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My first back packing trip & pilgrimage to Chandrashila Peak!

Not that I started the journey thinking it would be a pilgrimage, but it turned into one. Yes, I am named Chandrashila! Though not a very common name, even in my very Bengali city, over the years one of the best conversation starters to many a stranger!! 

About a decade back, on a Google search I came to know of "Chandrashila" peak in Garhwal Himalayas and, as any traveler can guess, I had to meet my namesake…

My love for the Himalayas started with Ladakh, doubled with Spiti... and this year I finally managed to say hello to Chandrashila peak!

Before you go any further, here's a spoiler alert! This journey was one of my most thought provoking ones, and the read here will be more on my experience, learnings and thoughts and not a day to day travel itinerary... so make a quick choice now and hope you do carry on reading!

Good choice! :)

My solo travel turned into not so solo travel, when Pankaj, from Kolkata Couch surfing group, decided to join me on the trip with the suggestion that we backpack.  I was more than ready to embark upon my first back packing trip. 

We started our journey only with an onward ticket from Kolkata to Haridwar and a return ticket from Delhi to Kolkata. The rest of the plan was to figure it out once we reach Haridwar and kind of go where the weather takes us.  It was July, peak monsoon season, so we left it to Mother Nature to decide if we could finally make the trip to Chandrashila. We had faith!

Each of us had our own wish list, on what we wanted to achieve from the trip, mine being a break from work, getting back some sanity in life, keeping my promise to the mighty Himalayas to return this year (that's another story from my Spiti Travel), peace and quiet. Pankaj's was to travel without his bike and experience backpacking and public transport... yes; I had to listen to kilometer readings throughout the trip :) which was good info in a way! Couple of days into our travels we were joined by another traveler in Rishikesh. Mau is from Belgium speaks French and a smattering of English. More about her later ... here it would suffice to say her wish list was to travel on her own to become stronger - yes that can also be a reason to travel! Things you get to know when you backpack... :)  Now that you have the cast and the backgrounds of characters,  lets move on to the story, shall we?

Why I was scared in Haridwar…

We reached Haridwar at the peak of Sawan Mela, which in short is a religious festival, where pilgrims come to take water from the holy Ganges and then visit Shiv temples to pour the water on shiv-lings. 

No amount of reading Lonely Planet and Google search prepared us for what we had landed in.  Thousands of people in orange attire, carrying religious flags and India's flag, chanting "Jai Shiv Bhagwan Ki " and "Jai Bharat Mata Ki". I am not sure if this is how it has always been or if this is something new. May be for the first time I was scared to see my own country's flag. All roads to Har-ki-pauri, which is the ghat to the Ganges meeting the land from the mountains, were blocked. The next few days, I mused over whether I should be angry, scared or more tolerant of what I witnessed. Hundreds of men, on motorbikes (without silencer) causing unbearable noise pollution, carrying the orange and tricolor on their way to NeelKanth Mahadev - shiv temple in Rishikesh. The entire place had come to a standstill. 

We however did manage to walk to Har-ki-pauri with our back packs along with the pilgrims and explore Haridwar a bit. 

Har-KiPauri Ghat during Sawan Mela

Flower offerings for Ganga Aarti

Tshirts on sale for the pilgrims

Pretty soon, I started feeling claustrophobic and we decided to pack up and move forward to Rishikesh - 25 Kms away and we had thought it would be a cake walk. The plan was to go to the bus depot, catch a bus to Rishikesh and voila we will be out of this mela frenzy... but it was not meant to be. As an empty bus depot greeted us, we learnt that the entire bus depot was shifted some 30 kms away for the Mela(Carnival) and .. 3 auto rides later (we were cheated by the first 2) we reached Chamunda devi bus depot (I think that is what they were referring to it as). It was more of a make shift bus depot , with caravans and tents put up and in the scorching heat we went around in circles looking for a bus to Rishikesh. After an hour , we realized that all buses to Rishikesh have stopped for the mela ... and all I could think of was , "I don't want to spend another day in Haridwar ".., we finally managed to get a shared sumo for 200 bucks each for half way ride. Who said back packing was cheap :P ! Followed by another stretch of walk, then auto and multiple rides and trails later we were at Rishikesh. I almost had a heat stroke; the only thing that saved me was a kind man's backyard water pipe with which I had doused my head in water to keep down the temperature.

