24hour merry-go-round

        Its the Month of September, doing my final year BE. Life already seemed so monotonous. Craved a very desperate outing to nature and scenery spots id only seen in movies, so-called special one in my blog. Yes, for his dismay i made it even without his mercy. lolzzz......

                     

        Its been 2days since the night-out with us still carrying the hang-out tampering over our mind, thats what i call "persistance of Excitement". Our motive was to spend QUALITY TIME. So obviously we could'nt afford to compromise on Getting wet and Trekking.

        Trekking? Watched it in "Dus ka dum"," Fear Factor", Akshay kumar's movies and those age-hold stunts. Inspired by these western-influenced drama were we  that we pulled-up socks to accomplish the least thought. Let me start from moment-1

DAY-1(26-09-2008)

           Not rightly to be called as"day". Our 24-hr biography started at 10:45pm for all residents of Shidlagatta and Chickballapur. The bus asusually was 1/2hr late than the scheduled time. Meanwhile showers of messages and calls poured in my cell. For all bangaloreans the scheduled time was 11:30 at Mekri circle. We four girls Myself, Swetha, Sharanya,Sushmitha got together before heading to the venue. I would like to confer a token of thanks to Sharanya's father on behalf of all three of us for picking us up inspite of his out-of-station commitment the next day. After all this is the least i can do.

   It was 11:30 when we had reached mekri bustop. Spotted Sunil on the other side of our bustop.

 Had a mini photo session. Vinay and Uday Kumar joined us after a 20minutes. And then...., we had to encounter with the least-expected, undesired net-catch in hands of cops for obvious reasons. If not Sharanya's parent's presence fate would have made it a memorable day for the wrong reasons. Once we defined our student status waiting for college bus on a trip, we were left to swallow our fears. GULP!!

              Excitement brought shocks through my spines when i recieved a message from Sandhya that the bus had reached Hebbal. Any time bus will be in front of me. Much dreamt of a day. Its known that mind is the fastest traveller. Yes.. my mind already started visualizing the view of a lighted DVD throwing behind echoes of laughter, screams, captions etc., I was brought back to reality when the SILENT 4wheeler stopped in front of me. Hushhhhhhh went my excitement like a stream of fire in a bucket of water. I think i had forgotten where the bus was coming from(Lolz...). I was the 1 carrying 2 packages luggage. One being my backspack the other a box containing events and prizes for winners and not to forget atleast now Bubbles.   A moment of glare through the bus, i saw all the girls tightly buckled to their seats and sitting quiet like new-born chicks. Then some guys at the backend of the bus resting (A hard-day of labor ahead, how could anybody expect them to strain themslves being awake?) . Of all it was this pack (lolz...) 4-5 of them sitting and watching some movie(telugu obviously). Pity did we these Alzemeir-striken lives who had forgotten we were out on a tour along with the class. Nothing can be said to such "Civilization-deprived people".And  so did our journey start. I silently chose a 2-seater and started glaring outside the window digesting the unexpected contradiction. The bus halted.This was the last stop to pickup my new found friend Sanket. A daring , outspoken, extrovert alike me.  Being feathers of the same bird he found my silence unusual. Amused was i, when my other friends too expressed their displeasure over the unruly atmosphere. It was now that most of them surrounded me and asked me to start something creative so that the gloom would not prevail any longer. I was a bit uncomfortable as i knew that majority were only interested in sitting in the same place chit-chatting in their respective groups, watching movies and soaps(lols..), hatching eggs and what not. No matter however much i say it is least.  Sanket raised his voice and woke everybody from their nests(seats). Many suggested Anthakshari would be a good start. It was. The bus was horizontally divided into 2teams. But as time passed it became a 1-to-1 event between Shubankar from my team and Uday from the other. Amd so it got boring. Next it was 'Dumbcharads". The names of the movies suggested were monopolised only to Kannada. Tell you names i remember "....geddethima","Dharani mandala madhyada ollage","gillipanjara" and so on.......So you can guess very well how it would have proceeded. Thus the trace of thrill that surfaced famished untold. There was a coffee-break in mid-highway amidst a lorry garage. We were pretending to be chilled by the PJ's made by 1 of them who was describing how, the other day he had got caught by lecturers 1 after the other. I was called by Pramod. I think this the first time in these 4yrs that i ever spoke to this guy.  He said he understood my distress and said that all of us too travelling in the same boat but nobody was expressing it. Came back to bus, all the events had stopped, lights off, all bid a Good Night. Knowat only thing that had not lost its charm was the 'Idiot's box'.  Good night for what then?.  Sleep with that ear-drum tearing  volume? What on earth? Believe me,none could sleep. Now do you understand th complete meaning of "Civilisation deprived"? 

