Picture Perfect

I finally could take up photography seriously as a hobby. 2 hours at Lalbagh on a breezy Sunday morning with my shiny new Canon SX10 and the results were pretty impressive. You can check them out here.

As it turned out, the pictures inspired the poet in my friend. And he's what she came up with. Thanks Jyo!

Dining on Diwali

Come Diwali and its celebration time. Lights, crackers, festivities and of course, food! Several arcadian creeds and tribes, make this an occasion to treat themselves to a tasty meat dinner. High on the list of favourites among these is boar meat. The scene is not very different from Obelix's Gaulish village sometimes, with the whole community feasting together on wild boars.

Year after year since my early days, I've witnessed this annual ritual of boar hunting. And this is how it's done. A large group of atleast a dozen people enter the bush with wooden staffs. Hooting and bellowing, they literally beat the hell out of the place. Raising as big a ruckus as they are capable of, they scare these shy and peace loving animals out their hiding and into the open. The fleeing beast is either shot with a rifle, trapped with a net or just brought down with a spear. The ones that are trapped using a net are captured alive, with their legs tied, as seen in the pictures here. Their throats are slit and they are allowed to bleed to their death before their meat is extracted at the meat shop.





This year again, when I had been home for Diwali, I got to witness this, should I say, barbaric act? Four boars were caught alive, of which atleast two were young nursing mothers, who hadn't even grown their trademark tusks. Their piglets supposedly disappeared back into the bush. Without their mother to nurse them, death would only be a matter of time for them. The four captured boars were unceremoniously dumped onto the back of a three wheeler and trucked away. Weighing upwards of 50kgs each, with the meat selling at a hundred rupees a kilo, each of these was easily worth several grand!



Shooting pictures of these helpless beasts struggling to free themselves, I was struck by two thoughts. One, of my own greed of making a story out these creatures' death. I don't want to justify my act by drawing parallels. The other thought that occured to me was how the food chain gave one the authority and/or justification to kill in the name of sustenance and survival. In this case however, it was apparently neither. Yet, there lay these hapless beasts before me, shocked and traumatized, waiting to meet their end.

Wayanad

Starting Point: Bangalore
Places Visited: Chembra Peak, Minamutty falls, Edakkal caves, Thirunelli Temple, Kuruva Island and Pookot Lake
Dates: 2nd - 4th October
Distance: 300kms
Conveyance:Toyota Qualis
Approx Cost: 2000 per head (for a group of six )
Album Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/vin.kamath/Wayanad

Our weekend escape to Wayanad was a welcome break from the humdrum Bangalore life, but was a tad damped as we had chosen a very busy time of the year. The tourist places we visited were teeming with people. A bit of a disappoiontment I must say. However there were umpteen other reason to revel.

We set out from Bangalore at 5am and our route took us through Mysore, Gundalpet and the Bandipur wildlife sanctuary. Roads are good and its a 5 hour drive from Bangalore. It can take almost an hour at the Karnataka - Kerala border to get the permit, but the place around the check post is worth exploring. Bamboo groves with a little, lazy stream meandering along, with loads of fresh elephant dung here and there! By the time we reached, it was noon and the sun was shining high and bright.







Edakkal Caves
This was the first of the places that we hit in Wayand. Defying all our expectations, this place was flocking with throngs of hooting Mallus, who are capable of weaving their way through a lung crushing crowd - even wearing a lungi or otherwise! The 6 of us buying tickets and getting in was an accomplishment in itself!

You must go to the Edakkal caves for two things. One, the supposedly pre-historic engravings on the cave walls and two, for a short trek. The caves are located some place between the base and the peak of this mountain and getting there is a short climb from the entrance of the cave.
The best time to go would be anytime other than noon. Check the visitng hours before making your plans though.

We stayed in a sleepy little town called Ambalavayal, which is comfortably placed with respect to many a places of interest and is a 10minute drive from the Edakkal caves. It was a decent, clean place with cheap food available (at just one hotel) nearby and so, boarding and lodging wasn't an issue.




Meenamutty Falls
This is a wonderful place to visit with ample place to take a dip and relax. Its prudent to reach the place before 4 as it gives one ample time to trek to the falls, bum about at the falls and return before dark. We happened to reach a bit late and hence had to cut short our fun. The route to the falls is circuitous but you will not need a guide unless you are mentally challenged or emotionally paranoid or just a bunch of girls [No offence meant ladies]









Karapuzha Dam
Karapuzha Dam is a surreal and mystifying place; provided that you are there at the break of dawn, before the harsh sunlight kills it all. Placid tranquility with a light mist gracefully kissing the delicate ripples on the surface of the water, as fishermen patiently cast their hook time and again breaking the water surface in silent anticipation.

