Muthathi - A day of fun

Though I have been thinking about it for quite some time now,I never really did it. So here it goes - my first mini travelogue.

Weekend was round the corner and I and a few friends of mine were planning a get away. Though Karnataka is a tourism haven,most places on the tourism map that we had not explored were quite some distance from Bangalore and would require a decent 3 days to be completely toured and enjoyed. While we mulled over the possibilities,an office colleague suggested we take a day's trip to Muthathi. "Muthathi,what place is that?" was the natural response of my friends when I told them about the choice.I had read few blogs on it and to me it seemed a decent getaway, especially for a bunch of people,who were bored of going from one mall to another in India's "garden city".

We finalized the trip a Saturday evening,hurriedly booked a cab and off we were 6 o' clock Sunday morning. It took us quite some time getting beyond the city limits thanks to the road widening and Metro construction activities on our way to Kamnahalli.Once out of the city, the view on either side of the road was great. Though nothing extraordinary (you would find such scenery in most of the lower western ghats), it was a welcome change with rocky hills visible for a decent stretch. We stopped midway to have a heavy breakfast as I had read that there weren't many (if not any) decent restaurants in and around Muthathi. We had a Dhaba-kind of food after a long time. It tasted good and was inexpensive. We took a little walk after the mini-feast ,went tamarind and mango (the through-out-the-year variety) plucking and were then back in the cab heading towards our final destination. About an hour later we entered an area which was sweetly reminiscent of the mud houses we found back in our own villages. The were a couple of instances were large herd of cows literally blocked our passage. We found a few foreigners savoring this "exotic" sight. After the path cleared we sped along the road which was in a reasonably good condition.

What followed was way beyond expectations. Green hills littering the way, little brooks cutting across the winding path, the cool mountain air blowing on our face and then the valley down below everything was almost picture perfect. We stopped at a brook for a few pics for our facebook albums but were almost subconsciously led along its path to some dense tree cover. Moving in further, there was a stretch of cleared forest which seemed like a picnic spot. Then following the sound of gushing water, we walked further moving through another stretch of thorny trees to relish the unexpected spectacle. We had reached the banks of the river Cauvery and not a soul could be found there. The mountains all around and the sandy banks were all so relaxing. Though the mountain on the other side of the river was inviting, the river seemed way to deep to be crossed. So we returned reliving the forest wonder on our way back to the cab.We were later told that the place was notorious for wild elephants and foxes and that we could have risked our lives! "Ah! no wonder we found no one else there",I thought. But then, what's a weekend get away without that element of risk.


We hadn't even reached the place most people had written about in their blogs and were already having so much fun. While in the middle of our discussion about how we could have saved our lives if we had encountered an elephant, foxes or even a cheetah, we reached another accessible river bank. This time the river seemed rather slow. At a distance we saw some circular boats . They are the "coracle" and I had never taken a ride in one. Wasting no more time, we got our spare clothes and were in the coracle heading towards a small island about a kilometer away from the mainland .The island seemed beautiful. The best part was that there weren't too many people around. The water wasn't all that clean (it is difficult to expect that in the non-rainy season) but was tempting enough to take a nice bath in. We took a nice dip and relished the surrounding tranquility. On our way back , we found an adventure group pass by in a rafting boat(the river wasn't anything one can go rafting in but every person to his adventurous self). I guessed they must have come from nearby Bheemeshwari which organizes such trips.

To capture our first time on the coracle for good, I shot this video which also depicts the brilliant mangrove forest like trees in the place:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpj821R_KRE


It was half past four and we were a little tired. I was thanked for the choice of the place :) and return journey was filled with references our most enjoyable moments of the trip

Bollywood and the Indian culture

Aren't you always driven into believing that the Indian culture is effectively and almost completely captured by the numerous bollywood movies? At least I was. And why not?

