Adventures and Misadventures to Ooty

The morning of 23’rd January was eagerly awaited. The excitement was building up as I waited for my friends to come down from Hyderabad. A long trip is always exciting. Especially when you know you will be driving through hills and a forest area known for its wild life.
8.00 AM – My friends come home.
We had our breakfast – Masala upma, pomegranate seeds and kaju barfi. A perfect start for a journey filled with excitement.
12.30 PM – I was behind the wheel. We took the Hoskerehalli route to Mysore Road. Somewhere near BTM, we noticed that the wheel was wobbling. We checked if the nuts were loose, but they were fit just about perfect. The only other conclusion was that the alignment and balance had gone kaput.
1.30 PM – We were at a wheel alignment centre having to replace 2 wheels and get the balancing and alignment done.
3.30 PM – 7000 Rupees and 2 hours later, the journey started again.
The Mysore – Bangalore highway is a pleasure to drive on. 4 lanes and wide roads made the journey to Mysore really smooth. Around 4.30 PM, we realised we had not had lunch. 50 Kms later we were gobbling up McDonald’s junk somewhere on the road between Mandya and Mysore.
Mysore – Gundalpet – Bandipur – Mudhumalai – Theppakadu – Masinagudi. This was the route taken and Masinagudi is where the misadventure started. It was close to 8.30 PM when we reached the foot of the Ooty hills. One road that is open for all kinds of vehicles is through Coonur. This is about 62 Kms to Ooty. The road that goes up the hill from Masinagudi to Ooty is only 32 Kms. So we felt the shorter, the better and took that road. What we did not know was that this road is open only from 6.00 AM to 8.00 PM. The first check post made us wait a little and plead a little. We could not turn back and take the Coonur road. It would take us 3 hours to get to Ooty. What we did next was what any Indian would feel at home with – bribe. Parting with Rs 100 was the easiest way to get past the gate.
This is exactly where the fun started. It was post sunset and this road has no street lights (obviously). This drive was the best I have ever had in my life. More than 200 feet to fall on the right and over 1400 fee to climb on the left with only the lights of the car and the moon to guide us through. Around 10.00 PM we had another check post to deal with and another 100 rupees less to spend in Ooty. There were a total of 36 hair pin bends. My car is a 1996 model esteem. Any guesses what happened next? It refused to climb up even in first gear just as we neared the 29’Th Hair pin bend. We had no choice. We turned back, spent another 100 Rupees at the check post, and drove down in silence down the hill. The spirits were dampened, but we thought, what if this had happened the next day when we were going up the hill to Ooty. This made us feel a little better. These few hours left us with an overheated car, very cool weather conditions and 3 super heated human beings.
11.30 PM – An unknown little cottage in Masinagudi – Nasmat Palace – we checked in for Rs 1000 a night. With nothing to eat, we banked on the fruits that my wife had forcefully put into my bag. (Bless my wife for that). 5 dates each, half a bottle of water and one orange each filled our stomachs enough for us to get a good sleep for the night.
24’th January – We got up at 7.00 AM and 2 hours later, we had checked out of Nasmat Palace and were standing at the bus stop of Masinagudi. We had to park our car in the cottage for another one and a half days. Rs 600 by jeep to Ooty and 45 minutes to the top. Rs 10 each by a govt bus and 75 minutes to the top. We opted for the second one and exactly 90 minutes later, we set foot on Ooty soil. It was such a relief. Looking back 12 hours into time, we had not expected to land here so early in the morning and ready for two days of action.
That day was our local trip day. We spent a good time boating in the lake and then went to the Botanical Garden to see nature in glory. The best part of the entire garden was a fossilised tree trunk believed to be 20 million years old. It looked nothing but magnificent to somebody with an eye for such things. The last 3 hours of the day were spent shopping for the famous Ooty chocolates. The flavours available were too good to believe – butter scotch, dark chocolate, pineapple, strawberry, apple, mint, ginger, milk, fruits, raisins, nuts etc. Rs 1000 poorer, we reached our hotel to end the day on a high. Some Signature 8 hours of sleep we were ready for the next day.
25’Th January – My friend got up with a bad stomach. Too much of the typical Parotta had taken the toll. 100 % maida flour is not good for health. We all know. But when you are hungry and you want to taste some local food, you also need to be ready to face the risks. It took my other friend and me about 1.5 hours to make our sick friend mentally ready to undertake another 5 hours of travel over the hills.
Coonur is a beautiful place with a few views that takes your breath away. Our destination was Lamb’s Corner – a beautiful piece of rock about 7500 feet about MSL that overlooks most of the mountain peaks around Ooty. We stopped at tea plantations on the way. The scene here was too beautiful. A few hundred meters of tea plantations that go down the hill and meet the foot of another hill that extends a long way up with clouds making its peak look like a silhouette. We were told that a lot of movies including the famous Roja were shot here. Its only the scenes where snow was required were shot in Kashmir.
The rest of the day went just fine. We were down to Ooty by 4.00 and we caught the next bus down to Masinagudi. 6.30 sharp, we reached the same cottage we had parked our car and went for a few more Signatures. We had the luxury to have some home cooked food. The cook of the cottage cooked at home and sent the food to us. Half a kg of home cooked and spicy chicken, temperature of around 9 degrees, roof top view of the moonlight soaked mountains were just about a perfect end to a marvellous trip.

