Prologue
I would not have thought of writing a long article in my blog about our experiences with nature, unless it provides some adventure & drama worth remembering for a lifetime. While talking with Mohan when we were stuck inside a mountain, trekking to Kodekallu in Charmadi ghats, I told him funnily that if I were to write a book about our trekking, I will name it as “One night @ a mountain” similar to a popular book “One night @ a Call center”. However, when I told my brother about our encounters in Charmadi ghats, he told that it resembles the movie “Wrong turn”. I realized that it could also be a good title but decided to keep this title for fun element. Moreover, “Wrong turn” is a horror/thriller movie and there were more human interruptions for tourists in the movie unlike our experiences.
It is the first time in my life that I am writing a book like article. I have posted some photos for viewers to get an idea about beautiful & wonderful Charmadi Ghats in Karnataka.
Before I start this, I on behalf of our project team would like to thank Arun Gonal, Ashrith & Radhika for arranging this trekking to this place and also to Steephen for approving this expedition.
September 1 2010: 06:30 AM
Huh!! It’s 6.30. After long time, I woke up much earlier and bathed to go out. Mangalore was (is) fresh as it is September. I got out of my apartment in Chilimbi to catch the Tempo traveler arranged for our team for trekking trip. The breeze was pleasant. Though, the vehicle was scheduled to leave Kottara Infosys campus at 6.30, I knew some people would be late and I was not wrong either :). I took some money from ATM for food and other expenses. But they were never utilized that day except for 2 teas while we came back to Mangalore, thanks to Mohan. We had breakfast & lunch paid by him and we never had to take our wallet out. People started coming in and we still were waiting for one important person. Almost an hour passed; finally we got sight of Steephen, our PM. Now that, all people (except those to be picked up on the way) had gathered, after taking some snaps for memoirs, we left Infy Kottara campus in 2 Tempo vans.
In front of Infy Campus before leavingSeptember 1 2010: 08:15 AM
We stopped at B.C.Road for breakfast; never ask me the full form of B.C as I don’t know. We got some apples & bananas courtesy Steephen . To kill time and also to enjoy the time, we played Mafia gang , Dumb charade. I think, driver could not bear our playful activities taking place in his van and reached the starting point for trekking in no time.
September 1 2010: 11:00 AM
Let’s Start...
Before we started trekking, some of us got interested in taking pictures and eager members like Radhika, Ravi, Anand & Arun were posing as if they were models and they miserably failed to emulate one. Radhika was always one step ahead of others. She resembled a kid who just ran away from Math class. And some guys like Ashrith were busy changing their dresses. In a minute, he appeared like an uber cool guy who was ready to take the team ahead and show the way and he indeed did that. Manasa and Srujana were always together and very excited. We distributed apple, banana and lunch pocket to everyone. Radhika grabbed an apple from me and I cursed her that I will get my time. I think I had it as I got something to write about her.
Ram looked smart in his yellow jacket with track suits. At the moment, I thought I could exchange my jacket with him. But something was hitting hard with a hammer on my instincts. I started imagining how I could be in that jacket. I could not bear the thought and immediately dropped the idea. By now, people started moving. But Raghu & Aditya started moving in the opposite direction and I found that they were doing so to attend nature’s call and also to smoke. I also joined them to relieve myself. Hey! Don’t mistake me, I don’t smoke.
The starting point, we were searching for this the whole nightMy Experiments with Nature…
We started climbing and from the very first moment I was having feeling that we were going to have a good adventurous trip. But I didn’t know that it was going to be hugely adventurous. Weather was holding up and it looked like Nature was welcoming us with a pleasant weather and there were no signs of clouds breaking up for heavy downpour. That was the ideal weather and trekkers would love it. Thanking God, we started climbing up and up. We stopped momentarily for photos. I was in the end of the line so that I can do more experiments with my camera and also to take more snaps of Mother Nature without being bothered by people pepping me to go up.
