The Day I Became Peter

Today, after a long time, I revisited my blog. Though my passion for writing stayed strong inside me, my skills slowly deteriorated over the period. Like every working professional, I had pacified my guilt by the 'n' number of reasons I could find for supporting my lethargy of not dedicating time for my interest. And time took a hard hit on my skills and this I realized only when I started putting down my ideas and I ended up deleting whatever I typed for the first one hour. I understood that I definitely needed to brush up my skills now before I completely lost the only interest left inside me.

What made me to think of writing today, was a very small question. But the series of thought process that followed after hearing the question and before an answer came out of my mouth, really shattered me. I had a self realization of what have I become or rather what the world has turned me into. And the realization slowly dawned on me that this is not just me, but this is the story of every single human being living in this world.

With the rains lashing across the Silicon valley of India from past some days, I let go off the privilege of bike skiing on the roads and decided on a less adventurous mode of transport for commuting to and fro my workplace. I am generally not an adventurous person and my earlier experiences of diving into potholes, skiing across water filled roads, getting drenched with water splashing from passing vehicles made me opt for a safer journey in office cab. My motion sickness couldn't get better with sitting inside a closed 4 wheeled, gas smelling vehicle. Everyday I fought the nausea and tried wandering my thoughts across various aspects apart from the stuffy vehicle inside which I was trapped for hours. The traffic again was aggravating with the rains and waterlogged roads and time lost all its value on the roads of Bangalore. You could find drivers honking and fuming, some drivers who completely gave it up and had the most depressing expression on their face, some who drove by as dead would, expressionless. I understood that this could be the last stage of a person who has seen it almost everyday of his life.

Any which ways today I am not writing regarding traffic. My trafficgyaan on facebook vented out most of my anger in the form of sarcasm over a period of time and I too like the dead drivers, lost the interest to even write about it. Today I sat in the back of my cab having lost count of time, deep in my thoughts, the Hindi retro songs playing in my ear from Gaana.com and passing through the most sensitive area of Bangalore. And the sensitivity approached my network which usually is barred in the area and the song stopped playing in my ear replaced by the honking of vehicles around me. I was jolted from my thoughts when I realized that my cab driver was asking me something. Over a period of time, I somehow managed to learn the local language which saved me, I should say, in lot of situations. But still I was not equipped enough to understand the local language spoken with a local slang. With all my concentration and focus, removing the earplugs from my earphones fearing the sudden return of the song with the return of the network doesn't hinder my hearing power, I asked my driver to repeat the question. With all efforts to make me understand, he slowly repeated in Kannada "Madam, which party do you vote for, BJP or Congress?"

In any other circumstances, it would have been a very innocent question. But with the recent incidents that shook Bangalore, my brain cells got hyperactive and my mind twitched recalling all the possible hidden motive of this question. I was reminded of what happened to Gauri Lankesh for being open about her thoughts and having a frank opinion about Indian Political parties and systems. I looked at my driver's eyes looking at me through the rear view mirror and waiting for an answer. I imagined if the cab driver had the countrymade 7.65mm pistol which he may use, if I supported the party that he opposes. Would I also be shot inside this small, closed, 4 wheeled vehicle and nobody knows who shot me and for what. My name wouldn't even qualify to be mentioned along with Lankesh, Pansare or Dabholkar. I was not even an amateur writer. I remembered all the times when I had a strong opinion and thinking about the fate of those writers who expressed openly, I decided not to write any of it. And here again I am thrown out of my comfort zone and put in the spot and being asked the same question to which I stopped finding an answer long back. This is what Martin Niemöller said in the 1950's: 

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - And there was no one left to speak for Me."

I looked for a safe answer to come out of the situation and finally after much debate inside my brain, I told him "I do not have any parties, I have never voted".

My next thought, following my answer went to AAP where Arvind Kejriwal was attacked and blamed saying that he was an Anarchist. I realized my blunder and wondered about the consequences I would have to face for being rebellious about the Indian political system and not believing in any authority. Finally I shooed away all my fears and I managed to ask my driver, why he even asked that question. He casually said that he saw a welcome board outside the sensitive area for one of the leaders who visited Bangalore recently and just wanted to strike a conversation since he was also bored of lying in the traffic.