Bollywood is the most pervasive and,therefore,the most accessible form of songs and dances which forms and integral part of the Indian life.From twenty four hour music channels showing women wearing ankle-long lehengas decorated with radiant handwork with their bodies embellished with fake ornamentation -celebrating Diwali on a scale grander than what even the president would dare to (and mind you , these women often more resplendent than the lamps they hold) to radio channels playing the latest Bollywood songs, one just cannot escape the bollywood effect.There is now, even a channel that is 100% Bollywood(Zoom TV :)).

When abroad, one easily finds that Bollywood is India's most popular art export (Some may say Yoga - but that may fast be changing). From big Bollywood movie Banners at Newport Jn to buses with side walls painted with pictures of a Desi hero flanked by a couple of gorgeous looking Bollywood babes, Bollywood has in a rather short span of time become the face that represents India in its quest to become a soft superpower. So much so that "That's the ways Mahi ve" is thought of as the way an Indian wedding is celebrated , "Pairon mein bandhan hain" stands out as the typical Indian Diwali celebrations and "Mubarak Id Mubarak" ids believed to unfailingly capture Eid festivities. Little wonder then that Gen X is able to think of the culture as anything more that what is presented by the world's most prolific film industry. But is that all there is to our culture? Certainly, a 5000 year old civilization has more to offer when it comes to cultural forms than what could be captured in a few strikingly similar bollywood songs. Indeed it does. The truth is that the Indian life contains innumerable art forms and traditions - each specific to a particular region in the country- that together come to form a breathtaking kaleidoscope called the Indian culture. Each form is so distinct and artistic that one would need an entire Bollywood to capture its beauty and sense.



Why does the average Indian then remain so obsessed with Bollywood?(or Tollywood or whichever-wood) Do these cultural forms not have it in them to hold the intrigue of the Indian spectator?Perhaps not . Perhaps the Indian eye and ear have become so trained to hearing the balle balle hip hop kind of music (mind you balle balle in its unadulterated form is in itself an art form - I mean no offence) that anything even faintly somber is dismissed as old-fashioned. This behaviour is in tune with the average Indian's version of having high decibel fun in his leisure.

So while the lack of state patronage and the attitude of the self righteous Indian means that these art forms play only a second fiddle to Big Brother Bollywood, their intrinsic elegance and their potential to hold the attention of the foreign audience should never be questioned. Here is case in point.



We are all aware that despite all criticisms, the CWG was one chance India had to showcase to the world its culture, its organizing capabilities and its rapidly improving sporting capabilities.In its quest to demonstrate to the world what would be in store in Delhi 2010 , the government of India organized multi-crore star studded Bollywood extravaganza at the closing ceremony in Melbourne 2006.The Commonwealth was mesmerized with the high energy performance by the best performers from Bollywood.

Then arrived Delhi 2010 with every rational indicator pointing to the biggest games failure .However, on Oct 3 2010 7:00 pm IST ,when about half a billion and half people from around the globe sat watching the opening ceremony to the games all the while hoping that no room should collapse in the stadium, Delhi delivered the knockout punch. Three and a half hour of an exotic presentation had the leading newspapers of the world saying this:

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-sport/pakistan-praises-delhi-opening-ceremony-20101004-162y0.html

http://www.morethanthegames.co.uk/delhi-2010/0412657-commonwealth-games-fennell-praises-delhi-2010-opening-ceremony

http://vincentloy.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/amazing-opening-ceremony-of-delhi-2010-commonwealth-games/



And guess what ? There was absolutely no Bollywood here . Just plain "old fashioned" Indian culture that saved the day for India. At the end of the day one has to say that the Indian culture has significant market value. It just needs the right platform

The Chinese Advantage

The world is replete with instances of the most unbelievable and mind boggling phenomena - the rainbow,the beautiful water falls and yes, the Indian democracy - to name a few.But none comes so close to leaving you spell bound as does a certain gentleman(pardon my indiscretion) by the name Karma Sonam Bhutia (Also known as China,Angula,Spanky,cheen by his loving friends among which I number - but that's beside the point). Yes, he is a phenomenon in his own right and a rather rare one at that.Given below is an adorable picture of him.

