Sunday, December 27, 2009

Chunchi Falls

As I mentioned even though I travelled a bit over last six months I never updated my trip details. This was during august so please don't go by the amount of water in the snaps. My initial plan was to visit shivanasamdura during its peak season and since it had rained heavily i had no doubt about the amount of water in the shivanasamdura so called up loki and pratiba to join for the trip. We started at around 4.30 am in the morning. I picked up loki and pratiba and along with jyoti started driving towards kanakpura. We stoped at kanakpura at around 6.30 for breakfast and as usual idli was our best bet for early breakfast.

Last time I had driven to shivanasamdura via kaveri fishing camp, it was very beautiful but this time i couldn't really make out if i was driving in the same route or not but then i only knew i was driving towards sangama. But around 20kms from Kanakpura i saw a board reading Chunchi falls. I had never seen or heard about this falls before and immediately i took a left in that direction.
After driving through a small village and rough roads we reached a spot which was more of a dead end for my car, we came out of the car and could see the river flowing between a mountain but yet no trace of the falls. We had to walk down a bit to find a falls which was in its best , none of us had imagined that we would end up in such a beautiful place.
Best part of the trip i would say was the time we reached the spot we had reached chunchi falls by around 7 and we didn't find anyone other than we four. It was ferocious and scary as well yet we sneaked a bit close towards the falls and got completely drenched by the water. I did some photography and then by around 10 we could see few more teams coming down and then we felt it was time to leave. It was those moments of enjoying the beauty of the water falls in the early hours without much crowd that was so special about this trip.
We were completely satisfied for the day yet we started driving towards sangama, but as expected i felt this place was horribly over crowded and badly spoilt with plastics all around. I always feel that either good places should not have good connectivity so that value to reach these places is remembered or it should be maintained perfectly by totally banning plastics and fining heavily for violators. This fine amount could be used by the local villagers for the development work around these places.
We didn't enjoy anything at sangam and we started heading back towards bangalore. We reached back bangalore at around 3.30 or 4 and went to Prathiba's house. She prepared some pakoras for us and we had some fun with hot pakoras and tea. We enjoyed the trip to the core because nothing was planned and everything happened as a pleasant surprise. We wanted to go to shivanasamudra and ended up going to a place which i had never heard off.

Place : Chunchi Falls
Route : Bangalore, Kanakapura, Aldur, Deviation before Sangama, 6km to Chunchi Falls
Distance : Around 90km from Bangalore

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Lost Touch

I have not updated my blog since almost 6months, don't have a valid reason though but from now on I would be reading and writing very often. I had few trips in these 6 months and i would be updating the same at the earliest.

Monday, October 12, 2009

My Bucket List

Even though i had an idea of creating a list of to do before i die from long back, few movies off late have inspired me to put it in a place so that i can keep checking the status and keep adding new ones on regular basis.

Sl.no. -- Wish List -- Status
1) Buy a Bike of my own Salary (Done - May 2003)
2) Buy a digital Camera (Done - June 2006)
3) Upgrade to an Digital SLR (Done - 20/6/2009 )
4) Visit Kargil and Ladak (Done - September 2007)
5) Stay out of home for 2 years (Done - 2005 to 2007)
6) Buy a cycle (Done - 14/1/2010)
7) Visit Ladak and Kargil by Bike (Pending)
8) Visit Auranachal Pradesh (Pending)
9) Paragliding (Done)
10) Rafting in Ganga just after rains (Done - August 2007)
11) Be the pride owner of a Bullet (Pending)
12) Scuba Diving (Pending)
13) Learn Swimming (Pending)
14) Learn and Play Guitar (Pending)
15) Sky Diving (Pending)
16) Dine and stay in a five star hotel (Done)
17) Get Lost for a week (Done - 25/12/2008)
18) Cliff Jumping (Done - December 2006)
19) Watch King cobra in the wild (Done)
20) Watch Tiger in the wild (Pending)
21) Take bath in a water falls (Done many times now)
22) Buy a farm land and do farming (Pending)
23) Walk an entire night in the dark (Done - 26/12/2008)
24) Feed/Educate a child (Pending)
25) Trek to Everest Base Camp (Pending)
26) Visit Land of Opportunities - AMERICA (Done - June 2009)
27) Photo shoot in Masai Mara, Africa during the Great Migration (Pending)
28) Travel in Europe (Pending)
29) Become a Politician - Join a political party (Pending)