After this incident, the person I could relate myself to was Saint Peter. Saint Peter to whom Jesus said "Before dawn, Peter, you will forsake me 3 times." Everyone with disown Saint Peter for having betrayed Jesus Christ. But what fear can do to a man, even God can't stop. The fear for his life, made Saint Peter forsake Jesus and declare that he doesn't know Jesus Christ. Fear is far more powerful than any other feeling. It can make you do things and stop you from being yourself. With the recent deaths of people who have been vocal about their opinions, attacks on people who questioned the blind beliefs, outcast of people who tried to change the system, an environment of fear has been created in every citizen's heart. We say that world is moving ahead in time, technology, science has evolved and many discoveries are being made regarding the very existence of human beings, but where are we heading to? Are we reliving the era of fear instilled ruling like the Moghuls, the Rajas and the Britishers.? Are we going back in time, when entire world is moving fast forward.? And whom are we to blame for this? We have the answers, but we are too afraid to acknowledge it.

Endorsement Infringement

Endorsement Infringement…

Our life is filled with media and endorsements. Day in and Day out we have endorsements related to all the things of our lives. From morning tooth paste to night’s sleeping mattresses, we have media suggesting us how, when and what to use and what not to use. As a customer we are bombarded with so many choices that it becomes difficult to lead an otherwise simple life.

The things doesn’t get simpler with our favorite media personalities endorsing the products which we otherwise are not satisfied with. This throws the customer in a major dilemma. Our evergreen stars like Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai ask us to invest in Gold, the next minute we have Akshay Kumar asking us not to keep the Gold at home instead to take a Gold loan. Confusion!

A daily customer has to go through a difficult decision making for purchasing a commodity. Toothpaste to be taken as per the suggestion of Madhuri Dixit or Sonam Kapoor. Morning breakfast go by Bipasha Basu or Deepika Padukone. Wear myntra or yepme or flipkart. Travel by Shahrukh’s Hyundai, Ranveer Kapoor’s Maruti or Akshay’s Honda series which provide 60kmpl mileage. It’s not only the commodities that the celebrities have a say about. They also effect the personality of the customer by providing them solutions for personality development. Shahrukh Khan’s fair and handsome ad showing how he has become the King of Bollywood with the help of the cream, how Horlicks helps in increasing the height and development of the brain of the children, how wearing Raymonds will give you a rich attractive look and driving Maruti Ciaz will induce the crowd  to make way for you. The list is endless and every day you see a new ad and a new product in market just adding on. Some ads also show how the human emotions can be maneuvered like Airtel which shows how you can impress your father to get you a free coverage, how a wife can compel her husband for an anniversary gift, how the daughter in law can win the mother in law’s heart by a dish washer etc.

The ads will be in full swing when there are any so called special occasions. Valentine’s Day is the best example to see how much advertisements have created an impact in our lives. Before, hardly anybody used to know the importance of February 14^th in the calendar. But today, we have 7 days before February 14^th jotted on the calendars. Rose day, Teddy Bear day, Chocolate day, Ring Day and finally the big gift varying from diamond, gold, electronic gadgets and recently even homes. These are just some examples of marketing gimmicks which have influenced the crowd’s mind that this is how Valentine’s Day is to be celebrated. This lands the lovers in trouble to shop because by doing otherwise they should be ready to face the wrath and also be questioned of the intensity of their love for their beloved.

We also have some informative advertisements which contains message for public such as Polio drops day, Cancerous effects of Smoking, Aamir Khan’s mehmaan bhagwaan samaan campaign and others. Some really do stress on the current issues like saving water, electricity for future generation, Vidya Balan endorsing the importance of having a lavatory at home for cleanliness and hygiene, right to education for all children etc. These type of advertisements do make us wonder for a minute that whether we are being a responsible citizen.