A few pics here

Significance

Fox History and Entertainment recent show on space is one program that has caught my attention recently. It is a wonderful program that informs us about the many aspects of space in a way that even a layman can understand to a very large extent. Brilliant graphics, superb narration and great examples from day to day life that help us understand the size of space.

It talks of the various galaxies that mankind has been able to find out and the various others that we think exist but have not yet discovered. Each galaxy has millions of stars of all sizes and the possibility of these stars having planets of their own and these planets in turn having satellites. The numbers are too huge to fathom. In one episode there is a statement made that there are thousands of stars for every grain of sand on planet earth. You can imagine the sheer size of the universe.

One interesting fact that makes me think quite a bit is the fact that galaxies that are a few million light years away from earth have been discovered in the last 50 years. Light travels 3 lakhs kilometres per second and it takes a few million years for the light of distant galaxies to reach us. This means that what we are seeing now is the state of the galaxy a few million years ago. What state is it in now, nobody knows unless we have probes that travel that far and send us signals in just a few years time. We know that the earth is also many million years old. The dinosaurs were wiped out 65 million years ago. So how old is earth?

Another very interesting fact and a point to ponder about is the possibility of life in various forms that may exist on planets in different galaxies. Biologists feel that DNA is the building block of life and life needs oxygen to survive. However, there is proof of bacteria that survive without oxygen right on the edge of near active volcanoes. So it is not impossible that life support for another form of life need not necessarily mean oxygen. The Universe could be teaming with life that mankind has not discovered yet. One question arises here – have we been discovered by other life forms?

Let us talk of a little philosophy here. The zillion zillion stars, the million million planets around them and many having life. As an individual, don’t you feel so very insignificant? You are almost a non existing part of the universe. You are nothing even when you compare yourself to the entire population of this earth. So, relating yourself to the Universe will make you feel smaller than a microscopic part of a single grain of sand. However, as they say – Life’s like that. Each one of us wants to be different and make a presence in our own geographic restrictions. We get up each morning with a multitude of thoughts, many small targets that are going to help us achieve the big one, many dreams and not an equal number of plans to achieve them. We end up knowing close to one new person on every day of our life. However, we are not very sure if we are going to remember them for a long time. We remember only those who have something to give us. Humans are selfish. The rest are forgotten almost immediately or over a small period of time.

Even you – the reader, while reading this, will for a moment think of your insignificance in this vast universe. Once you are done reading, you may ponder for a few seconds or a few minutes or at the most a few days about this and you are bound to get back to your routine of making money, keeping yourself and your loved ones happy, thinking of your next meal, thinking of the follow ups you have to do to keep your clients happy, thoughts of making it big in life, enjoying the luxuries that follow and the many more dreams that occupy your mind day in and day out.

That life I guess. Lot of significance in much more of insignificance. Each being is a different entity holding 100% absolete significance but relative significance being almost zero.

The Shadow

The shadow stood alone,
bathed in the lights of the street.
All alone in the bright highway,
whom did it want to meet?
As the lights went on and off,
it grew short and it grew long.
Never under the lights for long enough,
its existence was a sad song.
The slums by the side were silent,
the residents in deep deep sleep.
It stood there unconnected to the world,
helplessness was taking a long long peep.
I stood there observing it,
trying to understand what it was going through
And when nothing came to my mind,
I started to move, and it moved too.

Time

The stranger seemed weird.
With a long flowing dress
and a great white beard.

“Hello”, I said,
“Can I walk with you?”
“Hello”, he said, “But with me, you cannot tread”

“I will try”, I said,
and took a stop forward;
but he was already two steps ahead

In a very short while,
he seemed to go very far.
The distance between us, was almost a mile.

“Catch up with me dear”, shouted he,
“You will be the best.
You will do what you want do and be what you want to be”

“What is your name?”, I was shouting
“Time”, he shouted back
and I started running

Death of War

The young lad stood by the lake
and practiced with his sword.
The war was on the horizon,
how many lives had he to take?

He was at the commander’s orders,
obeying every word.
Patriotism was in his blood,
even though it made life harder.