Saturday, August 22, 2009

How to Apply for Smart Card

I obtained my license for geared 2 wheel and car (LMV) way back in 1999. But during a pickpocket incident in the busy majestic area i lost my plastic card after that i went to the Rajaji nagar RTO to which i was told i have to get the plastic card from tumkur only. However when i went to tumkur RTO again i was told since they don't have machine right now i would have to go back after 6 months :-) believe me i was told to come back after 6 months. Then i went to Rajaji nagar RTO again for change of address and applying of plastic card again i was told to apply after 3 months because after 3 months they would be issuing the new smart cards. Again when i went after 3 months i was told they are very busy since the system of issuing smart cards is very new and they asked me to wait for a month or so, so that it can ease down a bit. Here i am again after a month to listen to the same music since my license is valid till 2019 its better for me to wait for a month or so, so that it can ease the rush a bit more but this time i was a bit reluctant. Now let me tell you the process of applying for the smart card along with the change of address :-) and also how it works in the RTO :-)
One person sits outside to assist you for your help :-) . I went to him and asked for the process to apply for smart card and he told me to go to counter 21. I went to counter 21 here i was asked to go to cash counter and pay the fee for the same. I went to the cash counter and after standing in the Que for 15min when it was my turn i asked her how much do i need to pay for change of address and smart card. She told me to go to counter 21 and ask them how much i need to pay. I was surprised that a person sitting in cash counter doesn't know how much to accept and she just accepts what people ask her to take :-). I saw that people don't pay for a certain job rather they ask her to take 200rs, 300rs and give a receipt for the same so strange right :-)
Now i went back to counter 21 and asked how much should i pay for change of address and smart card. He told me i had to pay 300rs (200 for smart card and 100 for change of address). Again i went back to the cash counter to stand in the Que, a middle man was standing in front of me with a list of 30 people, i had to wait until the receipt for all the 30 people is finished :-) . At the end of which the cashier told to the person 750Rs. Probably this should be the commission for the cashier for doing his job, because it was not paid at that moment :-). Its my turn now, i told her to give a receipt for 300rs to which she asked my name. I told "Poorna Prajna", she could not hear or probably she didn't know the spelling she asked me to write an application and come back :-). I came out again but i remembered suddenly and went back to the counter and gave my license and asked her to see my name from the license. At last she gave me a receipt for 300rs. With this i went back to counter 21. He told me to write an application and attach an address proof . I wrote an application and attached a xerox copy of my voting id card for address proof and went back to counter 21. He asked me to go to photo counter and get my photo clicked :-). When i went there, i was told that i should get a signature from the person in counter 21, so i went back again. This time he told me that i have to attach a printed application available outside for smart card. I had to go out to get the form only to know that there are no forms available with the RTO and i have to go to the xerox shop near by and pay Re1 for the application. After filling the application again i went back to counter 21 and got the signature and after which i got my photo clicked as well :-). Again go back to counter 21 and hand over all the documents along with your license. I got a piece of paper with a RTO seal as acknowledgement and i have been asked to come back after one month :-). Hope that i will get my smart card after one month...
Its soo simple right, but this is how it works here... Every time i visit a government office i remember few words from Gandhi "Its not that you are helping a customer, rather its because of the customer you are existing". I guess its Gandhi , golden words but so far from truth in the Indian government offices.

Bangalore Traffic Police

Few days back i received a mail with an information which was very usefull today . I was coming back from my office at ITPL and just before KR Puram bridge i was stopped by the police constable for not breaking any traffic rule. At the first place i knew it was not legal to stop any one in a free flowing traffic without any reason and you are not supposed to be harassed for documents. Anyway even though i had all the documents, i had failed to check that my emission test document had lapsed a week back. The police constable was immediate to say that i was suppose to pay a fine of Rs300 for not having the valid emission test document. I feel its so strange, every day i have been traveling around 60kms in Bangalore and i see scores of vehicles like auto, lorries which emit lots of carbon yet they never look to be stopped and how come its always the brand new vehicles that's gets stopped? One answer could be the possibility of the owner of a new vehicle just after 1 year not having the emission test document is very high compared to others and hence the opportunity to make some quick money by the police :-)
Any way since i had seen this mail few days back, when the constable asked for Rs 300 fine i told him sorry i am not suppose to pay fine for not having the valid emission test document and i am entitled to get a notice for one week with in which i should produce the document in the police station, hence forth please give me a notice and later i will come to the police station to show you the emission test document. I was so happy to see the surprised police man, at the first place he was surprised to know that people are getting awareness about the law. He was not just surprised he was embarrassed as well, he was immediate to say give me your original vehicle license and not the photo copy. Well i had a back up for this as well :-) I had been to the RTO 3 times for a plastic card and all the 3 times i had been sent back saying we are in the process of upgrading it to smart card and come back after few more days. But few days back i had a big discussion in the RTO and forcefully applied for the smart card. Once you apply for smart card they take back my license and I was given an acknowledgment. I showed the same to the police constable saying my license has been taken back by the RTO and would be given back in a month with the new smart card :-) . He was speech less as he didn't have anything more to say. He just said please get your emission tested in the next petrol bunk :-) i still asked him are you not giving the notice hahaha :-) he said no need :-) hahaha i was sooo happy that i saved some money from getting wasted :-)
I would take this oppurtunity to thank Mr. Praveen Sood (Additional Commissioner of Police) for letting us know about this fact and saving lots of rupees for a common man and also trying to reduce corruption in the traffic police department. Probably if every one who is been stopped know these things i am sure it would be difficult for the traffic police to harass people and make some quick buck.
Now What rule says :
1. If you don't have or if your insurance is lapsed you are suppose to get a notice for 15 days.
2. If you don't have emission test document you are suppose to get a notice for 1 week.
Either of the cases you are not suppose to pay any fine. We can get it done during the notice period and produce it in the police station later. You can only be fined if you fail to get these documents with in the notice period.
Police can't catch you and ask for any documents he can only catch you if you have violated any traffic rule or for drunken driving. Its a mistake if the police is catching people just to verify documents in a free flowing traffic. Also if caught violating a traffic rule you are only supposed to be fined for breaking the rule and not for other cases of not carrying the documents and stuffs :-)
Also thanks to RTI for making aware of these things to a common man :-)

