Posts Tagged ‘Experience’
I am grinded. I am molded. I enter those damned machines, I would have never entered if I had it my way. I get thrown away, I get picked up and then I get stuffed in. Ah, how would you realize the suffocation I feel…
I wake up only to find myself being stared at by several pairs of eyes, ah, I don’t quite like the attention I am getting. As if that’s not enough, I am required to be tested, only to be rejected. What’s more, I am rejected only to be replaced by my water allergic counterpart. I can’t help thinking you are nuts. You people thing too high of yourself to reject us. No wonder you don’t feel the least bit of remorse doing so. Yet, I forgive you. It’s not entirely your fault. When you are given so many choices, its quite obvious for you to reject. As a matter of fact, I didn’t like you either.
I go back to lay on the selves, on display for God knows how long, waiting for my turn to be picked, waiting to care for a pair of lovely feet. Sometimes the air conditioning gets on my nerves. Summers can be a bliss, but for the power saving movement that catches the trend, they are real testing times, those. Not to mention the adverse chills during the rains, when I can’t help wondering where the power saving movement hides itself.
A blue moon later, some kind person falls in love with me, and proposes to live with me…. Err.. Proposes I be with him.. I accept it. *blushes* (Coming to think of it, I feel I was wrong when I thought the person fell in love with me. Very.)
I am very tired after the day’s journey and I lay down to sleep, only to be woken up for a fashion show. I get angry and I recent to biting whatever I can lay my teeth on. Really, its so much fun. Pity, it didn’t last long, as my once sharp teeth are now grinded down. Having no other choice, I try getting along and find its fun as well. I get adjusted to my new life. Everything goes on well until I get kidnapped.
One moment, I was lying quietly waiting, the next I find somebody coming, picks on me and walks away. I scream, Help! Help! But my owner is nowhere to be seen. You disrespectful idiot. If only you had watched upon me, like my owner used to, this would never had happened. Never!
A glance is all I get, even when I am moments away from adoring your beautiful err.. not always so beautiful legs, protecting them from the beautiful earth, and not so beautiful earthly matters. I am a slave at your pair of legs, another disrespected creature. Having me on, you feel pretty comfortable to go to any place, yeah; any, with a stress on the last part! I am the footwear. Yeah, the. Nothing less than the.
I am already missing my owner…. Now with an ‘ex’ to it.
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011 at 11:10 am
Travel and work, two idiots I happened to befriend of late, never seem to leave me alone these days. They are such good friends, that I cant help spending time with them. No matter what situation I am in, they are always there for me. I am lousy, they are there. I am hungry, they are there. I am tired, they are there. I am sleepy, they are there. I am…. they are still there. I must confess I am very lucky to find such loyal friends and am very thankful to them for having happened to meet me. Otherwise God knows how wonderful a part of life I was going to be missing. Ok, that little piece you just happened to read is what I am giving as an excuse for the near disappearance from the word of blogging.
Getting back, the little subject here in consideration is a ride back home. So for those of you who are bored or already feeling the need to show me a beautiful wide angle shot of your mouth or already fallen off asleep, the whole drama here is boarding a bus, and on reaching the destination, getting down. Yeah, you were right. Your wide angle display is justified. I have this liking for writing and well, you are witnessing the result.
Range: 350-650/head.
Duration: 3-5hrs.
Purpose: To scare the daylights out of you. (erm its always a night ride so there is no daylight anyways!)
Procedure: To provide a seat in the upper berth and let things work its way.
Disclaimer: The farther at the end of the bus your seat lies, the more fun you derive!
An overnight journey aboard a bus, the best way to travel would probably be on a sleeper coach. Atleast I am one of those who prefers sleeper coaches to those sitting ones. Nothing but sleeper works for me. Not even those near sleepers with a prefix semi going ahead of them. Such a relaxed way to reach your destination and what’s more you could even get down to work in the morning.
No! Not if you take an upper berth and as a bonus, you being in the last seat. Hell! No! The drivers on the Bangalore-Udupi/Manipal/Kundapur bus, err. any of them for that matter, they are all the same; they have this strange disease where in they seem to forget the being of a 3/4th bus behind them and whats more find it to be a nascar and really take it for a ride! An urgent requirement of arrival back home coupled with a busy season, and your love for sleeper, ends you up with a lovely nest perched right at the back, where if you are kind enough to stretch a little you could be hugging the back of the bus.