Advertisement is a method of marketing which creates a perceived need or desire in the consumers mind. It is mainly targeted to create awareness to the general public. However it has gone a step ahead in influencing the daily life of public. The product companies have to ensure hiring a good marketing or advertising agency to sustain in the market. Many good products have perished from the market as they could not advertise the way that impinges the customer mind. The marketing agencies also started charging the companies a bomb to do the advertising. Public however is ignorant that indirectly they are being charged for the advertisement of the product. Pepsi and Coke which hardly costs Re 1.50 we are paying Rs 20 minimum for it. The majority of the extra amount we are paying towards the advertisements and marketing that the company had to do for us to buy the product. And it all depends on the mind behind the ad that how good they can influence the general public to buy, no matter how bad the product is.

The advertisements have not been restricted to products and services alone. But it has gone a step beyond to advertise personalities. Best prototype being our recent Prime Minister who climbed up the ladder straight from being a Chai Wala to India’s renowned politician by having the best of PR. The transformation from Narendra Modi to Brand Modi should be taken as one of the management lessons for the future budding marketing students. It’s the perfect example of how to successfully implement a marketing and branding campaign. Advertising legends such as Ogilvy & Mather's Piyush Pandey, McCann Worldgroup's Prasoon Joshi and Sam Balsara of Madison World lent their skills at various levels. Good Advertisement agencies, some Catchy lines like NaMo and Ab ki baar Modi Sarkar and a personality to carry it, a clear cut combination of marketing strategy for BJP’s full sweep win in Indian elections. The personal websites of PM like twitter, facebook spanked the public into getting mesmerized by the constant updates of his activities. Irrespective of the developments, the step taken by Modi indeed did strike the right chord leading to the birth of a leader.

We cannot deny the pervasive influence of advertisements in our life. Willingly or unwillingly we are going to get effected by the media and endorsements. One way advertisements do provide us with the knowledge of different products and services at the same time we may be subjected to many falsified information. Maybe we should just have a mentos and dimag ki bathi jalao to thoroughly introspect what we want or take a mountain dew and go ahead trying different products till we are successful kyunki dar ki aage jeet hai..

 

 

Unexplored Uttara Karnataka..

Recently we had been to a trip to Sirsi, North Karnataka. When I was first suggested with the place, I was pretty much skeptical of spending my much valued holiday there. Having never heard about Sirsi, my first question was "Where is this place"? I started googling about the place and found it very surprising that even in Google images or any websites I couldn't get much of information about this place. It increased my worries about going to this place. Thanks to a blog written by some traveler, I would have certainly not planned to this place and would have missed all the beauty that it beheld.
It gave me a strong reason to pen down my travel experience by which I can help somebody else in planning their travel and thus exploring places which are less known but have ample options to offer.

A place less explored, it is an ideal getaway into the serene flawless nature for those who are caged in the pollution filled cities. It’s also a place with blend of all tourist locations. It is any traveler’s dream destination. It has mighty waterfalls, beach, trekking, forts, adventure sports, historical building and much more.

                        

Our first stop was at Sirsi. Sirsi is a nerve center for huge waterfalls starting with Jog falls. Jog falls is one of the best waterfalls in India and lies at a distance of 65km from Sirsi. Apart from Jog falls there are many other mighty waterfalls concealed in the dense Western Ghats like Sathodi falls, Magod falls, Vibhoothi falls and Unchali falls. Sathodi falls near Yellapur requires a travel and trek through dense woods. On the way we can spot Malabar squirrel, snakes and hornbill which are famous in these areas. Unchalli falls is again a treat to any nature lover’s eye. It is one of the most scenic falls amidst dense forest. The area was covered in full mist formed by the water falling with might. On the way to Yellapur, one can visit Sahasralinga River which is famous for accommodating 1000 lingas etched on the stones. There is a cable bridge across the river and an abandoned fort with cannon.

 

 

 

After waterfalls, we visited Banavasi. It is an ancient temple built in the 9^th century. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and has beautiful architecture engraved on monolithic stone. The Varadha River flows near to the temple. Unique attraction of the temple is the half idol of Lord Ganesha whose remaining half is believed to be Varanasi. Irrespective of the temperature outside, the temple was very cool inside. It really takes us back to the glory of our history with the architecture.

