Fun Facts about my trek

• Always make an attempt of going for a trek with strangers. New people, new mindsets, mew way of living and new you!!
• Have an open mind, dnt go with expectations of luxury, and prince/princess treatments. Follow the above 2 and the best of fun is guranteed.
• Learn the Jigujaa dance to releive stress.
• Talk to people like Lele who will make sure you forget to sing a song, you will learn the art of reciting a song like a poem.
• Talk to people like Ram who will tell you that "Size does not matter" He is a puny little boy who has mastered the art of climbing hills and catching reptiles. Talk to people like Anu, Red Boy, Blue Boy, Navya and you will realise that you are not the only mad person on this earth. They are equally mad , have no brains, do nonstop nonsense all the time I can never forget Navya's eyes in the night, amidst the darkness her eyes are enough to provide you all the light!
• Talk to people like Swati and Sajid and you will realize that Love can never die whether you are married for a year or more! Also, you are for sure to improve your Movie Vocab with tehse two around.
• Talk to people like Neeraj and you will realise that death cannot be feared. Life is adventurous and you can do eveyrthing, you can crwal like a reptile, you can fly like a bird, you can do everything that any other form of living can do. This is the power of being a homosapien and being adventuorous. Someday one should sit and listen to this man's adventure stories. You are sure to get goosebumps.
• Dancing in the bus, playing antakshari in the bus can be so much fun only when you dnt know a person. You will realise that melodious songs can be recited, they can sound like nosie and ofcourse "Sur n taal" dnt mean the same to everyone.
• This trek also taught us that when you are extremely hungry and wnating to eat, thts exactly when you will not find a place to eat anywhere, all you would do is eat biscuits which you would get bored of soon. And then when you find a place to eat, the world will realise that you are more hungry than a kid in somalia! Alls well definitely ends well...and now each of us just cant wait till we get together again on a another trek...More fun, more adventure, more wilder than before!!

• To check and feel intimidated about the trek and the fun jus click on the below link and you will know it all!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/bhavna.nimit/ShinganiGudda

• A memory to remeber for a lifetime!!!!!!

Trek to Shingani Gudda 18th - 19th July PART 3

Day 2
Fresh and twice the energy than the day before, this is how we began our day 2. By the time everyone got ready, we did some amazing photography, captured the nature and ofcourse wild animals "us"!!
We then treated ourselves to a delectable breakfast consisting of yummy mangalore islis and mangalore bajjis. Finally we were all set for our Rapelling.
We walked through the forest and then we recahed this hill, a 60 feet high hill. The rocks were wet and it was raining. But still we gathered all the courage to do rapelling.
Neeraj showed us how to do it and told us what not do while rapelling. Each of us did rapelling one by one. I kind of didnt get a hang of it till I slipped a bit on the rock. I then managed till the end. I was reaaaaaaaaalllllllyyyyyyy proud of it at the end of it. I managed the 60ft steep and now I can do it bravely. Amazing.
back to Base Camp
End of the adventure time. We all finally packed our bags and headed back in the bus.
Extreme fun, extreme adventure, extremes of everything!!! This is how a weekend should be like!!!!

