The Long Run

She woke up early in the morning, much earlier today. She put her regular track suits on, and stepped out of her rented apartment, for the daily run – without disturbing her roomie. Where was she heading to? Only she knew.

It was a summer morning, and the sun had woken up earlier – at 5, as if to accompany her. For a change, she chose to have a run across the hilly terrain that was close to a mile away from her apartment (she could view this terrain from her bedside window, and had always wanted have a full run till the peak - dream run – she called it)

****

She was neither an athlete nor a Sports person. Running was a childhood interest that she had picked up again, a year ago. ‘Doctors have asked me to’, she said to anyone who were curious about her regular morning run that she hardly missed, since she had re-started it. It had turned more of a meditation for her than just an exercise – this was the only route that lightened her up and made her feel like a child – everything else – seemed unclear, confusing, undecideable. Of course, she was one among the millions of 25 somethings – who were in the same league!

Are you ready? – she cocked her eyebrows and looked at the highest point –as if challenging herself! This would be the longest run of her life – her dream run! She would be leaving the city in another week….forever.

***** 

After a 5-minute warm up, she started the jog. As she continued the run, her mind started reminiscing memories of the last four years of her life spent in the so-called most happening Industry-hub. She ran, feeling the same feel that she had the first day she had entered the city - her first job, her first steps into a glamorous world, her first pay, her first independence, her first ‘work friends’. This was an easy run, as she passed through a clear path. This path was where most of the folks stuck in groups around, taking comfortable morning walks. There was a slight breeze – birds had started chirping sweetly. Everything was fresh, pleasant.

She continued running further - droplets of sweats oozing out of her forehead pores now. The road further was now little narrow – the place where the walking groups split – people who preferred ‘comfortable’ walks did not prefer accompanying the ones who wanted to go further. This was the only way to the peak.

Here, her run got a little careful, she could see from a distance, that a bushy passage was coming up – while her mind parallely played pictures of the next phase that was filled with a string of lessons on the other side of blind trust, respect, seemingly helping people & money; a phase totally unexpected she had to deal and lead her life with. She started sweating profusely, breathing heavy - her pulse rate got higher. She was getting little exhausted now and she wanted to take a break. A second thought – ‘no regrets later’ pepped up her spirits and she moved on to run further towards that bushy passage - at the end of which her mind had pre-calculated the ‘break time’.

  Just when she looked around to distract herself from the pictures she did not want to remember – she came across a pleasant looking figure smiling warmly at her. There was a déjà vu feeling when she glanced through his eyes. ‘Ignore’ – she instructed herself almost immediately, and passed by him to enter into the bushy passage. She noticed that the bushes around were quite thorny, and she slowed down her pace.

The music player – her running companion – happened to play the lines ‘no man, no cry’ from one of her high-school favorite tunes. Back then, in high-school, it was just for the music that she admired this song; she did not know the line would apply to her in a short phase later in life! The lyrics led her to some other myriad of thoughts – that of judgements and doubts – disturbing her entire purpose of the run. Some kind of an anger crept in her mind. The song was over, and the player moved on to play much better numbers which she had not noticed – yet she was thumping her legs - was she running towards her dream, or running away from something else..all alone? She felt lonely…for the first time. Her run, all of a sudden seemed irrational!

Lost in deep thoughts, just when she was losing her focus; a thorn scratched her hand, leaving a cut and slight bleed. The prick had just brought her back to the present, and a sudden realization of her original purpose of the run. ‘Judgements can do that’ she said to herself…continuing ‘a thorn is very much needed’ as she let go off the string of thoughts that followed. Her aim was to reach the top, not fret over phases of life and doubt her prime goal. She was almost towards the end of the thorny passage. Thankfully, she had not stopped running, despite the disturbing thoughts that took over her mind for a few seconds!

She was out of the thorny passage, her heart beating upto her throat. Drops of sweat were showering down from her forehead. Her moist  limbs now felt the mist and the cool breeze that was blowing as the sun rose further.

 She slowed down to walk and then stopped for another warm-up. This was an illusionary peak of the terrain. She closed her eyes and stretched her arms to feel the waves of energy that the run so far had brought into her. Just then she sensed the déjà vu feeling again. She opened her eyes and found the same figure, giving the same warm smile as he entered the same passage, from where she was just out.

She glanced back in confusion, ‘twins maybe’ and at once turned to look at her distance-meter that displayed 1.5 miles – she had covered three quarters of the terrain. Coincidentally, this was the latest target that she had achieved, from over a year of practise, no wonder, she managed to accurately time her ‘break’ rather instinctively!

The peak looked close to another mile of run. It was this ‘extra mile’ that would bring a whole new difference to her life – her dream! There were hardly a couple of people around. The thorny passage had filtered down the number of people from coming up..

She finished her final warm up, and changed the music to a meditation tune to stay as focused as she could be. She did not try to answer the thoughts that asked her ‘will u be able to do it?’. ‘One leap of faith, at a time’ – she had prepared herself mentally as she leapt her way to the peak..

The ‘extra mile’ was the ‘I,me,myself’ run. Her focus was neither on the peak, nor in the last four years she had spent in the city. It was just in the ‘present’ that she focused on. Her breathing got heavier, as she marched forward step-by-step. Her body felt a sense of exhileration. Nobody had chosen this peak for her, it was her run – her lone determination – her own dream. As she reached close to the peak, a strange sense of joy sprang out of her, a joy that was lying as an undercurrent for a while. She felt as happy as a child would in her very first run of life.

