Cycling expedition to Coorg

I can say this is an opportunity for me which came as a surprise, My husband was mentioning that he would like to go to cycling expedition which is been organized by an external group (Tandem Trails) in his office, and this time it is open to all, But unfortunately then he got to know that there was no place for 2 of us.. But on the weekend it suddenly so happened that two people who registered has to drop due to personal issue.. Which gave us an opportunity to join this..
I was little hesitant in the beginning as this is the peak monsoon time in Coorg, and many avoid this time to Coorg.. But then decided that I would anyway join, if it’s raining then will stay in room else will be cycling.
On Friday night(July 23rd 2010) 20 of us started towards Coorg via Mysore road in 3 different vehicles. Our cabs were loaded with geared bicycles on top of it. It was looking funny and most of the people on the way were surprisingly looking at it..
Our driver drove us safely to Coorg-Kakkabe at 5am on Friday even though the cab dint have a headlight :O with the help of other two vehicles, one in the front and the other at the back..
Our adventure started in that dark early morning itself as the road towards the cottage we stayed is full of slush as it had rained as expected. We were not able to see the muddy road and all our clean shoes started showing up the color already :). Finally we made our way to the cottage, we all collapsed on the bed but only for an hour or so, as we were suppose to start our cycling expedition by 8AM. We finished our morning routine in an hour and all were ready by 8AM after having nice Poori and Chole.
All were excited and the Tandem trail group leaders gave each person one geared bicycle(Ladies cycle had 7 gears and Gents had 21 gears.. I don’t know what for so many gears.. In car we finish in 4 to 5 gear. Here also we hardly used 4-5 gears only:)) and a helmet and gloves and explained a bit about how to change the gears to starters like us. We all wore the Helmet and Gloves and were ready to start our journey as professionals.
Starting itself it we got a uphill road and I thought I can’t ride even a kilometer (By the way we were suppose to ride for 55Kms..)But then somehow we managed to cover that uphill by trying to change the gear to which ever we feel comfortable :P then we learnt that lower gears for uphill and the higher gears for downhill and when in speed(Same concept as in cars) The road and the scenery was amazing, We all used to stop on the way and take the scenic beauty of nature. In that rain also we were sweating like anything since the coorg road was completely uneven with uphill/downhill. All through the way we were getting the Juice & Chocolates as two vehicles were following us, incase if someone gets tiered they can sit in the cab and come.
After 43 Km of tough travel in that way enjoying thoroughly we reached a falls Kakkabe falls. Since it was raining from some time in Coorg the falls was just amazing. We enjoyed the beauty of Milky falls for some time and took snaps. We all were hungry by then, they had arranged for small snacks to all of us. I was totally exhausted by then and I decided to sit in the Cab. But I should really appreciate the others as all still had the strength to cover another 12 Km. Finally they reached the target completing 55Km of cycling expedition. It was just wonderful in the midst of the beauty of the nature and I can only say that we should experience once in our life time :)
By then people were so hungry and tiered, they just wanted the food and a bed to sleep. As soon as we went the food was ready and people just hogged the food, We felt it was so tasty, Only when we are hungry we realize any food will taste “Amruta”.. I was totally exhausted by then every where it was paining for everybody.. So most of us took bath and slept off.. But couple of them went for rock rappelling also. We had the plan for kayaking and rowing But due to heavy water current we dint do it. Night all the guys enjoyed their drinks, dancing and singing the good old songs in the fire camp.. We all slept and snoring witnessed our sleep :P
Next day morning everyone was all set for Trekking to Thadiyendamol peak after having very soft and hot idli and sambar. Today it was raining little bit more, But still every one’s enthu was at the peak to reach the peak..!! Our cab was supposed to drop all of us to base camp, but due to Driver’s smallest negligence, the cab skidded and got struck in the gutter :) luckily all were safe and got down from driver’s door. We walked from there itself but as I mentioned it was so beautiful, full of greenery and tall trees and also small small water falls on the way.. We dint miss to capture them in our cameras..Ofcourse most of the people had leech bite and one was so friendly to the leech he left it on his leg until it get satisfied from his blood :)
On the way we missed the route to the peak, after 2 hours of trek we came back and visited Nalakkanad Palace, which is a hiding place for the king then. We finally came back to the resort and had food… no no!! hogged food as usual and got ready to come back to Bangalore..
What a wonderful expedition we had!! All were enjoying in the cab singing antakshari on the way and reached Bangalore at 12PM. Thinking of Monday as we have to get back to our routine, which is inevitable :)

My first Car drive...Alone

It’s been some time since I got my DL but I never got a chance to drive all alone as I was always accompanied by some one or the other screaming drive like that, put break, change gear bla bla..
Finally the day came where I got a chance to drive all alone. Believe me it was really fun!! I decided two days before that I will take car to office on 21st April 2010(No specific reason as such) I had asked my husband to keep the car ready filling the petrol and checking other things. Morning I was bit nervous thinking of driving all alone in Bangalore traffic but I dint wanted to take back my step anyway.

