tada tada TADA!!

Time for another one! (Honestly, this was written for another site, I just copy-pasted the same thing here :D, I know, heights of laziness).

A week full of quizzes ( that's what they call the short torturous bimonthly events at IIT), I was totally exhausted. My friends who were in another batch weren't free at this very point of my desperation to time travel into another world! Perfect timing! So, the Gods in the universe conspired and made my Swiss friend and his mates plan out a trip to Tada so that I could be invited there :D . You know when a drop of water falls on the parched earth! :D
Well ya , time to stop story-telling !
Tada is one of the less-discovered green pockets near Chennai, though most of the regular trekkers and students do know. But it is one place that still retains its natural essence owing to the physical strain involved in getting there. Well the 'there' could refer the foot of the hill/ the small crystal clear streams flowing over an assortment of pebbles / the waterfall babies flowing over rocks/ the waterfall monster breeding happily in a 10m high cliff/ the top of the hill. Our final there was the cliff.

The sojourn:
Starting off at IST-5am (IIT Standard Time ;) ) , me, Arul who I knew through my athletics team, my Swiss friend, batch-mate from IIT, and two others I didn't know until then, started off toward Velachery to Koyambedu and reached Tada at around 10 am. Tip: Being the treasurer earns you extra care and security from the rest of the team for obvious reasons ;) We chose to walk 3km on gravel and stones to reach the foot of the hill, and that's when we got talking on topics ranging from biotechnology to naxalites to Nepals' democratic developments to the optimum amount of salt in a curry. And when the leg goes pulling, the talking gets interesting , doesn't it? We were making plans on how to negotiate with the naxalites, that Markus (our SF) would be more valuable a hostage than us and so, we could easily escape in case we encountered naxalites :D!!
Thankfully the day was nowhere close to rainy as so proudly forecasted by Piyush! By now, we were walking in the streams with water so clear that we could actually drink it, and lo! I am still alive! Walking along in the stream was fun in itself, witnessing each other dork-ishly tripping into water, thanks to the extra slippery multi-colored rocks/pebbles/(not-a-geologist!) beneath.
Arul was simply great at directions, not that I bothered as to how he was employing his skill. I was too happy and content with my first endeavor with a bunch of strangers to an equally estranged place. Then we started climbing up finally. The topmost falls were now in view, but the view was so tiny it amounted to some 3 pixels on the cam :D! As we started aping forward, the rocks were now bigger and very slippery. I had torn my shoes already (Thank god! I didn wear my favourite Reeboks). Arul put fundaes on rock climbing : Three-point contact, Chimney-climbing to name a few. I got to learn what all was necessary to be brought along while trekking.
After about an hour of scampering, we reached the final destination, the cliff sheltering water from the water fall. We first hogged like crazy, keeping in mind that monkeys were eye-ing the food already! Then the usual aping around came into the pic and every one jumped into the water.
I almost drowned myself! Wow! what a start. :| My processor failed to recognise that I was already exhausted and was wearing jeans for god's sake and couldn't make myself to swim. Well, I was intelligent enough to bob up and down and wave for help. The "wave for help" was interpreted in every way but the SOS way for a long time, as I came to know later. Apparently, they felt I was saying a hi, or measuring depth of water! Argh, c'mon guys! I was pretty cool in the head, thinking I had stud swimmers around to help me out. Guess that paid off! Finally I gave up on venturing without help. Weird spiders and insects on water. People ( Markus and Arul) made some really scary dives into the water from atop the cliff! It was getting dark, time to get back. While scampering down, we collected the garbage littered along the path as an initiative to sensitise people about the issue. The pic proudly displays a collection of five bag-fulls of garbage that were eventually handed over to the security. I was officially labelled the 'chappal-collector' for god-knows-why reasons. In any case, I did justice to my title ;) and collected some 15 chappals :D.
Below is something so weird these guys tried, that its practically inexplicable.
Philosophies started pouring out of every member, now that the trek was ending. Pradeep, my Nepalese companion said that it is always there, we need to just go and get it. True.
It was then that I realised the importance of being able to live with nature, without the cozy comforts of a city life. Sometimes (all the time actually), we simply don't realise/acknowledge the fact that we are a part of nature and the skill to live in it is more fundamental than knowing how to work with Scilab or Pspice. And we simply don't give a damn to that inherent ability, the very skill that teaches us something more about life that a degree in management, for example, fails to.
Phew, that was heavy :D
Came back to campus at 10pm and wow, that was a trek each one of us enjoyed thoroughly and I got exposed to new ideologies about life, that were quite different from those of a bunch of nerds and geeks, set on to spend 4 years of their life in a 250-hectare piece of land.
PS: The pics go along with the storyline and yeah, some of them make real good wall papers.

The turtle and The beach

After writing a satisfactory blog post that humored a visitor, I find it even more appealing to take yet another break to update the site. So, for the second time in 24 hours, here I go, again.

Turtle Walk
Yeah, yeah, sort of boring to have every blog labeled a ‘walk’, blame the organizers. Anyway, getting to the point, making this trip essentially means putting a nite-out (my first ever after joining IIT!) and walking from one beach to the other on sand (ob :P) discerning turtle tracks in sand (ob again :P) to spot turtle nests/eggs/hatchlings and transporting them to the hatchery, waiting for 30 minutes or so for the hatchlings to get activated and leaving them to struggle towards sea, watching them being washed away by strong waves into the deep dark ocean. Good! I’m glad I am human! ;)
Started at ECR beach with a talk beginning with an introduction to turtles (The Turtle 101) involving almost all of the visitors, school kids, college students, visitors, foreigners, old people (a really diverse group). Being extremely informative and thought provoking, the chat slowly flowed towards government policies to environmental protection to genetically modified crops to culture to way of life! And, I, just having given a presentation on GM Foods for Environment and Resource Economics course was ‘fully unleashed’ ;). The organizer actually told me, “For an IIT student, you are quite well-informed” hah! I am. Another interesting fact that propped up was that these amazing creatures return to the same breeding ground where they took birth, to lay their own eggs! Predators apart, the street lamps at night pose a bigger danger, misleading the turtles away from the waters (Fyi, turtles detect their way towards the sea by sensing light). Olive Ridley turtles are found only on the coasts of South East Asia. Their tiny home is shrinking even more, thanks to the contemporary industrial practices.