Trek to Shingani Gudda 18th-19th July Part 2

De-stressed
Finally we came back to our base camp. All of us were drenched in rain and each one of us were shivering. All we needed was a hot cup of coffee or chai!! And as we came down, we were welcomed again by hot cup of chai and some hot bondas..!!!What a releif...!!! We then headed for nice hot water showers and finally got rid of all the mud, leeches, and sweat!! All of us were as fresh as a dew drop!!!
Dumbcharrades
There was still some time till the dinner would be served.So all of us put on our thinking hats wondering what to do...and boom!! what can be betetr fun than Dumbsy!! Hence we started the act of being dumb!! The only rule of the game was each one would act and no one just sit watching the entertatinent.Thus began the high jinks of our eveing. There were people like Sajid who was a master at giving extreme difficult movies and we took all the posisble advantage of it. There were also people like Neeraj who when given a movie would just stand thinking for hours together. He needs to start classes for Dumbsy!! In all a boisterous time before dinner!!
Yummmy Dinnnerrr!!!
A tantalizing Dinner was ready at a small cozy hut. The menu was full on....chapathi, sabzi, sambhar,rasam, pumpkin curry, plain rice, puliogrey, curd, payasam and a very tempting "amptekai" pickle. Amptekai is a kind of baby mango as far as I know about it. After all the trek and dumbcy each of us had our dinner in such peace. It looked like all of us were hungry from decades. The payasam was something I had never ever eaten in life and for me this was an amzing dinner.
Night Jungle Walk
Noctiphobia and herpetophobia are two biggest phobias that I have. I get shit scared of darkness, night and the next fear is fear of reptules, those creepy crawly things.
But inspite of thes ethings I took the risk of going for a night jungle walk with torches. We were around 7 of us amongst which I was the only one who was shit scared.
All torch lights on and there we began teh walk. The jungle was quiet. The only sound we heard were the frogs croaking. Maybe they were mating and used the sound to attract a female frog. The next thing I saw was millions of stars. And I told my frens, that the stars looked beautiful. I was wrong. They told me, those were not stars, they were Fire Flies. I had never seena fire fly in y life.They lloked so aazing.
Facts about Fire Flies
They are winged Beetles, and commonly called fireflies or lightning bugs for their conspicuous crepuscular use of bioluminescence to attract mates or prey. Fireflies are capable of producing a "cold light", containing no ultraviolet or infrared rays. This chemically-produced light, emitted from the lower abdomen, may be yellow, green, or pale red in color, and has a wavelength from 510 to 670 nanometers.Light production in fireflies is due to a type of chemical reaction called bioluminescence. This process occurs in specialised light-emitting organs, usually on a firefly's lower abdomen. Fireflies do not bite, do not have pincers, do not carry disease and in fact are quite harmless. They cannot even fly fast. They have a life span of two months.
Back to the Jungle Walk
So the Junglw looked amazing with millions of fireflies.We kept walking,my frens tried their best to ensure I get rid of my fear but alas, their ears were invited to a scream wich echoed for the next few days!! I screamed so loudly everytime all the torch lights went off or everytime I felt an intution of someone following us! We heard the jackal howling and that was the last thing iw anted to hear. Requested them to head back and thus we did. We tried walking few kiloeters for around 3 times and finally in the 3 attempts, I managed to take 25 steps without a light or anyone beside me! I am proud of myself! But still; not too proud as I still have 50% fear of the darkness. Maybe in the next few treks I should be fine.
Serene Night
We were back from the walk. Few tents were put up and few were fast asleep. The rest of us decided to sleep in our cottages. before sleeping, I sat on the bench against the fast flowing river.It was a very phlegmatic night, all I could hear was the river flowing, the breeze passing thorugh my skin, the leaves rustling. Splendid! End of Day 1!

All the energy from my body had been used through day 1 for a wonderful trek. Nature is so beautiful and if you are a nature lover, theres nothing more than this that can relieve you and make you feel as fresh as a new mourn hay!

