Chasing a rainbow

I had never planned on writing a travelogue, but after the last trip I think owe the place one. At the beginning of the year, I had made 5 resolution, one of them was Traveling. After almost 10months into the year, I can safely say that I can definitely strike off one of the resolutions as complete. Managed to visit most of the cities in the southern part of the country. Planning to cover the northern half in the remaining 2months. So why write a travelogue now? Well, like I said before firstly I owe it to the place, secondly I wanted to help out anybody who is planning a trip there. So, here we go..

The idea for the trip came, when I saw the pictures of a trip my colleague went to. The instant I saw it, I knew I have to check it out. The pictures looked amazing & it turned out that the place wasn't that far out : 8hours. So planning for the "Shimoga - Sagara - Jog Falls Trip" began. Now, Jog Falls is a part of Sagara but I kind off put it separately because the place deserves its due importance. With the power of Google & Wikipedia we made a list of places to cover. It wasn't much difficult to get a list thanks to hundreds of websites which pulled up in Google's search list. All boasted about the different scenic beauties in & around Shimoga, the sanctuaries, the dam & the rivers. Made a 2page long list for the 2days, took some cash, tickets & set off.

We were supposed to go to Sagara for a day, visit four places including Jog Falls, stay in Sagara for the night. Next day travel down to Shimoga, visit 2 wildlife sanctuaries & a sunset view atop Agumbe. Five of us reached Sagara 7 in the morning. The place seemed smaller than expected, little bit bigger than a village but smaller than a town. We hadn't booked accommodation so had to search for a place. After some bit of walking around we realized that the place has only 2 lodges & decided to find the nearest one. I can safely say that my room at home was much neater & less messy than the room we got in our lodge in Sagara. I wouldn't have been surprised if I found a dead animal in the room, really !! But, we didn't want to make any judgments yet about the place, so freshened up & set out to cover the places.

First up, we decided to go to "Sikhandooru". The place is an island which could be reached only by a ferry. We rented a van for the day and fixed the price at 1000. A l0km long path which was more potholes than road took us to the ferry. The ferry was one of the most beautiful that I had ever been to. Small islands dotted the entire lake/river ( I really don't know). Though the ride took an hour, including the long wait for the ferry, I would say that it was completely worth it. Though the journey was fun, our destination was a disappointment. It seems "Sikhandooru" is famous for a temple which is of no architectural significance except for its diety. So dissapointed we turned to our next 2 destinations.

Our next destinations were again holy places (Yeah I know, an Atheist in a holy place) one being Ikkeri & other Varadhahalli. The visit to Ikkeri was worth it. The place had excellent architecture & carvings of stone. The place was really scenic & peaceful. It has lush green grass around the temple where you could relax & statues of elephants. Varadhahalli on the other hand was the biggest disappointment of the day. Neither was the journey fun, nor was the place scenic. I wondered why this place made it into a tourist location. My driver told me that he believed it was because they give free lunch :)

Last place of the day, was the Jog Falls. A long drive but the bets part of the entire trip. The Jog Falls is majestic & it stands tall. Our timing was not all that great since there wasn't much water, yet the place was mind lowing. We trekked the 1400 steps down the side to see the beauty up close. The water as white as milk falls from a height of 830ft. Tired & exhausted from the day we head back to our suffocating hotel room for a good night sleep.

Ok, its not that fun to write a travelogue as I had thought it would be. So let me fast forward through our second & less eventful day of the trip. Shimoga is a much bigger Sagara & can be called as a bigger town. The cab chargers are high & chances of getting fooled are close to 80% & we fell into that 80%. So in Shimoga we visited the "Thavarekoppe" sanctuary which had 2 lions & 3 tigers, the Gajanur Dam which didn't have water (& didn't allow photography) & a bird sanctuary which had 6 crows. Dissapointed & cheated (by our new cab driver). We turned towards our final destination for the trip, Agumbe famous for its sunsets. The place is a 100km long drive from Shimoga & can be extremely tiring because of the bad roads. We reached the place well ahead of time to see an amazing sunset. Though it wasn't the typical sunset we were hoping for, it was a different & fun filled experienced. We turned back to Shimoga from where we would return home in the late night bus. Overall, another rocking trip !!!

For my ol' pal..