Victorious as she felt – the peak invited her blessedly as if waiting for her since eons. She slowed down again at the peak, and finally stood still, her palms holding her her knees..her eyes scanning the ground. She was again sweating profusely, the drops that mixed with tiny droplets that trickled down her eyes. She felt at peace, when she sensed every cell of her being beating out in glory. She felt a strange sense of belonging here – the feeling that shed all of her inhibitions and doubts her own mind had, about her dream run.

After basking in the glory of reaching the peak, she stood up took a view of the world that looked tiny now, held her hands on her waist and said to herself – ‘What next?’

She felt the same déjà vu feeling that now was somehow in sync with the feeling of peace she felt within herself. She looked around…

‘Hi. Varun!’ – it was the same tall figure, who walked upto her this time and extended his hand to her, looking straight into her eyes, with a warm smile.

She stared – blank, with eyes wide open, like a child – thinking what to say.

‘Aage saath chalen?’ – he continued, continuing his smile too.

Her heart was already beating faster, droplets of sweat were already trickling down from her forehead. Her breath had already gone heavy. She just had run the longest run of her life - all by herself….or was it because of the tall figure standing right in front of her?

Will he try to change the direction of my run further? Or be my company to the way I choose further? – she had to play the balance.

‘When in confusion, trust your instincts’ – she assured herself.

She was just about to smile back, when something felt like gnawing the prick on her cut hand..

__________________________________________________________________________________

…'Eeeks'..She woke up, startled, with slight pain in her hand. It was her phone vibrating, the edge of which was touching exactly the spot where the thorn had pricked her the previous day, on the hilly terrain.

 The screen displayed, ‘Varun calling…’

She received it, letting out a sigh...looking outside from her bedside window...talking nothing.

‘Wake up, kiddo. Dreams again!’ – there was that same old warm smile at the other end, she could sense.

‘Hmmm..good moorningg..i’m awake’ – she dragged; slowly waking up from her dream. A draggy morning note with a sigh - invariably meant that she had had a dream – he knew that, he knew her.

‘Get up, get ready..go to office. Just one more week to go..and then saath chalna hai’ – he tried to flirt.

‘hmmm’ – she replied and they continued the mushy conversation , till she was fully awake and he, asleep.

With close to 12 hours of time-zone difference between them, they had this unsigned pact of waking up the other, when one was winding up the day – that continued daily for almost seven months now, ever since they were engaged to each other. The wedding was just a month ahead. This was her last week in the city she had spent four long years of her career – her first four years after college life; and was returning home to get married, and settle down to where her husband would..

WOW Trek to DevarayanaDurga

December 1, 2013

WOW Trek to DevarayanaDurga

     After crossing the Intermediate levels of treks (with my past 4 WOW events), somewhaat, this experience was gonna take me back to the very first Trekking experience of my life [Rayakottai]. Devarayanadurga is an easy-to-moderate level of trek, but I still wanted to participate - this time as an 'Experienced trekker' - just to know much have I learnt and developed my adventurous traits so far :P [U need to go  back to the Basics just to see how far you have reached, and what more can u learn outta it - that's my Philosophy , and hence the reason for enrolling this event too!] And moreover, Fun has no levels :P

About the Place - Devarayanadurga:

     Devarayanadurga is yet another hill located near Tumkur. While Shivagange [a trek destination] comes to the left of Dobaspet, this one is located to the right of Dobaspet (if you come from Bangalore). A major part of the climb consists of just steps ( and monkeys accompanying you :P) until you reach the Yoga Lakshmi Narsimha temple towards the peak. The path henceforth [1/4th of the climb until the Peak] - though a short distance - is quite challenging climb over small steep rocks, and narrow passages inside thorny bushes.


The Journey Begins..

     This was Krupa's 2nd Officially organized trek. The team of 12 had a proper mix of WOW newbies and experienced members. The WOW newbies seemed to have heard and read a lot about previous experiences - and so we, the senior WOW members had to live upto the Expectations (and get them into the groove too :P). We had a brief, casual round of introduction; and then wasting no time we started our very important rituals - 'Dance and song-change-every-two-minutes'. The only song that we let completely play was - 'Aa ante Amlapuram' - which we all later religiously titled as WOW's Anthem :D

     Masti & energy instantly started sprouting up, when almost everyone participated in the 'Sheila ki jawaani', 'Shree Salman Khan ka dabang' and our routine 'cork-bottle-opening' dapangoothu styles :D. And since almost everyone has seen the term 'BBB' on the Facebook, wild guesses started happening then and there...:P  This was a complete ice-breaker :P

     Soon, we reached Dobaspet, had our breakfast there, and then travelled further to reach the base of the Devarayanadurga Hill. At the base, the 12 girls were split into 6 pairs of 2, and after a short photo session, we started climbing the steps alongwith our partners. After a few minutes of climb, we came across large  sculptures of Lord Hanuman, along the sides of the rock, that have been now turned into an unenclosed temple. After a brief round of photo-session and 'Mohabbaten poses' we decided to climb further.

Trek - base

Trek ki 'Shoe'ruwaat':
 
   The lead pairs marched forward, and had just crossed this temple when we hear a yell from behind - 'My Shoe, My Shoe. My 4000 Rs Shoes' [ I remembered the 'price-tag' from the movie - 3 Idiots :P]. Turn around, and found out it was the same WOW miscreant - Viji (who has done utpataang harkat before too :P :D). Apparently, she had removed her shoes (forgetting to ask someone to watch them) to get inside the temple and pray, and before she could grab her shoes back, a monkey had taken it and zzzzoom thrown it somewhere down inside the bushes, without an aim :D. It took sometime for our Heroes - Krupa, Shilu and Viji herself - to figure out where exactly the shoe was thrown, descend down and get it back from the bushes.

This was the Shoe-Start!!