Trek to Shingani Gudda Part 1 - 18th -19th July, 2009 PART 1

Hectic Week
I had a long week working through various presentations and reports. The whole week was screwed as I was at work for more than 12 hours. Sometimes it just becomes a compulsion more than your desire to do the same. All I was waiting was for Friday evening, when my weekend would be a different one from the normal ones as I was going on a trek.
Strange Things
I was just hoping that the Trek that I had registered with the Bangalore Mountaineering Club (BMC) shouldn’t turn out to be a disaster. I feared as it was the first time I had registered with an adventure club, it was the first time I had decided to go all alone, it was the first time I was going for 2 day trip with people whom I have never met in my life, it was the first time I blindly trusted the organization for all the facilities that they would provide, including my safety amidst the Jungles.
The night began by a pickup at Manipal Hospital, where I saw many people had gathered with bag packs and I was proud of having one too, after all the bag pack was for a trek and not a holiday!
Everyone had come in groups, I was alone. We all boarded the bus and I sat in the bus with hundreds of thoughts running in my head. Various pick up points were there and finally after the MG road pick up the bus was loaded, there was chitter chatter everywhere, talking, mocking, giggling … everything but I was still quiet, all to myself. I did not have anyone next to me. That night I looked out of the window while half the crowd was talking and the other half sleeping, and I said to myself “Why didn’t you get someone with you”? “why is no one approaching and making an effort to be frens” “why is no one responding to my smile” “why am I here” “I would have been better off if I were back in Bangalore” and ‘n’ number of other thoughts. But I have gone through enough of stress in the last few weeks and I convinced myself, “Don’t worry if you are alone, you will be fine and you will enjoy” and I finally slept.
A new beginning
So we were heading to Shingani Gudda, which is a part of the Charmadi ranges, which is near Arsinamakki. One can go to Arsinamakki by taking a deviation from the route to Dharmastala. We entered the Home Stay : Stream of Joy by 7 and I was amazed at the beauty of the Nature. Lush green, various shades of green, wet roads, air so fresh, that you can feel it right from your nose to your lungs and amidst the jungles..Aamzing…Simply beautiful. There were these huge steps that we had to climb down and as we go down the Stream of Joy, there were these gorgeous cottages. A fast flowing river against these cottages with high tides just added a pie on this lovely place.
Adventure begins
Apparently, after reaching that place I realized there were 5 other girls whom I spoke to when we were directed to our cottage. 2 of them married and were here with their hubbies and the rest were like me. It took us hardly few seconds to become frens and I had a big relief, I felt like all the thoughts I had were rubbish and I was confident that my trek would be filled with fun and adventure. We freshened up and there we were all set for the trek. We were served a yumm breakfast which included hot chai/coffee with Paddu and sheera. This is the first time I ate something called Paddu and I fell in love with it.
Life is beautiful with strangers
Finally we all gathered near our Bus and there we were asked to form a circle. I presumed this was for an Introduction which I was weating for a long time. There was this puny little guy named “Ram” who was our leader for the trek, an excellent master at adventure. He taught us the Jigujaaa dance and we were all introduced. In all 31 of us, a huge crowd.
The Trek begins
And then we started a trek to the Shingani Gudda. We had to walk through the forests for around 4 hours to reach the peak and another 4 hours to return back. The forest was dense, it was pouring cats and dogs, there were thorns everywhere, mushrooms which I have never seen, leeches which I had never imagined. Inspite of all this, we did manage a great team work, we all walked in straight lines headed by Ram and the last being Neeraj, the BMC owner. We were instructed very clearly before the trek itself that we should not expect any royal treatments, each one is responsible for their own self and one needs to be brave and not throw up tantrums. So we knew our rules, we just followed it, walked through the forest, filled our bottles with the water flowing through the jungle, ate biscuits and chocolates to keep the energy on, stopped whenever we wanted to do photography or when we were tired of climbing the steeps, the slopes or jumping over broken branches.
Something about Leeches
A leech will be as small as a small baby ant when it sticks to your body. It can walk through your tracks, tshirt, shoes, socks anywhere. It starts sucking your blood and it becomes fatter and bigger. It will suck 3 ml of your blood and then it will fall off. Your body will ooze out 3 times more blood and it will leave a mark which would not go for years together. Anytime you spot the leech, just pour salt on them, or spray deodorant or volini or any spray which has some alcohol content. This would create a burning sensation for the leech and he will leave your skin immediately.
Heaven abode
Once the forest was over, we reached the lowest part of the gudda. We had many more slopes to climb till we reached the peak of the Gudda, which is also known as the “Buddhas Peak”. It was an amazing sight as all we could see was greenery for few meters and all we were surrounded with was Fog and mist. Chilly winds poking thorugh our body made us feel even great. We finally reached the peak, and we were all so hungry that we immediately settled down on the wet rocks, opened the packed food given at the base camp. It consisted of 4 chapathis and aloo sabzi which tasted like heaven then. If one is on a peak and is short of water, one could always survive by plucking the grass and sucking water out of it, after all it’s the “Survival of the fittest”.
Soul is stronger than ever
We again took loadz of pictures and finally headed down the same way. Going down was even more risky as the rocks were wet, the grass was wet, and it was steeper. But we finally reached and it was indeed a great experience.
I overcame the fear of slopes, overcame the fear of all kinds of hallucinations of being on a steep mountain, I overcame the fear of dying of thirst, I overcame a lot of things. By theend of it, I felt proud of being myself, being strong, crossing all the heights, crossing all the boundaries. I know I will survive in the oddest of times.