We were still climbing, many in our group climbed up faster. Me, Raghav, Amit, Sundesh, Steephen and Mohan were very much behind the first group. Raghav with his tripod, DSLR camera and unshaven looks appeared very much like a professional cameraman. I hoped that he will be taking pictures better than mine. Some of the photos were good and I am not sure about other photos. I wished he experimented little bit more. The other person having a good DSLR was Steephen. I could not comment as we had not seen the photos till I write this story. Hope his photos will throw some excitements.
Ballugondi waterfallsSeptember 1 2010: 01:00 PM
The Leech Challenge
Nature was not satisfied with the kind of hospitality she was providing to us. Now, she used fog to show some of her generosity. Fog was growing thicker and we could barely see things which were few meters away. Wind was blowing so mildly so that we don’t lose our balance. The view was breathtaking with clouds and fog moving at hectic pace. We wowed. I realized that those moments were difficult to capture and can be enjoyed only with our eyes not with camera eyes. Meantime, we were also greeted by local residents who sucked our blood as per their tradition. It took some time to notice those young fellows. Yes, I am talking about leeches. Some of us (including me) screamed and tried to pluck them to remove it. Some people in our group had foreseen this kind of challenge and brought kilos of salt along with them. Later I found that they had already trekked this place and were aware of these young fellows. We rubbed salt where leeches were sucking. It was not easy. We had to endure the burning sensation.
Girls Suman, Uma, Asha were wearing shoes and they were donating their blood generously to those leeches by not taking out shoes and socks to apply salt. Suman went to greater extent that she was patting the leech which was sucking her already endangered blood. She did not pay heed to our advice of removing shoes and socks.
Leech, the Blood suckerSeptember 1 2010: 01:30 PM
The Peak
After climbing up for almost 2 and half hours, we reached Kodekallu. Kodekallu (Umbrella stone) looked magnificent and I thought it can provide cover to more than 100 people at a time in case of harsh summer or rain. Few guys got to the edge of the rock and enjoyed the panoramic view of Ghats. Fog was still thicker so that we could not see longer.
After photo sessions were over we went to other side of the stone and got down for lunch. For the sake of saving drinking water I did not bother washing my hands properly. It was still dirty, if not fully dirty so that one would vomit.
KodekalluLustrous model
After lunch, I again started experimenting with my camera. I felt, Nature is the best and lustrous model than the artificially dressed down women or men walking in ramp. The greenery was so eye pleasing. I immersed in taking photos and enjoying the beauty oblivious to the things happening around. I was interrupted. Raghu followed me and asked to take some snaps. What to do? I obliged. I tried hard to keep him in focus. But the backlight and darkness around him made me wonder whether I am good enough to take his picture. He was not hearing me saying this. His complexion also didn’t help. I tried with various settings in vain. Radhika also rubbed salt to the injury by asking why I am not taking pictures of people. She didn’t notice that I was taking Raghu’s photo.
Raghu, don’t mistake me as I am just trying to explain what happened. We could have moved to a different location where light settings were good.
Lustrous modelSeptember 1 2010: 02:40 PM
Beginning of real adventure
Finally, we talked of moving from Kodekallu. Most of us felt that, getting down in the same way we climbed up is risky and we can try climbing to Balekallu and from there getting down to road to catch the van. Steephen agreed and we all started to leave Kodekallu. But fate had other plans.
Lost and Found
On the way to Balekallu hill, we entered the forest. It was quite dense and we treaded our steps carefully. We had to climb one very slippery & tricky slope. Girls were helped by guys Raghav and Ashrith. I managed to climb with little help from Raghav and started moving up. After walking some distance I put my hand in my right pocket in jacket. To my shock, Oh My God, I found that I lost my camera. I checked other pockets and looked around but could not find it. It is a new camera only 3 months old and I could not take that I will lose it. My instinct told me that, it could have fallen while I was climbing the slippery slope. I turned back to see Raghav still there. I shouted to look out for my camera. My goodness, he found it and I got my breathe back.