Observe it closely. Yes, the face would depict the serenity one would associate with a Buddhist monk who had renounced all the pleasures that this world had to offer to lead the life of a recluse . And a lot of people have indeed been deceived by this ostensibly innocent portrait. From being the darling of teachers to being the object of pity love of college girls, this face has done it all .No wonder his female companion-ships are on the rise . The reality of his person is as far from this as is Sikkim from Kerala (What an apt analogy!!).The innocent lamb has transformed into a marauding stallion . From late night bike rides and the roof top parties to being chased by cops Karma has shed all remaining inhibitions of his bachelor life.

What really contributes to the making of this phenomenon is the outright contrast one observes in his levels of intelligence. Karma is a university gold medalist for good reasons (though Arun K and I would dissent). He has got a very sharp brain. While most of us tried reading notes to make sense of seemingly difficult subjects,Karma would discover ,with an 'Oh Ya?', that there is an exam barely 6 hours before the actual commencement thanks to his trustworthy comrade Debmalya without whom this Dragon would have been reduced to a dragon-fly . His preparation style would in many ways be like India's organizing of the Commonwealth Games - running around from pillar to post to understand subjects which people would expect him to explain. Yet his intelligence is such that he would invariably end up knowing more that what you ever taught him and on the day of the exam- any guesses who the highest scorer would have been? -- Yes the protagonist of this blog. And while most people would leave the exam hall visibly dejected-Karma would look unperturbed and when asked how his exam was - his face would contort and distort beyond recognition before spelling out "Ya OK!" The "OK" performance would be the ingredient to a future 9.something at the end of the semester.

While this intelligence always left people speechless - the lack of it at other times left people in fits of laughter. For instance, you could always make him believe that there is a test the other day,that the prettiest girl in the college has a crush on him or that the project guide has decided to fail him for some reason. He will willingly treat you or lend you money with the belief that he would get something better in return.The latest in this series being his realizing last Thursday that his TOEFL exam was a couple of days ago!More stories coming up!!

The story of a great king

Once upon a time there lived a great king.King Dholuvardhan as he was called by his satisfied subjects ruled the kingdom of Dholunagaram.The king was loved and adored by his only wife -- queen Jujulata.The king was completely bowled over the very first time he met Jujulata and gradually the princess' charm and elegance -- especially her gentle morning touch on Dholu's cheek -- had the king surrender his love to the generous woman.

The king ,however, was not of much intellectual capacity.His kingdom was run by the advice of his minister Parthakya.The minister ,though outright dumb, had convinced the king into believing that all his fundae where for his own welfare.Parthakya considered himself a great warrior , a champion of all sports. He never stopped bragging about his supremacy at a certain ball-stick and pocket game which he was painfully slow at but with which he had looted the king of all his glory.

The minister had promised to build the king a futuristic vehicle - one that would garner energy fro the mighty sun-god and move at speeds unmatched in that era.The king, thrusting the promise made by his minister had dreamt of several long drives on the vehicle with his lady love. Alas,the vehicle never materialized.It could run downward from the top of the hill and that was all the movement it could do.

The queen being let down by the king's inability to keep his word left him to Pune-land where he got herself a stylish vehicle of the present.Angry with the minister , the king had him fired.That, however, didn't stop his longing for the queen. Unable to take the pain of separation, the king journeyed across seven hill punctuating the heart of central India and reached Puneland.The queen was mesmerized by the King's sudden but sweet gesture. As a token of her appreciation,she made the king sit behind her on her scintillating vehicle of the present. Little did the king know what was in store for him.The magical vehicle upturned drammatically and the king was thrown away like a stone when catapulted.Though thickly covered by several layers of soft fat ,Dholu's bones gave way to the enormous jerk resulting from his massive physique hitting against the rough ground.Dholu cried for help but to no avail.The queen stood there with triumph oozing out of her eyes.Her vengeance was quenched.Feeling vindicated she drove away to the comfort of her palace which she shared with 3 other men.