So morning I took the key and then my husband announced that I need to fill the petrol on the way I was little irrigated as I was first of all nervous driving and on top of that I need to go to Petrol bunk and fill the gas and go..Hmm but anyway I took the key and started the car... Brrrrummm… Bruum... and before I leave the clutch and raise the accelerator car stopped, my face turned pale, again tried.. Nooo. finally 3rd time I started without any problem and just went ahead proudly.

In the tension to get the right road along with driving, I dint know how I was changing the gear and putting the accelerator, whoever driving behind me would have definitely be scolding me as I was really driving very bad and I was laughing at myself. I went to petrol bunk and filled the gas and started towards the office luckily no issues in doing this.

Finally I reached office and there comes another issue of parking!! Actually there was lot of space to park, but there was little slope, so when I tried to park, car was coming back, I tried taking reverse..(don’t know how much the gear would have scolded me if it had life :P) finally I left lot of space in between and parked, somehow, immediately security came and asked me to straighten the car little more, I told him this is all I cannot do anything more..I think he understood and he just didn’t say anything. There was another guy waiting for me to park, I don’t know what he was feeling, finally after I parked he filled the gap I left between the cars by parking his car in place properly..
I was excited …. I called and told everyone about my adventure, all my family members were very happy to know that I drove safely,

To my bad luck, that day it was raining so heavily that I could not leave early, finally I started towards my home only to realize that they have closed the normal way due to heavy rainfall.. I was really horrified as I dint know any other way other than that normal route which I usually go. I asked the security, he blabbered something and asked me to take it quickly as traffic was piling up, I started towards the new road, with so many twist and turns in a small and narrow way asking many people on the way…
By then it was totally dark and I was really not able to see the road especially in the university campus, I started thinking why is this so dark!!!...then only I realized in all these tension I totally forgot that I am running the car without head light!!!...then I turned some knob as I never gave concentration, when my husband was telling about all these things..Hmmmm finally by the time I reached home I was totally exhausted, But I was very proud and happy that now I could drive on my own...

Well if you also have something stupid or adventurous while driving share it :)

Fantastic Pulka ride :)

It was another fun ride for us! Well it is meant for kids but when we saw the kids having fun we became no less than kids and had more fun, Wow! What a ride we had, its just a kind of plastic plate which is called as “Pulka” in Sweden, We can find any small and safe snow slope and just sit on it and slide to have fun, We have seen the slide in our park in India, But this one gives much more fun than that slide and its on the snow :).
When we saw kids playing even we wanted to try and then we borrowed this Pulka from someone here (They were kind and welcoming when we asked for it) we were not aware how slippery it could be, I just sat on it and turned to ask my colleagues to take a photo, before they could click I was down the slope..!!! Oh my god, I was full in zoom going down the slope!! Well if not safe it could be dangerous also, that’s why we choose a small slope so that we are safe when we slide down
Oh!! I don’t have to explain too much about this if you see the video..have fun watching it :)

Fishing in frozen lake!!

Whenever people here in Stockholm were mentioning that they were doing fishing in Frozen lake I was trying to imagine myself how they can fish and how to crack the ice lake and what if the ice breaks and what we fall inside and so many other questions..
Fishing is a hobby of many people here, they have a very good knowledge on what kind of fish they get during different timings of the day and all..