After that, I could not take any more pictures as my camera went into the hands of Ashrith and then to somebody else.
Kodekallu and YerikalluSeptember 1 2010: 03:30 PM
1st Victim
After climbing for more than an hour, we started to realize that it is more difficult to reach Balekallu. Ashrith, Arun, Anurag & Deepti climbed further and came down with no positive result. My legs started to pain. Uma was already perspirating heavily and looked like she will faint anytime. I was praying to God to not make her faint so that boys will not have to bear her. We were taking note of stone bundles set up by forest department for trekkers to find the way and religiously following them.
September 1 2010: 04:00 pM
Into the Wild
After some discussions, we changed our plan and started climbing down. We tried to follow the same way we climbed up. However we were deviating from our path and not going anywhere. We chose the wrong way to enter into the forest. We started walking in the jungle along with a stream hoping that it will take us down. We were hoping against the hopeless. A human skull found in the way was symbolic of something we could not recognize. And the jungle was keeping that as its pet by washing it continuously. After some time, some fellas found road. Excitement grew up. But that was short lived. We met with a dead end with a steep fall. Water was flowing steadily through that fall. Arun, Aditya & Anurag were very desperate to get down through the fall despite several warnings. They could not get half way into the fall.
SymbolicDuring a brief break, Radhika frightened at the thought of staying the night at Kodekallu. I started my vivid imaginations of a night stay. With all the girls around, I thought it could be fun and enjoyable. But again, fate had other plans. Back in college, we never had tours. My school was a proud Boy’s school. Hence it was natural for me to long for a stay oblivious to the reality. For those thoughts, I was cursed by Nature and punished with few more freefalls.
Meanwhile, frustration was also growing up. Out of desperation, I took out my mobile to check signal. I was having some good fortune too. Few minutes ago, I escaped some serious injuries while falling down. Now I got some signal in the jungle. Definitely India’s telecom companies are growing. But for them, we could not imagine what would have happened to us. Whenever I see ads showing some person talking freely in deep jungle I used to poke fun at them. Now that I realized they were real, wherever you go their networks follow.
I gave my mobile to Manasa so that she can call up somebody for help. She called somebody and was searching for Ashrith. My mobile was passed up by Ram who was very eager and ran up to pass it. Hence I lost my mobile for some time. It was returned by Ashrith after 3 hours when my roommate called to check my whereabouts.
By this time, Ashrith was the most worried person since he has all the responsibility and everyone was looking up to him. I could imagine what was going in his mind and it can happen to anybody.
It’s almost 3 and half hours since we left Kodekallu. But there was no sight of getting out. We were either climbing up or climbing down. We were stuck but never stopped trying. We were exhausted but never let our spirits dry up. Since we could not find a way out, we decided to trek back to Kodekallu and follow the way we climbed up. But again, fate played otherwise.
September 1 2010: 06:30 PM
Wrong Turn
We reached Kodekallu and started climbing down. This plan seemed sensible to me. I hoped we can break through. But life doesn’t give in to your wishes before it teaches us a lesson. We were still climbing down. No one in our group could exactly remember the path we climbed up. To make matters difficult, fog was growing thicker and heavy clouds were moving. It was difficult for us to see beyond 100 meters. We took a path that looked like someone already trekked that way. There were fallen dry leaves that enabled us to take that way and later we were proved wrong again.
While climbing down the new way, myself, Mohan, Poornima, Fahid and Amit saw some light and within a moment we realized that, that came from a vehicle. We thought we were just 0.5 km away and we were all excited and clapped. But again, there was a stoppage. Again we faced with a forest patch and it was too dark to get in. Arun & Raghav went in to find out a way. 20 more minutes passed. We were losing hope of getting down after this point but still nobody panicked. And I was fully prepared to spend the night at the mountain though we had only backup foods like biscuits, moong dal, and Diary milk. Snacks were passed along and I took couple of them to energize myself.