Beware - Lonely planet will not warn you about Sawan Mela and transport situation during this time but what the heck its one of a kind experience, though too loud for my city girl - corp job- east India  sentimentality :) 

Swiss Bhandari Cottage and German Bakery

My reading and musing spot

We reached Rishikesh and found out the most cost effective back packers hotel on the bypass from Lonely Planet. We called up the reception and asked for room availability & requested our auto guy to take us there... He charged us 400 bucks thanks to sawan mela road blocks. We took a terrace room and the view was to die for. And finally I smiled! 

This is where we will spend a lot of time planning , reading , playing cards , making friends , drinking tea and banana milk. 

As I sat there on the terrace , still being hounded by the sound of the silencer less bikes on the bypass road, I wondered if this is how people visiting Kolkata during Dura Puja feel , minus the India flags , the crowd was equally overwhelming...

Scooty ride in Rishikesh !

By now we had met Mau and I was more than happy to leave them both to their discussions in French -(Pankaj is also fluent in French), while I switched off from the surroundings and happily continued with my thoughts on religion , politics and people. My French language lessons go back to my college time and i was regretting bunking all the classes, though over the next few days with Mau , I would learn some more of it.. 

Photo by Maureen

While the easiest way around Rishikesh was 10 Rs shared autos, we didn't come across any and all autos were asking for 300-400 bucks to go anywhere due to road blocks. We decided to hire a scooty and brave the crowds ourselves. Thanks to Pankaj being our biker, this plan seemed to work out, though he had a tough time maneuvering the scooty... We went through Ramjhula /LakhmanJhula/ Swarg Ashram/Beatles Ashram among throngs of walking pilgrims... Where honking doesn't work and one has to keep shouting "Bhole - Bhole" (Lord Shiva's another name) to clear the path. By the end of these rides around Rishikesh we were for a "douche" as Mau would say in French.. This means a shower :). 

Ramjhula

Nataraja pose of Shiva, which looked more like selfie pose:P

Benches in Swarg Ashram area

swarg ashram area

Couldnt resist a B&W  - Cafe near beatles ashram with viewof the ganges

Himachal Vs Uttarakhand

One of the reasons I love going to the mountains are its people. In my earlier experiences in Himachal, Ladakh and Spiti, I have always felt safe, trusting and experienced oodles of smiles ans positivity. In Uttarakhand, I didn't feel at home. By now we have lost out on few days and our plan to do both Himachal and Chandrashila trek didn't seem likely. We had to choose between moving onto Manali /Dharamshala/Kasol or stay here and travel through Pauri, Rudraprayag, Devprayag, Ukhimath, Chopta and further onto Chandrashila. 

We went to the bus depo to get tickets for Dehradun and Manali , however with the influence of the taxi association guys, claiming Chopta to be the most beautiful place in Uttarakhand we were convinced enough to book a taxi to Chopta for 5100 Rs - we were really desperate to take break from all the uncertainties and indulge ourselves a bit and reach our destination at the earliest.

Dark Memories from the 2013 flood !

No one seemed to have forgotten the Kedarnath flood from 4 years back in 2013 when everything in this area was washed away. As we followed river Mandakini , we could feel the fear & pain of losing everything and all loved ones. As the locals often said - "The flood took everything, cows, animals, houses , temples , people... Didn’t distinguish between anything or anyone ". We could now look at the river and only wander how disastrous it would have been. 

Something else we came across on our return journey- in our shared jeep taxi, a woman co passenger started crying violently, While we all thought it was a reaction to the river Madakini , we found out soon that we were mistaken. Her nephew who was in the Indian army was killed in Kashmir and his dead body had been brought to Rudraprayag , to where we were dropping her off... from my seat sharing lady i found out , every household in Uttarakhand has at least one member joining the army. 

These stories on my travel has made the place so real for me , like no new paper or social media could ever do .. I have come to know my country a little bit more..

And may be their faith in religion helped this region overcome such a tragedy and slowly lurch back to life, which we can only empathize with but never fully grasp it...

Mandakini river .
Alokananda meets Mandakini to form the Rudraprayag confluence

Dev Prayag (confluence) - where Alokananda river 
meets Bhagirathi river to finally become Ganges

Breakfast at Devprayag- Photo by Maureen-
The curd and Aloo paratha was to die f or

You can look up on Panch Prayag to know more about the 5 holy confluences of Ganga. All are in Uttarakhand. Even more interesting are the mythological stories at each of the confluences and a trip to Uttarakhand is incomplete without connecting each place with a story. It will take another blog probably to note down all the stories we came across! :)

The chupki(silence) of Chopta said it all ...