One life live it with courage
This was all a part of my first day till evening. More to come with the rest of my trekking experience!!

Michael Jackson

I may not be a great fan of this man, I may have not listened to his big hits, I may have not bought his Music CDs, but what matters is the world loses a big big big talent! A person who broke down barriers for blacks. He opened the way for the black community to enter the music world.He was an American recording artist, entertainer and a great businessman.His famous hits that I am aware of and really love are "Beat It" , "Billy jean" . His moonwalk and the complicated dance steps can never ever be done or created again! At the Oprah Winfrey show he spoke about how bad his childhood was, how he was always abused by his father and how he was treated. Inspite of all the lonliness that he felt during his childhood he has become a man of honour with all the music and dance that touched each one.He has donated and raised more than 300 million dollars for beneficial causes through his Heal the World Foundation, charity singles, and support of 39 charities.
There have also been times when his image has been tarnished either by child sexual abuse or being largely in debt! He was a man who in his childhood fought against his childhood and gave miracles to the world of music, dance, MTV and the then generation and who in his adulthood fought agianst his adulthood to save all that he had created in the glorious years of his life!

But toward the end, he dies honorably, he dies with millions of people who cry for him, he dies with a head held high, he is an imortal! He has gained every respect that he deserves after his death! I would definitely miss a star like him!

Kudos to him!

May his soul rest in peace!

Music Music!!

I always wished to sing and always hoped that someday i would sing!! Unfortunately time and circumstances never gave me an opportunity to pursue singing! I always try to sing but it ends up as a croak!!A.R.Rahman is one of the best musicians I have ever heard or seen!! The music that he creates , creates history always! Be it "Chayya Chayya" or be it "Ma Tujhse Salaam", everything is a wonder!! Hats off to him and his wonderful creativity!!

I guess today has just been one of the days when I have heard too much to is music and thats why wanted to jus one down few things about him!

Aerobics!!

The dictionary meaning of "Aerobics" is : "system of physical conditioning designed to enhance circulatory and respiratory efficiency that involves vigorous sustained exercise, such as jogging, swimming, or cycling". Well, I would say "Aerobics" means fun, stressbuster, mood enhancer, feel good factor and I can just go on and on and on and on!! I started aerobics in Nov 08 and I never knew I would get addicted to it!! I joined jus for a month and then realised that I just can't live without aerobics! I have never been soooooooooooooo dedicated in anything that I have done to burn calories!! Aerobics is something I do not miss come what may!! Evryone comes for aerobics to lose weight or stay in shape! I just go there to relieve myself, it gives me a kick which even a drink cannot give me!!!I would suggest to everyone to go dance out for sometime in a class which makes you stretch, makes you sweat, makes you dance, and.........!!!! I am lovvvvvvinnnnnnnnnng it!!

Seven Pounds!

I watched this movie last night and I think its one of the best movies I have seen, I just love Will Smith and he is indeed a great actor!! Kudos to him!! In this fast moving life, for a moment I realised that life needs to be lived for the moment. Maybe that moment may not be the moment that you live for yourself. You need to live life for someone else as well. God did create this world but its upto us how we live it. Will Smith or Ben Thomas did take away peoples life by merely just readin a message while driving, when he had his beloved next to him, however, he failed to realise that a moment with your beloved needs to be entirely your beloveds, you need not divide that moment readin a message from office!! He did that and took away 7 lives in seven seconds.But he is a an of Honour, and hence in this movie he makes it up by giving away his life to 7 people who really deserve it...something which not anyone and everyone would do coz to do it you need a heart, a heart made of Gold, a heart whihc is big enough!!! Amazing...Its diffcult to be selfless, its difficult to have a big heart but trying will not harm and maybe someday you will succeed and I am sure it will give the best satisfaction ever!!!

