Hebbe Falls

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5.30 AM. Room 312 @ Hotel Soundarya. Chikmagalur. Ashutosh is up and ready. Sumeet is making a 'hangover face'. I am also trying to get some sense out of the morning rush. We get down from the hotel and sit on a jeep. Its cold. Our immediate destination is Kemmengundi. Somebody told us yesterday that Hebbe Falls is one thing we should not miss and so we, who don't get up on time for a 10 AM class, are moving briskly through a treacherous forest at 6 AM to check out this place. The sun is visible now.

9 AM. Kemmengundi. We should have been at the fall by now. The roads are tricky and our stomach is empty. We halt at a roadside dhaba. Vivek pounds on the lemon rice served. I am drinking my third cup of tea. The sun is warm. The wind is chilling. The tea is hot. Some moments are priceless.

10 AM. Hebbe Falls. Almost. Last few minutes were 'nail-biting' to say the least. The jeep took us through a hill road which was more of a thin trail. No doubt the view on both sides was panoramic. Still someone should have advised us to check all our insurance papers before we started. Now we are standing at a barrier. Thick tropical kind of forest confront us. We are supposed to trek half a mile through this forest and walk through few streams. Big deal.

11 AM. Hebbe Falls. Finally. Am I dreaming? It is huge. The sun is shedding light at an angle which is making it difficult to estimate the height of this fall. It is more than 100 meters definitely (169 meters actually). We are ready to take the plunge. The sprinkles of waters are giving me goosebumps. Its lush green around. Cold wind is gushing in with the water. A permanent rainbow is visible.

Jaipur revisited

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Technically we never entered Jaipur. The best we did was sitting at a cafeteria on the walls of Nahargarh Fort and eating evening snacks while enjoying a breathtaking view of the Pink City. I cannot recount anything better that happened on my recent term break which by the way was extra-ordinarily packed with fun.

Driving some 300 miles in a day, chatting with an old friend all the way, feeling like a child running around an old majestic fort, relaxing and hurrying intermittently - these things don't happen together often. Even going crazy in a traffic jam at midnight for some two hours was somehow fitting. What a day that was !!!

The most entertaining religion?

It was during that long conversation when Bibi asked me if I was born with a choice, which religion I would choose. I said, why, of course Hinduism. She asked me why and the answer was something I had realized a few seconds ago.

If I were to choose a religion, I would choose the most entertaining one, which would keep me occupied in case I want to be. Hinduism scores maximum on both these parameters. The number and variety of festivals and rituals in Hinduism are far more fun than others. Then those long travels just to see a stone that vaguely resembles one of the thoughts of one of the gods. I remember figuring out why we are calling a tetrahadron as Shivling at Kedarnath. Even when I first visited Vaishnodevi, I totally missed the Pinds and as we came out of the cave, I was asking Ma what we were supposed to look at. She was furious and decided to take me for a second round.

Anyways, I love the amount of travel that comes with the Hinduism package and so it is my first choice.

Autobiography: Entry 5

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KSA Technopak brought sophistication to my life. There were a lot of perfects about the company - a lot of travel, collegues of same age group, college mates residing in gurgaon, interesting job, the goa outbound etc. That one year passed in a whirlwind says a lot about my life at KSAT.

Tuhin and Shwetank were two gem of friends I made at office. Then there was the Auptyma Group. Suddenly I discovered new friends in my wingmates only - Vihag and Jeevs. While office work kept me on move throughout the country, there were some memorable trips with friends, the best being to Mukteshwar. Vihag got married to Ruchi in the beginning of December - our first wingmate to do so. Later that month I went on the Dalhausie trekking expedition with bhaiya and that was one hell of a trip to close the year.

It was a period of travel and came to an abrupt end when I moved from KSAT just after bhaiya got married. I miss being on the toes for another traveling assignment but that is the way life is.

A travel guide for loners

Everyone wants to travel alone at some or the other point of life. Either it is the absence of company or just sheer inquisitiveness to experience the difference. I have had two such excursions and I consider myself capable enough to guide others. Before I enlighten you, let me be prejudiced state that it is a guy thing. So here are few tips.

1. Travel alone only to popular places with at least some visible crowd. A secluded place is suitable only for couples.
   
2. Never plan the details of a trip you are planning alone. A rough idea of place to travel to and approval of leave from office / institution will do. The reason is that there is ample time to think and rethink once you are off. You would like to keep yourself engaged.
3. An i-pod / mobile with mp3 is a must. A GPRS activated advanced mobile with modest megapixel camera and mp3 player is just perfect for the show.
4. At time you would like to mix with people around you. There are several ways to do so without feeling awkward.
1. Ask a group to get together so that you can take a picture. No need to say that targeting group with pretty gals is desirable.
   
2. Still better, find a group involved in photo shoots and lend them a hand.
3. Ask for directions even though you know how to reach a spot. Some tourists enjoy sharing their newly gained information just to show they knew it all the way.
4. Go all the way in helping a tourist who seeks some information from you. Such interactions keep you engaged.
5. Target small shops with single keepers. For buying a Kit Kat, they can give you so much local information that even a seasoned guide can not.
5. Have your own secluded spots to plan further or for reflecting / self instropection / getting philosophical. In fact this is what you came for. The spot can be a bench with a view at the corner of a busy street.
6. Take a lot of pictures. Ask people to take your picture and enjoy their wierd expressions. You are not going to live there anyway.
   