Trip highlight for me! Known as the mini Switzerland of India with rolling green meadows and also the base point for the Tunganath- Chandrashila trek, this pretty little place really stole my heart. With bare houses or structures  and large number of horses, donkeys and mules with bells around their necks, you are always greeted with the tung tung sound anywhere you go.

Chopta is located at an elevation of 2,680 metres (8,790 ft) above sea level.The clouds would curl up around us without any warning.. And the visibility level changed every 5 mins. During winter one has a gorgeous view of all the peaks from here. We were lucky to get a view of Chaukhamba peak when the clouds had moved away. The clouds were everywhere.. it would float in and soak up the beds - our sleeping bags came to our  rescue. Yes, we slept in sleeping bags on the bed.

Chopta is where our unending card games started - there is nothing else you can do in the evenings. Pankaj taught us Cambio (cabo) and we were hooked. We played it all the time - waiting for our meals, after our meals anywhere we went- transcending all languages... a backpacker’s game. One of the positives of back packing, is you can take your journey at your own pace. And we were taking it slow... 

Tunganath

To reach Chandrashila we had to first trek to Tunganath. Located at an altitude of 3,680 m (12,073 ft), and just below the peak of Chandrashila, Tungnath temple is the highest Shiva temple in the world. The temple is believed to be 1000 years old and is the third kedar(Tritiya Kedar) of the 5 kedars ...( our mythology seems to have something for Panch - number five). 

It was a 4 Km trek up to Tunganath temple and took me almost 4 hrs climbing up. The locals I am told can do it in 2 hrs. Geared with a rain suit and the walking stick, and no free hands I could hardly capture the beauty of this place on my camera, as much I would have liked to. Dotted with number of wild flowers - they come in all colors -yellow, red ,blue ,white ... It was an unfamiliar yet beautiful experience- where your body hurts - lungs give up and yet you keep moving ahead inspired by the sheer beauty of the place.  At times it would start raining and as difficult as it may sound, there was something hypnotic about the walk, small steps, zig zagging walk, pitter-patter of the rain on the rain suit , 2 arms length visibility and yet i found myself moving up this cobbled path. At times I would stop and stare at the strange trees and the little flowers, listen for the caw cawing of the local bird -as if it’s calling out to me and guiding me. 

Mid way somewhere I met up with Pankaj & Mau at a chai shop and played few rounds of Cambio - had some tea and dried fruits , a quick dose of coca 30 for high altitude sickness,  before doing the last stretch of the trek and reach Tunganath. 

on the way to Tunganath

Tunganath Temple

wild flowers- my favorites

After hot fried maggi and the temple visit - where we got to hear some more stories on the panch kedar and of course Chandrashila, we took accommodation in the temple guest house for 500 rs and spent rest of the day light walking around and staring out at the cloud covered mountains before the clouds moved in and we had zero visibility.

Meeting Chandrashila...

While we had planned to wake up at 3 am and climb Chandrashila, the rain continued till early morning. Lucky for us the all night long rain had cleared up the sky and the sun was out. After a quick tea we headed out for Chandrashila. The 1.5 km during the monsoon can be tricky but  if I could do it, anyone can. Small measured steps are all you need. Carpets of wild flowers and fresh air ... what more can one ask for. Chandrashila is summit of the Tungnath . It literally means "Moon Rock". It is located at a height of about 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) above sea level.

As the story goes, after killing Ravan - who was a brahmin, Ram had to do penance for Brahmmanhatya (killing a Brahmin). Hence Ram had done a puja to Vishnu on Chandrashila peak. I would have never known this story had I not been there... there is a small temple on Chandrashila peak. Tibetan style rock prayers were strewn all across the peak. Quite interesting when you think... how a Tibetan practice has been socialized in a Hindu worship place. 


The climb was quite steep however after couple of breaks I was able to reach and say hello to my namesake. It was an overwhelming experience for me, having dreamt of this moment for so long. I sat there envying my name sake, standing there in pin drop silence above the clouds. Nothing moved except for the clouds and breeze. 