     While this drama was happening, the rest of the gals (who were waiting near the temple) got creative and started giving me ideas for my blog [and this is how this 'Shooeeruwaat - story' finds its place here, in this post - on public demand :P]. What a start ('Shoe'ruwaat) of the Trek! :P


Further Ascend:
   
     After successfully finding the 4000 Rs. Shoe, we climbed further. Climbing the steps did not feel boring as we passed the time and stairs, cracking jokes, and narrating the Unwritten stories of previous WOW treks - getting thrilled and laughing over them :P eg: Krupa's fall in the Iruppu falls origin, Shree's Bday special midnight - (uncut version) at Brahmagiri trek, the whole History behind the title 'King-Kong' lady, interviews on my 'Leech-bites-experience', WOWs Annadaata's etc etc - to mention a few. Was surprised that the newbies were so curious to know more about the previous treks. They even joined the league by giving me the name - 'Leechi' :P [see..WOW is not only creating History, but also Historical characters and moments :D]


Yoga Lakshmi NarsimhaTemple, Sreepada teertha cave:

     Baaton baaton mein, we reached the temple near the peak. We first entered a small cave right adjacent to the temple,  called as 'Sripada Cave' [which was a little scary], and then some of us had darshanam inside the Lakshmi temple and a nice View from the temple's balcony behind.


 Peak, Fooooooood and Peace:
     After the temple is where the actual trekking starts. We went further the temple and started climbing the rocks. Along the passages, you will find dry thorny bushes and need to be careful (protect your face - eyes especially) as the thorns are low-lying (no danger though, just a caution :P !). After a brief climb, we reached the Peak spot.

Peak - our Lunch place

     Strangely, as soon as we reached the peak, the hot-sunny-humid climate turned into a mild-cloudy-breezy atmosphere [though there were sun beams now and then, but not as hot as it was while climbing throughout]. We decided to have lunch at the peak . As usual, our Annadaata's got food for the entire group [this time with sweets too, since they recently celebrated their Bdays:)]. After having hogged the nice home-cooked food, it was time for some relaxation.  Some of us chose to take a short nap, and the rest of us just scattered ourselves around the pillars at the peak, contemplating  Nature's beauty and the weather, all by ourselves.

    After sometime, we even meditated (in our own ways), when one of our Annadaatas Shalini, played a Chinese meditation music [co-incidentally, I have had been searching for this music off-late, and was thrilled that she had it :D]. The music just added to the peaceful ambience that was already present. Experience!!


Descend and the short-cut!

     After spending a wonderful time at the peak, we started descending. Had a short-funny, photo session at an illusionary peak, and then descended further down. Just when we thought we were done with the descend and it would be just a walk along the road, our organizer brought a kahaani me twist. Rather than making us walk along the road turnings to reach the base spot, she made us trek down at the short cut between the roads (apparently that's how goats take short cuts!). The short-cut was quite a hell of a trek (toughest part of the whole adventure..and organizer ne hum logon ko hi finally bakra bana diya...) :S. Nevertheless, we accomplished this too successfully, and then wandered and ran along the main road, like some Roadside romeos...until we found our TT, thus completing my Fifth High! [fifth trek of my life!!]

Record breaking event was: This was the first ever Trek of Krupa without a fall or even a tumble! [And the minute we realized this, and I opened my big mouth to her about this, instantly her 18k camera slips down from her hands gracefully and then a dialog comes - 'at least something has to fall' :P


Naamada Chilume:

     A little further to the Devarayanadurga hill, there's a Deer Park and a natural water spring called 'Naamada Chilume'. It found its name from a short story of Ramaayana and is of mythological importance. Again, had a peaceful stroll inside the park, walking, and more story-telling, and expressing our fantasies with Indian mythology; until it was time for return..


Return:

    After the Deer sanctuary visit, we had a tea break, and then set out for Bangalore. The newbies now initiated Antakshari - and we had full-on fun singing new-old-older songs [we ensured our opponents get only 'na' at the end of the song..and kept them wondering till the end as to how did we manage to do this :P].

     This also followed with much more crazier expansions of BBB - the most sensible and most apt of them being - BTC Birthday Bash [now that BTC is gonna complete its 1st year soon], which also triggered ideas of Goa visit, Beach visit, a big Bday bash etc etc...and much more crazy ideas (that I cannot jot down here :P)[Are the Organizers Listeniiiinnnnnng????? :D]

     Thus we called it another Sunday, and with a promise of another blog, I got down first at the nearest point. As usual, this was an awesome experience. An icing in the cake was - the wonderful deep conversation I personally had with Shalini, on totally out-of-the-world topics :)

     And another point to note - WOW is maintaining a track record of Sagittarians majority, since the Rayakottai trek :P [that doesnt mean you start shortlisting participants based on their bdays in future ;)]

Once again - Congratulations to Krupa for having organized very diligently (and without letting yourself fall:P). Thanks to the group who were equally Fun and amazing. Look forward to see you guys in future..:) B-)



Cheers!
Swatz

P.C: Shailini , Asha

WOW stands for BTC World Of Women

Musings of a Spiritual mind

True knowledge works in mysterious ways. Answers come from the most unexpected sources, and somehow at the most right time! Such an experience I had when I started reading the book – ‘Miracles Happen: The Transformational Healing Power of Past Life Memories’ – an amazing work by psychotherapist Dr. Brian Weiss.

No. This post is not a review about the book. You can call it as a mere tale of how wonderfully real knowledge flows. Just half way through the book, and already am amazed with the plethora of metaphysical concepts it has proven, via the real past-life experiences of his patients / clients.

