmmmm...who doesn't like it? I love watching people's smiles reach their ears... Happy for the monsoons to have turned up... Splashing gaily in the puddles that the waters fill. Little children happily sailing paperboats and racing against their friends. little, fallen leaves and flowers flowing with the streamlets.
I feel happy when I hear frogs croaking everywhere around my house. the crickets chirp from the dark corners. I love the cool weather that the rains leave behind. Everything everywhere wet. Little streams flowing on roads, the smell of hot, fried savouries.....mouth-watering...!
I sit near the window and watch the clouds and the directions the raindrops change with the course of the wind. Aren't we like the raindrops too? Changing DIRECTIONS per the course of fate and chance. The overall aesthetic pleasure that the monsoons provide is beyond verbal explainantion!!!
I hope we have six month rains and the periods extend to stretch throughout the year!!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
I was reading my best friend's blog....the one in which she mentioned her erstwhile summer regime. After I read it, I realised how different the environments in which we were brought up were. I was born in Hyderabad, and lived here all my life. Only we shifted houses. The first house we were in, was owned by my grandparents. It was a ground floor house in an apartment. That meant we had a troop of urchins, every single house in the apartment had kids, who only needed to be called to play. Infact, we knew every single household in the colony we lived in...that added upto a huge CROWD.
We were a melee of screaming, laughing, jumping and singing children. We had members in our GROUP that spread over a wide age group. We loved every single day of our life there. We were too blind to the day of the week. We played on the roads, in the compounds, inside rooms, every place that offered space to accommodate even one part of our bodies. We played on mondays, we played on sundays. Our games started after breakfast, and ended with the dinner-call. Our only breaks were those when we were dragged into our houses by parents and forced lunch through our alimentary canals, we didn't want to miss more than one round of the game. we fought when poeple cheated in the games, got jealous when others won, left games halfway when we didn't win even once. As an epitome, I'd say we were normal.
But everything changed in 2000...WE were told thaht we wre going to go to a new place, a new home. We were devastated, disappointed...we were 9 years old. We couldn't bear the thought of being away in some unknown, unheard of land...far away from the friends we grew up with, the company we had ever since we knew what friendship and company meant. We didn't want to leave...I didn't want to leave. It wasn't emotion...not some sad sentiment, a mute jeremaid that had just started...We shifted house in 2001.
The first day of my stay in the new house i dreamt that a pack of wolves dragged me out of the house, bit into every inch of my body and chewed their piece away. I woke up startled, and woved never to forget that nightmare. We got admitted to new school. I loved my old school...LOVED it. Parting from them was something we never foresaw. I hate the fact that there aren't any harbingers to warn us of such tragedies. I couldn't cry for some reason. Maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I din't have the courage to let my feelings out...or maybe I was devoid of feelings then. When we shifted our house, our neighbourhood was nothing but a vast spread of wild overgrowth. We had zero peer company. The platitude of our loneliness was staring right at us...We could do nothing but stare helplessly at it. The only company i kept then was my mind. I kept brooding over things like truth, morals, virtue, justice and stuff...I completely forgot I was 11 and 12 then. I formed principles that I woved never to betray. I started acting mature when people expected childish menaces from me. I forgot I was to behave like other children did....Maybe thats why many people I encountered called me wierd or crazy, or abnormal, or just different.
I know I'm the way I am because I never had company my age. I was never influenced by people my age, never pressurised... I never had the same notions as the ones my age had... I could never befriend my classmates in the first attempt.
You can take this as an open confession that I really was abnormal....I don't know positively or negatively, but I sure was...I am still...
We were a melee of screaming, laughing, jumping and singing children. We had members in our GROUP that spread over a wide age group. We loved every single day of our life there. We were too blind to the day of the week. We played on the roads, in the compounds, inside rooms, every place that offered space to accommodate even one part of our bodies. We played on mondays, we played on sundays. Our games started after breakfast, and ended with the dinner-call. Our only breaks were those when we were dragged into our houses by parents and forced lunch through our alimentary canals, we didn't want to miss more than one round of the game. we fought when poeple cheated in the games, got jealous when others won, left games halfway when we didn't win even once. As an epitome, I'd say we were normal.