The sweat dripped from his handsome face
and the eyes were red with passion.
There were enemies at the forefront.
They had to be shown their place.

The hands moved in perfect coordination
and the feet were very agile.
One turn would have the enemy’s head
and many more till the coronation.

Days of patience and toil,
had given him determination and courage,
the will to fight-
live and die for home soil.

He had a lion’s heart.
He had a fox’s mind.
But at times both turned human
and yet he never had to restart.

He saw the result of the enemy’s attack
as he passed through his region.
There was violent silence in his mind.
He had to give them back.

He came to the place where his home had been.
Now only ruins remained.
His dreams of a peaceful life had been torn apart.
Could pleasant time ever be seen?

Where there had been water, there was blood.
Where there had been life, there was death.
Where there had been peace, there was violence.
The river of selfishness had caused a flood.

None of his kin were left with life
and the farms had turned into ash.
The cattle had perished in the fire.
The soul had been pierced with a double-edged knife

Unbearable was the inner pain
and it lent to his anger.
The eyes never ceased to be red.
There was innocent blood in the rain.

They had come on horses to plunder
and taken away life and property.
They had pierced the hearts with their swords
but not the soul that was under.

They had caused hearts to bleed.
They had caused tears to flow.
They had caused loss of life.
Of anger and hatred they had sown the seed.

The green tress had turned gray.
The homes had turned into rubble.
The families had been broken apart
and yet not one, had a word to say

The hard work had tuned his skill
and he was all set.
The enemy’s blood was all he had in mind
and everyone he had to kill.

For days he had worked very hard
and had another few days to go.
The wait was worth it,
but the memories were not charred

The days went past in agony,
getting longer and longer.
The war would end one day
and then there would be harmony.

As the doomsday came close,
the courage and grit became stronger.
He sweat out the days
but the nights became morose.

He nurtured his thoughts by day
and nights seemed longer than ever.
When “the” day” would come,
the enemies would have to pay

When “the” day was just one ahead,
he calmed himself and tried to sleep.
He had to be fresh in the morning
and lead himself as he had once lead.

On the morning it began,
he was the first to rise
and the whole army rose after him.
Only on the path of revenge, his mind ran.

He took the sword and the shield
and put on the armour.
The war would begin soon
and blood with flow on the battlefield.

The army gathered itself in silence.
Hope of life filled their eyes.
But the fear of death was nowhere seen.
The whole atmosphere was tense.

The commander called all the men
and faithfully, they obeyed.
The instructions were given
as to what and how things were to happen

The chariots went first
and then the horsemen,
followed by the infantry.
On the enemies death had to burst

They marched without uttering a word.
Only the hoofs of horses
and the squeaking of the chariot’s wheels
were all they could afford.

The confidence has high
and the preparation had been full.
There was nothing else to say.
It was either do or die.

The battalion walked past gray and green.
Memories of loved ones passed their mind.
There was a time when love had prevailed,
a time, that would again, never be seen

They walked past the graves,
graves of those who had been alive
and not too long ago.
What inhumanity, humanity braves.

They walked over a wonderful past,
a past that had been taught them to live,
love and be loved.
Times had changed quite fast.

They walked through a present,
leading to an unknown future
A present that was untimely, unnecessary
and only ended at humanities descent.

The path they were on, ended on barren land.
The enemy had not yet arrived.
They did not want the wait to be too long.
Meanwhile, the blazing sun heated up the sand.

Slowly dust arose from the horizon
and the smell of earth could be felt.
The enemy had arrived and
what had to be done had to be done

The two armies came face to face
with hatred in every eye.
They glared at each other
as if none belonged to the human race

For an instance, they fought another kind of battle,
a battle with eyes and hatred,
a battle with the heart and the revenge.
Then they become to herds of angry cattle.

The commanders on either side
gave their typical war cries.
The armies lounged at each other,
their feelings they did not have to hide.

They went for each other’s throats
and the eyes glittered at the sight of the enemy’s blood.
Men and horses fell in heaps.
In the river of blood hatred traveled in boats.

The young lad had killed a few.
A few sons, a few husbands
a few fathers and a few loved ones.
And tears did not as much as form a dew

The first day ended in a loss,
a loss to humanity and love.
Hundreds of lives had ended.
On the dry earth, fresh blood formed a layer of gloss.

The soldiers went back tired,
only to gear up for the next day.
The spirits were revived
and more blood was what they desired

Sleep was not so easy to come
and wounds kept them awake.
But weakness wanted them to sleep.
It all ended up in a game, zero sum.

The young lad did not sleep too
and the thought of home drove him mad.
For he had nowhere to go
and what he was doing was all he had to do.

The thoughts of the day to come
and of the words of the commander.
The chest heaved in pride,
but nature had the song of death to hum.