The concept of ‘reincarnation-with-a-purpose’ and ‘reincarnated-to-heal’ has been wonderfully explained, that will lead you to think that you are just tiny beings with just one purpose of following what is called the ‘Word of God’ or ‘Dharm’ [all one and the same, basically meaning your ‘inner calling’]. We all have been incarnated in all ages, as all genders, across all regions and religion and souls changes bodies – is a clinically proven concept and the core message in the book.

But what thrilled me even more is – how beautifully this knowledge has travelled across boundaries, religions and races…to a tiny creature who was looking for few answers in some other part of the world - me, myself…

Bhagvad Gita : Ch 2.20

na jayate mriyate va kadacin

nayam bhutva bhavita va na bhuyah

ajo nityah sasvato 'yam purano

na hanyate hanyamane sarire

TRANSLATION

For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.

Since childhood I have believed that the Gita had all the answers to our lives [nobody forced this belief into me, it just seeped in] At a tender age when I could not even comprehend the characters mentioned in it, I somehow believed blindly many of the lessons contained in it. One of which is – we are Spiritual beings, bodies are temporary. Least did I realize that this phrase had a greater, more powerful hidden message that will truly open up your mind, until I encountered Dr. Brian’s book.

The book will actually help you to understand that you need to stop localizing your problems / circumstances and watch them as mere experiences. Of course, that doesn’t mean that our lives will be devoid of testing circumstances, regular pricks and down-pullers. All it does is, give a fresh perspective on how we can choose to live over and above all of it – live the way we were meant to! We all have lived a man’s, a woman’s, a child’s, a sinner’s, a hero’s lives before – then why dwell in the moment, just live it and jump over to the next – is a big thought the book urges you to ponder upon – a great treat for a spiritual appetite! [perhaps. What my Holy book wanted me to realize].

I’m sure that Dr. Brian’s writings has transformed many lives, changed countless perceptions and removed a millions of inhibitions in people across the globe, in its own ways. But what it successfully did to me was – proved what I already believed in! While reading the book has been a mind-blowing experience, parallelly it also strikingly validates few of the writings of the Gita as well [in all possibilities - unbeknown by the author]. A Western-modern world coming out with proofs of an Eastern belief system - is what thrilled me the most. This just strongly proves that – Truth cannot be modified. And knowledge truly knows no boundaries [and this invariably takes me to Rhonda Byrne’s words ‘ask the universe, and it will give you’ reflecting similar lines from Gita]

The book also beautifully explains [with its proven concepts] that - Amidst the myriad of cultures, population and languages - We all are One. [Can you relate to this now - वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् [Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam? - the most fundamental belief of the Eastern world]]

Well..having said this, just reminding that I’m still just half way through the book [there are few more books to read and the other half of the current book I’m exploring]. I am not sure what new thoughts will be unveiled and for how long will they impact my mind. All I’m looking for is a totally out-of-the-box experience [which aptly suits my blogspace;)] – and probably, a new perspective of things…

Epilogue:

Having put the above post as a draft in my blog, I put all of my thought processes to peace and go to the bed. Strange enough, even before I start my bedtime prayers, one last but important thought flashes my mind – ‘Krishna! you were so right!’

Punarapi jananam punarapi maranam,

Punarapi janani jatare sayanam...

A 2-Day Chapter in WOW’s History

A 2-Day Chapter in WOW’s History:

Visit to Kushalnagar Monastery; Trek to Brahmagiri Hills & Iruppu Falls

Prologue:

1) Baithe baithe kya Karen, Karna hai kuch kaam, Shuru Karen ek aur blog, Lekar WOW ka naam :P	3) Phir jab aaya, Captain Ajju ka, ‘to-do’ and ‘must-carry’ mail, Work-life balance apni patri se Hui boori tarah de-rail!
2) So, jab WOW ka much-awaited 2-day trek hua announce, Sabse first enrollee tha main Grabbed it like some Tiger ka pounce :D	4) three-days continuously jab kiya, Head-scratching and treasure-hunt, Tab jaakar finish hua ‘Luggage-packing’ ka stunt...

Aage ki kaahani hai - ek ‘weekend-long’ story,

Jo ban gayi hai ab WOW ke, 2-day event ki History….

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Readers,

Even before I start this post, I warn you of the length of this blog. My first overnight event with WOW and I wanted to pack as many memories as I can in here. The stupid poem above was all about what most of us shortlisted girls went through :P; just a few days before the event.

And our actual journey starts here…

November 8, Night:

The Journey begins..

The 13 shortlisted girls, assembled near Shantala Silk House waiting for our TT. For some strange reasons, we all met one another like some long-lost friends and instantly started cracking jokes until the TT arrived. Thankfully, the TT had a music system that made it a perfect Friday dance party night [yeah..’perfect’ because the TT  had some disco lights also :P lag raha tha humaare liye hi specially yeh bus bana hua tha :D] 

Time flew with Shree’s ‘vegetable-chopping’ moves, Ritu’s ‘literal-translation-of-lyrics’ moves, Yogita’s ‘jatka-matkahs’; Krupa-Vini’s ‘side-bend’ dances that turned out to be total fun [and of course, howling and bugging Captain Ajju for a ‘song change’ every 2 minutes (which she did patiently!!)]. The jig continued till midnight, until we got a STRICT ‘good night’ call from the organizer as it was gonna be a long day ahead (of course, none of us slept, just pretended :P)]

November 9 – Day 1:

Morning – Kushalnagar : The Tibetan World

Somehow, we reached way too early to our destination Kushalnagara (monastery); so we decided to spend some time strolling in the surrounding locality. While walks and jogs in Bangalore are most of the time for weight loss / fitness and a thousand health purposes; I loved taking this walk, just for the sake of it – no purpose, just a mindless wander.