Our next place was Yana after Banavasi. It is one the famous tourist spots in the area. Yana is two huge unusual solid black rocky formations. Yana also has a hindu mythological importance hence also visited by many pilgrims. There is a temple at the foot of the rocks. Within the cave there is a bronze statue of Chandika, an incarnation of Goddess Durga. It is the place where it is believed that Bhasmasura was himself reduced into ashes by Lord Shiva incarnated as a beautiful woman known as Mohini. The cave enables a small trek through the mountain and cave covered in thick green scenic forest.

By evening, one can go to Jenukallu Gudda which is a view point for sun set. There is a small Tibetan colony similar to one in Coorg near Mundgod en route to Hubli. One can witness beautiful Tibetan monastery and Tibetan people which takes you to a total different culture and feel. If you are lucky do explore at their prayer time with soothing music and chants. But they usually don't entertain the visitors to be inside the temple during their prayer time.

 

Our second trip was to Gokarna through Kumta. On the way we stopped at the Devimane Ghat which gives beautiful scenery of sun rising through the Western Ghats. You will have small tea shops from where you can buy nice hot tea and sit and watch the sun rise on a cool breezy morning in midst of the forest. Beware of the monkeys so preferably don't carry any eatables which might turn them on.

Once we reached Kumta we were suggested by our cab driver to visit the Mirjan fort. Once we reached the fort we were not prepared of what we met. Beautifully maintained remains of a fort covered by green grass believed to be built in 1600’s. You can see both Islamic and Portuguese influences in construction. It is popularly attributed to Shareef Ul Mulk who ruled from Ponda near Goa. Its a fort worth visiting and can be at par with the forts of Goa.

Gokarna beach, also known as the famous Om beach is a prime destination for young crowd from Mangalore, Udupi and Manipal after Goa. Its one of my favorite destinations of which I am never tired visiting. An unblemished beach comprises of three beaches, Om, Half-moon and Paradise beach. The best part of Gokarna is the trek from Om to Paradise. The path involves some hard core trekking on the edge of the mountain hovering over the beach. Also there is no clear cut path to trek and there are chances that you may lose your way. Just focus on being at the beach side and keep moving. It is however worth the struggle as the trekkers are rewarded with some beautiful scenic and secluded points at many places on the way. You will have a beautiful view from the top of the hill and the trek is also through forest which gives you a real adventure. For those who do not want to risk, there is a boat facility taking you from Om to Paradise and moon. On the way you can spot many dolphins swimming through the pristine blue waters. After the tedious and tiresome trek you can have good continental and international cuisines on the beach side shacks cum restaurants. You will find many foreigners staying in these beaches hence he menu is to mainly cater to the needs of the international tourists. After a sumptuous food we started back, bidding goodbye over a beautiful sunset in the beach.

 

Those who love adventure and want to indulge in white water rafting and other sports can go to Dandeli which is again a 100km from Sirsi.

DOERS THROUGH DEDICATION

“The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

Great Achievers in the world, have nothing uncommon in them, But they went ahead a mile, from where their companions dropped.

It is easy to blame our fates for what we do not have. But how many can overcome the same and go ahead with the same. Dedication is one such value that gives us endurance and a persistent perseverance. Throughout our lives, day in and day out we come across many such people who have dedicated their lives to the cause they are living for. Easily said, it requires certain level of focus and commitment to achieve something.

Hellen Keller overcame her physical abnormality of being deaf and blind, and she became a teacher. For Hellen it was a fight to live a normal life. For Anne Sullivan, her Teacher it was a dedication of her profession to teach the most impossible student she ever had. Inspite of Hellen retorting in the initial month of classes and being very arrogant, Anne succeeded in developing the interest in Anne to get educated. Anne taught all the things to Hellen through touch. Once Hellen understood that Anne was trying to help her, Hellen never stopped and turned back in life. Hellen obtained her degree in Bachelor of Arts. Hellen love for communicating made her give many number of speeches and lectures. Anne stayed with Hellen for a considerable period till her health gave away. She was known as a “Miracle Worker”. Hellen moved around the world and raised funds for the blind and laid American Foundation for Blind. Keller also published 12 books. She also became a social activist for disabled.

For what would have been an impossible task was achieved by mere dedication of a teacher for her student.