The next day began with more vigour.
The lad’s sword made many cuts.
Some deep, some not so deep.
The count he had to figure.

Ruthlessness was something common
that seemed to have a temporary flow.
Everybody was so deep into it
and they spared none.

The lad made lots of slashes,
cutting off arms, piercing hearts,
setting fire to a few souls
and then trampling upon the ashes

He went deeper into the enemy’s camp,
piercing their courage with his sword.
His heart never felt sorry
and his eyes never turned damp.

He pulled another soldier down
and the horse came along.
He cut the soldier’s head
and off went the crown

But the sword also cut the horse’s head.
It was not killed instantly.
The blood flowed through the neck
and the earth underneath turned red

For the first time, a little compassion showed
and he felt sorry for having killed the horse.
It was as innocent as his family had been
and for the first time, his head bowed.

Then an arrow came from somewhere
and pierced his back.
The poison tip would soon take effect
and all his life would be bare.

His whole life passed in a second,
but the horse was in the forefront.
The guilt was grilling him hard
and he was very near his end.

He passed the green trees again
and the wild pastures.
He passed his home, his family.
He saw it all with great disdain.

He then saw the flames.
The fire in which his hopes had burnt.
The fire in which his love was lost.
Life had played all the games.

The hard work came back to him
and scenes by the lake, and
the thought that had once passed
The heart was filled with tears to the brim.

There was no use crying now
Nor was there enough time.
Repentance would not have any result.
He had to die, but how?

He died with no one by his side
No one knew he had died
and it did not matter to those who did.
There was nothing to say, nothing to hide.

He had not died like a soldier.
He had been backstabbed.
But did he deserve such a blow.
Should he have been a little bolder?

His death caused no concern
and was put aside as just another.
There was no one to grieve.
But in their graves a few did turn

He came unknown, and went that way.
He was put in a heap with the horses and men
and carried away to be buried.
The lives of so many others were similarly at bay.

But the lad had done his part
and that is what mattered.
He had played the role he had to,
which was to be acknowledged by his heart.

Once he was born, he had to die
and die, he did.
And his family had perished
He did not know why.

All the hard work had come to an end.
The past carried very little importance
and the present, none at all.
There were no messages the future had to send.

The Little World

It was a little world of her own, setting boundaries so near.
She did not dare to venture out to see the world, lit and bright.
The horizons were lines of fire that were never doused by the curiosity,
she held her world and her world held her even more tight.

The strings of adventure were miserly and inflexible,
and the mind followed the same paths over and over again.
The little diversions in the road to glory,
were dismissed with thoughtlessness and disdain

The little fruits hanging from the top of the trees
were left untouched, till they dropped down rotten.
The leaves of autumn turned yellow first and then brown.
The fact that there existed a world beyond hers was forgotten.

The numbers on the milestones were erased long ago.
They had become useless on the only road traveled.
One pair of footprints were all that were present,
one over the other, with no secrets unraveled.

When a day started and when it ended held little importance.
What was yesterday was today and today was going to be tomorrow.
The difference was not noticed because she was the only one.
There was no arrow to shoot, but there was the bow.

Mount Perfection

Pensive, a little troubled but still without a tear.
That was the man on the hill with a deer skin coat.
The legs were in pain, the breathing difficult,
he was on a rock on the hill, between top and bottom.
He had lots to climb up and lots to climb down too.
The dilemma to go up or to go down still existed,
as he thought “ Once up there is only way down”.
Making up his mind to go up or stay where he was, was nearing eternity
He gathered himself and began climbing again,
over the rough terrain, the rocks and the thorny bushes.
As he went higher, he noticed that the peak was always visible,
but eluding him and the others all the time.
He went higher and higher and so did the peak.
Sitting down, pensive again, he began to analyze,
Was he the only one to climb Mount Perfection?
He was on the top, but never really on the top.
What was he unhappy about? The others were still down below.
As long as he kept moving, he would be on top and retain the respect.
The climb continued…

Shades

The flowers in the garden were rare and exquisite,
spreading their fragrance to quite a distance.
Attraction was one of the virtues with no possible vices known.
He passed by them and was smitten with the beauty,
hope filled him like never before and blind faith overcame.
He extended his hand to feel the hope,
but an invisible wall stopped him short.
Reality seemed to be hiding from him.
It seemed to be wearing a mask of pleasantness.
The more he tried, the more he felt the sting.
Were the bees stinging him, or the air around?
The sight from a distance was beautiful,
and closeness to it was starting to be dangerous.
Taking things for granted seemed to be the wrong profession,
liaisons were the only other thing possible.
Sugar, beet, green paper and alcohol were hot property,
Even the beautiful flowers looked like gobbling them up.