Wandering aimlessly - enjoying the misty morning..

After spending some time in the Tibetan colony, watching a very humble-culture of the place; in the beautiful misty morning weather; we took a heavy breakfast and then entered the Monastery gates (that were by now, opened for tourists)

The trip inside the monastery was as peaceful and knowledgeable. Got to know some history behind the Tibetan settlement and their religious beliefs via the Architecture inside. Though it was quite a calm and peaceful place, ‘that special feel’ was still missing [yes. The place had set some kind of an expectation in me – not a great enlightenment sort of a thing, but I was looking out for some unique experience / vibes to be felt from here]. Did nag to Ajju also about it, and we ended up blaming the ‘insensible’ tourists who kept disturbing the silence (and hence the vibes) of the place by making noise (as if it was some picnic spot).

Nevertheless, the quest was still on…

**Respect the monks' personal life, so refrained from posting their pics here.

WOW’s ‘Luck’ streak:
So, here was I, in search of a ‘unique’ experience within the monastery.

Just a while later – Joe, Vini and I came outta the temple of Goddess; when we saw a group of monks with a cart full of a kind of ‘prasadam’. Initially we thought the ‘prasadam’ was not for tourists, but something kept me waiting and watching this group (as if they were just gonna offer us!) think I even thoughtlessly blurted out to Joe – ‘I want that’.

Lo and behold!  A couple of monks called us and offered us ‘plates-ful’ of the rich prasadam and a Tea of their speciality. We trio literally ran as if some kids - lured by some delicious goodies would - and received all that they offered us. Looking at us run in this way, the rest of the WOW followed suit, and we all had the tasty, rich Tibetan offerings. This even gave us a chance to interact with the monks, who were answering our questions with no tinge of irritation [generally they prefer to be on their own, and not bother tourists]. What more – we later realized that the ‘prasadam’ was indeed meant for internal purpose (not for tourists). There was a Students’ function going on in an auditorium and the Final year students had prepared this dish for the rest of the students and staff!!

Was it a timing, or was it that the quest for that ‘unique-experience’ was real – WOW just got lucky to have been offered itJ With the ‘excitement’ feeling of the whole experience, it got much easier to gulp down the ‘prasadam’ that was rich in its contents , despite a heavy breakfast :D

Afternoon – Shopping, lunch, travel to Homestay:

The Monastery visit was followed by a shopping session in the afternoon, which, towards the end, turned out to be an arduous task for Captain Ajju :D the girls inside the bus kept escaping for a ‘second-round’ of shop (whenever ajju was not in sight); and finally Captain decided to stand guard at the bus ka gate, until all of us were shoved inside :P. Soon, we had our lunch and then headed out for our Homestay.

Spotted an elephant and a Mahout training camp on the way…and…with this, we were now getting into the adventurous groove...

Mahout training Camp

Yayy! there was spotted an elephant in the wild 

Evening: Iruppu Falls:

Dropped our luggages at the homestay and set out for Iruppu Falls late in the afternoon. Personally, to me, I have never come across such a unique place. The surrounding was splendid.(the path to the falls reminded me of some Takeshi’s castle set up – this was a natural set up). Climbed for some time until we met the water-falls. Landed our feet inside – freezing chill water!!

Iruppu Falls

Some of the WOW girls even dared to drench completely in the cold water (the Dare devils throughout the trip were the duo - 'Geetha & Preetha' :P), while the rest of us felt it good enough to dive till neck depth. Enjoyed the fresh waters till the chill became little intolerable. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the naturally conditioned air around the Falls and then climbed down back to get to our homestay (of course, after a kaapi-bhajji break at the entrance of the place)

Night: Homestay – ‘Comedy night’ of WOW:

By evening, inspite of the tiredness, our big mouths were all in a ‘charged-up’ state as soon as we entered the homestay. The evening later turned out to be hilarious, when some of us went totally freaky. Right from Ritu’s ‘keep-the-floor-clean (by letting the snacks remain on ur clothes)’ talent to Shree’s maha gyaan on ‘keep-your-hand-at-the-right-places’ during a massage – it was all laugh, laugh and keep laughing to the extent of hurting our tummies [dint spare even Captain Ajju for that matter :P]. and this was a true ice-breaker (if there was any between us:P)

Post the comedy-circus, we took a small walk in the dark evening just outside the homestay and then returned for dinner. The next day’s plans were announced over dinner and we were all geared up mentally to take on the challenge. After dinner is when we realized that we had not slept for more than the last 24 hours and one by one started laying our beds and went in deep slumber…..

End of Day 1….

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November 10 – Day 2:

The Grand stretches of Brahma Hills - Brahmagiri

We took our breakfast (prepared with full love by Ajju and Monu) and started for the Brahmagiri trek. The Forest trek path starts at a deviation enroute the Iruppu falls (which means that the entrance for the Falls and the trek base is the same). [Brahmagiri trek being a Wildlife trek – you need permissions from the Forest officer]

Trekking somewhere inside the deep forest..

We followed the guide. Least did I know that I would encounter these tiny little creatures that loved me the most – LEECHES! We were asked to continue walking and not bother them, but at one point of time the leech bites became an uncontrollably irritating feeling and I had to halt and take off my shoes. Only to find them happily rolling down my shoes after having done their blood-sucking job! [this was my first time ever Leech experience]. But this was not a priority (touching the Peak was!) and we continued forward.