Friday, July 03, 2009

Some Tips About Nokia Mobile

Today I was trying to find the pin of my mobile so went for the google search and found some inputs. Hope it would be usefull for others as well

To view IMEI number *#06#
To view Software Version enter *#0000#
To view Status of Sim Clock Stop. Enter *#746025625#
Latest Version is under Phone Info
Type is NSE-3NX
*#92702689# offers you Serial Number and also IMEI number. There are various options to scroll here.
The code is easier to remember as *#war0anty# (warranty)
The next screen is the date of manufacture in the format Made: 1197
The next screen is the purchase date in the format Purchasing Date: 1197 (this can be edited)
The next screen has Repaired: 0000 (presumable at repair the date is entered)
The next screen has Transfer User Data? (the same option as the 8110)
To exit turn the phone off and then back on.
*3370# to activate Enhanced Full Rate (*efr0#)
#3370# to deactivate Enhanced Full Rate (#efr0#)
*4720# to activate Half Rate (*hra0#) ONLY IN SOFTWARE VERSION V4.33 OR EARLIER
#4720# to deactivate Half Rate (#hra0#)
After pressing these codes the phone will shut down and start up again with the service activated/deactivated.
Unlock SP lock
Here is a way to Unlock your phone which is Service Provider locked, without to know SPLock code !!!!
Give it a try:
First of all, PIN CODE MUST BE ON, then press:
C

C and hold until it clears display
* and hold until start to blink
* and hold until start to blink
04* * *your pin#
Each time you turn your phone OFF it resets the lock, so this need to be done each time you'll turn your phone ON
Anyway it's better than nothing, isn't it?
6110 Sim Card Locking
There are four different types of Sim Locks on the 6110 (not sure about 5110 yet).
1 = Country Lock - Lock to Specific Country
2 = Network Lock - Lock to Network
3 = Provider Lock - Lock to Service Provider
4 = Sim Lock - Lock to Specific SIM Card
To see the status of your phone
#pw+(mastercode)+X#
(mastercode) is a 10 digit number WITHOUT the brackets.
X is a number 1 through 4, it shows the above locks. Not sure of which numbers are assigned to which lock yet. (The numbers above stand for X => for esample: 1 = Country Lock
Sim not restricted message means your phone is NOT sim locked - Check all 4 to be sure.
Most SIMs are locked with the Service Provider Lock => f.e. to the network of MAX



Sunday, April 26, 2009

Ombattu Gudda

After coming back from kumara parvata i was bit disturbed looking at the amount of distruction this place has seen. Some how i wanted to visit a place which was more hidden from the common man and free from humans. Also it was quite some time since i had trekked almost 2 months and all of a sudden one fine day i just mailed the entire team shall we trek to ombattu gudda. Instant answer was yes from many people however none of us had much information nor any idea about the trek. Until the last day things were kept very low, no preparation, no information gathering nothing. However just 2 days before, one mail from vicky changed the entire scene. Vicky mailed the entire team saying its a very difficult trip and we haven't made any preparation and hence started information gathering, GPS, maps etc. Well after coming back from the trip i can say one thing without GPS its a near impossible trek. Also please don't try this trek during rains. I would say its more of a death trap during rains due to leeches, over flowing streams and river and also lots of snakes all around.

Due to all the information gathered and also due to the fact that it was summer and many had told that there would be shortage of water we had to drop all girls and also few members whom we felt couldn't make it if its difficult. At the end we booked a tempo traveller and headed towards Ombattu gudda. We reached Gundya check post at around 5.30 in the morning and immediately with our bags we started to walk along the jeep track. It was here we met Vivek one of our team mate who had come with few of his other friends in a different group. At one place vivek and his friends just over took us CSP started shouting that we have deviated from the GPS trail and told we were suppose to take left 1/2km back. Once we took left from the jeep trek it was all together different thing which i had never seen before in any my previous treks. No trail and you are entering the virgin forest making your own way along the thick forest. Here and there still you find a jeep track till me come across the stream.

I can say this stream is the last place from where you can think of going back if you don't have big heart to venture in these forests infected with snakes and wild animals. From here its very difficult to make your way along the forests, GPS is the only way out, i don't think maps could be off good use at this place until you are really good at reading and marking your location. We stopped here and took a break for our breakfast also we all got into the cold water to have some fun. Initially every one had warned us that this would be last place where you would get water and we also thought from here we would be climbing the mountain and there would be no source of water. However we walked along the water stream or probably its the Kabbinahole river all along almost till the evening. To be specific we actually reach a water falls in the middle of the forest, this is the last spot from where we need to move away from the water body.

Not many will belive the risk involved, even though we could reach the water falls by around 4 in the evening the other team which started along with us could only reach the falls by next day afternoon so you could imagine the how confusing the forest could be.

When we reached the waterfalls we could see the tiredness in everyones face, many of us were breaking down badly girish was the worst hit, he couldn't carry his bag any more and diwi and kadu had to share his luggage. Also vikrum got dehydrated badly and started to get cramps badly. It was great energy from CSP which kept us walking even when the fear of getting dark and still struck in the forest was looming large.