The dam is a short 15min drive from Ambalavayal and the Sunshine Valley is located nearby too.


Thirunelli Temple
Located nearly 70kms from our stay and 32 kms from Mananthavady, the renowned Thirunelli temple is also known as the Sahyamala Kshetram. It is believed to be more than 3000 years old. Legend has it that this temple dedicated to lord Vishnu was built by lord Brahma (The Creator) himself - an architectural marvel with 30 granite pieces supporting the shrine and the floor paved with huge square granite blocks. [Source:http://www.naturemagics.com/kerala-ethnic-traditional/thirunelli-temple.shtm]. We hit a rough patch when we made a visit to this renowned temple. The temple was closed for renovation and we had to quell our disappointment by spending time by the stream that flows nearby. Present in the temple premises is a'Uduppi Hotel' that serves quintessential Kerala meals.



Kuruva Island
Kuruva is a small island that has been now been commercialized. My mental picture of a peaceful island with lush green trees and wet grass underneath full of chirping birds turned out to be a long shot from the reality. The island is mostly comprised of bamboo groves with ample places to swim and bath at numerous places along the banks of the island. Hand rowed boats connect the island to the mainland.

The time that we visited was atrocious in terms of the crowds present. However, if one were to visit it during any other time however, it would be a nice place to sit and relax.



Pookot Lake
Pookot lake is yet another place that you can visit in the evening. Its just about 3kms south of Vythiri. There are boats to leisurely paddle around. Again, be forewarned that the place is fairly commercialized (quite contrary to what the official website of Wayanad claims) and if you want to spend some lonely time in peace with nature, this is definitely not the place to go.
The lake is closed by 6pm and hence, make sure you get there on time. We turned up at 6 at the lake and hence had to return disappointed. Not to be undone, we headed off to nearby tea estate located beside the highway and waited for the sun to set. This is something that you have to do if you're visiting Wayanad.




Chembra Peak
This was clearly our main course and we had no plans of any compromise on this. So we made enquiries a day in advance and found out that to trek, one needs to get a permission from the Vana Samrakshana Samithi / Forest department office located within Chembra Estate - which is where the Chembra Peak (and not the Meppadi Forest department office as mentioned in most pages across the web). The estate itself very close to Meppadi town, but the base of the peak is a good 3km drive from the estate entrance. The pass office is located enroute and opens as early as 6 to accomodate the heavy flow of trekkers.
A pass costs a min of Rs.500, and is issued for 10 or less people. You are offered the services of a guide; free with the pass, so to say. The advantage of having a guide is severly handicapped, if not nullified, but the fact that our guide spoke (not surprisingly) only malayalam and some scant tamil. For that matter knowing malayalam or having someone onboard who speaks malayalam is almost a necessity when travelling through Kyarala. Despite the fact that Kyarala brags of being the most literate state in India, both the lingua franca and the 'lingua comprehendo' are limited to malayalam.
If you are to scale Chembra peak, start at the break of dawn. Or else you have another option. Just don't do it.
The peak is a 3 hour trek from the base. A heart shaped lake is located midway and the path from the lake to the peak is steep. So, the trek is moderately difficlut from the lake onwards, but definitely not something to fear if you are in decent shape (Remember, we are engineers working for MNCs and the most exercise we get other than tapping on our keyboard all day is at most a 10min walk). The climb to the top is definitely worth the effort with brilliant sceneries flanking you, right from the word go. Be sure to pack some breakfast. Cool spring water is available enroute, providing a refreshing pitting area to pause, refill and resume.The trek to the peak is, in short, a challenging (not a punishing) and enjoyable trek - a great sensuous treat for trekking enthusiasts!

You can find all the pictures of Chembra here.


Mysore Dussera and back
It being dussera time, we did not miss the grandeur of Mysore dussera during our return journey. The entire city was brimming with energy and the air was thick with the celebration mood. You could feel it in the air. The excitement was tangible! The mysore palace was looking glorious as ever, drowned in a bath of a million incadescent lamps, reminding one of Mysore's glorious history and heritage. The entire crowd went "Ooo..." as the palace lighting was thrown on, on Abhinav Bindra's arrival.