Day-2                   

   We reached Nanjangud at 5'o clock. Eyes still woopy, all carried luggage to the accomodation. Wow pretty sight it was to watch the Gopura in that faded dawn sunlight. Took a few snaps of it. Headed towards our accomodation. From outside it looked somewhat like a choultry with some painted faded sculptures. As we logged in, we were redirected by Tilak singh to our respective rooms. To be honest, its not what you are expecting, rooms were O.K. Could not expect anything better from a public low-cost accomodation room. Obviously we din't expect a luxurious 4-cot wadrobe-studded room. Many girls curled up on their beds with a vain-hope of covering up their lost sleep. Then we were intimated to fresh-up and get ready so that we could see the temple and move-on as we had to cover-up 2more scheduled places HIMAVADPADA and TALAKADU. After a long-tiring toilet-hunt,we discovered that it was in the same floor. Eureka!! 

Yawk, yaeee........ cries of ours as we stepped into the bathrooms. It would have been a lot better  if we atleast were asked to take bath in "Swacha Nirmala Shouchalaya". The most striking, puke-provoking moment of my life. Covered with webs, Latchless doors, Dirty everywhere as though it was never cleaned after the day it was built. We somehow managed to brush our teeth and wash face and hands with the water we had carried from home for drinking.  Cursing, cribbing we got ready, packed bags and came out. Rested our luggages in the bus and headed towards Nanjundeshwara swamy temple. 'Mesmerising' is less to describe the temple. The temple covered almost an acre in diameter including the pure Kapili river. We directly went into the shrine. A good alankara(decoration) of flowers to the lord. After a peacefull, heart-filling sight of the diety we went for a pradarkshine.  Towards the left, first we encountered Lord Subramanya's temple. As we went further a series of Black-stone caved sculptures of lord shiva each depicting different  avathatas of the lord. Then there was the big aethetically carved nandi(bull) carved out of a black stone. Looked very appealing, especially due to those  curved-lit bulbs at the top. Wondered how more appealing it would be at night. On the way out of temple, being an animal lover myself could'nt stop taking snaps with the giant beast even at a cost of Rs.10. 

        It was about 6:30a.m butterflies in tummy. Fiercely hungry craving for any kinda breakfast. We were taken to a gulli-like looking narrow road behing the temple. It was a small 

manglore-style hotel. We were served with Idli- green chillichatni and vada. Yummy.....lip smacking and relieving for our empty-stomach. After charging our batteries we headed back to the bus. As we had to wait for our fellow-members Sanket, Pramod, Sridar, Shashi. Me and Sunil took a stroll of walk towards Kapili. Peaceful and image-reflecting clean water. Siri and Ramya joined us. Back to the bus i voluntarily took the role of a TV9 reporter with camera-woman Ramyashree and queried all our fellow-tourists about their opinion on visiting the place and any suggessions they'd like to mark via TV9. (In this session i have sensored many uneccessary incidents which i feel is not worth talking and remembered). 

       From there we headed to our next destination, HIMAVADPADA'S Gopalaswamy temple. It was just a petty 1/2hr jouney from nanjangudu. Reached the hill almost 25feet from the tip at 8:30a.m. This was the most expected place by all of us. Yes it was truly a heavenly view of greenery all around the place. It was quite sunny when we'd reached. This, as the name suggests is a place thats apt and ideal if visited in the early dawn amidst dew and moisture. However it was as good as expected. A steep hill, quite slippery here and there. Me, Priti, Sush, Sridar, Sanket, Shilpi the last ones to slide down this steep. Had an unforgettable photo-shoot in all locations possible. Panicked downhill as we could seee the rest of our classmates settled on the rocks for a port-folio. Unexpressable is the view from there. Not even a single dried, bald tree around. It was undoubtedly the core nature-lap. Echoes of our laughter, scream shuddered everywhere. Any number of shots was too less to capture the memories of our time spent climbing down and up the hill. I had a hilarious moment(dialogue) of laughter known only to me, sanky and priti. From the deep bushes on rocks we had reached, a view upwards to the place where the bus had stopped a big sigh at the thought of climbing back. A real task to accomplish. We did it. Unfortunately i'd came late and started early. Had to climb the hill all alone. Developed cold vibes on the way with 1 of the fellow-climber who was much bothered about my weight.  Not worth mentioning any more even about this uncivilised person nor the incident. Reached the bus panting and puffing for breath. Everybody craved a desperate need for water which was a already over. Slowly came my other friends Priti, Sush ,Sandy, Sanky, shashi,rani, pramo...... boasting of a quality photo shoot more a bit down than i went. Regretted my fast comeback to bus. It was not yet complete. We had yet another 25-30 feet to cover upwards to the Gopalaswmy temple. Determined, did i again get down and walk upwards to the temple on Ramya's persistance. All fetched watercans on loosehopes of filling water. Desperately all crowded near the pump-tap to have a sip. I did have a sip or 2 later to find that the water id muddy. Meanwhile there was  a small tragedy when Vinay hurt his knee( You may find this uneccessary but these are little memories we wud cherish a long way from nw). The temple was crowded by cops and locals as there as some kinda Jatre that perticular day. We went to the tip, a view of my volatile vicinity worth a mention. Awesome... from there.  It reminded me of the landscapes id seen in songs, paintings and google. Captured the view in my virtual lens, thats the least i could do. Temple believe it or not was soo cold especially the floor. It was very sunny outside. We had a good view of the Gopalaswamy diety.The pujari suggessted that we feel the dew drops over the roof near the diety. Truly a mysterious experience. Sat a while and headed back towards the bus for our next and final destination Talkadu(An exciting and must-visit place by all we girls). 