7. Eat at your hotel room. One feels loneliest at restaurants. Keep a pet bottle of coke when you roam around. Add some vodka if you want.
8. Try to know as much about the place by exploring, chatting with locals, phamphlets etc. Again let me advice that do not gather much information before the trip. Its actually fun knowing facts on the spot.
9. Write a blog about your experiences when you come back.
   

2007: the year that was

I will remember 2007 for offering me a variety of experience.

The first few months were exciting. I established myself as a business plan specialist in my company before my priorities forced me to rethink about my future. I changed my job yet again. While Bhaiya got married and bhabhi planned to settle at Mumbai, I was already settling down at my home with office 10 minutes away.

The new company had something exceptional to offer in terms of travel abroad. Even though the team I was working with was excellent, we lacked the guiding light and I had tough time convincing myself the sanctity of job change. We used to call ourself YSKRH Team, taking inspiration from the famous dialogue in Jaane bhi do Yaaron - "Ye sab kya ho rahaa hai beta Duryodhan". From that time of uncertainty I have seen the peak when we successfully completed the project. The trough was slow to come as each of my YSKRH Team member left the company one by one leaving me alone.

The new company also allowed me to venture into the share market. I was fortunate enough because the timing was excellent. The bourses were ripe and I made some good money. Office hours were helpful as they hardly overlapped with market hours.

I also maintained my travelfreak status by visiting places in and around London. The Kerala trip was elaborate by any standards and a nice way to end the year.

2006: Year of Travel

This was a year of travel for me. I visited 22new cities let alone in 2006. Here is an account for ppl who want to trudge my path or share my experience. In total, I visited 27 cities this year including revisiting 5 cities.

Delhi-Ahmedabad-Surat-Silvassa-Kolhapur-Delhi (9th March-6th April)
It was an official trip but there was much time to spend around. Surat is a commerical centre and a bad city for travellers. Kolhapur had something to offer in Mahalaxmi mandir. Its said that she is the wife of Balaji whose temple is located in Tirupati and left her husband's abode after a small altercation.

Delhi-Bangalore-Tiruppur-Salem-Chennai-Delhi (14th-23 April)
Again this was an official trip with lots of unofficial twists. I will remember the Banglore visit for the bravery that Varun showed to meet me while the city was under alert over the death of Rajkumar. I will also remember the small reunion with Kishore, Manish, Aditya, Tushar and Nidhi. I was meeting them after 5 years. Tiruppur was a bustling town with polite inhabitants. Salem was a picturesque sight. Its pleasent to watch the hill bound city as you arrive from the straight highway. Spencer's in Chennai with almost double the size of Delhi's Ansal's Plaza was a revelation.

Delhi-Goa-Delhi (5th-8th July)
The outbound trip, sponsored by the company was full of fun. We were lucky to find the drizzles all the time we stayed in the lush confines of The Leela. The hotel itself offered much to explore. We made planned visits to various locations and the 200 strong team had sweet memories. An estimated Rs 35000 was spent by the company on each employee.

Delhi-Mukteshwar-Nainital-Delhi (4th-7th August)
Spectacular. The best trip ever. The seven of us made a great team. Surprisingly, I knew only two of them before we started. I will remember the 7 km long trek to the Mukteshwar temple. I will also remember the kaliedoscopic weather while we were in Nainital. But the time spent among us was something that made this trip memorable. We just clicked as a team. The M Team.

Delhi-Chennai-Pondicherry-Delhi (9th-12th September)
The busy coastal city of Pondicherry was beautiful and Ankur, one of my oldest friends studying in Pondicherry University, helped me visiting some of the locales. The university itself remarkable as we had to travel 2 km on a straight road from the main gate to reach the hostels.

Delhi-Baroda-Bharuch-Wapi-Delhi (22nd-26th November)
The trip was official but finding a weekend, I spent it with friend in Daman. And what a weekend it was. Daman offers lot for the drinkers and travellers with quite coasts and cheap bars.

Delhi-Bhilwara-Chittaurgarh-Delhi (29th November-1st December)
The legendary fort of Chittaurgarh spread in a circumference of 17 km offers rich heritage of Rajasthani royal class. The formidable Vijay Stambh had a passage to go all the way to the top. That was the best part of my visit.

Delhi-Haldwani-Delhi (2nd-4th November)
The trip was special. Vihag and Ruchi got married. I will have to confess that they are the handsomest couple that I have acquainted with. The status may change once I get married. We danced for more than 3 hours. The visits to Bhimtal and Naukuchiyatal were worth a note.

Delhi-Mcloedganj-Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Chamba-Delhi (16th-26th December)
Hadn't it happened, I could never have imagined such a beautiful end to an eventful year. The trip offered so much in terms of new friends, new memories and an entirely new attitude towards life. I hope I will shed some of my scepticism and will trust strangers more than before.