At around 6 we were very happy and lucky to come out of forest and see the vast grass lands. A great relief for every one. No one was ready to walk further and insisted to stop and rest for the day however CSP insisted if we could walk for few more min we would be in a better place to camp and rightly said by him we could find an ideal place to camp. However we had only one tent which i carried but we could see that it had started to rain across the mountains near by. I should say we were a bit lucky that day that i almost felt like only the mountain on which we camped didn't receive the rains. Other than me and vicky rest all slept in the open air, well i don't know but it was pretty hot inside the tent.

This was one trek where in i was so tired that i couldn't think of taking photos. Every time i needed to take out my camera i felt forget it. Before we all went to sleep we could see the peak in front of us inviting us to climb. Next day morning we started early and started to climb towards the peak one good thing was the unlike the peak summer the weather was very pleasant with clouds all along the peak. From the peak we could see the jeep track on the other side which would lead us to lakshmi estate.

On reaching the jeep track we were sure of reaching some civilization very soon and also we found a human after almost 2 days, who even helped us with some water.However rather than going to lakshmi estate we took a short cut and managed to reach Hosakere village directly.

I would also like to add the adventure from vivek in his own words over here

"The actual story goes this way……

After going ahead from the point where we last met.. we continued in search for the water fall which was the source point to take the deviation…

This we continued till the end of the day 1… and on day 2 we reached the water fall [as per the blog by “Shantanu” – the guy who trekked the route solo!!!] from there we were supposed to take the uphill route to the right of the water fall… but instead took the deviation considering it to be our right side while standing in front of the water fall.. ;-P but I think it hardly made any difference….

On reaching the top of that hill.. we cudnt get the GPS so we had to climbdown on the other side and then accidentally hiked towards the jenkallu gudda … we put in a treacherous effort to cross 4 more guddas and landed up on a hill to spend the Sunday night… we missed out on dinner and were almost out of water… 1 guy was completely dehydrated and he started puking whenever he had something to eat/drink…

Next morning, we took a blunt decision to climb the hill opposite to where we camped the previous night… almost 80% of the gang had lost the hope of making it back on Monday !!! but when we got down the hill into a valley with dense vegetation we found a water source.. it saved our lives.. and luckily one of us discovered an abandoned trail which was an unused jeep track to climb the hill… finally that was the route to lakshmi estate….by almost 2pm on Monday.. that was the point when we reached the civilization !!! :D

-Viv"


I would rate this trek as one the best, difficult and untouched virgin forest. Lots of risk involved, once you enter the forest there is no easy way out. So who ever wanna try this please don't try this without a GPS also please make sure not to try this during the rains. One thing i loved about this place was i couldnot find a single piece of plastic was very surprised to see that. So who ever wanna try this trek please don't spoil the beauty of this place, avoid plastics or any other harmful substance.

Trek Details:
Level : Difficult
Route : Bangalore - Sakaleshpura - Shiradi Ghat - Gundiya Checkpost - Start point of the trek is around 1km walk from the check post we reach a small bridge across the Kabbinalhole river - Take a right from here and follow the GPS trail to Ombattu gudda - Hosakere village on the other side (lakshmi estate) -- Mudigere - Hassan - Bangalore.
Must : Salt for leeches, first aid kit, lots of juices and water, GPS and maps.
Maps:Get the maps "No. 48 P/9/NW and No. 48 P/9/SW" for this trek. These maps will be available at "Survey of India, Koramangala". ( A tip - Survey of India's lunch time is 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm . So go before 2:00 pm or after 3:00 pm to get the maps)