People say if you dream and dedicate yourself to the dream you can move mountains. It was proved true by a simple man from a small village, a village in Bihar which was isolated from the rest of the world by a huge hill. Unable to witness the plight of the villagers to cross the hill everyday for basic amenities and after losing his wife because of delayed medical attention, a man rose against the hill. He continued his fight with the hill for years together and finally what seemed like a fairy tale became a history. Dashrath Manjhi, also called Mountain Man reduced the distance from 55km to 15km after 22 long years of committed work.

Dedication is an important principle which paves way to all other principles. Integrity, Discipline, Hard work automatically comes when we have dedication. Dedication is thinking that it is our responsibility to do something. When we consider something as our own, we go miles to achieve things.

There are many such ideal examples for dedication. Many great people achieved success only through dedication. Mahatma Gandhi fought for the Africans, thinking he was fighting for his own right. Bhagat Singh, Subash Chandra Bose died for their own independence. Mother Teresa served her own mother, brother, sister, father on the streets. The people in armed force are taught that they are fighting for their country thus saving their own families. Being dedicated towards a thing, we will even be ready to lay our lives for it.

In the corporate sector, having a dedicated employee is what is important. An employee who thinks the company is his own company, the people his own, the profit and loss his own. If an employee can think like that then he can go any number of miles to bring about success to the company. He will strive hard to bring success to his company. He will know to give value to his team mates. He will never lose his integrity, because he will be cheating himself. A dedicated employee tries all possible ways to bring about success in his work. It is the responsibility that comes along with dedication. Ones you hold yourself responsible for something, you can never go wrong in it.

Dedication is the key factor of success for an individual as a dedicated employee to the company. If we are dedicated there needed be a set of do’s and don’ts in the company to which the employees have to adhere. Because every employee would be civilized enough to discipline himself. Dedication is not only about commitment, but it also develops discipline, responsibility, integrity, determination, hard work etc.

“Success in Life is a matter not so much of Talent or Opportunity as of Perseverance and Dedication.”

 

 

A Second...

I was standing on the roof of my building having a cup of coffee in the midst of my busy schedule at office. I stood staring at the city in front of me and the view was really breathtaking. I wondered how come I missed noticing it all these days. I was enjoying the panoramic view of the world lying vast in front of me when a thought came into my mind. Such a vast world, billions of people, n number of things would be happening now in this 1 minute I stood there.

Someone is happy, someone is sad,

Someone is enjoying, someone is depressed,

Someone is with friends, Someone is alone

Someone is beginning a new life, someone is bidding bye to their old life,

Someone is celebrating their success, Someone is broken over their failure,

Someone just got married, Someone just got separated,

Someone just achieved their dreams, Somebody just failed their dreams,

Someone just fell in love, Someone just lost their love,

Someone is supporting someone, Someone is cheating upon someone,

Someone is loving someone, Someone is putting up a fight with someone,

Someone is wide awake. Someone is in the world of dreams,

Someone is giving life to someone, Someone is taking the life out of some one,

Someone just woke up to realize that they are still alive, Someone just never got up from their sleep.,

Someone is fighting for life, Someone is giving away their life,

Someone is living somewhere, Someone is Dying Somewhere...

All happening in just a minute..

How much our life is uncertain.. We don't know what is going to happen to us in the next minute and we plan our future for years. We are surrounded by so many things that we do not have time for ourselves. We are struggling everyday to reach somewhere and forget to enjoy the journey. We are planning and building up things so that we can be happy tomorrow and we forget to celebrate our small successes. We are sacrificing so many things thinking we will have a secure future. We do not have time for our loved ones and we convince ourselves that we will make it up for them tomorrow. We are so stuck up in achieving something Big which is so uncertain and forget all our small achievements.

"Past is history, Tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a Gift and that's why its called as Present." The present is all that we have. Live it to the fullest. Live each minute as though it is the only time that you have. Do everything that you want to do NOW so that tomorrow you do not have any regrets from your life.

How much does it take for you to lose or gain everything? Just A Minute....

 

Dandeli

It was another of those exciting mornings. Hearts filled with curiosity and thrilled, I just couldnt wait for evening to come. For what laid ahead for my weekend was a beautiful getaway from the regular skyscrapers, noise pollution and traffic. I was going to live in the forest for the next 2 days.