Well I have never done fishing in my life before, But yes I got a chance to do it this winter. It’s a different experience.
It was a gloomy and chilled Saturday morning, our proj manager invited us to an outing, well he never mentioned to us about anything where he was taking us!! We all sat in his car and he was just driving all of us and finally stopped near one of the frozen lake and he said we will do fishing!! Even in that gloomy day we were all exited as soon as we heard about that , Then he started removing different fishing tools from his car and was explaining about them one by one, Ice driller, Fishing thread and hook etc, Finally we all walked down to the lake in that snow filled slippery road, He showed us how to do the drilling, It was approximately 1.5 feet ice which is farmed on top of the whole lake and was really very hard, initially couple of others were scared what if the ice breaks and we get sink in ;-) anyway nothing happened like that and it was strong enough to hold all of us and much more :)

Yeah finally we also managed to make a hole, was not so easy though! as soon as we made the whole the water from inside came out and we were very happy as if we completed the first mission, Well we had that fishing thread with a florescent blinking hook to attract the fish inside the lake, so we dropped that and were waiting for the fish, none of us could get the fish, however our manager caught the fish, and we were so happy as if our final mission completed.. We took photo holding the fish before it dies as we dint wanted to trouble the poor soul anyway!! Finally we left that back to water in a safe state confirming and reciting “Ahimsa Paramo Dharmaha!!!

Amazing Shivaratri in Indo-Swedish way:-)

Shivaratri is another festival I have been missing since I am in Stockholm, But nevertheless I can say I got a chance to celebrate it in Indo-Swedish way :-)
It was 11th Feb, early in the morning I decided to fast on Shivaratri even here in Stockholm as usual, I dint know how the day went as I was completely busy in the office, I just took water the whole day, I came back home and finished talking to home people and started preparing Vegetable Upma which is a kind of tradition to eat on Shivaratri at our home with lots of fruits..By 8.30 PM I finished Puja and eating!! Then I wanted to go to temple as I knew they celebrate Shivaratri here.So I took bus to the temple and went there and decided I will be back by 9.30 as it will be late otherwise.

To my surprise there were lots of people not only Indians but also Swedish dressed in traditional Indian dresses!!! They were all looking so cute. Inside the temple they placed a small shivalinga so that the devotees can do Abhisheka with Milk and water, Even I went and put milk on shiva linga, I was feeling content with the kind of environment they created over there, Pujari was chanting Shiva stotram until all the people finish putting Milk on Shiva. Finally he asked all devotees to sit and do Bhajan, The Swedish devotees brought their own musical instruments and few were owned by the temple itself, They started singing one by one Shiva Bhajan.. “Om namashivaya”, “Shiva Shiva Shankarayya Shiva Shiva Shanakara”, “Trayambakam Yajamahe..” and so on...

Oh!! It was so captive.., I completely forgot about my return to home and involved in Shiva Banjan, I realized only when my clock tick 11PM..Even though I wanted to sit, because of less bus frequency I had to getup and come back home, when I reached my place it was almost 12 and I was walking alone... thinking of Gandhiji’s word ...“I would like to see that India where a girl can walk all alone FEARLESSLY at mid night ..” I don’t know when it is possible in India but in Stockholm I was walking all alone at 12 in the night remembering the beautiful Shivaratri I spent :)

Pursuit of Happiness

Yesterday I was watching the movie pursuit of happiness..It is such a touching movie from beginning till end.. I was feeling so true about each and every facet of that movie..Well I am not writing the review of this movie..But yes I am just talking about the meaningful title of that movie..

So many times we become so desperate to be happy in life.. But do we really get the kind of happiness we want…!! Happiness can be different for different people and at different moment, I can only repeat the sentences told in the movie “Happiness is something that we can only pursuit, and actually never have it no matter why..!!” Yes most of the time we always chase behind the happiness!! Well I don’t know why :) ??

While watching this movie I was remembering a beautiful line of a poem written by great kannada poet Gopala Krishna Adiga- “ iruvudellava biTTu iradudareDege tuDivude jeevana “ means To leave behind everything we have and long for what we don't, is the life. So true..

In the beginning I told “Do we get the kind of happiness we WANT” Hmmm I think we need to change our expectations or the WANT to be happy.. Well I know which is difficult and it is easy to write over here!!
I don’t know how many people would have written on this..well I am just an other person writing on the same…:) If you also have something on this..please leave your comments :)

One ‘Lost’ day in my Life

It was almost 8.30 in the night and we were returning from team outing in a cab filled with around 20 people from the team. All were playing Antakshari and every one were singing songs in their high pitch, But I was the one who was sitting almost silent not interested in anything.. but my eyes were anxiously browsing through all the snaps which are taken on that day in the resort… I was trying to remember each moment happened in the resort by seeing the pictures, But all the time I was miserably failing to identify them and questioning myself.. did I really participated in those activities??!!! I was trying to check with my colleague sangeeta who was sitting beside me.. I don’t know how many times I would have troubled her asking the same question and looking at the Pictures captured in my camera.!! Then my colleague Harsha forcibly snatched the camera from me as I was even troubling him also asking the same question..

