Here are some of the pictures of a three day adventure camp in the jungles of Dandeli.
Hope you like them.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Monday, February 12, 2007
the Havyaka outing...
It was like a thousand guns being blasted into my ears. I could see the crystal clear, thick and heavy water jump out from my back onto my legs, hands, and from my head. It was a lil scary too. I turned back, and crawled up the cement/stone combo up the small waterfalls at Balmuri. Just then, I could see Krishna Bhat jumping into the river on the other side, and swim out into the large, silent river on the other side of the waterfalls. He called me too. As I stood at the shore skeptically, he swum to a spot, where he remained stagnant, and called out for me to come. "There is a rock underneath. We can stand here," he screamed. It seemed as though he was floating in mid water. I decided to try it out, and jumped into the river. As I swam towards him, I reached out to the underneath stone with my legs. There it was!!!
It was just magical. How had he discovered it??!!! He just smiled.
"Trip of only Havyakas? How many will come?" I had asked Sumanth Hegde, my cousin. "We estimate a little more than a hundred," he told me. WOW!!! That was a huge number. In all my visits to the various functions at the Havyaka Mahasabha, Bangalore, I had met up with a lot of my Havyaka brethren. But, I had noticed that the youngsters generally avoided these functions. This would be a great occasion to meet up a lot of youngsters in the Havyaka Community, I thought.
And so it happened. Though we started out a little later than planned, as we were sure that the birds at Ranganatittu would not complain if we had not lived up to the appointment, we took a small break for breakfast at a location in Mysore Road. Fresh idlis, juicy vadas, and mouth watering 'Kesari baaths'. God bless the catering incharge!!!
Half hour later, we were singing our way to Balmuri. Yes, the crowd was loud....very very loud. Three buses brimming with energetic crowd, screaming and laughing all the way. The anthyakshari being played in our bus, almost had the curious onlookers in surrounding vehicles wanting to join the fun. :D
OOPS..... a wrong turn, and we landed at the entrance of Ranganatittu. "All the birds would have gone dating now. Let's go to Balmuri, and return back to this place in the evening," someone screamed. A quick decision, and we turned back towards Balmuri falls. Half hour later..... "LETS JUMP INTO THE RIVER"... at Balmuri.
Some dudes jumped into the river right away, swimming, resting below the falls, above the falls, and playing around in the water. Some dames took a raft ride around the river.
It was some rough fun, I haven't had in the recent past.
Yess...the hundreds of digital cameras shot everything at sight.
After the Balmuri falls, we rushed back to Ranganatittu, for some amazing lunch, ladoos included. God bless the catering incharge!!!
Then it was the time for the quaint boat trip into the islands where exotic birds flew all around us. Any attempt to capture them in my digicam failed, and I had to satisfy myself with the pictures of the boatman, and some gorgeous females I was sitting beside. But, well, here are some of the pictures that I took of the beautiful birds in my last trip to Ranganatittu.
But for the failure to take amazing pictures, I did enjoy the boat trip, with the intermittent sound of the oars wading through the water, the occasional chirp of a bird, and the sudden flight of a painted stork gliding smoothly over still waters.
This world was so very different than the mundane life in Bangalore. This was a life that was gifted to us by the almighty. In the quest for success, money, and the illusion of satisfaction, we had created a world that was so much predictable, so much pale, and devoid of freshness. Life was so simple and beautiful here. Why did we make is so complex, at home, a hundred kilometers away?
My thoughts were broken by "Please come out of the boat carefully," said by the boatman, as he pulled the boat to the shore. Ah! yes. Shucks!!!
But, before we boarded the bus, we did manage to take a huge group photograph.
The bus journey back home was filled with the noisy Anthyakshari again, to camouflage the "Tomorrow office again!!!" blues. The memoirs of this beautiful trip would definitely linger for a long time to come.
Kudos to all the organisers to have made this happen.
Here are some of the pictures of this exciting trip.
It was just magical. How had he discovered it??!!! He just smiled.
"Trip of only Havyakas? How many will come?" I had asked Sumanth Hegde, my cousin. "We estimate a little more than a hundred," he told me. WOW!!! That was a huge number. In all my visits to the various functions at the Havyaka Mahasabha, Bangalore, I had met up with a lot of my Havyaka brethren. But, I had noticed that the youngsters generally avoided these functions. This would be a great occasion to meet up a lot of youngsters in the Havyaka Community, I thought.
And so it happened. Though we started out a little later than planned, as we were sure that the birds at Ranganatittu would not complain if we had not lived up to the appointment, we took a small break for breakfast at a location in Mysore Road. Fresh idlis, juicy vadas, and mouth watering 'Kesari baaths'. God bless the catering incharge!!!
Half hour later, we were singing our way to Balmuri. Yes, the crowd was loud....very very loud. Three buses brimming with energetic crowd, screaming and laughing all the way. The anthyakshari being played in our bus, almost had the curious onlookers in surrounding vehicles wanting to join the fun. :D
OOPS..... a wrong turn, and we landed at the entrance of Ranganatittu. "All the birds would have gone dating now. Let's go to Balmuri, and return back to this place in the evening," someone screamed. A quick decision, and we turned back towards Balmuri falls. Half hour later..... "LETS JUMP INTO THE RIVER"... at Balmuri.
Some dudes jumped into the river right away, swimming, resting below the falls, above the falls, and playing around in the water. Some dames took a raft ride around the river.
It was some rough fun, I haven't had in the recent past.
Yess...the hundreds of digital cameras shot everything at sight.
After the Balmuri falls, we rushed back to Ranganatittu, for some amazing lunch, ladoos included. God bless the catering incharge!!!
Then it was the time for the quaint boat trip into the islands where exotic birds flew all around us. Any attempt to capture them in my digicam failed, and I had to satisfy myself with the pictures of the boatman, and some gorgeous females I was sitting beside. But, well, here are some of the pictures that I took of the beautiful birds in my last trip to Ranganatittu.
But for the failure to take amazing pictures, I did enjoy the boat trip, with the intermittent sound of the oars wading through the water, the occasional chirp of a bird, and the sudden flight of a painted stork gliding smoothly over still waters.
This world was so very different than the mundane life in Bangalore. This was a life that was gifted to us by the almighty. In the quest for success, money, and the illusion of satisfaction, we had created a world that was so much predictable, so much pale, and devoid of freshness. Life was so simple and beautiful here. Why did we make is so complex, at home, a hundred kilometers away?
My thoughts were broken by "Please come out of the boat carefully," said by the boatman, as he pulled the boat to the shore. Ah! yes. Shucks!!!
But, before we boarded the bus, we did manage to take a huge group photograph.
The bus journey back home was filled with the noisy Anthyakshari again, to camouflage the "Tomorrow office again!!!" blues. The memoirs of this beautiful trip would definitely linger for a long time to come.
Kudos to all the organisers to have made this happen.
Here are some of the pictures of this exciting trip.
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