As I have said earlier, this was a thought provoking trip, thanks to backpacking and being on the road without detailed plans. First of its kind experience for me, where I had the opportunity to study human behavior, ponder over all the "whys" and add to my bag of stories and life experiences. It wouldn't have been the same without Pankaj and Mau. So, heartfelt gratitude to my friends... for teaching me the tiniest of tricks - how to tie a shoe lace while trekking, playing cambio, travelling with lonely planet and weirdest of things like rolling tobacco. 
By the end of the trip I reaslised, I am not a nomad, I am not a vagabond , I love to be home., so I go about trying to make a place home for a few days .. :), here's a perfect quote to end this journey... 

“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” 
― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

Sadness

Sadness , when it comes
Sudden and unannounced.
Hold on a bit I say,
Trying old tricks to keep you at bay.

Park that thought,
While I quickly wrap up this act.
Distracting as ever before
Sweet nursing of open sores.

Hold on a bit I say,
Trying old tricks to keep you at bay.

I shall find you some time
But not today
Time is so short
And you are here to stay.

Hold on a bit I say,
Trying old tricks to keep you at bay.

Hiding beneath
That brilliant smile
No one knows,
What brings you alive

Hold on a bit I say,
Trying old tricks to keep you at bay.

On the stormy, rainy day
Or the silent Sunday.
The whispering of the leaves
Or the wordless balmy breeze .

Hold on a bit I say,
Trying old tricks to keep you at bay.

I wait ..

I wait
For what , I do not know
With a heavy heart
And misty eyes
There isn't any answer
Waiting at the end of the night
There isn't any more reasoning to do
There isn't any warm smile
To melt the setting ice
There isn't any arm reaching out
To hold the me tight
There isn't any hug
To ward off the chill
No more words to set it right
It's hard to pretend
When reality  descend
It's comes crashing

Breaking bones
Crushing wind
Spilling blood
Ripping skin
Plucking eyes
Painful violent
It bites . It hurts. It kills
It stills .

Singular musing..

Just met too many people over last few days who made my mind start on this line of thought. To be more specific all of them were men though this has nothing to do with gender. To be more precise the first thought came over the news of a dear colleagues mother being due for a heart surgery. I happen to know that he is very close to his mother which is not really a surprise..most people are close to their mothers. Anyway, moving on with my story, he is also single and 40 plus years of age. the thought that distressed me was what will he do if his mother doesn't survive it?
Next I came know of a father who is 67 and wants to remarry .his wife is no more though he has full grown kids with their own set of kids. He has just mentioned it to his son, who is not talking it well.

And I spoke to a man who is retiring in another 2 yrs having worked at the same place for over 40 yrs . He too is single . Living alone. I asked him,what are his plans post retirement , he didn't share anything much and I got the feeling that I am asking a wrong question. He tried to tell me in few words without intruding that marriage is important and age makes one rigid.
And then there is someone who will turn 40 this year. single. Has resigned to the fact that it's too late to have kids as it will be irresponsible to do so, someone with his life style will not have a chance to provide good parenting for any child and the child will not get a childhood really, having to take care of his parent probably.

Hmm. That's too much for 2 days I say.

Though it's not all so gloomy. I met an award winning sculptor last month. He is77 and still pursuing his passion for at and traveling to workshops. My inspiration.
One would say at 32 I need not think so much. But I can't help but wonder what s in store for me. Art.Music and love I hope.

Un titled

Hidden
In the silent sigh
In the focusless stare
The skipped beat
With the one odd  ring
The long ride at the end
The familiar shadows
The light shining on the skin
They seem unknown
The sudden whiff
A Piece of music
A fleeting thought
The unspilt drop
Waiting at the brim
Unending climb
Whisperless sleep

What a nightmare of a dream !

Sailing on .

And I keep sailing on
With my wares and goods
Looking for land, where upon
I can throw my anchor in.
Weary and tired
The journey has been so long.
I wait
Looking upon the twinkling lights
Of the evening land
Life breathing and radiating
Calls me ashore.
Promises of love and all that in store.
Light breaks
Shining through the clouds
Excited to see a new ship
Waiting at the sea.
The day passes by
Discovering mysteries
Experiencing fantasies
Singing love songs
Breathing in the storms.
As the sun rolls on
To light up another land
And as I wonder
Do I drop my anchor on the sand
They tell me
What a good time we had
But like fantasies can't be realities
There's hardly space for niceties.
And I keep sailing on.