Ombattu Gudda - Day 1

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Ombattu Gudda - Day 2

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Friday, February 13, 2009

Kumara Parvata

A place where in i started my experience of being with myself in nature, kumaraparvata is like a challenge being one of the tallest peak in karnataka. Kumara parvata was my first trek around 5 years back after which i never looked back however i always wanted to visit the peak again, even though many a times i thought of doing this trek some how i always was attracted by various other places. However after 5 years back to kumara parvata and i can see that it has been a bit over exposed to the world.
I Justify Fullstill remembered the streams of water, green grass lands, the clouds, haunting chilled nights, burning sun and i cannot forget the batta's house he had quit subramanya and wanted to be alone in the woods far from everyone. So many things had changed it looked lot more commericalized and a place filled with plastics :-(.
As a normal routine we started on a friday night and we reached the start point near somvarpet at around 7 in the morning. I had not treked to the peak from this side last time, so it was something new for me. However the trek from this side is lot more easier and not really a big challenge. I was a bit sick the previous day and hence it did look a lot more difficult for me. My friends did tease me saying i have lost a bit of life to trek.
I kept struggling to walk towards the peak, i was getting tired the sun was bright and i was feeling the pinch for every step. I wanted to hide from the sun it was so bright and dry i felt like i had forgotten the habbit of trekking in the wild.
All the members of the team were pretty adaptable for tough conditions and no one really felt any difficulty in climbing the peak. We were on top of the peak by around 12-1. After a bit of rest under the few small trees left, we decided to pitch the tents so that we could get some good place. Well felt like we made the wise decission, after we pitched our tents we could see lots and lots of people coming. On that particular day i felt atleast 100 plus people had managed to reach the peak. Felt like once a glory was now more of a tourist spot. I am not against people visiting any place but defneity against people visiting these places who do not understand the value of these places.
Unlike few years back, this place now is more of a plastic dustbin i could see plastics lying all around and i was struggling to digest the fact of seeing so many plastics at this place. Adding to it was a few students in their teen had got a big sword with which they were chopping off the small trees for their night camp fire. Even though few of us did stop them at that moment later part of the day when we were sleeping in our tents they did go back brought lots of fire sticks for their camp fire. Could hear them sing and dance all night.
At times reality bites me a lot, i go to these peaks to be far from civilization and many a times i end up seeing the horrors of civilized human practises in front of my eyes. Its good to have more trekkers explore the beauty of nature but its a disastor to have unmatured non nature loving people exploring these places to spoil it. Anyway i am happy for the team i am associated with that each and every member of it are so concious of their actions in these places, even a piece of choclate paper and many a times even the biodigradable things would be brought back. It would be the responsibility of every individual to carry back all the things he carried.
After a good dinner at night, i still felt i was sick and needed some rest. I really dont remember when i got sleep but i was lost very soon. I expected it to be very cold and breezy like last time, however this time around neither i could see the strong winds nor the temperature was freezing i felt it was pretty normal. A strange thing on peak which i never expected.
We gotup very early in the morning and started preparing coffe/tea for the entire team inside my tent. I came out of the tent to see the beauty of clouds covering all the smaller mountains around, it was thing i had dreamed off for quite some time... even though i had seen picutures of it many a times i have hardly experienced this feeling a feel of floating on top of the mountains, a feel of being above clouds and best thing is, this moment is for very few minutes just after the sunrises these are gone.
We knew its going to get hot at the later part of the day and we decided to pack back and started to climb down by around 8 am. But now i felt like i had seen enough and wanted to give back some part of my energy in doing a small favour back to nature, in favour of which i felt lot more better this morning and i felt i had lot more energy compared to the previous day. On my way back i found a big plastic cover i picked it up with a hope to collect as much plastics as possible. I started collecting gutka packets, choclates rapers, and lots of other plastic wastes... all along it was very hard to bend every other step but it was a challenge which i had accepted for myself. I belive it was a beginning and probably in all my future treks i would be following this. One good thing was atleast many of my own team members did really got a bit of inspiration and they did help me a lot felt very happy that you always need a beginning and many a times rest just follows. It was not just our team i could see lot of other teams which did feel that they shouldnot atleast throw plastics. Well just like not every person is intelligent few are defnitely arrogant we did get teased by few saying ragpickers. I didnot wanted to mind for these mindless people as we knew what we were upto.
We reached batta's house at around afternoon. I remember last time Batta had setup up a beautiful place around his house in the middle of mountains. But this time his graden was a garbage filled with plastics. His house was more of a choultry with a big time businness running. I could see atleast 150 people waiting for food in his house. Did not really feel like i should have food here it was a mess. I felt soo bad that i didnot know how to react his garden had every thing biscut packets, choclate papers, plastic bottels... felt bad for him and we left the place very soon. Well i forgot to say that in between batta's house and the peak there is a small water stream one near the kallu mantapa and one almost near the peak. Both these water bodies have depleted a lot compared to last time and you can see its been terrorised by fellow trekkers to the core. We burnt lots of plastics and paper plates at this place as it was very unclean to carry and we had to empty our collection so that we can carry back lots more.
After batta's house we can get some cover from the sun and but still its lot more difficult to bend down to collect every few min. My head started to spin after bending for the whole day and finally with a km left for the end of the trek i gave up picking plastics. At the end point we laid down for some time and then we could see lots of water bottels and stuffs all around. Felt probably we can end the trek with a more meaning full decission. There was a small stream near by and we all had a good bath at this place to refresh ourselves and then we all got together to clean up the small field at the end point. We droped all our collection at the board showing the way to KP :-) hope some one would clean up from here as i felt we had done our work with great respect and sanity. I would like to thank all my friends and team mates who helped me in something which did trouble me in this trip.



Saturday, January 03, 2009

Where was I?

It was a coincidence I met this person “Maanas” on my flight journey back to Bangalore from Delhi, we could talk very easily as we shared few common interests and here I am publishing his latest adventure in my blog. Here it goes, thoughts of Maanas in his own words.

Maanas :

Few might think either I am crazy or mad to travel like this or probably few might think I am troubled soul or few might think I am philosophical but to me it was only to understand myself and only a measure to know what I have compared to the rest. It was a journey for myself more than for anything else. I would not consider myself to be on either side of the groups atheist or theist rather I would abstain myself from this discussion saying I don’t know anything on either of these. However it was more of my own experiments on my own self. Rather my idea of this trip was to not plan a trip but just try out all crazy things in my mind, to try out all my mind desires in a week. To live just like living, cut off from the world and to live in my world of dreams and isolation without worrying about any thing. Probably it sounds crazy but it was an interesting thing for me to try out. However it would not be fair enough to say my mind could stay away from lust of body but probably you can say either I was lucky or busy not to give much thought in this direction.

These were few things I wanted to try out for myself
- Hunger for atleast 3 days
- Feel the cold with minimal or no clothes
- Meet the poor
- Survive without a penny in my pocket
- Sleep on a huge rock
- Walk in the night, to feel the fear of darkness
- Talk to saadhus to know what is that they want?
- Sleep in front of the river
- Read few books
- Try to swim
- Observe humans around
- Be silent and be with yourself
- Travel in public transport, to feel the toughness of journey of the poor
- Visit few temples if I feel like
- Walk along the banks of the river whole day
- Try to earn some money doing any work
- Jump into the cold river from a huge rock.