You board the bus, settle down. You are still in Bangalore, everything feels good. You feel the driving is good, making a note to yourself to tell others about this particular one, how it is different form others and hey, I wonder why people run away from last seats. Its really not all that bad. The journey slowly begins, as your thoughts drift by and you are soon asleep. Bang! From blacks to blues, the next thing you know you are on a roller coaster ride, an expensive one in that. Did you just say the driver is good? Screw you! You were wrong. The ride continues with no interval. And you desperately needed one. You estimate the time of stoppage. Another bang! ‘Watch out dude!’, you shout, knowing fully well that for one thing, you wont be audible and secondly, he is on his way to finish line and nothing can stop him in his endeavor! You are tired, and every now and then you cant help falling asleep, only to be pulled out in catching yourself from falling down situation. You begin to wish there were safety belts so that you could atleast not worry about falling. Whats more your bag is have a ball of time and if you don’t bother to curtail its freedom, it will have no hesitation whatsoever in bungee jumping. Only catch being that the bungee jump is one way. Your precious laptop is in its care and it doesn’t in the least seem to have a concern about it. So you, being the more responsible of the two, takes the responsibility of taking care of the bag in addition to taking care of yourself. Every now and then it tries to take a sneak peak of what lies in the world beneath and your job is to curtail its movement. Your hands ache from clinging on, your legs ache from controlling yourself and your bag, you are jittery from lack of sleep and to add to it, being awake has made you hungry too. You try sitting so that you can find something from your bag, and no sooner you do it, you feel yourself spinning. You resist the need to eat. You resist the need to sleep. You resist the need for stillness. You resist the need for peace. You wait patiently, and yeah, as the saying goes it indeed pays off. You finally reach your destination and you are free to get down.
Conclusion: The roller-coaster ride is successfully completed.*
Remarks: You are now ready to take another ride.
*In our appreciation and as a bonus for taking part, you get a free subject to write an article upon!
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Day 3: Sunday, 28th February, 2010.
09:30 am “My legs are on fire! Damn! Looks like all plans are going to be cancelled taking into consideration the current situation we are in.”
From about 8, lay on the bed doing nothing but assessing the pain.. don’t know how many times I heard myself saying, kal itne josh dikhane ki kya zaroorat thi. Well covering 15-20 kms in a matter of few hours can be tiresome even for the fittest, after all we stiff people were bound to fall a prey to it.
Breakfast consisted of dosa with something called as jhula, if I got it right. I was beginning to see ghee and liquid gur was a habit there. After breakfast were lazing around deciding whether or not to go out. Then decided to visit a nearby lake, and a falls further along the way. The way to the place was no less than a track for bike racing, with extra bit of ups and downs, a steep curve here and there. Reached the place. Walking was tough. The water was low, so waded through the water for a while, then went down stream where the others got down to swim while relaxed.
We found a sturdy tree bark to sit upon, with our legs in the water, it was really soothing. Also got free pedicure thingy from fishes down there 😉 WE then went further to the place of falls. Its named keppajoga. Its supposed to be the place where the pandavas stayed during their exile. There are a lot of clear signs of it. Everything out there be it carved scriptures, or space to have lunch, or offering to god, everything was in fives. It was a great place, very serene, must say it would make an excellent place for meditation and for seekers of peace. Wanted to go further, but walking downwards was such a pain that gave up on it.
The return journey was rather interesting. Myself and @nits4ever were on one bike, and we were far ahead of the others. This fella, don’t know what got into him, suddenly took a left at the first opportunity and we waited there for the others to pass by. I thought he was going to go full on force once they passed and surprise them but as it happened he had other plans. We waited for about five minutes after they left and then started. That was no the end of it. Soon after he began some sort of spiritual discourse, and I had no other option but be its victim. Finally we reached home, and I was saved from the lecture 😉 Was about 4 on the evening when we reached back. Had lunch and then it was time to relax. Needed it as much as possible. Watched TV all the while. Gotta know that network was available uphill a little ahead of the house. So went up the hill in search of the network. Had tea after returning back, chit chatted with our guide friend’s father and mother. Real great village gossip it was, that we never realised how it was already time for dinner. Had dinner, all filled, which meant it was time to relax yet again.