But everything changed in 2000...WE were told thaht we wre going to go to a new place, a new home. We were devastated, disappointed...we were 9 years old. We couldn't bear the thought of being away in some unknown, unheard of land...far away from the friends we grew up with, the company we had ever since we knew what friendship and company meant. We didn't want to leave...I didn't want to leave. It wasn't emotion...not some sad sentiment, a mute jeremaid that had just started...We shifted house in 2001.
The first day of my stay in the new house i dreamt that a pack of wolves dragged me out of the house, bit into every inch of my body and chewed their piece away. I woke up startled, and woved never to forget that nightmare. We got admitted to new school. I loved my old school...LOVED it. Parting from them was something we never foresaw. I hate the fact that there aren't any harbingers to warn us of such tragedies. I couldn't cry for some reason. Maybe I didn't want to. Maybe I din't have the courage to let my feelings out...or maybe I was devoid of feelings then. When we shifted our house, our neighbourhood was nothing but a vast spread of wild overgrowth. We had zero peer company. The platitude of our loneliness was staring right at us...We could do nothing but stare helplessly at it. The only company i kept then was my mind. I kept brooding over things like truth, morals, virtue, justice and stuff...I completely forgot I was 11 and 12 then. I formed principles that I woved never to betray. I started acting mature when people expected childish menaces from me. I forgot I was to behave like other children did....Maybe thats why many people I encountered called me wierd or crazy, or abnormal, or just different.
I know I'm the way I am because I never had company my age. I was never influenced by people my age, never pressurised... I never had the same notions as the ones my age had... I could never befriend my classmates in the first attempt.
You can take this as an open confession that I really was abnormal....I don't know positively or negatively, but I sure was...I am still...
Thursday, June 3, 2010
There are around a hundred religions in this world. All of them preach brotherhood, peace, mutual love and respect, non violence, etc. When every religion meant the same, then why did they fight amongst themselves? Why was it so necessary to prove that their incarnates of their principles were superior to those that the others came up with? wasn't violence against their religion? Against the principles they were so frantically supporting?
I was told in school that the concept of GOD was created so one would always be conscious when he was doing something immoral. To keep man away from erronous paths. Who then, asked them to resort to breaking every rule that was meant to be right, to acheieve something they called superiority of their religion? Was it so necessary to place their Gods above their counterparts?
I was also taught in school that the Hindu society was divided into four classes called "Varnas". The Brahmins, who were believed to be incarnates to the Almighty himself , or atleast a messenger of the God. the brahmin class was called the supreme class. Placed below the Brahmins were the Kshatriyas, the class of people who ruled over "subjects", fought battles and showed cavalry. Kings, emperors and soldiers were all of this class. The third class was that of Vaisyas, the mercantile class. The fourth and the most looked down upon class was the Shudras, who were mostly domestic helps, cobblers, potters, and the likes. The muslims were divided into shiyas and sunnis, Christians into, into chatholics and protestants. I have not much knowledge about the other religions and their subdivisions if any.
The previously made divisions were now further divided.
Everyone was interested in religion, but not its essence. In a tangible idol, but not what was preached through it. Religion started dividing people. Crusades of the past, Jihads, all causing bloodshed and nothing else. And where was GOD? Why was he enjoying all that was being done in his name? Why couldn't he have stopped all this vandalism using all the power he was believed to possess? Why could people no longer trust their shadows? Why was it so difficult to believe a person? If it were so difficult to believe a living person, how could one blindly believe the existence of god? A god whom noone had ever seen.
Why is it that people never try to think of things the way they have to?
After a long thought, I realised I was only expecting miracles from a person, no, a force, no a sprite, no....infact from something that i wasn't even sure of. That was when I gave up my belief in religion and the humungusly wierd concept of GOD. Atheist is what I am now...and quite happy with it.