So an introduction to this trip would be something like I wanted to get lost and a feel for everything which I had. The idea was to travel very far and then isolate myself from everything food, family, friends, current affairs, money everything and be with myself for few days.

I basically divided this trip into 2 main parts one to live myself being silent and observing and two was to interact with people. Both were very useful first one proved me how fake and scared I am and second one showed how much more fake and scared the others are. Below I am only pinning down my thoughts which came to my mind as and when I observed so I would not rather give the details which ran in my mind but it would be more of things which I scribbled down in my notepad through out the journey.

- He was a tough solider with an automatic assault rifle in his hand, looking suspiciously at everyone in the airport. This might be probably due to the terrorist threat in this country. I went up to him and asked “Bhaiya yaha pe ISBT keliye bus milega?” I was very surprised at the very response from the hard looking soldier “Bilkul milega, ham batayenge naa apko, akir ham hai hi apke seva keliye. Yaha se seeda bahar jao, todi left loo aur waha par apko ek green bus dikhegi, wo apko ISBT tak sirf ek ghante mee matraa pachas rupayee mee pohanchaadega”. At least I did not expect such a soft spoken person to be such a brave hearted solider however it took time to realize after all even he is a human.

- Out here in the capital city of India I see lots of armed guards all along the roads even in the midnight, it’s a tough life to see them standing alert even in the chilling cold of the north. So I would first salute to them in support and hence forth adding a few lines in this article were in it had nothing to do with my experiments.

- I felt I have always traveled to my comfort, but how would it be to travel in the worst of the roads in worst of the buses. And this gave me the idea to travel through the horrible buses of the north, probably these buses are never gona die its been used for years and years. All the seats were shaking and quite a few even fell down. I slept with my bag in the last seat to get a hard and bumpy ride.

- In the first morning I got down from the bus in the early hours, I did not have any plans, neither I knew where to go and what to do. My bag was very heavy felt like I need to get rid of this bag first before I could start off. I started walking in the small town, however it was still very early and the cold breeze was pleasing for me, however I was feeling very bad about the human intervention with nature with pollution all around. After walking for around 8kms I found a cheap hotel where in I dumped my luggage and slept for 2 hours.

- My first encounter with a saadhu, I asked him what was he doing here to which he said not every one will understand that. After engaging him in talk for few minutes he showed me the photo of his sons. His 2 sons had ditched him, felt like he had chosen the path with no other options left for him.

- This river looks mysteriously calm yet a mystery to me.

- I was sitting on a huge rock and was watching the water flow all of a sudden around 50 ducks from sky landed into the water creating ripples in water just like waves in my mind. It was spectacular beauty to watch it.

- At the beginning I could not give much thought why I was sitting on the rock nor I knew much of what I would do but I was enjoying myself a lot. Probably I cannot express that.

- I have always traveled in groups, however traveling alone is a challenge, risk, adventure and great thrill. You always get time to view the world through your view.

- You climb one mountain, you see another which is still bigger and challenging. Probably similar to life’s need you clear one and there is always the next ready for you.

- Day 2 and I was very hungry but I did not wanted to try out anything, I felt that the winds were sharp and were cutting my body just like a blade. It was very early in the morning and I started walking out of the small village, towards the forest, visibility was very poor neither I knew where I was walking. I was a bit scared as there would be nothing that could help if something happens to me yet I was enjoying the shear beauty and believed nothing could happen to me.

- I met few westerns going ahead, felt like many visit India to see how poor a country India is and few even laugh at how ignorant we are with our false pride and still speaking of the past without knowing where the rest of the world has reached today. However they are equally puzzled looking to the sadhus how poor they look and yet they are ignorant about others and are happier in their own world.

- I kept reading few books I carried and when ever I felt tired I slept on the undisturbed white sand on the banks of the river, on rocks, on benches, below the tree like a mad man. There was no one to question me and I was totally unknown to anyone it was like the entire world is still and only I was walking.

- Looking at the way a fellow Indian treats a westerner, I felt like we Indians are highly racist a treatment a westerner gets can never be expected to a common man, one reason might be the amount of money a westerner pumps into the society.

- I felt it difficult to understand the life of these sadhus. I did not understand to myself how can one be so confident on something which he has never seen nor experienced? I am here sitting on a huge rock watching them from far drying their clothes, there is dog beside me and probably watching the same and both look like equally confused.

- Day 3 and I have developed a light headache due to hunger but there is nothing to worry about it. I walked a lot almost 20kms and by after noon I was on top of mountain from where I could see the entire village below me. I was tired, hunger had started troubling me, I could feel in my body. Probably even due to the cold I had sever cramps in my legs I was not even able to walk properly. Sitting here on the top I felt like I should log into my mails and check what the rest of the world is doing. But just by looking at the village down I felt like it’s the same every one moving across a mechanized world nothing different nothing new and hence I gave up the idea of doing anything like that. A mechanized world which forgets it’s past and knows nothing about the future and yet busy.