Although there was not much of activity that day, it was still tiring more because of the back log of the previous day! A bit of music, little idle chat, some bollywood movie, saw us wrap up another day. Peace.
Day4: Monday, 1st March, 2010
Dint realize what time the day began. Lay on the bed for a long time, very long time. Breakfast was idli and bhaji. After that roamed around the place for a while and it was time to get packing. Had cane juice before beginning, had all the exchange of pleasures with them after which it was time to leave. There was only one bike and we were four of us, so decided would go in twos, but as luck would have a little ahead the bike got punctured! We had not other means of transport and had to walk all the way until the bus stop in the hot afternoon! Found a bus to back to the city, couldn’t find a seat though. Having reached the city, caught a bus to Kumta. That took another few hours, most of which was slept sleeping, and the rest on a hungry stomach. Caught an auto to the railway station, found the train was scheduled for 4.45 which meant we had two hours before the train was due. So went to nearby hotel to have lunch. Lunch was good. Went back to the station at about 4 and more than that it was simply great to be back with network. *bliss*
The journey back was great. We found seats this time round, but still preferred the the seat by the door. The wonderful feeling was back. Even had sugarcane…
Reached Udupi at about 7.15pm, thus putting an end to the wonderful Sirsi outing!
I feel there was still a lot of things we could have done, lot more places we could have visited, but we had our constraints, and making the best of it was all we could have done, which I believe we certainly. Maybe the next time I go there, I am sure I can visit those places all by myself. Within a few days the place had become so close, and as I am writing this, I still can feel the wonderful time we spent there. Looking forward to a visit there as soon as time permits. Until such times, wrapping up the series. Cheers!
Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Day 2: Sunday, 28th February 2010.
Day two saw me up at five. It was damn cold and I couldn’t imagine my state had there been a fan, switched on of course. Had a tour around the place. Got a feeling I could certainly spend a few weeks exploring the place without any repetition for sure. The urge for a documentary was trying it best, but had to be suppressed for the time being.
Breakfast consisted of a combination liquid gur & ghee, chutney, chutney powder, along with dosa. If I continued with the food for a week I would be sure to put on some weight. And it was a grand beginning to the first day Sirsi!
The first stop happened to be at a place called Sahasralinga, and as the name suggests it was a place with lot of “lingas” carved upon stones, amidst a flowing river. Its an awesome place, can say a very popular tourist spot. Fortunately for us there was hardly any crowd on the day of our visit. We reached there sometime in the early mid-morning and the first thing we did on reaching there was call @nits4ever, for he was join us that day, and guess what the idiot was already nearing Kumta when we contacted him. He was planning to surprise us. I am still curious as to how he had planned to surprise us without knowing where to go, what with no network at all. So having giving him directions we went down to explore the place a bit. The current was high and the river bed consisted mostly of pebbles and as I tried to cross, I almost had a fall. Thank goodness I didn’t or would have given @akshay’s cam a holy wash!. From there we went on to some old temple. The architecture out there was really commendable. No repetition anywhere around the temple. It also happened to be a incomplete one, a incomplete one it would remain too. There was a average sized pond nearby it, fully covered by lotus plants, making it look a green patch of land. Interestingly the temple seemed totally uninhabited, and i was busy clicking pics around the place, it was only when I clicked the picture of the deity there did I realise the priest was actually there and within moments of our arrival, a pooja was on! Luckily we had network out there and got to know that @nits4ever was almost at Sirsi, so one of our friend went down to pick him up while we stayed back. We had lunch at a modest roadside hotel. Lunch for me was Idli with chutney. Now that the missing dude was in, the journey begun again, this time to destination Shivaganga falls.