From now,

coming home wouldn't be the same, without you waiting by the door;

my shoes wouldn't be the same, without you chewing on its sole;

breakfast at home wouldn't be the same, without you sleeping near our feet;

playing ball wouldn't be as much fun, without you running behind it;

the crumbled blanket wouldn't be the same, without you sprawled over it;

getting mail wouldn't be the same, without you chasing away the mailman;

pillow fights wouldn't be the same, without you fighting over it;

thunder showers wouldn't be the same, without

you hiding under the couch;

Life wouldn't be the same, without you in it..

You were the best, you were my pal.

You always listened, you never complained, you never judged.

You would stick by my side for all the mischiefs.

You would even do tricks as long as you got your chewy snack.

Will miss you my friend, will miss you Jimmy

A sad life; but happy at death

Whenever a person dies, the people around him remember the person for his goodness & share the sweet memories they have. It is the moment when people forget the negative qualities of the person & remember him for all the goodness he had. This implies for anybody no matter if he is a dictator, movie star, a politician or even a dacoit. People forget their differences to mourn at the death of the person. Many at times we do see a lot of contrast between the emotions of people towards a person before & after death. But there can be no match to the contrast in emotions of people to what they had towards MJ, before & after his death.

Michael Jackson, popularly known as MJ died on June 25 2009. The shock expressed by the world can only be preceded by what was observed at the death of Princess Diana. Millions around the world joined in prayer & mourned the death of Michael Jackson, supposedly the “King Of Pop”. Even in India thousands of fans paid their respect to the star. The visual & printed media ran 24hours broadcast about the star’s life & the incidents which lead to his death. For weeks television hosts discussed about the possible cause of death & the various medication he was undergoing. The Internet blogging community praised the life of MJ & declared that there couldn’t be a better pop star. But where were these millions of fans & supporters when he was alive?

If he was indeed the “King” of pop why did he lead a lonely secluded life? Why didn’t his family who rushed to get a spot on media after his death, support him while he was alive? Where were all those people who now want the doctors to be prosecuted who administered him wrong drugs? Why didn’t they try to stop these doctors while his life could have been saved? Why do we have to only realize the value of a person only once its too late?

It is no secret that the “king” of pop in spite of his riches & fame, lived a lonely life. He was the character who was mocked by television channels around the world. He was ridiculed for his lifestyle, the way he looked & his personal likes & dislikes. He lived his life in the middle of controversies when the world around him truly despised him. While he was alive, people around the world called him a pedophile & a “weirdo”. The very same internet groups which mourns his death earlier depicted him as a beast. We would never know whether these allegations were true or not, they would remain a mystery like MJ himself.

But if MJ has shown us something, it is that people don’t value you in life but would rather mourn for you in death.

write for a smile....

I have written a lot of posts in this blog of mine, 60 in fact (I just checked). Some of them were related to my personal life, some related to current affairs & some plain stupidity. But this time, I wanted to write something for a cause. For the right cause.

The main reason for writing this post, is a piece of news I read the other day. The news article was about a DIG in West Bengal who employed an 8Year old girl as a domestic help & later tortured her. According to the write up, this was not the first incident of physical torture inflicted on the kid, but there were many prior incidents. The child mustered the courage to contact the local police, but they denied taking up a case until an MP had personally gotten involved, later on. How can someone do this to a kid?

I had read about a law being passed, couple of years back (2007), making employment of children a punishable offense. The person who breaks this law was supposed to pay a hefty fine & can be imprisoned for the same. But when we look around we see that children are still being employed at a very early age onwards. Looking around in Bangalore, you wouldn’t find a single road side eating joints which do not have a child as a cleaner or a waiter. Only the other day, a boy who would be no older than 10years was frying chips in hot oil at one of those bakeries which is located right at the street junction. How can the authorities be so blind to allow such practices to continue? How can we let children, who we say are the future of the country, lose out on education? How can we be so selfish to profit from the low wages given to children who are forced to do a normal man's work? How can we let this happen?

I wasn't entirely sure about the law which I remember reading in the paper, sometime in October of 2007. So I decided to check out in the internet, as to what "our country" & "our constitution’s" stand on Child Labor is. A search on "child labor in India" will point you to a law named "The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986". Now, I am no expert in law & neither will I try to act like one. But in plain English, the law prohibits a child from being employed in "certain" employments and to regulate the conditions of work of children in "certain other employments". Ok now the "certain" list which they mentioned about has 52 items in it. Now I really fail to understand 2 things- 

1) Why should be a list of "certain" employment? Why cant we abolish child labor as a whole? Why are we not focusing on compulsory primary education & instead giving loopholes by providing these lists with "certain" employments?

2) Are we at least enforcing this law for these "certain" employments? A quick glance through the list & I can see in my mind images of children whom I had seen employed in these very same "certain employments".