- From here I see a huge land slide, a part of the mountain has just collapsed into the river. Lots of loose sand and rocks have fallen into the river. I thought let me walk on it. I started climbing down along the loose soil and I did slip quite a few times before I reached the banks. It looked like an unexplored beauty of pure white sand between huge rocks. I spent my evening reading books sleeping on these banks. Suddenly I saw a beautiful bird in front of me. It looked like it wanted to please me. It would jump off the rock do some stunts and then again come back and sit on the same rock. I was really surprised to see something like that. How could it manage to sit on the same rock again and again?

- It almost got dark and I started walking back towards the village. I was walking on the road one side of which is the thick forest and the other side is the river. On my way back it was very dark and occasional screaming of the monkeys and birds did scare me out of my mind but otherwise it was a great experience to walk alone like a devil in the night. I did not understand what I wanted to prove but it was a good fear to have. Walking in the dark I asked myself what am I really scared off initially I got the answers like wild animals, street dogs, humans? But probably I would be scared of myself the most not knowing what I would do the next.

- I found a place near to the village on the banks and decided to sleep on a rock that night. Winds started getting stronger and stronger and I could feel it carrying the sand on my body. It was getting colder and colder and I tried to hide myself between the rocks and I never know when I got sleep. However I could not sleep the entire night properly as I was shivering from cold and fear of being alone. In the silence of night the sound of the flowing river did add to my fear. However I felt like let me feel the chillness of the river. In the early hours say around 4 when it was very cold and when I was not able to sleep any more I striped off my clothes completely and naked I got into the water it was freezing. I felt like I had put on loads off ice cubes on my body. I couldn’t stay in water for more than few minutes as I felt I would freeze to death, I came out of water and sat on a rock I tried to close my eyes and get lost in the idea of keeping my mind idle. I should not think anything in my mind. It’s a very difficult task as I kept thinking one or the other but when I was at least something close to it I was like in a sort of coma state. I could hear and feel everything yet I felt everything was a dream and I not able to open my eyes… It was a strange feeling….

- Well during this state of my mind I never felt cold even though the breeze was very strong in the early morning hours, felt like mind definitely plays a part to feel the weather. However I couldn’t completely agree to this as well. But definitely a strong mind can bear few things better.

- Last night it was very cold on the banks I did not know how to hold myself, I meditated for few minutes it definitely helped however I used to feel cold again as soon as I open my eyes. I pulled out my ipod and with all the dance beats I started dancing just like my mind wanted me to  no steps were known to me before probably it was the craziest of dances I have ever danced. But it was fun thinking and laughing at myself.

- Day 4 early morning and I am still sitting here on the banks of this magnificent river and I see 4 peacocks looking at me probably I never got to see these birds so closely in the wild. It was spectacular to watch them fly. They looked at me, should be wondering who is this stranger or probably might be the other way as well with so many humans all around. Early morning when the first light falls on these mountains I felt like how huge and unapproachable these mountains and I wonder how man reached and crossed all the way ahead in olden days.

- I am sitting on the edge of this huge rock formations from where the river looks like a death bowl. She is flowing with enormous speed and fast rapids. I am sitting here on the edge with my legs hanging something like living on the edge probably. No way I can survive if I slip. From here I started walking inside the forest I did not know where I was heading towards I went very deep inside I almost walking for 3hours. Once deep inside the forest I was really scared I kept following a stream which joined the river, wow it was not a waste I explored a small falls it was a beautiful falls small and hidden. The light had started to go down but I did not wanted to miss and opportunity to enjoy the falls. I sat below the falls for quite sometime and then when it was almost dark I was a bit nervous as I did not know where exactly I was. My only idea was to follow the stream back again. Walking in the night was again very scary experience felt like I would get a heart attack with the slightest of the sounds. Probably one can only feel it rather than could be explained. But it’s a strange experience you are alone know one knows where you are neither I know where exactly I am.

- Its almost 3 days now for me without any food I was just drinking water, however my body has started to feel the need of energy, I had sever cramps and blisters in my leg I was even struggling to walk. This night I felt like hunger is very hard it tends to freeze your brain from thinking any further. It looks like it just freezes your thoughts, I was just waiting to break my fast, I felt like I need at least something I did not have any choice for food. It was the sheer need to survive is what I felt. The darkness added to the pain I felt like my eyes were wet I wanted something to eat felt like I need help but I was no were near any village. Nor I would get anything probably this was one of the longest nights in my life. I couldn’t wait until I could see the sunlight just to eat something. My mind did not wanted to ignore the need of food any longer. Probably hunger and lust are the greatest challenges to human mind. Either of these would take complete control of the rest when they are active. Lots of things sounds true to hear and when you challenge the truth very few stands out to be the real truth. This was the day where in I was not having a penny in my pocket, it was like even If I could find something to eat I didn’t have anything to buy it. It was great learning to at least understand the basics of hunger myself. However I got confused like what is more important the food or the money, many might put an end saying food however how can we reject the influence of money towards food?

- I saw so many troubled people around me that I never felt like I need to visit a temple to see god. More over there is always a middle man between me and the god.

- Day 5 the last day of my trip was very meaningful as I was trying to conclude so many of my thoughts which I experienced over 5 days. I started my day with a heavy breakfast. Probably humans are the only animal species who cares much about other animal species than the fellow humans. I saw a woman feeding all the stray dogs on road felt like how could she ignore the hungry humans watching her?