It was a long journey, the weather out was scorching and the tears coming down the eyes due to the speed got evaporated burring the skin. It was terrible, that. Had to park our bike and walk due to roughness of the road, a kilometre or two before we were at the mouth of the mountain. Our destination lay at the feet of the mountain opposite to where we currently were. Simply put, the journey down was fast and furious. The path of approximately five kms, was steep, slippery at places, rocky 90% of the time. Was as good as literally getting down a mountain. Got down the mountain only to see that the falls was still another mile away! There was that walk which was rather an acrobatic ride, before we finally reached to the base of the falls. It was only after about fifteen minutes after I and another friend, Vinayak reached, that the rest of the party joined in. Must say the troop was really exhausted. But there was the falls in all its beauty to make it up. We were there for maybe an hour and half or two. Then came the point of going back up. The water supply was done with. No sooner did we begin climbing the mountain, than our @nits4ever and @akshay felt their throat shout for water. For that matter, I believe it was so with each of us, only that a few could bear it while the others couldn’t. The thirst was such that they even drank the water that was falling off from various places. We met a troop of college students who asked us how further down it was to the falls, and having told the directions the one question I had was if they had enough supply of water. They did. Half way up we realised that we would have a real hard time getting back up and looking at @akshay’s state we knew it was going to be easier said than done. So myself and vinayak sped ahead to get some water or anything available nearby. Walking back up I felt maybe this was one task the roadies should be asked to do. We could feel the dehydration doing its thing. To add to it, I had my bag along, adding to my weight. Somehow we reached our bikes and sped ahead in search of the nearest hotel. Maybe about 10kms or so away we finally found a hotel. Stopped by had our fill of water, filled the water bottles we had, got some soft drink and got back to our waiting friends. Carrying 7 bottles wasn’t an easy task to do on a bumpy road when the rider was riding at no less than 50-60kms/hr. When we reached, the others were near the bike all set to ride back. Seeing the cold drinks was maybe the best feeling they would have for a very long time. The bottle was gone within few seconds. Life was back. Rode back. Stopped at the hotel once more for another round of drinks, soft of course. The tiredness was settling… Set back home. Needed a long rest before setting out again, but that was not to happen.
“Toggu rullavu kartasanchi. Bhari pormbolu yettas. (They are preparing a snack down stairs and its smelling great!) @nits4ever here has gone nuts. He is practising a mixture of ballet and item number 😉 #nowplaying My happy ending.”
After a round of snacks, headed to Sirsi again. Rode from half way down. The bike, a real specimen it was. No idling at all. Got switched off every time you slowed down. The weather was cool, the ride was good. Was it the road, was the bike, I wouldn’t know, but the bikes really ran fast, at 100-120kms/hr we were at ease, rather the bike was too. Reached the city, roamed around for a while, clicking few pics here and there. Then tiredness began taking its toll. Decided to go for dinner. Two hotels and nothing available. As luck would have it, our guide friend didn’t know his city too well. It was getting close to midnight and options were running out. So we asked him to enjoy, saying we would find dinner and would meet him later. So the trio set out in search of a hotel providing dinner, anything edible for that matter, in a stranger city. I still remember the banana we had before setting out. A few minutes later we found a hotel. Chef’s special it was. Whew! that was really a huge relief, for apples were back at home, miles away! Had burger, for nothing else seemed good enough. Was okay. Had some idle chat for about and hour and returned. Reaching the place where we were supposed to meet, we found that guy was still out enjoying somewhere and it was only about half an hour later that he returned. The mid night ride was splendid. Clocking more than 100kms/hr most of the times we were freezing in the cold weather. Yet there was a thrill to it.
“2:30 in the morning now. Still feeling wide awake. But the situation calls for sleep. Need to be up early. Wrapping up maybe one of the longest days in my life. Until sunrise, peace it shalt be.”
Friday, June 25th, 2010 at 12:38 am
“Its been a very tiresome day. 12.50 in the morning now. Started @ 4.15 in the evening. Dint know what I was thinking when I expected to find a seat, maybe I was expecting a reservation. All the same, you don’t get a seat in the general compartment, surely not on the train to Goa, never ever on a Friday, unless of course you got lucky. So it had to be standing journey. All I had since evening was a masala dosa which I had at a hotel nearby the railway station and a cool drink to wash it down.”