One

Look around,
People talking, laughing, bickering,
Taking all the pain
Of justifying.
This life.this existence
Searching, some for change
Some for consistence.
Finding meaning in emptiness
This vaccum is by design
Meant to bring as One ,
The parted children of the divine
Shrouded in this mystery
Blinded by the desire to be ,
Be one with the one ,just meant for thee.
The search carries on, centuries past
Into space and time, the universe so vast.
The moon and the stars ,
Stand witness to the quest.
The winds of ages whispering
Its relentless.
Look within?
If we are all but ONE ,
Then why the vaccum - why the parting?
Why need another to complete a feeling?

A lazy afternoon

You open your eyes,
To happy sunshine, peeping through,
the shades of greens,
the balmy breeze, swaying trees.
you look right , the sparrows just took flight
you never liked the sun much,
but i suppose, you are getting used to some post lunch,
lying there on the easy chair,
content with life,
peace , thats what you wanted right ?
And there she is ,  now sitting next to you
running her hand through your long dark hair
just the way you always liked, fingers fair.
 Ice cold coffee , sweating out next to you
classic burning out , adding a smoky film to your view
The phone rings,
and she smiles at you and goes to answer it
your pout says you don't want her to go....
you close your eyes, waiting for her so.

and a sudden cool breeze, rustling in the trees
a familiar scent, from a lifetime away
you open your eyes, but the moment's passed by...

Wish I was just an amusement park

Wish I was just an amusement park
The giant wheel ,taking u high and low
The blood rushing to your head,
The winds screaming in your ears,
 Erratic heart beats fast and slow.

Wish I was just an amusement park ,
The Merry-go-round , blurring out your vision
For a moments hallucination
Merging realities, prolonged ecstasies.

Wish I was just an amusement park,
The candy-floss, pink sugary surrender
The child within coming alive.
The luxuries of being naive
Taking you away to memories of forgotten wonder.

Wish I was just an amusement park.

Who are you fooling

Questions , they bother you.
Questions , they are no longer new.
Questions that your mind ask,
Questions, that you don't want .
The truth is ,
The answer is known,
It's has always been there, glaring at your face,
Taunting, haunting , hurting ,twisting around , round and round,
White lace.
Soft, trusting, delicate, dreamy, harmlessly so,
Leaving marks , ugly red gashes , twisted in patterns
Scars , they will never go.
Ignore them for a while ,
It might buy you some time.
Questions,
They will return, Creeping in , when you are least expecting,
And the truth is, you knew the answer all along,
It will not change, how many ever times you ask the same questions.
Ignore them for a while ,
It might buy you some time.

Waiting in the rain

Sitting at the edge of the world ,
Waiting , waiting since ages old.
Waiting for you to find me, join me
To show yourself.
Looking down, on the glistening town...
Now I fear not, that you shall never come,
Now I fear of-  not finding you ...
Not seeing you ,
Through the sheets of rain,
Rain. Rain of pain.

Damn the human mind !!

Ever since I have started working , i dont remember taking a holiday and staying at home sleeping and eating ... its been almost 9 yrs ... today , i find myself forced to take rest for a week at least, with a sprained ankle ... and trust me i was not happy to hear that i will be stuck in bed for a week or more...
I don't really feel sick just that i cant move ...

Not that i never took holidays or leave from work, but for me holidays are always about travelling and going places, which obviously has its own set of planning to be done and decisions to be made.

I was whining about this situation when a friend told me that some force ( divine / universal/ unknown) has decided that i need this rest and making me take it!!! could be true.. and it got me thinking..

Have I forgotten to take it easy ?? Yeah..life has not been a bed of roses , but a little bit of fight do get me what I want ... but not having to do anything / make any decisions/ not being engaged constantly to find a solution to a problem .. this seems new to me :) ... i feel light and i am not able to accept this feeling ..

now the worry is ... is it ok to feel so light ?? :) damn the human mind !!

Is it possible ?

Is it possible to love more than one ? Is it possible to have more than one BFF ? Is it possible to choose between multiple people we care about ? ( reminds me of a dialouge , " pyaar bahaut baar hota , lekin mohabbat sirf ek baar hota hai "  who believes that bull shit ? )
Here's some context- I was helping a friend with free advice on girlfriend and friend dilemma , and like it happens sometimes was hit by this crystal clarity of a thought  .
There are few in our lives who are non negotiable .