All about the Trekking path, and the climb…

A major chunk of the trek path was on a narrow ‘one-person’ path; with a hillock on one side and valley on the other side of the lane. As we walked deeper into the forest, a peculiar calmness dawned in. The sounds of stream waters dashing through the pebbles and rocks, was a pure bliss to experience. On the way, we also saw fresh elephant dung (which meant there was a possibility of encountering one). Taking this hint, the guide picked up few larger sticks from broken branches and asked us to keep some as well (just in case)

We halted in between near a stream that is apparently the origin of the Iruppu falls – relaxed for a while, did some feet clean up (the count of leech bites on my feet had increased by then); and then continued for the trek. At the end of the deep forests, we reached the wide dry grasslands of the hill.

Here, the view turned totally Spectacular – only hills, greenery and rocks around.

Origin of Iruppu Falls

The wide grasslands and view from the top

We walked further on this plane and reached our destination – the Narimale Guest House [we were supposed to stay here the previous night, but this place was apparently destroyed by elepahnts few weeks ago; and thus it turned into our peak destination for today’s trek]. Took our lunch outside the destroyed structure and then prepared for the descend

Descend and WOW’s History:

Just at the start of the descend, we heard few elephant grunts from a distance. But, fortunately or unfortunately – we did not encounter any. Descend, as usual was comparatively easy and more fun, rather than thrilling. By now, we started making little noise and continued our ‘comedy-circus’ from where we had  left it, the previous night. Created weird and unusual love stories between humans and animals [Krish 3 ko bhi abhi release hona tha. Our imaginations went wild:D ] Thanks to the marshlands, they did a great deal in dirtying our shoes (could not figure out if one was the pair of the other :P)

Finally, late in the afternoon (arnd 3.30pm) we made it to the base – successfully creating WOW’s history of a 2-day event – happy, safe and with a proud feeling.

Iruppu Falls: take-2:

As its been always so far, we completed our trek, well on time (still had some time to kill), and so we decided to visit the iruppu falls again. Just before few of us could make it to the falls; Captain Ajju and Krupa (blissfully ignorant) were upto something at the downstream, without noticing a huge water-snake right beside them [until Yogita realized and saved them by making them AWARE of its presence!]. we chucked the idea of going downstream,and maintained the main Water falls as our destination.

An advise for tourists: Please do not visit on a Sunday, since the crowd wont be pleasing enough. Since we already had had enough fun the previous day, we dint mind giving up the dip today (due to the crowd). All I wanted to do was to let the blood on my feet clot in water (obviously due to the Leech bites).

And here, I was, unwillingly, declared the ‘Winner’ of a supposedly ‘Maximum leech-bites competition’ (with totally 18 bites), beating Shree and Krupa (3 each) {yeah..i left no margin for competiton:P}. Wonder how the rest of the gals were not attacked even once!!

Well, as they say..all’s well that ends well and safe..It was time to leave the place with a mixed feelings - of Victory celebrations, and that of nostalgia. We headed out for our homestay, did our final packing, took a photo session with the BTC sponsored gifts :D.. and then started our way to Bangalore…

What followed during the return was:

1. Dinner and some more shopping @ Madikeri [with more sessions on ‘comedy-of-errors’].

2. Surprise Bday celebrations for Shree in the midnight in the middle of some road [this was equally awesome. Never done such a thing before with an all-gal gang!] and some more dance.

We were also lucky for having got such a sensible cab driver, who stopped by,at his own house in the midnight (at around 2.00 am), so that the girls could have a recreational break. The family also offered snacks to the gals. Such a treatment was not at all expected, and we were humbled to have received such a kind of hospitality (touch wood). Like Monu says - ‘WOW events are more about the ‘Experiences’; than mere trek’

A Big thanks to Captain Ajju, and the extended organizers group for having planned a safe, and an amazing trip.

Congratulations to all those who were a part of this History…J Proud!!

And finally (phew), I close this post by just saying that –

..Ever since I returned from this journey, I replay that beautiful forest walk often in my mind, and get a sense of exhilaration..that of a true achievement…

Cheers!

Swatz

Photo courtesy: Ritu, Sindhu, Shree, Monisha

  

WOW stands for BTC World Of Women

The Hot-Trek on Savandurga

October 19th...

·        What happens when 20 strong and hot girls step out to tame a Monolith together? – The Sun smiles brightly

·        What happens when difficulty level on a trek increases – We start conquering fear!

·        What happens when North-South meets each other in the game of Dumb Charades –  (un) moonji-lia-sum becomes Mughal-e-Azam, Bewafa becomes Pai-wa-fai and Rajathiraja becomes Raja-the-Raja :P

·        What happens when there is no Music system in the bus? – nothing! We will dance, anyways, even if its on the road ;)

Yes. All of the above and more - is what we really did in WOW’s fifth trek (my third one) to one of the largest monolithic rocks in Asia – Savanadurga.

Well, Bangalore has a strange problem with public transport and roads – sometimes its jampacked and at times, totally empty (with no single auto / bus to your destination). I was a victim of the latter when I had to reach Majestic to meet the WOW gang for the trek. Somehow, with God’s grace, managed to reach on time [5 minutes late, according to IST, is considered on time :P]. Thankfully, I wasn’t the last one [was the last-but-one] to reach to the TT. Met few old faces, many new and began the journey to Savanadurga, with a brief round of introduction to one another.

No music system in the bus, meant chatter-boxes continuously at work – and the troupe of 20 gals randomly started chitchatting in separate groups based on their comfort level. And here, we, the last benchers in the bus, got to interview our ‘Organizer-turned-first-time-WOW-Participant’ on her journey of trekking and BTC. And realized that real blood (donated to leeches) and sweat have gone in coming up with BTC and WOW! [these were interesting..willing to explore more of the inside stories ;)]

After breakfast and a small session of dance on the road (at a halt for recreational activities), we reached Savandurga.