So it was, Friday, the 26th of February, 2010, De-Day. Had been planning for the trip, from quite sometime and finally it was taking life. There I was sitting in the doorway, ear phones plugged in, enjoying the tune of Linkin Park. Winds lashing on my face, my feet inches away from the ground when the stations passed by, darkness hitting hard at the sight of tunnels, kids waving from open fields, passing by life at several miles/hour, those little things always make my day. Always as in from dreams to reality. Never realized hour the four hour journey went by, or was it three? I am not sure.
As we reached the Kumta station, the sun had long set. We had to walk maybe a kilometre, or so I felt, before we caught sight of a hotel to hear the call of our stomachs. To think that was a short cut, I don’t want to think about the other route. With the baggage it was certainly more tiring. With hunger put to sleep, we had another journey to make before we could reach our destination. According to our guide friend, it was festival time and hence there would be buses very frequently, but as it happened, it was a theoretical statement. The buses to a destination was houseful and we were in the least mood to take another two hour standing journey. There were about 10-15 of us all together, and somebody said we hire a cab, but it was easier said than done. We found cabs, but the drivers were missing. And not everybody was keen to go together, so few left, and finally we were only five or six when we found seats. Its a different point that it was in the last row.
“Its twilight all around me. The temperature is down considerably. Can’t deny I am feeling the chill. My hungry eyes are feasting upon the twilight magic hungrily. In moments of glimpses that my eyes are able to catch, I was a witness to a photo-shopped alchemy. Every now and then my guide friend is butting in with the worldly description while I am lost in the other part of it. Sleep is hard to come with the bumpy ride I am on, yet a power nap would be a good idea. Btw on a govt bus on the way to Sirsi from Kumta. Going to lose myself in the twilight again..”
So it was maybe after almost 45 minutes after leaving the hotel, we were on another journey aboard a government bus which didn’t know what speed meant. No, better put, it could only dream of speed.
“Eyes catch the sight of a wonderful couple of houses, the dream house of every artist, a thatched roof, blue hue… To add to it, the twilight.. hmm… The day today, is totally going to be consumed by the twilight, wonderfully for me to savour the beauty. The bus had stopped for a while. Back to the bumpy track now…”
The road mostly consisted to ghat section, the sky was bright, it was dense rows of trees on both sides of the road, or so it looked in the darkness, the weather was getting terribly cold. As luck would have it the window wouldn’t budge. So I was taking shelter behind my bag, enjoying the beauty around me. There was no network through out, so no tweeting. Most of the crew was fast asleep, and maybe I was the only one awake. Not that I could catch sleep with the cold, anyway. After what seemed like a few hours, we finally reached Sirsi. Its was considerably colder when compared to Udupi. A part of me was glad that the travelling came to an end while the other half still wanted the bus ride to continue. It was carnival time and the city was buzzing with activity with no time to take a peak at the clock. It was decided that we would roam around for a while before leaving, but with the luggage it was pathetic moving around. Gave up on roaming plans. Dinner was tough to find with all hotels filled. Decided was better to head back. On the way to the bus stop we found a small Chinese food stall. Stopped to have some food. Ordered a Gobi Manchurian, it tasted ok. Got noodles parcelled to save time. When we finally reached the bus stop, Surprise! no bus. Found there was going to be no more for the day. It was about 11 then. Found a cab, after negotiating for sometime hired it. The journey was nothing less than going into the jungles. I was so damn tired, I could hardly keep my eyes open, but finally when we reached I was rejuvenated, or maybe the writer within was. The house which stood in front of our eyes was just WOW! Almost amidst the jungle. The house is typical village house, too good to be true. Felt was surely going to etch it into my memory before I left. It was more than 12 in the morning when we reached. Had a few chickoos and Kshaya. The hospitality was touching.
“Maybe for the first time in my life I don’t have a fan over my head. Interestingly I am not feeling the need for one either. There is no network here. So I am alone. Time to call it a day.. A long day ahead tomorrow.”
I was staying at Ravindra’s house. It was just the duo now, myself and @akshay, @nits4ever couldn’t make it due to some work. The first day was only a warm up.
Thursday, June 24th, 2010 at 6:33 pm