Lying hopeless and helpless Dholu was finally rescued by Rishambara - the proud self-confident,never-to-be-wronged prince from Mumbainagar.Rishambara had once possessed a communication device of the future of which he was extremely proud but which he had tried to fiddle with -- so true to his nature and had hence caused it to break. Taking pity at Dholu's pitiable state , Rishambara directed him to the exit gate of Pune-Land that would eventually lead him to DHolunagar.though the direction was absolutely wrong, no one would challenge Rishambara with his Federer-like confidence.

Ill-fated Dholu paid heed to the words of Rish and ended up straight in the palace of Jujulata.
there, seeing the queen's display of infidelity in the most blatant form (if you know what i mean ;)) Dholu was stunned . His willingness to live disappeared and lifting a dagger he neutralized himself.

Thus died the great king

Holding Back!!

There are all kinds of people in this world. Some that are overtly optimistic, some that have tremendous confidence , some that are capable but hold themselves back and some that clearly are aware that they are absolutely incapable.While there is a certain degree of certainty in the way the first , second and fourth category of people carry themselves the 3rd category of people find themselves almost always unsure.

They doubt sometimes even the most obvious thing. They are not outright pessimist but pessimism is an integral part of their nature. Before taking on any work their thought process undergoes a series of steps. It starts with an evaluation of how they will be perceived by others in case they are not able to complete the task; so much so that their understanding of the task at hand is clouded by this thought.Their outlook is defensive and their mind always seeks an explanation of how to provide an appropriate explanation should someone question them on anything related to the task.Despite their capabilities their efficiency is generally low since they do not have a single point of focus.The weight of negativity on them is overwhelming and victory in minor battles in the course of the task completion gives them a sense of winning a war. They are fickle and appear never really sure.But realizing that a good external perception is priceless they constantly strive to show that they are on top of things. They frequently refuse to take help even when it is easily available lest people may perceive it to be a sign of weakness. Their work is scratchy a lot of the times and at best may receive a 'B'.
The journey is so full of worries that sometimes the joy of reaching the destination is diluted. Minor tasks seem a challenge and these people tend to seek solace in a virtual world where everything seems perfect for them. They may seem drawn from reality not paying attention to the most basic happenings involving them . They always seem to be "holding back" and so much of their energy is just never unleashed. And to make matters worse no one ever knows that they are indeed going through frequent on-off periods . Drawn back can often be the worst state to be in !!

An IPL Experience

The hype around the Indian Premier League had caught onto me. Being born and brought up in Cuttack , I had watched a couple of one-day internationals and a Test match but the IPL promised to be bigger and better .So I with a few of my friends planned to experience what many people had called the most exciting experience in their lifetimes. We booked the tickets for the encounter between RCB and CSK on the 23rd of March.The ticket was priced at Rs 1100 which I thought was decent enough. The match was supposed to begin at 8:00 pm. However, anticipating a massive turnout and wary about standing for a long time in the queue, we reached the stadium a good 3 hours in advance. During the journey from home to the stadium I had asked friends and families to keep an eye on the television screen just in case we were captured in the lenses. We entered (at about 5:45 pm) an vacant Chinnasamy stadium with the sun beating down hard on the "Bagpiper Special View stand" where we eventually seated ourselves. The stand looked clean and a good number of the front row seats were adorned with RCB flags . So if you were a CSK supporter you would have to get your own flag in case you wanted to flutter anything up in the air.

We then posed for a few photos fit to be uploaded on Orkut or Facebook.In the mean time the sun had gone down and conditions were ideal in terms of the heat. The music which had started even before we entered the stadium was loud to the point of irritation and impeded any sort of conversation . We thought ,however, that it was only a matter of time and that it would stop once the match started. A while later RCB players came to the field cheered by their supporters that easily outnumbered those of CSK. We were busy figuring out the players from the distance. A few of them came near the boundary to an even larger roar of the crowd.We thought we had had our money's worth already but their was more in store as CSK players arrived f0llowed by a four groups of foreign cheerleaders. Incidentally one group was stationed to perform right in front of our stand and their reception upon ascending the podium where they performed after every four and at the end of every over would have left the cricketers asking "Who are the real stars?"

