Irendaayirathi pathu (2010) - oru kannottam

Chatena chendrathu irendaayirathi pathu (2010)
Yen varudam yenavena yoosikka
adhuvum idhuvum kalandhu nadunilayay mudigirathu.

Iniya nanbargal dhooram viraindhida
Sila pudhiyavargalludan natpu malarndhida
Dhukkamum Swargamum kalandhey irundhadhu.

Padhaiviyil uyarvem thooka kuraivum
Padipiley neraivum padaipil sarivum
Vettriyum vaatamum velai kandathu

Udan pirandhavagal pakkathil irukka
Uyir koduthor (pettror) thoolaivil nirkka
angum ingum panmurai chella payangal kondathu

Uttroor Uravinar palarin (thiru)manam kaana chella
Keralam Tamizhagam Karnadagam Andra'vil ulla
Pala idangalukku chendra naatkal neraindhathu

magizhchiyum valarchiyum thalarchiyum varatchiyum kandu
pala unarvugal negazhchigal ullam muzhumaiyai neraindhu
Idhu anaithum konda manam neraidha aandaaga idha varudam irundhathu!!

The Winner Stands Alone - An impression

The Winner Stands Alone - Paulo Coelho

A book that stands alone among Paulo’s works. I did not want to miss this book even if there were a lot of mixed reviews about this book. One thing for sure, you either love the book or hate it.
It did not take a real long time for me to find out that I love this book. This is new Paulo, from Magical reality (many call his prior works Idealistic or even Spiritual Fantasy) stepping closer to reality (and a few steps beyond as well).

Three wonderful characters – Igor (Powerful, rich, intelligent, cold yet holds his values and his god close to his heart), Ewa (Words are not sufficient to explain her, just wonderful) and Hamid (Achiever, Conscious, Loving).

In this book, Paulo has used wonderful and strong expressions which linger for quite a while after the read. Nice depiction of three people who hold different values struggle for what they believe is right.

I liked the cold nature of Igor and the brilliance of his mind. Even if he destroys many worlds(expression from the book) for his love, I never felt that he was evil. I was able to relate to each of the characters in a better way that any of his prior books. That is the reason why I liked this book.

Either you will love the book or you really hate it. There is just one way to find it out. Just read it.

My trip to Hebbe falls

This is my first effort to write a blog on my travel. I moved to Delhi for work recently. Before this I had been based in many cities. Bangalore was one of them. It was good to find company for trekking during weekends, which made my stay in Bengaluru very special. One of the weekends, we went for a trek to Hebbe falls.

The first leg of the journey was from Bangalore to Chikmangaloor, actually called Chika-Magaloor - Kannada for the town of the younger daughter. The bus was at 10:45 PM. Promptly started from the office at 45 min in advance cause I have a real bad luck in finding auto in Bangalore.. Luckily, this time I got an auto after a wait of just 10 min.. It took another 10 mins to reach the KSRTC ( read Karnataka State Road Transport Corp.) bus stand. My fellow travelers, 2 of them, were having dinner at a restaurant by the KSRTC bus stand. As we boarded the bus, I was happy that our seats were in the front. So almost immediately went to sleep.

We reached Chikamagaloor at around 5 AM. We got a bus from there to a place called Lingadahalli at around 6 AM. In Kannada Halli means village. This place is interestingly the home town of our Manager. We had to wait for 2 hrs for a bus to Kemmangundi (means hill of red soil). So, we opened our photography kits and managed to take a few pics.

We reached Kemmangundi at around 10 AM. What a beauty she was.. Thick clouds cover every bit of landscape, rich soil, rich vegetation, beautiful flowers, fresh smell of wet soil, pleasantly cold climate, little bit of drizzle all the time. I couldn't hold any longer from taking out my camera and clicking a few pics. The first pic is just outside the Kemmangundi Horticultural society, where we stayed. This place is very good and cheap too. Except for a few months, one can find a room here without any advance booking.

I was really thrilled by the view I had from just outside our room. I couldn't hold myself from clicking at the trees covered with clouds (It's not fog). I was standing there and just watching this scenic beauty.

I almost forgot we had come here to trek. And the route to the Hebbe falls was going better than this. One of my fellow trekkers reminded me that it was time for us to leave. Quickly, I took a bath and was all set for the trek.

Our cameras, rain protection for the cameras, breads, water, extra pair of dry pants and tees, mobiles and a torch.

We started out at 12 noon. We had to trek almost 13 km and had to return back.. We were almost sure that while coming back it was going to be dark!! I was really thrilled by the thought of trekking in the dark!!

As we started towards Hebbe falls, we realised two things.. one good and the other bad. The good news first.. Hebbe falls was just 11 km and not 13 km. The bad news.. we forgot to take salt from the room.. which means we will have a little bit of difficulty if there are going to be too many leeches. I personally don't mind just a few leech bits on me. Too much would mean a lot of itching after a week.

As soon as we started walking we took out our cameras and were continuously shooting. We were walking through the clouds. No words can explain the great feeling I had when I walked through the clouds. The clouds were showering fresh droplets of rain... within the first few miles, we were drenching wet.. The only disappointment was the fact that our cameras were not waterproof.. so we had to put them back in our bags before we got drenched in the rain.

We continued walking and the trek became interesting.. nature blessed us with many beautiful sights. I was able to capture only a few with my camera. I then realised.. How beautiful our eyes are.. It works in all the conditions.. Auto focus, every object in focus, auto aperture adjustment, the best quality lens in the world, macro capabilities!! Phew.. I only wish I had a camera with these capabilities!!

Then there we had a wonderful dog which followed us and was with us for the last 3 kms of the trek. It was guiding us at times when we were not sure how to go, otherwise was just behind us most of the time. There was a stream of water which we had to cross and we took almost 5-6 minutes to cross it. Once, we managed to reach the other side, we turned around to see that our companion was crossing the stream with very little effort. We could not stop to admire him abilities.

We finally reached the fall just to be amazed by the beauty of it. The sight was worth all the efforts we took to reach the place. We stood there and watched as long as we could. After an hour or so, we finally decided to return.

The four of us had some food and were all set for the return journey. We wanted to see if our four legged companion would follow us all the way till Kemmangundi. Unfortunately, he decided to stop at the exact place from where he joined us. We were now down to 3. So had a more relaxed walk and reached the resting place and were so happy to be back.

We frisked ourselves for leeches, had a wonderful bath in hot water and walked to the canteen to have our dinner. We were really tired, my legs were shaking, I was bleeding in quite a few places (leeches), but went to sleep with the feeling of satisfaction. Cheers to Hebbe falls.