We were back home by 11pm the same day - delighted, exhausted yet gratified, with a tinge of annoyance for the want of having chosen a better time of visit.

Flower Show at Lalbagh

Here is glimpse of Lalbagh's ravishing annual flower show, held around the days of I-day. Vibrant and vivid, I say there are more colours here than what even the human eye can percieve.





You can view individual pictures of the collage, just by clicking on them above. Isn't that just brilliant!? You can mouse over the glogster.com logo on the right hand top corner to view the embed in full size.

Himalayan Life

During the course of our Himalayan trek, we came across some really splendiferous flora. Here's a quick glimpse into some of it. My thanks to Ajay for getting his cam along and shooting most of these pics.



You can find pics of the trek here.

YHAI Sar Pass - Trekking Tips

YHAI has been doing a great job organizing treks all over India. You can find a list of their trekking programmes here. The Sar Pass trek is one their most popular ones and is held in the month of May. Its a 11 day affair, including 8 days of trekking. As of 2008, the base camp was in Kasol, a cozy little town on the banks of river Parvati - 42kms from Kullu.

The entire trek is a feast for the mind, body, eyes and soul. The pictures of Sar Pass will definitely blow your socks off! You can find them here. Here are a few things that we learnt from our trek.

1. The YHAI Sar Pass page is your bible. Follow it to the last word.
2. A good pair of hunter shoes is a must, since you will be trekking on ice. Normal rubber cannot take the brutal cold. If you are in Bangalore, you can find a fine bargain at this army surplus stores opposite Russel's market in Shivajinagar. It should cost you about Rs.650.
   
3. YHAI provides you with a decent ruck sack. So unless you plan to take up trekking as your religion, you need not invest in one.
4. Thermal wear is a must. It costs around Rs.700 is really worth investing into.
5. Goggles and sun screen lotion are a must. You'll end up with red swollen eyes if you don't bother to carry goggles. The pretty and non-pretty females of our group did carry sun screen and got off easy. We guys came back tanned and sun burnt looking like Nigerians.
   
6. In addition to the hunter shoes, make sure you take a pair of slippers/floaters along during the trek, even if it means a little extra weight. At the end of each day's trek your shoes will be all wet and soggy. So if you don't have an additional pair of footwear to walk around the campsite once you dry up, its one big pain.
7. Be prepared for a staple of Parle-G biscuits and tea. Breakfast and lunch are no doubt served - but you'll soon find out that these two will be staple food. Food in the higher camps ranges anywhere from decent to good - which is very ironical given the fact that the food in the base camp, well, sucks.
8. You can carry just a little snacks, as its relieving to nibble on something once in while when you get bored of the local food. Unless you are very choosy, you need not carry much food. Some dry fruits and a packets or two of snacks will suffice.
   
9. It pays to heed the words of the instructor and reduce you backpack weight to the bare minimum. You will not be bathing except on the last day, so you wont be need more than an extra pair of pants and a couple of shirts. You hardly sweat given the low temperature and so its not as gross as it sounds.
   
10. Hygiene will be more or less nonexistent. Be prepared to use open air toilets and answering natures calls, well, with nature! Don't take plastic plates or boxes as far as possible as they are difficult to wash and degrease. Tissues will sure come in really handy. [And don't forget the toilet papers!!]
11. Surprisingly, you'll have network coverage almost along the entire route, though intermittently. The only problem being that you will not have power to recharge you cells. So be sure to carry you cell phones; and use it wisely.
12. Drink as much fluids as you can over the course of the trip. As you will told over and again, its very important that you remain hydrated and that your blood retain its normal consistency. The tea, soup, juice and daliya that you will be given will provide ample opportunity for this.
    
13. Be sure to explore the area around each campsite. All places, including lunch points have been tastefully chosen. So let the shutter bug in you loose, and at the same time don't forget to sit back and savour the vigour and beauty of the Himalayas!
14. Even to this day, when I listen to Floyd's Division Bell, the panoramic visions come rushing back. The experience of listening to psychedelic/Indian classical music in a place like that is just indescribable. You are in a world of your own. Bliss! [In fact you will find lots of weed growing out there. But you won't need to use it]
    
15. You'll find lots of interesting people from all walks of life. Get to know each other. You're bound to find a lot of like minded folks and make some long lasting friends in the course of the 10days.

To conclude, just get there and enjoy maadi. If there is anything more that you'd want to know, drop me a comment. A mail would be just as good. Cheers!