The match though did not turn out to be as interesting as the prologue.To start with the organizers had clearly distributed many more tickets than the capacity of the stand which meant that many in the front rows had to remain standing throughout the match . This affected the view of people seated behind .There were several arguments and verbal fights.To add to this was the incessant cheer-leading music which sounded more like noise.RCB's slow batting except for the occasional boundary didn't help at all. The last 2 overs of their innings with sixes disappearing to all corners of the ground accompanied with amazing pyrotechnics ,however, made up for the lack in entertainment in the middle overs. in the second half,much before the half way point in CSK's innings the fate of the match was decided.The chasers caved in without putting up much of a fight. To the crowd at large it wasn't much of a disappointment as all of them had religiously supported the home team right from the word go. But to neutrals like us the match wasn't something worth remembering.

We left a couple of overs before the match ended with mixed feelings about our first ever IPL match.

Jack of all trades

Hello and a very happy new year. After writing this blog I am going to send it to a few of my friends just to ask them if they agree with this assesment of myself. I am one among 1.2bn Indians struggling like many others to carve a niche for myself but confused how to go about achieving it. I ,therefore, try out a lot of things never making it big in any of them though.

Academics : This is something I used to pride myself on. At least my credentials would prove so until a certain point in time. I joined an engineering college and was smacked left,right and center by the likes of Karma and others.I wanted to be a professor, wrote GATE but then I thought MBA appeared more lucrative:went some distance in that direction till I was made to realize that I am not yet made up for it. So I joined the firm I had been recruited for .Now I find myself in a major combat with the opposing forces being Java, Unix and Perl. So I have decided to lie low for some time.

Cricket : I am a batsman and finger spinner. I am good at the pull shot and the occasional straight drive but nothing more. My eyes lose track of the ball much before it reaches my bat. My balls (the ones i deliver :) ) turn a bit but without line and length i have often seen it disappear over my head.

Straight drive

Swimming : I can cross the breadth of an average sized pool but will drown by the time I reach more than half the length. Tried learning it over an irregular period of 2 years till i decided to suspend it. I claim that if 2012 is to become a reality then i can remain afloat for some time till necessary help arrives.

Pool : I learnt this game thanks to Rishav in the final year of my engineering. My biggest achievement has been beating Partha (a slow ,not so elegant player who somehow manages to pot them all) in a game and beating Juju in every game we played after the first few. Juju was my frequent pool partner who used to initiate table money and I got a free game every time.

Basketball : Another final year initiative. I always put in a lot of energy running around after the ball. Was a decent shooter but a slam dunk remained a distant dream. Miss this game though especially the part where we used to get up at 5 in the morning to play it.

Bowling : 103 is my highest score and that was when i played it for the first time. Every game I have played since has been a disappointment till when I scored an 86 when I last played. It has been embarrassing losing to girls 2 times :(

Reading : The thickness of a book is the principal criterion . I love reading newspaper and magazines but when it comes to reading books , well, it takes eternity . At 10 pages a day it would take me more than 2 months to complete a 600 paged book .

Movies and music : Of selected genres .Can only watch movies in a theater with the crowd giving necessary inputs as to when the situation is funny or serious. I am a bathroom singer and would any day qualify in one of those funny episodes of Indian idol .

Looks : Spend a decent time looking at the mirror . Make frequent attempts to lighten the tan that Sun god so generously gifts me every time I step out. Have put on a lot of weight of late and intend to shed a few kilos though at present it is only in the mind.And with money in hand have developed a taste to try out fancy clothes.

In the end, given the person that I am I would want to be remembered as a loving son, good friend and a caring would be husband