Where am I?

I am here. Ive decided that blogging is not serving my "purpose" (whatever that may have been). Also, I own a domain name which I wasn't using. So as a true Google fan, I've used GAFYD (Google Apps For Your Domain for the bulbers) to build some content which I could label with my Domain. Please transfer your attentions there for more.

Nilambar

Available

No I am not advertising my single status (yet!). I'm writing this coz I did a simple "back-of-the-envelope" calculation that told me I was "available" (or busy n blah blah) on gTalk for about 6400 hours during the last 1 year. All this for a chat archive that I could read over dessert!

Kaun Hai Don? Let me clear your doubts ...

No comparison at all

Trek and History

If u read the last few lines of my last post, then u could easily figure out what we did. Me, Basu n KG downed the highest peak in K'taka :D

We visited Belur, Halebid n Shravanabelagola too.

Check this out.

Trek and History

Weekend at Coorg with Dawg

Finally ive done something worth a travelogue. It has an element of everything that makes a getaway. There was Dawg of course and the bone jarring bus rides complete with an unreserved train journey and a shitty place to stay and to top it all we did climb a mountain too! Dawg managed to save some memory on the pitiful 256mb memory card on his cam to take pics for our trip, so ill fill in the gaps with them.

We spent 2.5 hrs on friday evenin, travelling 20km across Blr to reach Majestic and when we did, it took us a while to realise how stupid we were. It was a weekend and a festive weekend at that. No tickets. And the ghost train that generally leaves at midnight was filled to the brim. Some poor chap had his arm torn off trying to get on it and the last thing we saw gettin out of Blr was the ambulance carryin him n his appendage. I got my first taste of unreserved train travel.

Mysore was deserted at 4am saturday morn as we walked down to the bus-stand to catch the bus to Coorg. Dawn and sunrise! And then we checked into the shittiest place in Coorg. No hot water, wet walls, shitty toilet and the like. We then went down to the Abbey Falls. Now there are millions of these abbey falls in every nook n corner of Coorg since Abbey (or Abbi) simply means big in the Kodagu tongue. Nice place as the pic would attest





Next stop was a shack in a basement in the shape of a tourist info place. I had heard about people trekking to the highest mountain in Coorg but couldnt recollect its name. An the guy told us the name and how to get there. And quite a mouthful it was - Thadiyandamol - or Mallu for fat man's daughter. A friendly Coorgi told us it meant big mountain in Kodagu. So the Dawg n I decided we'd do the mountain the next day and so set off to the Dubare Elephant camp. Scenic. And it was here that the Dawg couldnt resist his film-making skills and made a video which made a mockery of his 256MB memory card. After that piece of art was conceived we had to ration the number of pics we could take.

Dawg and an Elephant :D

Next stop was the Tibetan monastery. One couldnt be faulted for thinking one was in Tibet! The monks were pretty flashy and so was their Golden Temple.

After a bone jarring bus ride back to Madikeri and a restless night in the dingy room we set out early morning into the Western Ghats to Nalknad Palace from where the trek was to begin. We started our climb after 9am. We could see a couple of hills in front of us and they were quite tall. Our path was taking us up one of them. Little did we realise that the mammoth Fat Man's Daughter was behind these puny hillocks. We crossed quite a few streams with water that a local Coorgi claimed was "virginal". With our supplies hardly enough we soon started gulping down bottles of true mineral water. At about 3km from the start we reached a bend that took us around the hillock and brought into sight a mammoth and we instantly realised that our task was cut out.

Thadiyandamol - The peak coming into view amidst the clouds at the top left

Trudging on, we feasted on some excellent views of the spaces around us. We could even see a microwave tower on a small hill near Madikeri. We were told that from the top we could see the sea and peep into Kerala. It took us a little more than 3 hours to get to finish the 8km climb. We spotted another group there who reached a few minutes before us.

At the top of the Ghats - The small peak to the right is actually lower than where we are sitting (1750 metres)


The valley below

We left half an hour later and followed tha path down. There was a waterfall at about a 1.5km detour from the main path that we tried to find and since we were excelling at being stupid we turned it into a wild goose chase and went the wrong way. On the way a posse of dogs nearly scared the wits out of me and only the condition of my legs prevented me from breaking into a run. We managed to find it tho while coming back up 1.5km on a 60 degree slope and it was barely another stream imaginatively named Abbey falls like many others before it. We got back on time for our night bus back to Blr and I was clutching a lemon in my pocket hoping I'd keep away the motion sickness. Its been back to work since then.

One interesting thing about Coorg is how the Mallus have colonized the damn place. They not only came there but also taught the local Coorgis and Kannadigas their own language and then use it to communicate with them. It seems Mallus pretty much make up 90% of the population there.

Our colleague says the highest peak in Karnataka is in Chikmagalur. Seems like we have another itinerary :) Until then...

A Job, a House and a new Lappy

The title says it all. Thats whats happened since I last posted here. But not quite. Coz I also:

1) Cupped the most peaceful course in Civil Engg.

2) As a result of Item no.1, I screwed up my Project viva.

3) Joined work before finishing my minimum requirements for a B.Tech.

4) Took 3 days off within 2 weeks of joining (its a 5 day-week btw) to pass the course.

5) dint get my Lappy before I cleared the course (strictly a coincidence mind you!)

6) Somewhere along the way I got my first salary and set up my house. :)

7) Bet on the progress of the World Cup was leading until I lost 20 dollars along with my buddies as Argentina's hopes died at the hands of the bloody Germans! (KG almost cried!)

8) Cant forget the Guest House

and thats about it.

Will post more after we get the wireless router installed at our place :)

The Big Crunch

Thats whats gonna happen soon (a few billion years). Ignoring the slight problems due increasing non-linear expansion of the Universe, all matter would become a singularity at the end of time (and space it would it seem).

But closer home, the Big Crunch happens on May 19. All deadlines, all goodbyes, all account closures, all the DC++ hubs, all the dues, all the treats, all the hours of uptime and inactivity, and in fact life itself as I (and 500 others in my batch) knew it for the last 4 years would telescope into a vortex of sorts. It all boils down to that in the end. Ignoring the real world realities of an extension, we would have to reboot.

Some develop a sense of urgency, doing all they could possibly do before it happens. Others try to reach new heights of lethargy and venture out only for dinner buffet spreads.

It seems surreal that in a few weeks I cant feast upon sassy or watch bondy drill some sense into bulb or hear the bellows from "the mouth". That I cant swear at STD or laze around in Thomas's reclining chair. That I cant enjoy the advantages of an extravagant subsidized long-term holiday at the expense of the taxpayers whose club I'll have to soon join.

It seems like yesterday that I spent my first weekend as the lone freshie in the hostel with all the seniors tryin to grab their share of me. But, everything that has a beginning has an end. I thought the cliched catch phrase of Matrix Revolutions was a joke, but reality is catching up. So much to do and so little time to do it in. Another one of those cliched catch phrases. Im on a roll now. I'm doin all I can to ruin this post!!

But someday, I'll drive down here in my Porsche!! (according to that alumni it'll take me 20 years *sigh*) Someday I'm, gonna come and see if time has stood still here or if Sangam has been replaced by another ghastly named hostel or if a resort is built on the banks of the lake. But until then I have to bid "adieu". Wouldve been a nice word to sign off with if not for last year's botched "farewell party" and video of the same name.