I took my mobile to call up home and talk about the weird feeling I was having on that day and suddenly got a shock to see the mobile was showing 2nd January…Oh my god! when did this date come??!!!I quickly turned to confirm from my colleague that is it really 2nd Jan or there is some problem in date setting in the mobile, But she confirmed that it is 2nd jan.. !! I started really feeling bad thinking that I have not wished any one on the new year either to my family members in my home town or my friends.. But she was trying to convince me that I did have a party before night and I have already wished every one…!!

Well this was the situation I was in when I was coming back from Anandadhama, an adventure resort which is located 100Kms towards south of Bangalore on the banks of River Cauvery.

It was 2nd of January 2009 ,all the people from our project planned well ahead and chosen this place to spend an entire day in this resort creatively and each one of us wanted to bring back the memorable moments we have on that day including me..We started our Journey to that place early in the morning at around 8AM and all were ontime and also the cab was ready to take us to Anandadhama.
As soon as we started all were feeling hungry and wanted to have breakfast, We all had nice idlis in one of the Darshini. On the way we started playing dumbsherads enacting movie names..I still remember I enacted “Dubti Huyi Dariayan main Tairti Huyi Laash” It was really a tough one to get each word from the team..But finally I was successful in getting the complete words..and so we played for almost 2 hours until we reach that place..It was real fun :)

After we reached we felt like it is really a wonderful place with small tents and Huts..and water ponds nearby and cute ducks walking around.. every one took out their cameras and started clicking their own shots :) Some people were relaxing on the rope swing.. We were welcomed with cold juice, with a nice breakfast..
One more important thing the resort people did is they took sign on a NOC form to say we are responsible for all the risks we face. Well no one bothered and all signed on that form and gave that back to the organizers from the adventure club.
Initially we started with the first team building game “Balancing on the beams” there was an instructor to tell the game of the rule and we all were trying to walk on the beam, slipping in between again climbing on the beam to complete one round on that..We all had real fun.

Then we all decided we will do a Tarzan Jump..ie, Jumping from a height of around 10-15 feet holding the rope. Well to play in this game there was a test which we have to pass, ie we have a hold the rope and swing farward to touch a rooftop which was around 10 feet high and 3 feet away(Well this is all approximate measurements) All the girls failed in this test..except the only lady Tarzan.. yeah that’s me!! Yes I got through and you should see the happiness in my face.. well all the guys passed and they already started jumping from 10 feet high roof holding the rope to the ground..
My turn came and every one were little scared and curious and also trying to protect incase if I leave the rope in between.. Well I was in full enthu standing on the roof… and was ready to Jump 1..2..3.. some where people were screaming hold the rope tight.. tight… tight….and duuuuuhhhhh!!! No one guessed that as soon as I jump I would leave the rope and fall on the ground…I fell exactly on my forehead..I only remember someone lifted me..Then everything was out of my memory.. !!!!!!!!!!

People never took it seriously as I looked quite ok and started participating in other games, But from then on I started asking the questions regarding each thing happened as I was not able to remember any of the event which I was doing just after few seconds..Scary isn't it..Yes it was indeed…:( well I have played Archary.. went in a boat wearing life jaket, inside the water.. everywhere..but none in my memory.After each game, I use to pick up my camera and see each picture and start asking question..Probably everyone would have got fed up with my questions.. I even denied to get into the water telling I have not bought extra pair of cloths even after showing the other pair of cloths..hmmm!! I can imagine the plight of my friends..

When all these things were happening I was feeling inferior each time when I was failing to remember, Finally I called up home and started crying as I felt something really bad happened to me..Then only people realized that I have really lost my memory..!!!Finally they succeeded to take me to the doctor present inside the resort and he gave a sedative to bring down my anxiety and make my brain calm..by then it was almost evening, and from morning till evening I spent my time almost in subconscious state...yes!!!

Finally I went back home after my husband came and took me. By then the doctors medicine slowly started working..and I was coming back to normal situation..Well all the teammates took back their memorable moments with them from Anandadhama..except me..!!
Now if I see the snaps and all the events people enjoyed I really miss it as that day is completely erased from my memory and it is only the photos which I can see and think of my “One Lost day in my life”

No wonder resort people took sign on NOC, they have to be safe in this kind of situations else they can never run their business..:))
Well I can really feel the pain Sanjay Singhaniya of “Ghajini” (Hindi Movie) had, when he use to forget things and no wonder he etched his enemies name on his body...