These walks have been conducted since last 10-11 years during the first couple of months in a year, every weekend. The locals actually refer to the turtle season as the one in which turtle-walkers start walking! The walk along the beach was simply great with equally great company. I was _very lucky_ to have learnt about it at the end of the season, so I couldn’t catch any turtle nests or eggs. I was glad to have caught sight of some hatchlings in the hatchery. Some twenty of them, four could fit easily in one’s palm. They looked ugly initially, but when you start playing with them, you would want to go on. Hold their shell and suspend them in air, they will start the swimming action in air with their tiny fin-like legs. The most shocking thing you need to do to these creatures is leaving them getting washed away by the ocean. The ironic part being that it is simply a part, rather the first ‘step’ (read wash) of their life.
I reached campus at around 5am and joined the preparations of the hostel night. The hostel night ended at around 1am. I wasn’t awake to live the next day. :D
Now, I would like to give you conclusive evidence of my ‘amateur blogger’ status. I forgot to mention, I attended the turtle walk on the night before the Sharavati Hostel night (12th April’08)

BLMI

What not does a boring, rather monotonous and lengthy internship make you do?
Blog.
Blogsites being the only ones that aren’t blocked, here I go.

Rock walk
Oh yeah, a BMLI (boring, monotonous and lengthy internship) can make you look up an ad in the news paper about a group of enthusiasts going “rock walking”, and make you call up and join them, even if you are totally unaware of the place, group, itinerary. I couldn’t care less, anyway. Have to admit, I was desperate to feel that I had something called a body which has muscles and can workout. Then, I was on my usual roping-in business trying to drag my friends into it too, like a pitcher plant trying to attract insects.
Finally, one gave in.
We started quite early and ended up roaming around the pick-up spot to pass time, till the others turned up. After a lot of confusion (thanks to the multiple crossroads at the spot), we met the group and carpooled to a place which I pass through daily, on the way to my internship. Served well for expecting a change of place! It was pretty interesting to discover that the boulders which seemed trivial and out-of-the-blue amidst the concrete jungle, as seen daily were actually very expansive and had a history of over 2500 million years! The society to save rocks which was conducting this trip was realized by a group of rock climbing, environmental enthusiasts who were awestruck by the quality of rocks here. Living on the Deccan plateau for about 7years now, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed to not know the significance of the ‘rocky’ place. I am sure more than half of the population here doesn’t. But this organization is catching up and lighting the spark. Recently, it had filed petitions asking builders to accommodate rock clusters into the ambience and recreational area. It felt good to see these ideas getting realized already in some buildings printed on their pamphlet and website saverocks.org.

The walk was not physically excruciating, but with such ardent and veteran company, I couldn’t keep myself from trying out jumping above some really deep trenches and climbing steep surfaces I never thought I could. It was easier than the slippery rocks at Tada waterfalls. As usual, I met a diverse set of people who kept interesting and informative company. There was this girl who was 1/8th Norwegian, 1/8th Scottish, 1/4th American, and the ½ Indian part was intact (for obvious reasons). And a German-Indian mix who was having a tough time explaining his equally German-Indian name, which had no meaning, both German and Indian parts of the name meaning ‘emitting radiance’. “Dyutimay” :D . Guess Indian crossing is catching up fast.
That’s pretty much about it, and the next day when I was back on Intern-track, I pointed those boulders to my guide and said “I went there yesterday, doing monkey business”. :D
After I rendered a detailed elucidation, he decided to give it a shot with family!

Desiderata

This was something I came across when I was under loads of stress and frustration for the most trivial reasons on earth.
Here it goes

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence,
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons,
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself,
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your won career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time,
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
Whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world,
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


---Max Ehrmann

I dream returns

I thought I should do something about my blog. It has been idle for a long time. (Really ? )


' A bus ? Why do you want to take that , now?'
' There is no reservation available. And I want to be at home now. '
' Look, there goes another flick of your poor planning. '
' :D ' (Anything done with a purpose seems impetuous to the people of this world ;) )
' Take a flight. You won't come in a bus. It's very risky.'
What's not risky dad!
' Please, please , I wanna travel in bus. My friends do that very often and they are perfectly OK with it. And it's faster too , just 12 hrs. Moreover , I have company. '
'You will never do that again.'
'Ok , done! Thanks! ' (Mmmm , Lets see ;) )

It was really nice. The journey . Though I slept for some fragmented 3 hours . Spent the rest of the time talking , talking and .... erm talking to my friend ,commenting (criticizing) a telugu movie being played , fiddling with the rubix cube for some finite time , playing 'cows and bulls' , staring at the full moon through the bus window , stopping and grabbing a quick bite at a real 'dhaba' . Trust me , I am not exaggerating when I say you can't compare the food with mess grub. It was too good.

I recommend everyone try it out sometime. A long, sleepless, lively bus journey.

Risks Involved :I slept ( read hibernated) from 4pm to 8am the next day !
(My future venture : A long drive)
PS : It might not be a big deal for some people , but for a newbie like me it is . :)