September 1 2010: 07:30 PM
What a F***
The guys who went down into jungle patch came back with no hope. We sat down where we stood. We encountered mysterious jungle species like fireflies & giant mosquitoes. One fellow confused light from firefly with light coming from distant vehicles. The rain which was appearing in patches was not growing up. Had it been heavy, we would not have reached our destination. Cold wind was blowing. Luckily I brought jacket which protected my already fragile health caused by illness. We tried to start some silly topics to kill time and also not to let fear get into us. But I was getting sleep. I tried hard not to. My back started killing me since I could not sit properly. I covered my backpack with my jacket covered body as it was not water proof. I remembered having print outs for .NET certifications in my bag. At this deep jungle, with all these deep crisis, I was thinking of .NET certifications. What a F***!
Helping Times
Now, Ashrith called up our van driver Vijayanna, and requested him to get villagers help. When all of us came to know about this later, we were very grateful to him. He was always on call, skipped his dinner, cheered us up and helped villagers reach here. We also came to know that, the driver is a regular to this place to drop trekkers like us and he sort of knows villages around.
The driver was able to get villagers help. Around 5 or 6 villagers came forward and were trying to reach us. As our luck was testing us from the start, they did not bring enough torches and whatever torches they had were running out of batteries. So they all went back to their village to bring lively torches.
September 1 2010: 10:00 PM
Kaakha Kaakha (Protect Protect in Tamil)
Meanwhile, Steephen was talking to HR Nitin. Through him, he managed to talk to police. Shortly, Mangalore SP called back to get the exact location. Thankfully, Raghav’s handy cam is equipped with GPS and we were able to tell our location. For the 1st time in my life, I was realizing the importance of latitude and longitudes. Fuck it man.
Arun kumar, another PM from IHL, called Mohan and enquired what happened. He also got in touch with Police and updated us that they were able to locate us and had started from Mangalore. I wish to remind you that, we were sitting 3 hours away from Mangalore. If we were to get their help, we had to wait for 3 more hours.
September 1 2010: 11:00 PM
Faint Light of Hope
By this time, we got a call from villagers that they reached Kodekallu and will find us in 15 or 20 mins. We were told to shout and beam whatever lights we had. We did that diligently. Our wait did not last longer. Mohan, Fahid & Poornima noticed a faint light coming from the top. I could not see any. I said that could be firefly. I was always wrong that day. They noticed that again. Only few minutes later, I saw a bright light beam. We all shouted and beamed our light from mobile phones so that they will be able to track us.
September 1 2010: 11:30 PM
Shedding the light on Path
Finally they reached us. They were looking like normal villagers with umbrella hanging in their back, trousers folded up to keep them clean, wearing Hawai chappals and of course a torch in everyone’s hand. One of them had a country made gun not AK47 as Ashrith was thinking. I don’t know how some in our group started doubting the villagers as if they were naxals. To me, they are God.
Those villagers looked around where we were sitting. They were able to quickly tell that, we were sitting on a path made by elephants. This definitely had repercussions. Some got strong senses in their stomach. We realized our wrong turn.
Beginning of a journey to the elusive Road
Villagers went ahead to look out for possible route down. They said that we can get down into jungle patch as that will save some time instead of going up and climbing down the way they came from their village. All of us lit the torches in their mobile phones and formed a line and started moving. It was so dark and we were careful not to slip. Irrespective of how careful I was, I kept falling two more times as part of punishment by Nature. Every time, my bag and jacket protected me from bruises and fractures.
September 2 2010: 12:30 AM
We crossed midnight. And we were still walking on rocks & mud. I was holding onto everything that was caught by my hand. In one instance I was holding thorny branch of a tree fully knowing well about it to prevent myself from falling. It punctured my hand. By the by, police were waiting at the road. They did not know of our whereabouts this time. Somebody heard grunts made by animals. But the villager put it off saying it may be a wild dog. But he was wrong.