So you can have family , friends , lovers, mentors , teachers , work and all other relationships that's defined in the dictionary and add the ones which are not defined too. Out of all these people there the ones you will never negotiate on. So Wats does negotiate on means ?
Well I guess it means , u will prioritize
them - no questions asked . You will cross seven seas to be with them . U will drop everything and rush to their help if they are in trouble. Doesn't matter if u haven't spoken or met them in years . These are the kind of relations where there is no room for ego .
That's the easy bit .
Now how do u choose between two non negotiable ppl ? Hmmmm that's difficult . Fact is u can't choose . Depending on the situation u take a call . U balance . And you go on ..... No one said its easy !
I like to believe these non negotiable ppl have bit of our souls.... : )
So smart thing to do is never ask someone to negotiate on their non negotiable ones .....

Once again

Yes I have thoughts to share and quiet a few of them. Coming soon .

pattampoochi paradox

It feels great to see my china orange tree grow from a little sappling to a 2 footer .. and I was waiting to see a little touch of orange on it soon.........and to my surprise I found a touch of yellow on it ......yellow eggs from a butterfly !!!....A beautiful Pattam poochi hovering over my orang tree... little did I know that P.poochi is laying eggs on the young sprouting orange leaves .. :(

The eggs will lead to caterpillars and the small P.poochis will be feeding on the my orange leaves soon ... to save my tree i ll have to destroy the eggs :( feel sad about that too ..

Well i guess leaves were made to be eaten .. but my gardener says the caterpillars would destroy the tree...

"Pitter patter on the roof top "...

"Pitter patter on the roof top "... its raining outside, in kolkata ... lying on my bed , I close my eyes and my mind travels back to Coorg .. may be the only bit missing is the fire flies glowing at the roof.......... hmmm......on second thoughts , missing a lot more than the fire flies..

After a killing month at work , the friday arrived , when I once again took out my rucksack and left home for a trip down south .. to coorg .. with a friend .. We took the state bus from Mysore to Mercara(Madikeri) 111kms, tickets cost Rs 83 per persons.. we started at around 7:30 - 8 am from Mysore and reached Madikeri at around 11 -11:30 am in the morning. On the way to Madikeri , I tried to put a name to the crops and plantation , that we were passing by and realised that I have long forgotten my eco geo and geography lessons from schools ... during my trip I ll once again discover ... that coffee and spices are the speciality of coorg..

The town of Madikeri, is a sleepy town .. and during July , the rains keep away most tourists .. the bus dropped us off at madikeri circle , which we referred to as Chain gate area.. we were to stay at a home stay over the weekend before we moved on to our actual destination Honey Valley. From the circle to took an auto to our Vinayaka Home stay .. a quite little house with a terrance and a red gate .. with a great view of the main road connecting the town. and ofcourse surrounded by tall greens( iam bad with flora and fauna names, though I would try to be more specific where ever I can ) which kept swaying with the strong wind ...interestingly the wind kept changing direction all the time ... it kept drizzling on and off with bouts of heavy shower at night .. the drizzle was like fine snow you would hardly feel it , very different from the drizzle that I am used to in the city ...

After a shower and lunch and a short nap we set out in the evening for the Abbey Falls, about 10 km from Madikeri ... named after the late daughter of some British Colonel .. At the Abbey falls we also had some yumm coffee... from the falls we went to Raja Seat , which has now become a place for fountains, lit up by colorful lights dancing away to Bollywood tracks .. historcally at the Raja seat , the Raja of Coorg used to watch his captured enemies being thrown off the cliff ... I m sure the dancing fountains have take away the chill from the place ..but what warms you up is the view of the hills covered with coffee plantation from the Raja Seat... there's a toy train service as well , but i guess I have to try that next time I am there ...We walked back to the Madikeri town centre and stocked up on our preferred wines .. you guessed it right .. I got my SULA Red :) , for sale only in Karnataka .. 650 ml .. one more reason for my love for the place ..

Once we reached the home stay it started raining again ... we had a couple of hours before dinner .. so I read a bit ...the book I was carrying with me was " past continuous" by Neel Mukherjee ... though in real life it felt like present continuous , with the rain pouring out side and sula inside ...