I was told in school that the concept of GOD was created so one would always be conscious when he was doing something immoral. To keep man away from erronous paths. Who then, asked them to resort to breaking every rule that was meant to be right, to acheieve something they called superiority of their religion? Was it so necessary to place their Gods above their counterparts?
I was also taught in school that the Hindu society was divided into four classes called "Varnas". The Brahmins, who were believed to be incarnates to the Almighty himself , or atleast a messenger of the God. the brahmin class was called the supreme class. Placed below the Brahmins were the Kshatriyas, the class of people who ruled over "subjects", fought battles and showed cavalry. Kings, emperors and soldiers were all of this class. The third class was that of Vaisyas, the mercantile class. The fourth and the most looked down upon class was the Shudras, who were mostly domestic helps, cobblers, potters, and the likes. The muslims were divided into shiyas and sunnis, Christians into, into chatholics and protestants. I have not much knowledge about the other religions and their subdivisions if any.
The previously made divisions were now further divided.
Everyone was interested in religion, but not its essence. In a tangible idol, but not what was preached through it. Religion started dividing people. Crusades of the past, Jihads, all causing bloodshed and nothing else. And where was GOD? Why was he enjoying all that was being done in his name? Why couldn't he have stopped all this vandalism using all the power he was believed to possess? Why could people no longer trust their shadows? Why was it so difficult to believe a person? If it were so difficult to believe a living person, how could one blindly believe the existence of god? A god whom noone had ever seen.
Why is it that people never try to think of things the way they have to?
After a long thought, I realised I was only expecting miracles from a person, no, a force, no a sprite, no....infact from something that i wasn't even sure of. That was when I gave up my belief in religion and the humungusly wierd concept of GOD. Atheist is what I am now...and quite happy with it.
Monday, May 31, 2010
May 29...I was too lazy to wake up early in the morning (3 am imagine!) But strong will power and excitment of the forthcoming trek woke me up. We were all ready to go. Mr. Arun halted his car near our house and we loaded all our luggage in and set out to experience a world of absolute beauty and calm. Mallelateertham in the heart of the Nallamala hills was our destination. We were to visit the waterfalls there and go on a mild trek to a place which is known to shelter a vaudeville of aves. As we reached Habsiguda, the rest of the group joined. we reached Sarlapalli, from where we left for the waterfalls.
The path was a great descent into the woods. We couldn't find any wild animal there but got to see a swarm of butterflies sitting on a rock, while a few were flying all over the place. There we could see a hint of the waterfall, that grew bigger with further descent. after a long and tiring trek we reached the final basin where all the water from the waterfall pooled and left from one corner. Mr. Arun, the organiser, then pointed towards a huge bee hive, which suddenly started moving. Mr. Pathi, who was with us in the group, observed it with his binoculars and then declared that it was a bear!
We started walking back...it wasn't a complete walk though. It was a tedious rock climbing, which was further made difficult by the sun that heated up the rocks and burnt our palms. The final ascent was a flight of steps which set the toughest ordeal for us. I was half expecting I'd roll down the stairs. But at last we made it out and then had our lunch.
The lunch we had was noodles cooked up by Arun and with a modest fire set up using dried twigs and branches and of course, paper. After the meal, we all rested for a while, and then pitched up tents. Cooking dinner was the job at hand and everyone was conducing whatever they could to accomplish the MISSION. A bonfire too was put up. We all sat around it in a circle. We were acompanied by two inhabitants of the village: Pothayya, who belonged to the chenchu tribe that inhabited that place, and Srikanth whose family had migrated to that place. Pothayya sang to us, a song which he wrote and composed. After the song, we all had our dinner, retired to our camps.
The next morning, we set out for bird-watching in a forest nearby. We got lucky as we spotted a herd of deer, that obviously galloped away as we went nearer. We also tasted fruits called Nekkirapandu and Janapandu, whose english translation I don't know. We also spotted a variety of birds like the blue jays, bee eaters, parakeets, drangos, green pigeon, iora, tree pie, etc. It was a true treat for all of us.