Herd of Uncertainties
One villager who was moving in the start came down faster. We realized something went wrong. He yelled that there were herds of elephants on the way. They might start following us. First time in this trek, I got scared if not panicked. All of us were told to climb up the other way. I was standing first in the line now. We were all climbing up faster. The steepness of the climb combined with rocky surface and interrupting branches made us grasping for breath. We were all groaning. However we didn’t stop. We knew we can’t. Villagers had no difficulty in climbing up as they are so used to this forest. At one point of time, the villager with us (10 people) in the front realized there was a huge boulder in the front and could not be climbed. He also found that, another group of 18 people following us was missing. He left without hearing anything from us. Again, we were isolated.
I sat on a fallen tree. I was too exhausted and thinking when this ordeal will come to an end. Deep inside the forest, in the middle of grave uncertainties, I was again getting sleep. SH**.
Are they?
We waited for good 15 minutes before the 2nd group came up. Before they came, some people’s thoughts went wild. What if, they were naxalites and they were trapping us in the middle of the forest and kidnapping us so cunningly that it looked like leading us to road. May be, the situation made them think like that. It is to be noticed that, 3 or 4 kms from where we sat 2 hours back, are naxal infested area and add to it that one of them had country made gun made few of our guys think like that.
September 2 2010: 01:30 AM
An Elixir
Once the 2nd group arrived, we again started moving up. After moving up for some time, we were again stuck. Villagers could not figure the way out. I could see one villager with a torch in his hand in the top left was moving up and down and right and left desperately to find a way. Another villager followed him. Those 2 were constantly looking for paths before we guys can tread. They thought we could not move further with this route and decided to take us to their village via Kodekallu. My head started revolving. I looked for water. Arun Steephen & Raghav were behind me and they passed on Glucose. I grabbed it as if it was an elixir. The villager who was with us, asked for a bottle and filled it with water from stream flowing beside us. I had little thoughts in drinking that though that was cold. My doctor had warned me against drinking cold fluids. May be, the herbals mixed with the water had the curing effect and it did nothing to me even after 3 days. But the taste was different. We are so used to drinking mineral water that we forgot to realize what is pure and what is not.
September 2 2010: 01:30 AM
We Are Here
Just when we started moving in the opposite direction, we heard some voices that were definitely human. Few feared it may be elephants and thought we were cornered by them on both sides. But now, luck was in our favor. We heard same voice saying PROCEED. POLICE IS HERE. We heaved a sigh of relief. They took us where we were stopped by elephants. The elephants had moved for grazing in some other area to make way for us.
September 2 2010: 02:00 AM
Back To Life
Once the Police found us, once we heard the voice, once we came to know that there was a way out, everybody started cheering and clapping. I heard sound of vehicles. I told Arun Steephen, who was behind me now, that we were nearing the road. He was too tired to believe it. I was charged up without glucose. But we still had to cross one more hurdle. Yes. Since we had to climb down, we were faced with shallow and steep surface. By this time, anti-naxal force had joined us. Wondering what they were doing there? Since the nearby forests are infested by naxals, a task force was formed to hunt them up. After getting the news Mangalore SP called up this force also to assist in searching us. Hence they were also helping us in getting down. I heard, few people got down and heaving a sigh of relief. I thought we were getting nearer. I was right for the first time on that day.
Karunanidhi!!!
One anti-naxal police was shaking hands with everybody getting down and asked his/her name and hometown.
“tumko naam?”
“Ravi”
“From?”
“Andhra”
“Naidukaaru..”
It was my turn.
“Sriram. Tamilnadu.”
“ Tamilnadu? Karunanidhi!!!Hahaha”.
“Hahahaha..ninne hesaru?” That is the only one of 3 sentences I know in Kannada.
“Sathish”
“Thank you”
I always wondered why people from other states always associate Tamilians with their chief ministers. It would be either Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi if I say I am from TN. I also found out, Jayalalitha was more popular.