So we failed to give a solid proper law & we are unable to enforce the faulty one as well !

But above all this, more than the child labor, the lack of education or financial injustice, nothing is more sinister than the cruelty towards children. Has time made us so cold & selfish, that we would even hurt an innocent child? I keep seeing in the visual & printed media about the deaths of children in various part of the country. If somewhere it is due to medical negligence, then somewhere else a schoolteacher issues death penalty to a student. All these incidents become an issue of a huge controversy & discussion, but get easily forgotten once another controversy comes up. Do we always need a controversy or a death to identify what we are doing wrong? Should a 11year old die each time to make us realize that a teacher should be well trained for the job? Should half a dozen newborns die to remind us to check we manufacture & distribute the right medicine? 

As children, we looked upon & trusted our elders around us to show us the right direction, to keep us safe, to teach us. But what are we doing to our country's future? A person who holds a senior office in the police force, the upholders of justice, is actually committing a crime towards a child. If this is the actions towards a child, by a person who should be protecting us, are we safe? Is our country's future safe? How many innocent kids should die to rethink our path? How many tears should be shed to melt our heart which is hardened by our greed? How can we make a difference...

letters from another planet

Olla.. Here is my second post from ma cubicle. Come to think of it, it’s a really comfortable place to write from. It’s peaceful, quite & provides a good break from the brain draining work. Fine, I made up the last part. But anyways, it’s a nice place to write from. No particular agenda/topic for this write as well. Its just another write to capture/collect/collate my thoughts. There isn't much of them, but thought I might as well collect them anyhow.

I heard of stories where people hallucinate of seeing things which do not exist, ghosts, aliens, god..whatever. Such people were always termed to be either lunatics or spiritual. The former lands up in a mental asylum while pictures of the latter end up in frames on our prayer rooms. This is not about me seeing or feeling any ghost or alien. Instead it’s about me "feeling" like an alien myself. You know, the parallel galaxy thing. The last few weeks made me feel like an independent entity, disconnected & free from the human world. Lacking human contact, floating around in the human world, without having an interaction with the world. Like the parallel galaxy thingy..

I knew that the living alone thing would get to me one day, & it finally did. I tried running away form it & trying to make as much link possible with this human world. But it was bound to happen soon, however much I ran away from it. Tried making new links for the ones that broke & the cycle continued, but ultimately the inevitable came & all contacts was lost. Floating around in this human world, with all the activity happening around me. Felt like I didn’t exist, felt I was invisible; felt I was from the parallel galaxy. I spoke the same language, but it didn’t make much difference. Lot of activities seems to happen around me, but somehow I wasn’t related to any of those. I lived in a world where only I existed & that’s all it was.

Ok if anybody is still reading, bravo !!! Because I don’t think it would make much sense to me if I read this all over again. Anyways I am off to my house now, no, not the parallel galaxy one, but the one back in ma hometown in the human world. Hope it should revive the lost links & get me back inside. Else would return within a few days to continue floating...

A shelter for the free birds…

Its been a while since I have updated the blog & there has been pressure on me to write something. A lot has been happening around me, lots to write about. First there was the General Elections which I was following for some time now. The IPL (Annual Gambling event where cricket is sold by people who are already exceedingly rich) was something which got my attention once I visited my folks (I don’t have a television at home). Friends were getting married, a lot was happening. Work was pretty much the same though, yeah there was more work but the pay was pretty much the same. All thanks to the guy who discovered recession.

But this entry is not about any of these. Instead it’s about a place I visited recently. It was named “Sevika Samajam” & was 12kms away from my home. The place was a shelter for all those who were not bound by relations. They were the free birds of our world; the ones who came into the world to either live alone or were deserted by their loved ones. The shelter was home to more than 40kids & 20 elderly. The main building of the “Samajam” also provided lodging for the kids. The elderly had a building of their own, which was a 10mins hike up a small hill. The whole campus was atop a small hill & had a clothe mill, a bakery, a printing press and a library. The kids were from the age group of 2 ~ 17years old.

We reached the place around noon & upon arrival we were greeted by the caretaker of the Samajam whom the kids loving called “valyammayyi” (big aunt). We were seated in the building adjacent to the main Samajam building. After awhile we were taken to the dining hall where all the kids had assembled for lunch. We served them food & later joined them for lunch. They didn’t forget to thank the almighty for the food before starting lunch. As we sat & had lunch, I noticed the happiness in their faces. Something was different about their happiness, something I never felt. Three meals a day was not something which ever got me excited. In fact it was something we had taken for granted & these days skip to keep "fit".