After the tedious trek that we did for all the bird-watching, we started back to Hyderabad, carrying with us memories that will last a lifetime.
The path was a great descent into the woods. We couldn't find any wild animal there but got to see a swarm of butterflies sitting on a rock, while a few were flying all over the place. There we could see a hint of the waterfall, that grew bigger with further descent. after a long and tiring trek we reached the final basin where all the water from the waterfall pooled and left from one corner. Mr. Arun, the organiser, then pointed towards a huge bee hive, which suddenly started moving. Mr. Pathi, who was with us in the group, observed it with his binoculars and then declared that it was a bear!
We started walking back...it wasn't a complete walk though. It was a tedious rock climbing, which was further made difficult by the sun that heated up the rocks and burnt our palms. The final ascent was a flight of steps which set the toughest ordeal for us. I was half expecting I'd roll down the stairs. But at last we made it out and then had our lunch.
The lunch we had was noodles cooked up by Arun and with a modest fire set up using dried twigs and branches and of course, paper. After the meal, we all rested for a while, and then pitched up tents. Cooking dinner was the job at hand and everyone was conducing whatever they could to accomplish the MISSION. A bonfire too was put up. We all sat around it in a circle. We were acompanied by two inhabitants of the village: Pothayya, who belonged to the chenchu tribe that inhabited that place, and Srikanth whose family had migrated to that place. Pothayya sang to us, a song which he wrote and composed. After the song, we all had our dinner, retired to our camps.
The next morning, we set out for bird-watching in a forest nearby. We got lucky as we spotted a herd of deer, that obviously galloped away as we went nearer. We also tasted fruits called Nekkirapandu and Janapandu, whose english translation I don't know. We also spotted a variety of birds like the blue jays, bee eaters, parakeets, drangos, green pigeon, iora, tree pie, etc. It was a true treat for all of us.
After the tedious trek that we did for all the bird-watching, we started back to Hyderabad, carrying with us memories that will last a lifetime.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
I love the colour grey. Yousuf Kharsh, when asked why all his photographs are black and white, though colour films were available, said," its not black and white, its grey." Its the most powerful colour as I believe. it can puncuate almost any figure. it can add an ostentatious air, a mysterious one, a vile one. it can make things look transparent, it can make them opaque. A person with slightly negative qualities or behaviour is said to have grey shades.
Black is complete, but grey is the part that gives life to the otherwise pitch black. Its not just a shade, its a clour. The colour of emotions, of negativity, of stoic natures, of the tempest in the uprisal. Its deeper shades, in harmony with the lighter shades, gives the feel of agony, of a battle in process. Of a climax that is round the corner.
Its the colour of the nimbus clouds...reminding me of rains. sending me to the nostalgia of the previous monsoons...giving me the feel of damp earth, cool breezes, strong, cold winds, newly washed greens of the leaves after rains. The colour reminding me of the different emotions that infest the human soul independently, and in blends.
Its grey....not black, not white.
Its my favourite colour.
Black is complete, but grey is the part that gives life to the otherwise pitch black. Its not just a shade, its a clour. The colour of emotions, of negativity, of stoic natures, of the tempest in the uprisal. Its deeper shades, in harmony with the lighter shades, gives the feel of agony, of a battle in process. Of a climax that is round the corner.
Its the colour of the nimbus clouds...reminding me of rains. sending me to the nostalgia of the previous monsoons...giving me the feel of damp earth, cool breezes, strong, cold winds, newly washed greens of the leaves after rains. The colour reminding me of the different emotions that infest the human soul independently, and in blends.
Its grey....not black, not white.
Its my favourite colour.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Such was the "equality" that was shown among the children. The girls wwere never allowed to negotiate. Sacrifices were their duty. They were expected to work no wonders, cause no miiracles to happen. My grandmother was the eldest among girls, so she had to take care of her younger brothers and sisters, because their mother, then, was suffering from hysteria....The sister had to play the mother, not for the pleasure, but mere filial obligations.
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