The Rock and the t(r)echniques:

Savandurga, as the facts say, is one of Asia’s largest monolithic rocks. More details about the place here Wildlife includes bears and leopards (we did get a bear alert from one of the villagers at the base itself. Thankfully, we encountered none!)

Starting off - immediately after the Bear-Alert call!

The Rock - Photo courtesy: Ritu

The Rock 

The entire group was divided into 4 teams [for the first time I was in the Lead group! Yayy!:D], and we started climbing up. The Giant rock, with no proper route carved on it, makes it a core trekking activity (you really need some experienced trekkers in your group, to be able to figure out the right path. It gets tricky and a bit risky, otherwise!). This being a moderate level of trek (with a good amount of steep and no support whatsoever) was a real challenge and demanded diligent climbing and descending.

The technique is to bend your body towards the slant (bend forward like a bear while climbing up and bend backwards against the steep while descending). You also need to control your entire body on your calf muscles (demands a lot of calf strength). [Trekking is about fitness and techniques also -  you see! ;)]

The climb

The Descen

At places, even these techniques don’t work. The only option is to move with all your four limbs [climb up like some animal and while descending, you need to sit and slowly slide down]. {Now you know, why is it a ‘moderate-level’ of trek}. 

A tree-climbing somewhere in between the trek, aroused the ‘animal instinct’ in few of us and made it relatively easier to trek the rock ;)

Tree-climbing, just for a warm up :P

As we kept ascending, the sun kept shining gloriously at us, making it a Hot-trek (difficult to decide which one was Hotter – WOW or the Sun :P). After beating the heat, reaching the peak felt triumphant! Took a much-deserved break on the top – had a small group-photo session and then everyone dispersed to savor the Nature and the View, in their own sweet ways. Though the entire surrounding was dry, hot, and barren – the view of river Arkavathi (from the peak) and the green beyond it was a retreat. Happy that we were among the early birds for the day.  Spotted many other groups following our trail seeing us on the top :D)

Descend was a tad more scary this time. However, it successfully brought out the adventurists in us. With the girls helping and motivating each other, we got back to where we had started from – safe and sound. By then, the Sun started playing hide-n-seek with the clouds [and we were thankful it did not rain while descending]

Manchinabele Damn – Lunch time

By the time we reached the base, most of us were worn out due to heat and humidity. It was time for Lunch B-). Visited Manchinabele damn (only 1 girl in the troupe could pronounce this correctly!). Unfortunately, the entry was limited due to an accident that had taken place just a few days ago. Nevertheless, watching the serene waters of Arkavathi river was a breather. Had a small break near the damn and started out for lunch.

Damn view

For lunch, we halted at the same spot where we had our breakfast. Lunch toh aise kiya jaise koi shaadi par aaye the..The fact that Curd was available (after beating all of that heat) felt a great relief for few of us (read Tamilians!), and we mercilessly attacked on food. Owner-uncle looked genuinely happy serving food to the gang of girls (on enquiring, he revealed that he rarely found people emptying their plates so quickly and asking for more – which we did – like gluttons!)

Machi! Tamil-u teriyada,

Appo dumb charades la once again ra..:D

After enjoying a hard-core trek, and filling ourselves up with satisfying lunch – it was time for some Fun. By late in the afternoon, we reached the Big Banyan Tree, for chillaxing.

After brainstorming for games, we finally zeroed in on – Dumb Charades. Now, our WOW team had a small patalam (gang) of people hailing from Tamil Nadu [who happily ignored which group they belonged to, helped every other Tamilian in the game :P]. Loads of creative (literally out-of-the-box) Enacting happened to come to the Hindi movie titles and that triggered loads of laughter! These girls added a ‘Fun-element’ to the entire trip! :P. 

The day was truly a perfect weekend escapade – with a balanced amount of adventure, fun and chitchatting. We finally called it a day and started on our way to Bangalore. And yeah – what a Time Management! Everything went as planned and on dot time. By 5.30 in the evening, we were at Majestic (so you can ignore the 2 of us making it late to the TT in the morning :). With yet another promise of meeting up in future treks, we dispersed to our respective abodes.

Congratulations to Kiruba on her first trek as an Organizer:)

Congratulations to all the ‘first-timers’ (including you-know-who :P). You really did a great job :D

Author’s personal note..

Despite the tough climb, personally, this trek had been an extremely Peaceful experience (would have pestered people around me with this dialog again and again! :D). Reasons? I don’t know!

All I can say is, with such beatitude experience, trekking is turning into an addiction…

Cheers!

WOW stands for BTC World Of Women

The Braille, the language of feel, and their World of Fun!

The Braille, the language of feel, and their World of Fun!

‘KIIIDS’ – I yelled.

‘…what idea have you got about today’s program?’ – the ‘trainer-brain’ in me urged me to ask the kids of my team….

We were a group of 85 volunteers participating in the ‘Joy of Giving’ event at Fun World. The program was about assisting Visually Impaired [‘beneficiary’ henceforth] kids and adults for Joy rides @ the Fun World. The whole bunch of volunteers were divided into 4 teams; and paired with beneficiaries on 1:1 basis. The team that I belonged to [Chak De!] had only kids J [had to be so! especially with ME in it(wink, wink ;))]

‘We are gonna play games’ – was the collective reply. [Fair enough!]

‘So what kind of games do you usually play in school and home’ – I shot back at the already enthusiastic kids

‘Merry-go-round, jaara bande, swings…’ and few other names I’m not able to recollect [blame my poor technical knowledge in Kannada..didnot spend my childhood in K’taka :P!]

‘So, today..its gonna be similar games..but they will be much bigger, speedier and few will be slightly different’ […few imaginations already sketching…few smiles already lighting up!]