After lunch we headed towards the building where the elderly were staying. 2 kids guided us up the hill towards the "old age home" block. The welcome we got once we reached the block was beyond words. We met the more than 20 residents of the old age home who greeted us as if we were their long lost kids. I was surprised by the energy they showed even at this age while they were showing us around the place or talking to us about their health & daily activities. We sat & spoke with all of them for quite a while. It didn’t feel any different from a family reunion.

The whole trip made me realize a few things & those were some good lessons learnt. It was really an eye opener when I watched, how the small things which we take for granted every single day, can be like a huge gift for those who are not as lucky. More importantly I realized how even small gestures like spending some time to show care, can mean so much, that it would make even a stranger feel like one of your own. I don’t know when I would be able to visit the "Samajam" again, but I know for sure, that this is one memory I would cherish lifelong.

is aNyBodY in cOnTRol?

The following entry is just my point of view at looking at a problem which exists in the sub-continent. I have added wiki links, facts & new links wherever possible to support my theory.

I will be honest with the reader, I don’t follow the newspaper regularly but, over the past 3months there one particular story which had captured my attention. It was the 26/11 attack in Mumbai. I was interested more in the aftermath of the attack rather than the attack itself. The attacks had actually happened in 8 locations within Mumbai killing 173 people & making considerable damage to property. The attack ignited widespread protests within the country. The people had entirely lost faith in their government which failed to protect them time & again. The country was still fresh from the attacks in Bangalore & Ahmadabad, when the Mumbai attacks hit them again. There was widespread unrest & effigies of politicians were burned in the country. People protested for days against the political leaders of the country & branded them as corrupt, useless & manipulative. People demanded the need for boundary less unity & criticized the politicians who supported linguistic or regional separation. A sense of fear developed in the hearts & mind of the politicians. It was a time for them to rethink their strategy, to come up with a new plan, a new strategy to manipulate their victims.

After 9days of burning the brain cells, the ruling party sprung up with a new strategy. A scapegoat was found, the very old rival, the neighboring nation of Pakistan. The government put pressure on Pakistan to surrender the terrorists it was "harboring". Through the help of world police, the process was accelerated. In front of the whole world it was established that Pakistan was on purpose harboring & encouraging terrorists. The voice of the millions of Indians who demanded justice was silenced by this transfer of blame. The blame game had won them back their stand, not only for the present, but for the upcoming elections. The purposeful rumor about a possible war added strength to their support & the government had become unshakeable as before. But is Pakistan really harboring & supporting terrorists? Well I thought of putting some facts & numbers from Wiki, to assist me:

Malegaon Blasts

Date: September 29 2008

Organization: Hindu Jagran Manch (Hindu Extremist Group)

Based Out Of: Indore, India

Bangalore Blasts

Date: July 25 2008

Organization: SIMI

Based Out Of: India

Mumbai Blasts:

Date: November 26 2008

Organization: LeT

Based Out Of: Pakistan

Lahore Cricketer Attack:

Date: March 3 2009

Organization: LeT(rumored)

Based Out Of: Pakistan

Well, my question is quite simple, if Pakistan is actually aiding & harboring terrorists, then how come these terrorists are attacking Pakistan itself. Exactly one day after Pakistan told Interpol that it would help them in the 26/11 attacks, Sri Lankan cricketers were attacked in Lahore. Now when our government says Pakistan is "harboring" terrorists, do they actually mean that Pakistan is well in control of "their terrorists" & actually aiding them? In that case, is our government well in control of the terrorist organization based out of our country? The Malegaon attacks took place in September by terrorists who are from within the country, but have we been successful in arresting them or bringing them to justice. The truth is that these criminals would soon be contesting for the coming elections(link to news article not available now). The terrorists behind the attacks in Bangalore & Ahmadabad are yet to be completely arrested & brought to justice.

So when our own nation has been so incompetent to punish our internal terrorist organizations, how are we expecting a country like Pakistan, which is already in the middle of chaos to have control over Let which is a terrorist organization much bigger in terms of magnitude? Pakistan isn't far behind the blame game & has started catching up, by making its allegations against India for the Lahore attacks. All these makes me feel, do either countries have any control of their situation. Is this blame game merely a curtain to their incompetency & failures to protect its very own people. Is our & our neighbor’s government helpless onlookers while terrorists tear apart our nations by suicide bombings. I really hope, somebody is in control.....