Next day morning we set out for Talakaveri... Talakaveri is famed as a mountain region with the original source of river Cauvery and hence the name Tala-Cauvery (head of Cauvery). It is located in Brahmagiri hill at 1,276 m above the sea level. This place is considered to be very holly and a dip at the pond is said to wash away all sins ...at the long stretch of stairs that carry you to the main pond and the temples , the rain gods again wanted me drenched .. the place was covered with mist and cloud and probably had zero visbility .. the strong wind almost blew me over ... once I reached the holy head of cauvery where she had sprung out .. i almost felt as if the clouds had somehow gotten inside me and touched me deep wthin.. I prayed .. and I prayed .. there were steps going upto the peak , i believe, however with rain it was not possible to climb up...

Upstream to Cauvery , we also visited the Bhagamandala temple , at the confluence of 3 rivers Kaveri, Kannike and the fabled river Sujyoti... On our way back we stopped for lunch at the town and hogged at the yummy southie biriyani and fried coorgi moorgi ..stuffed with food we could only think of a snooze in the afternoon ....

In the eve we walked through the town and had coffee at Bean Scene( they can definitely learn a thing or 2 from CCD or Barista on building ambience for coffee :)), on our way back we, walked past the OLD fort , now used for administrative pupose and to house the local jail .... also carried our dinner from the East End hotel ;)... another round of wine and it was time for dinner ... and as if on cue it started raining ... at Coorg (as well as in kolkata right now :), it had stopped raining when i was writting about Abbey falls i guess .. present continious ..or should I say .. past continuous..)

Next day morning we woke up early to catch the private bus shakti from the Marcara bus stop ,which would take us to the Kabinakad junction, tickets cost Rs 24 per person. For 2 hours we drove through the various small towns of the Kodagu(coorg) district.. i was amazed at the sight and feel of a bus travelling through the narrow hilly paths wondering how they managed to climb up ... and what happens if the bus breaks down .. fortunately i did not have to find that out.. we reached the Kabinakad junction at 11am, 2 hrs after we boarded the bus.. At Kabinakad we had the 4 wheel drive jeep waiting for us to take us up to Honey Valley.. 3kms from Kaninakad. The journey to Honey Valley was again through a narrow path which became more and more rugged as we went up . Upon our arrival we were met by Les an Aussie , who ran the place.. .. the first thing you notice at honey valley is the surrounding coffee plantation and and how you feel like you have dropped into a vaccum... the only noise being the rains and the occasional birds chirping away.. the peace and quite of the place is only broken by the sound of the jeep when guests arrive or leave.

I dropped off my bag at the room and ran out to explore honey valley and take pictures.. Honey Valley had various types pf accomodation the guest house the old house , the private cottage .. everything opening up to the beautiful view of the coffee plants and the silver oaks around you .. gives you the distinct feeling of being in the lap of the nature.. the pretty little paths made for good pictures.

There were various trekking points to be visited from Honey Valley ... however , the rain was too heavy and we had very little time .. we did though, venture out for a walk in the evening while we still had day light .. accompanied by brownie ( as I named him ) . With Brownie by my side on the walk , I lived a long cherished dream from child hood ... he even tried to warn us off some unseen creature lurking in the foliage .. .. we took the other path and followed it to a stream, where we had the LEECH ATTACK.. i got just one , which was enough to make me hop back towards Honey Val. Learning :- wearing black shoes attract more leeches.. ..

Then we trekked down the path which takes you to Hov V. Pretty steep and on the way back I realised , that I wsnt as fit as I was 2-3 yrs back.. ( hmmm ) ..

Upon our return from the short walk we had tea and as the day light faded into the dark , we made ourselves comfi at the dinning hall and enjoyed our own preferences of books and journals.. thats where I came accross the book on Coorgi weddings and their history and festivals .. the legends made for quiete an interesting and enlightening read .. why the Coorgi women wear their saree with pleats at the back .... how River Kaveri ran away from Agastha muni .. etc etc .. you have to be there to feel the wonder of it all ...

After dinner Les and team bade us good night with " listen to the pitter patter on the roof top " and we retired to our rooms to watch the fire flies glowing near the roof .. which made up for the cloud covered sky hiding away the twinkling stars ..
Next day morning , we had to leave early to catch our bus to Virajpet.. starting our journey back to the maddenning crowd..

Coorg was a beautiful experience , though most of its beauty undiscovered by me .. Les had told me that during March the Coffee plants flower and the whole place looks like it has snowed , along with the intoxicating smell of coffee all around .. so March it is or might be .. who knows ............ past -present-future- continuous!!!

That's life!!