‘CHAK DEE’ – with a shout, a round of claps and whistles, we made a grand entry into the Park; thus kick-starting our Fun Event organized by ‘Gift-abled’ together with the Bangalore Trekking Club, Shree Ramana Maharishi School and few other volunteer groups.

Now that the rides were going to be relatively ‘bigger’, we started off  explaining few of the kids (including my beneficiary), the meaning of what ‘Big things’ mean. Touch-and-feel of the of a Giant wrestler’s arms (installed right at the Entrance) proved to be just the right activity for this!

With ‘Awe-struck’ ‘Surprised’ ‘Thrilled’ and ‘Happy’ expressions, the kids n elders, all moved on to the core rides.

She, me & the rides:

My pair was a 10-year old girl named ‘Gita’. A ‘chota-packet’ of talent and enthu, who has learnt Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam [still learning] and has given group performances in a TV channel!

On any other normal day, joy rides would mean ‘just-sit-n-enjoy’ stuff. Never cared about what direction / path a ride took..how many compartments did it have..where the supporting bars/belts are located..or even the shapes and sizes!

But today, the experience was something different! Explaining each ride with as much detail as possible - drawing directions in the kid’s arm, giving a rough imagination about the area a ride covered (via sound analysis, while we were waiting for our turn), comparing each ride to the best possible example she could relate to – was sort of, an eye-opening (and of course, my ‘mouth-opening’) experience. [my personal thrill was that - there was none to control the ‘chatter-box’ in me :D ‘touch-feel-talk’ was the key mode of communication with the Specially abled people, to make them understand the surrounding]. Even more thrilling was - when she took all the download from me diligently and we experienced all the rides in the same way! And as we started building that understanding between each other, the girl started asking for more n more; and we kept increasing our pace and Fun :D Thereafter, it was just jumping from one ride to another, meeting the rest of the group here-n-there, shouting, howling, clapping, whistling and ‘Feeling’ the rides - till the day was called off.     

    

Throughout the day, the Event was an energy-packed, thrilling and a Unique experience!                        

                                         

-------------------------------------

The Philosopher’s note:

Frequently, I hear a saying in Kannada which translates to this – “Help done from one hand, should not be made known to another”. A saying which, I guess, most of us believe in.

However, the Fun world event modified this belief in me a bit. Volunteer activities such as these deserve to be promoted and publicized, of course, with the right intentions. It’s the events such as these that bridges all kinds of differences – old, new, abled, specially-abled – all coming together with a common purpose. And this time, it was simple – Have Fun! That’s itJ

And, if you closely look at your own life, come to think of this - We never needed support to live our own reality (each is better off with his own). It was only when we chose to move out, did we Reach out!

At the end of the day, we all are incomplete in some or the other way, and seek support when we truly dare to look beyond our limits! They pushed their limits and dreamed of making it to joy-rides, we just rendered them the support they needed to make this live.

Well, I know the stuff right above was more of a Social science, but equally important for me to let the world know :P The ‘Joy of Giving’ event was truly a joyful event, with a lot of take-aways that would surely count in life down the lane.

My take-aways from the Event:

1.      People, people and more people: Meeting new and old people, all for a common goal, was a very pleasant thing happening over this event. I had no clue, that an entire troupe of my ex-colleagues would also be a part of the volunteer group. Was taken aback, nonetheless, happy meeting them :P

2.      Awareness about the braille: At the end of the event, the entire group of volunteers and the beneficiaries had a gathering. Post the thank-you speeches, there was a brief session on how the braille works. [this was really something new and very knowledgeable!]. Watching the kids happily teaching the rest, about the braille was a kind of delight we get to perceive very rarely!

3.      The real million dollar smile: In the middle of one of the speedy rides, I casually checked with my kiddie beneficiary as to how was she feeling. The warmth and innocence that came with the response, was once again, a rare experience. That genuine expression of the kid, had the power to melt a hundred hearts – I was after all, just one [aint an exaggeration! U feel it, u believe it!]. And to get more of such an effect, I repeatedly checked on her feeling throughout the day :D [greed did this job, not I :P]

4.      Victory feeling: Got a chance to take an elderly VI lady Marisha’s feedback on the event, while on the way back home. As expected, she confessed that she did not want to be sympathized or pitied by other (read normal) people and was little skeptical about the entire event. And immediately she glows with a smile and admits – ‘but it turned out to be a lot of fun and I’m thankful I did not miss it. It was because people were there to support, that we enjoyed’. Yes – they just needed a ‘support’. We all need it at some or the other point of time, don’t we? And yes! This meant that the event was a Success – in its motive, purpose and in every way J So, kudos!

All in all, it was a day filled with fun, and something called as ‘Soul-satisfaction’. You name it as a ‘Social help’ ‘Social commitment’ or any other buzzing term. But for me, the ‘Joy of Giving’ was truly a joy given to me! A satisfaction that no money, flashlights, or glamour can buy.

Thanks to one and all involved!:) A special mention to the Organizers.

..A message to the ‘Heidi’ fan club:

To all the Heidi fans out there! I found a real-life Heidi in the girl I met :D. The way this little girl expressed ‘akka, nange thumba khushi agtaide’ [akka, I am feeling extremely happy] – felt as if little Heidi has jumped out of the book and manifested herself ;) :D

P.S: This post is a small dedication to my beneficiary ‘Gita’ – as a gift for her birthday [October 16^th]. A bundle of energy as she is, someday I hope to see her breaking some record in Dance. Prayers and wishes to all the specially abled kids and elders alike..

Cheers!

*Names of the beneficiary’s changed for protecting identity