Excited I took Casper for a long walk than usual. His golden locks were jumping with excitement. He was also in a holiday mood. He knew when the weekend was around. I was playing with him. My golden retriever had grown up to be a big dog from the time I had bought a small puppy 8 months back.

Something distracted me and turned around to see what was happening. Casper unknowing of  the fact that his owner's concentration has moved  came running to me and jumped on me. I just felt something heavy coming and hitting me. And I could feel my ankle bone dislocating from its safe place. What followed was a excruciating pain. More than feeling bad of what was my plight with a broken leg, I could see my dreams of Dandeli crumbling down. With great courage I tried to move and the pain vanished as soon as it came. My happiness knew no bounds. I came back jumping.

Before evening there was a long day at work to be spent. I went to office with a singing heart. Work was as usual loaded over my desktop. Mails started pouring in as soon as i opened my mail box. Gosh!! I continued with my work. After some time I started getting a small pain in the leg. I tried to ignore it. But after somtime, the pain became severe that I couldnt bear at all. I tried to get up from my seat and learnt that I was not able to keep my foot down. I couldnt believe of what was happening. Didnt I come walking on these same legs. I was carried to Hospital where I was robbed of 3000k for all the check up and xrays with no particular outcome. Doctor asked me to take bed rest for 2 weeks. Now that was the last thing I wanted to hear.

My Dandeli trip for which I craved so much was at stake. And as time passed I could see it slipping from my hand. I couldnt take a step on my own and here I was all prepared to go to dandeli. I finally decided that nothing could stop me from going. I started my journey with my so called sprained leg.

We had booked our night journey in the bus. I limped myself all the way to the busstand. Thanks to the pain killer injection. Atleast now I am able to limp. People around wondered where I was pulling myself to. It was damn hot in Bangalore then. We were getting burnt inside the bus. Finally after crossing bangalore we got some relief and we finally slept.

Morning we were welcomed with beautiful green view of the Forests. It was so cool climate. We had reached Dandeli. And my foot was surprisingly paining less. We got down at what was known as the main bus stop of Dandeli. It was a small village bus stand, which was built and left for its fate. We were advised by a friend not to take auto to reach our destination. We enquired for the bus. We were shown an old bus which we doubted how long will it be since it breaks down. We sat in the empty bus taking the first pics of our journey. It was a while when all the localites started getting into the bus. And by all ways we were the ones who were left out among the entire bus occupiers. But the localites seemed to be least interested in us. As everyday they would be seeing hundreds of travellers from all over the world.

 

The bus started and initially we were amazed to see how the houses were located inside the forests, with all amenities so far. I guess this bus was the only option for all the residents. Then started the roller coaster ride. We had to agree that the driver and the bus were very much capable of driving through the hills. We were awed by the expertise that the driver showed on the road. We saw many langurs passing us. The whole langur family having a good sight of all the 2 legged animals travelling on a 4 wheel machine.

We had booked one of the jungle lodges to stay in. The conductor was a very friendly person who guided us when the bus reached our destination. We stood on the road with four roads to four different directions. Luckily we found the resort board and arrow indicating the direction. We started walking in that direction. The road was filled with mud which shown the impacts of a heay vehicles tyres spluttering through it regularly. On both the sides there were variety of flora. After a while we lost count of the time since we had started walking. We wondered whether we were on the right path or some wind has changed the direction of the board. Luckily a faint structure started to be visible to us. We believed that to be the entrance of our resort. We entered the gates and were happy to see the housed constructed at distance and on bamboo sticks. It was really going to be interesting stay.

We got freshen up. We realised that we had chosen a totally wrong time which was in June to visit Dandeli. We were told that all water games including the most famous Rafting was stopped by the government due to fluctuations in the water level of the dam. I cursed each and every site which I had referred to before planning for not putting that piece of information in the sites. We were heartbroken. We couldnt believe that we had come all the way for nothing. Our hotel manager informed that we could still do trekking and some bird watching. Now that was a drop of hope. But still bird watching was not our cup of tea. We saw many photographers with their SLR's and DSLR's and silently sitting among the trees, eyes deeply fixed onto something. Only we couldnt seem to see what intrigued them so much.