Back to Bangalore!

Back to Bangalore, back to the place where I learnt what being independent is, the place which showed me various phases of life, the place which give me plenty of friends, the place which taught me the value of Family, the value of food, the value of Money! The place which showed me the various ups and downs in life, the place which taught me to smile when you just dnt feel like, the place which is jus so good yet I feel so lonely here!!! I am back after a vacation of 12 days, a vacation which had a mix of happiness and extreme pain! Guess, life teaches you eveyrthing in phases and you have no choice but accpet it, and then move on! Back here on a weekend, and then life moves on from Monday onwards!!! Same old routine, same old job, same old cooking, same old gymming,and what not!! Move on!!!!!!!!

Love : Not everyone is Lucky!

Love happens to everyone sometime or the other! When it happens, one looks more beautiful than ever, the world seems wonderful, people around seem the best, everything just seems so picture perfect! At times, this dream of love is broken, not because you want to break it but the one you are in love doesn't want you!! Because, he was never in love with you as much as you were, he never wished you would grow old with him, he never dreamt of spending the life with you, he never wanted to wake up everymorning with you beside him, he never wished he would do things to make you happy...these are the things only you wished, only you dreamt, only you cared for! And when you try to hold on to such a person and one fine day you know you have to let go, you actually feel what is called "Pain"! This is the "Pain" you would have never encountered in life unless you have loved someone so truly! This is a "pain" which does not allow you to enjoy the moments, this is the "pain" which makes you quiet, makes yoiu feel miserable, makes you feel that everything in this world has come to an end... This is the "Pain" that makes you feel that there can never be a person whom you can ever love again, this is the "Pain" which makes you believe that there is nothing called "Love", this is the "Pain" which makes you feel that everyone who is genuinely interested in you or loves you is there just for sympathy, this is the "Pain" which will ultimately only give "Pain" to all those who actually "Love" you! Life just seems to have stopped because of a failure in your first true love!

To all those who claim are in love , give it an end, marry the person you love, mean the world to them!! Let no one feel the "Pain" of a lost love!

Nature at its Best

Nature at times is just so beautiful, theres no greater feeling than sitting on a bean bag, leeting the cold breeze brush against you, listening to "Man ki lagan" on radio, sipping on "mum made Adrak chai"!!!! Bliss!!! Yummmmmmmm!!! And last but not the least blogging with all this in the head. Today is just one of the best days with Mysore weather being so cozy and serene. Wet roads, wet trees, they look so beautiful!!! I wish I never had to work, I wish The weather always remained the same, I wish I had enough money to spend atleast 6 months just backpacking!! wow!! I wish my wish is answered!!! Now will jus get back to my dreamland!!!

Baby : A gift! A Boon!

I sometimes wonder how one life can give life to another life? How a combined effort of a man and a woman so deeply in love can create another life! This is exactly what I saw in the last few months! I believe being a "Mother" is the biggest gift a Woman can be blessed with! One feels the growth of an egg into a full fledged human,a human which is just a Baby , a small little thing breathing just like us, seeing just like us, but so small that one would tremble before taking him into Ur arms!
This is exactly what i felt when I took "Kayan" in my hands for the first time. i trembled but at the same time felt a different warmth, felt like that was the most happiest moment of my life, a moment which no matter how many words I put it in cannot be described!! Kayan is my nephew who is just 17 days old and right now means the world to me. I feel so good holding Kayan, wonder how I would feel when I would be a mom!I pity those ladies in this world who fall a prey to sadistic things and then decide on things like "Abortion". Killing a small life is the biggest sin a woman can ever co and a man who would put a woman in such a situation is even more a bigger sinner. God would never forgive such sins. Wake up, women! Being a mum, feeling the warmth of holding your own blood, your own baby is the est thing anyone can ask for!! I am realllyyyyyyy happy I am a Woman and just can't wait for my day of being a mum!