- Smallest of happiness could be found probably by smallest of actions, as old man was trying to pull a cart uphill and he was struggling, I saw it for few seconds and then pushed it a bit from the back and it moved up easily. Probably he never noticed but I was having a smile on my face. One more incident I was sitting on a bench and was writing my notes I saw an old sadu beside me writing something on a piece of paper with a pen refill. He was struggling to grip the refill in his hand. I went up to him and offered him my pen. He asked me, I saw you writing don’t you need it? I said I can buy one more. He accepted the pen happily and he tried writing with his new pen but he couldn’t hold the same and he kept his pen inside and started writing again with the refill. Sometimes certain things never matter it looked like he had only 2 purpose the need to write and the convenience, so even the costliest of the pens would have hardly made a difference to him. After he finished writing I asked him what he wrote however he was not interested to share the same.

- Today I saw few people praying in front of the river. I did not have any problems in their faith however when I saw them throwing plastics into the river I felt sorry for their faith as well as for the river. However the river looks like she has her own ways of handling things. She accepts everything that’s been offered to her and grace fully rejects things she is not interested in. I could see old clothes, plastic bottles all along the banks of the river.

- Today I tried to find a part time job for me which could at least get some food for a day but I failed miserably. I wanted to try out the smallest of jobs but probably because of my costume or due to generosity of people they did not want me to do their job and hence I was jobless.

- I feel troubled when I can’t stand by my words and my inability to act on it makes it worse. But its so strange everyday the sand on the banks of the river is disturbed by human footprints yet when I come back the next day its an undisturbed new layer waiting. It’s like things move on how much so ever one is disturbed.

- Its almost a week now, I don’t know anything, I haven’t read any news paper, I haven’t checked my mails, I always kept my mobile switched off. It was an experience of having and living my life to myself without any commitments any responsibilities and trying to do all the funniest of things I wanted to do without any barriers of being what I am not in a society of people. It was a feeling of myself which I enjoyed the most. I walked like a mad man everywhere I could in the roads, in the villages, in the forest, on the banks. Whenever I was thirsty I drank from the river without any fear. I got into the river played in the cold water. I threw stones into the river until my hands were dead tired. I spitted to see how far I could spit. I shouted to see how loudly I could shout. I slept on huge rocks on the edge. I slept on white sand banks. I got into water completely naked in the night. I rolled on the sand like a mad dog which I just happened to see. However one thing I missed the most was my ability to swim. If I were to be a good swimmer probably I would have tried crossing the river from one end to the other. It would be left as an unaccomplished desire.

- After almost a week of isolation I tried coming back to my old so called civilized world. I logged into internet, checked my mails, spoke to few, nothing much has really changed, was just thinking like how the feeling would be if I get lost and were to come back after many many years. How many lives would have been changed and how would have still remembered me? It was a strange feeling so many things were coming to my mind but when I thought of it, its gone.

- I am sitting in the busy street on this small town and there is a dog and a cow beside me and 100s of humans passing by my side. I am hardly known and watched by anyone it gives me a feeling of am I invisible? Sitting in the middle of the busy street silently is great fun, you tend to give ear to lots of talking happening all around you. I felt like Indians are highly intellectual when you speak to them but they are just a sheep in the heard which follows in a society which he lives.

- Today I tried all the local food in the local street right from soda, samosa, bread cutlet, choley, fruit juices, pakode, popcorn, chai each and everything. I was wondering if someone can have it why can’t I? But I seriously don’t know how my stomach is going to treat me but luckily nothing happened to me. Here I also saw a german bakery and saw lots of westerners in it. I was surprised not to see any Indians, probably there is still a distinct line that’s been drawn. I don’t understand is it the cost or the inferior complex which we have implanted ourselves. I entered the bakery to realize why probably Indians avoided it non of the food looked Indian and so called Indian food were more like Indian food minus spices.

- After observing few sadhus here I felt one thing at least which I should warn the fellow travelers, a simple fact a sadhu who wants to show you wats truth, wats peace, wats yoga etc etc is a fake who really knows is hardly interested in you and is hidden and if you really wanna learn you gonna find him and not the other way. But to me one to oneself is the best teacher along with nature. As I felt there is no predefined path to either god, peace or happiness its all within oneself.

- My journey of silence and being with myself is gonna end. 5 days of solitude, silence and toughness was probably one of the toughest physical and mental challenges I have posed myself. It was one of the hardest and most fascinating journeys I have undergone probably its hard to get such a kind of privacy, isolation in future. Do I know my future? For 5 days I had forgotten the date, day, time everything, I used to tick everyday in my notebook to keep track of the days. If I continue like this for few more days probably I might get lost from the current. But how much I need the current in my life is also very important. The best thing I have learnt of this journey is not to act what I am not, I can’t be best in everything and everywhere but its good to know my limits and weakness. But lot more would also depend on how much I can follow. I felt humans are every where if you want to be with yourself and private then either you surrender to darkness or forget the rest of the world around you. At the end I feel I am better human and I stand above many others I saw but I still see so many people who stand above me and what so ever or how much ever I try probably I would always stand one step below the innocent bird.

- I haven’t seen much of the world but at least poverty can’t get any better anywhere. My country is really poor. I learnt how hunger can be like and how helpless I would be without money and food. The value of food is very high and I feel one should experience it.

Wow what a trip that was, I was really very happy that Maanas shared his trip details and I also got the permission to publish this in my blog so that all my friends could read up the same.