We remembered our friend who was a localite of Dandeli. Maybe this was when we realised how true the Airtel song was " Har ek friend zaroori hota hai". Our friend recommended a place where all water sports were available. We contacted a person who he said was his friend. We were most warmly welcomed by the guy. Thanks to our friend. We planned our day excitingly of what we have to do. We wanted to do each and every thing like coracle ride, trekking, kayaking, water fall rappelling etc.

We first started out with Coracle ride. We were taken in Safari Jeeps to a river bed. We wore our life jackets on which we held our lifes. We went for a ride in the basket which carried we four and a driver. I wondered how it is holding so much of weight. We were shown Hornbill birds which were found in abundance in Dandeli. While we heard interesting stories about Hornbill we finished our Coracle ride. The driver seemed to be happy letting us know what little he knew. We were allowed to swim in the river with our life jackets on. We had great fun playing and swimming. After that we were shown the big dam which was the forefather of Dandeli and water sports.

After we had a good lunch, we went to meet the guy our friend recommended. We went for kayaking for a long time in the river. After finishing the kayaking we were thrown into the river by tilting the boat when we least expected it. After that we got freshen up and went for trekking. The path was too steep making us pant and breathless. But what view we had on reaching the top was something which was worth all the pain. We had a beautiful view of the sunset. We saw some bisons crossing the jungle. We climbed down the hill and by the time we reached, it became dark. We had a great dinner and whole night we chit chatted and enjoyed our gossips and pranks on each other while the langurs jumped around all the night over our roof.



Next day morning we got up at 04:00 and got ready to go for water fall rappelling. 80kms through the jungle, a safari early in the morning was of great fun. We saw many fox on the road. We reached the destiny and the trekked our way down. We were awed to see the waterfall and when the guide demoed to show how to climb down we were literally filled with fear. We went one by one. I was the third to go. By the time the first 2 went my legs started shivering. I was tied to rope and all other safety things. I started to descend slowly the rocks through the water fall. First all it went very well. But then on reaching half way it was becoming difficult for me to get grip on the slippery rocks. I slipped and fell leaving my rope. I was hanging in mid neither going up or down. I couldnt see a thing in the water fall.  I tried to get hold of the rope. Finally after a strenuous effort i succeeded in getting hold of the rope. I went straight down in the small pond below.



It was the best experience we had ever had. We enjoyed the adventurous trip in dandeli. Seriously it was the best ever adventurous trip we had. We were disappointed that we couldnt do all the sports like jacuzzi, river crossing and mainly the rafting. Hoping we could come back some other time for these we bid goodbye to dandeli while we headed to railway station. Only after coming out we came to know that the nearest atm is 30 kms away. And we were famished and hungry. Not having ate anything since morning we couldnt find even a single food outlet in that area. Later we understood how difficult it was to get food and drinking water outside the resorts. Finally we got a small hotel where we got some rice and chicken curry. We ate it more fast than chicken biriyani.

We reached the railway station and waited for our train while we went back our memories in dandeli while we browsed through the photos we had taken....

easy vs difficult

easy is to get a place in someone's address buk,
difficult is to get place in someone's heart.

easy is to judge the mistake of others,
difficult is to recognize our own mistakes.

easy is to talk without thinking,
difficult is to refrain our tongue.

easy is to hurt someone who loves u,
difficult is to heal the wound.

easy is to forgive others,
difficult is to aask for forgiveness.

easy is to set rules,
difficult is to follow them

easy is to dream every night,
difficult is to fight for the dream.

easy is to show victory,
difficult is to assume defeat with dignity.

easy is to admire a full moon,
difficult is to see the other side.

easy is to stumble with a stone,
difficult is to get up.

easy is to enjoy life everyday,
difficult is to give its real value.

easy is to pray everynight,
difficult is to find god in small things.

easy is to promise someone,
difficult is to fulfill the promise.

easy is to say we love,
difficult is to show it everyday.

easy is to criticize others,
difficult is to improve oneself...