We are surrounded by INEVITABLES in life ....here are few that's coming to my mind , Death, Failed first love, Kids growing up, pet dog dying, best friend getting married ..and to include it all.. NOTHING BEING PERMANENT... so being understanding matured adults we all know these facts of life ... do we know them cause its happened to us or did we always know it and lived in denial ....
hmmmm , so wats wrong with living in denial !! We keep hearing "Stop resisting and accept it ." well acceptance does help ... but you need to know what is it that you are accepting ....
We all know, it all ends with death .. and loosing a loved one is painful ... so what am I accepting here .. !! I am not accepting that since death is inevitable I can not hurt if I loose some one , rather i am accepting that death is inevitable and since I am human I am going to hurt .. I am accepting the pain....
First love ... well mostly it never works .. but we all wish for it .. and we all say " for me it will work" ... if you dont have that hope , that faith , well then you will never love ... you cant hold back love cause you are scared of beig hurt .. accept the hurt .. go through the pain of parting..
Kids growing up and best friends getting married .. well you always knew that would happen ... but you just dont want to share them with anyone else.. so do you accept it and not miss them .. no .. if you dont miss them you never loved them ... but what u do accept is that when you let go of them , it is going to to hurt and the pain will be unbearable .. accept .. that it is ok to feel the pain.. the more it pains the more you love and value ...
Make friends with pain .. dont resist it ... pain is inevitable ....accept it...

A lost thought on Growth .

Yes , I had lost this thought .. but like all thoughts this one too came floating back to me and I had to put it down here ... What is growth ?? Why are we all running after growth .. definitely for some it means a better salary and pay package ... what about the rest who dont really care abt the money ?

Well .. heres my thought .... all human beings think of :whats the purpose of my life " ? "why am I here .."? .. and ofcourse they never got the answer to these questions so easily ... so the human kind created their own answers ... you need to be remembered by you achievements ... u need to be better than others at things ... you see, the society forces you to become someone important .. who is remembered... the society wants you to perform .. the peer pressure and competition ....what if I dont care ... I am happy with what I am ... I have a comfortable life ... dont need anything more .. the ego massage ... the pride ... nothing... just want peace of mind ... but th society doesnt allow that ... you are constantly being compared and rated ... hence you have a purpose in life ... to achieve a certain list of things , which will entitle you to the title "successful " ....

Humans feel insecured ... wen they do not know the answer to some question ... so we created our answer to the qustions ... the purpose of our life is to be successful ... we created the hirarchy .. the career path and the promotion s ... do we really need any of this ?

think for your self ... dont let the social system make you choices and take your decisions...

Chalk-Pencil-Pen

Our lives are more or less framed in this pattern ..."Chalk- Pencil and Pen" ... think about it ..
We start our education with "hathe khori " writing with chalk on a slate ... which can be erased very easily. The reason behind , a child starting to write with a chalk is , one , as a child you are expected to make mistakes , you are expected to learn from those mistakes and improve on your writing skills .. we get to save the slate too .. hence there's hardly anything that one looses out on by writing as slate .. there's no consequence of going wrong here ... as a child you don't really have to take responsibility or face consequences of your actions .....

Then we graduate to Pencil .... the writing is kind of permanent , until you choose to erase it ... you can use an erases and may be use the same paper / sheet twice or thrice. The more you write the pencil gets blunt and you have to use a sharpener and very gradually we use up the pencil ... the paper too over few times of erasing tears away .. here .. we are allowed to go wrong a few times post which we have to face consequences ... we are expected to learn from the chalk phase and become better at dealing with life and making better decisions ... the burden of responsibility is not much but it definitely is telling enough abt the next phase in life .....

Thats the Pen phase ... and it ends with the pen phase .... pens /inks more expensive ... the sheet you write on can not be reused ... you have to think twice & thrice before you write with a pen ... the permanency of life ... the life changing decisions you make .. the people you hurt... the list just goes on .... you are expected to take all the right decisions ... you are expected to deal with life correctly... you are expected to Carry the baggage of responsibilities...

wondering abt , graduating to computers .. think about it .. we still take wrong print outs and waste paper and ink .. we do have the option of cntrl Z ... but we still have to make a choice and hit Cntrl S at some point ... cntrl S is the point where you make the choice and you are expected to make choice which is right by all ... you are expected to deal better with life...

Chalk- pencil -pen ... isn't it kind of eerie ... !!