           Again we were tightly clutched to our belts for a 5hr drive(made 6hr as the driver had to re-correct his 1st time drive to the destination). Most of the time was spent retaking turns. It was now that the trip-spirit gained momentum. We started our game with match-hunting. Shashi and Pramod were first co-incidentally followed by Punith and his match(forgotten). After handling the coffee mugs as prizes, i initiated that the next event would be Housie. However i found that Punith was desperately craving to conduct the game though he did not know much about the rules. The spirit died partially. Anyways 2to3 rounds of housie was conducted. I won a full-housie of Rs.50. With that pleasure i quit for the next round.  Only a minimum joined the next round. Slowly the game had to be stopped forcefully as none found it anymore interesting. Then the bus was virtually split into many groups. I for the first time learnt a new card-game BLUFF. Very addicting and interesting. Sushmitha, Shashi, Tilak, Pramod and myself were involved sooo much that we atleast revived and played 10rounds of bluff. Its a must-tell that Tilak singh became the ultimate Bluffmaster(won 6times). I, in fact observed and learnt her tactics keenly before i won twice and became a proud 'BLUFFMASTER'. Not to forget Sanket's frequent interruption into the game that even he would join, his interest would die down as soon as he got his share f cards. Never completed even a single game. Never knew him till a few days back, gem-chap being misunderstood for wrong reasons. 

         It was 4:00p.m approx when we reached Talkad. As we expected the bus stopped a bit far from the lake. We had to walk up the desert till the lake. It was fun. Dragging our feet through the sand did we ultimately reach the lake. As always there would be people bad-mouthing the thrill. Yes, among our classmates were there a many black-sheep scaring others of the dire consequences  in getting wet. Never mind, Me , Priti, Sush, Radhika, Sumalatha pioneered the Water ride in theppa(bamboo boat). Sandhya, Shilpa, Rani,Shoba were in the other boat. Started splashing water on each other whenever our theppas dashed each other. FUN!!! When the ride was over, i suggessted sush, priti that we wet ourself, afterall what for did we come sooo far(145kms from home)? So did they agree instantly. Priti had visited talkadu just a week before this trip. So it was she who knew the true state of water, place, food...etc., The atmosphere din't appear favourable for just 4 girls to jump into the lake. We noticed Sanky, Shashi,Pramod and sridhar enjoying with catch-catch in mid-lake. Tempted to join we called them to the end we were standing. As the water was not clean we compromised on gettin where they were. SMASH!!! Pity people who missed it. We played with mini gorgeball match(boys vs girls). The only disadvantage was that the green room was not good. Very small and suffocating. 

        Back to the bus, we were accompanied by Bhanu, Sunil,Tilak and punith. On way back i noticed hut like pucca houses seen in text books and movies. The bus was awaiting everybody's presence. Many had gone to temple. I found my close-friends missing in bus, isolated were they peacefully sitting a bit far on stonebench. I joined them. It was me , siri, shar and uday. 

              Tired and hungry nobody spoke anything for sometime. Around 7:30 spirits reached peak when most of them joined th bandwagon of my kinda explicit enjoyment. It all started after shilpi danced for the "jawani phir na aaye"(situational number).  ULTIMATE!! Everybodys vibes broke off to temptations, all lights switched off i went back where siri was sitting as she had promised to initiate a dance-mood. 1 after the other typical tapangoooochi numbers buzzed the air in and around the bus. All those irritating numbers like chitranna, aithalakadi, Rock your boby seemed a must listen to raise my pentup spirit. I LOVED THE MOMENT!! This is my way of enjoyment. There was this unexpected break while dancing that i fell miserably on siri who fell on sharu. We hurt her arms unknowingly, Sorry dear for that. We were tired and split to laughter. Back to seats we deserved a must-rest for all that we had done forgetting our lunch.  I now thank that elders like parents and lecturers were'nt around else neither could we have skipped our lunch nor could we have stood near the tip of gopalaswamy hills nor danced like lunantics(Lols...).  Over all over we fell back to our seats for a cat-nap. It was 9:30 when the bus stopped at Maddur cafe for a supper. We four(siri, shar, ramy, and me) had masala dosas while the rest had meals. Back to bus did i fall into a deep slumber(Zzzzzzz...........).

 It was now that priti gave vote of thanks. Unfortunate was i not to hear my name mentioned for initiating the 1st trip of our class. Anyways via this blog i i'd like to express a few things.

   I never knew how important I was untill Sharanya, Siri, Pramod, Shashi,Ramya and Sanket  expressed me whem i sat gloomy. And joys of tears unexpressed when Sush, Sanky and a few others thanked me individually for initiating such a memory. Thanks and I LOVE U ALL!!!