September 2 2010: 02:45 AM
The Road, at last
At last, I put my right foot in the road. After getting lost for almost 12 hours, after climbing up and down for almost 18 hours we were back. Yes, we were back. We were welcomed by mInfy DC Head Gopi, MFG Head Vasudev Kamath and there were couple of Infy top management people greeting us. I/we were surprised to see them at this time. They had travelled all the way from Mangalore to see us through. We also saw couple of locals, Mangalore SP and anti-naxal team in the spot. We are indebted to them for saving us from a crisis.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief, thanked God, and congratulated people around. DC Head Gopi was still counting number of people. Still five more to come. Within a minute, everybody reached the spot. Everybody was too happy that they were safe and forgot to thank everyone who helped us. It was an awesome experience. I felt it will take at least a week for the feeling to sink in. I swore, I would write a tale telling our experiences to friends and family. All izz well!
September 2 2010: 03:00 AM
I could have ended the story in the previous chapter itself. But life throws more surprises when we least expect. Let’s see them too.
Got it Back
After making sure that, everybody reached safely, first batch started leaving for Mangalore. I boarded in the 1st van which had girls and few guys. We stopped at a highway hotel for refreshing. Not many were interested in food. We wanted more water and filled bottles of water. Myself and Goutham ordered for tea. Then we indulged in banters to relieve ourselves. We spent close to half an hour before resuming the journey. I was desperate to get my camera back and enquired Ashrith about it. He had no idea to whom he had given. Luckily, Ram was around and he agreed he kept it in his bag. He dutifully returned it to me before I boarded the van. When I neared the van, I saw Steephen talking to people about his happiness, importance of taking TT injection and of course an off-day today for us.
September 2 2010: 03:30 AM
Arey! Don’t sleep yar!!!
I got into last seat available. The driver started our journey to dawn. Within few minutes, everybody wanted to sleep. I didn’t want to. I found Ashrith started sleeping though he was sitting beside driver. Before I alerted, Deepti made Mohan to swap his place with Ashrith. I thought, Mohan also would like to get some sleep. But I didn’t ask. Few minutes passed. I saw Mohan slipping to sleep. I was waiting for this exact moment and I called Mohan to come back to take my place and I would go to front. Raghav too noticed my eagerness and we had a minor altercation about who will go to front which ended in waking up Sundesh as I fell on him. I won the game as Raghav was sitting near the window and could not get beyond me. I took the front seat which was very comfortable for me. Few more minutes passed.
I looked at the driver. Oh My God! While driving, he was taking his water bottle and washing his eyes to drive away his sleep. I understood that, he was waiting for us too longer and it was natural that he got tired. I enquired whether he is ok to drive and asked him to drive slowly. He said it was ok and there would not be problems. I tried talking to him but words did not come out of my throat. I was wondering how I would speak to him with no knowledge of Kannada or Hindi. I ended up talking in broken Tamil though. After some time, he stopped at BC Road, again no full names, for smoking. The other van also caught up with us and stopped in front of us. I saw Goutham and Arun Steephen getting down. We chatted for few minutes and started again.
September 2 2010: 06:00 AM
After being on the road for close to three hours, we reached Mangalore by dawn. Everybody was dropped at their place. Everybody bid adieu with a smile though their body was very tired. I was too tired and my body was ready to lie down any moment. So tired that, I didn’t talk a word while getting down or turn back to say good bye and walked towards my apartment. Cloud was spitting to comfort me. I walked faster thinking that it may start to rain. It didn’t. After reaching my room I threw my bag, removed the dirty clothes and bathed myself in warm water. The warmness soothed all the aches. After the bath, I closed all the windows and window shades to make the room darker and ensured there were no disturbances. I stood and looked straighter and breathed. I fell in the bed and looked the roof. All the day’s events appeared in a flash. I closed my eyes and with that I closed the doors of outside world.
***END***
