LIFE'S A TRAVEL AND MEMORIES, THE PROOF!

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Sunday, December 31, 2017

SADIST, AUG-2017































Six years back (2011) she produced an in-erasable moment in my tripping life, that; she prompted me to make many attempts to meet her when she was at her prime during these fast years that went past like a dream. I made an attempt again in 2015, but the monsoon then had rendered the pathways insane, that I had to return back without meeting her after a 750 Kms journey. Now in 2017, on a solitary monsoon noon, I embarked on that romantic journey to meet her only to realize what a SADIST she was after a taxing 6 hour trek. Nature in general is a SADIST, for you need to go through the most harrowing of moments to see her in her beautiful best, but a SADIST like nature made me realize, you have to prove your worth to be along with the best. A sadist derives pleasure by hurting, but here, I derived pleasure from the injuries she inflicted upon me, because; I loved her. When I came back home after 3 days of wandering around, through the lesser known tracts of Sharavathi and Kodachadri, I began to realize the “sadist” inside me that had been existing ever since I began to exist. But now; I detached the “guilt” and began to walk in peace for she taught me, a sadist doesn’t only mean being cruel, but also, being eternally strong and willing for what you believed…

Happy new year, 2018
K.D

Sunday, October 29, 2017

A DRENCHED DREAM, JULY-2017































If dreams make life, then is life itself a dream? Dreams arise out of desire, passion and many more reasons unique to each, but not all translate to reality as they need pure commitment and relentless toil to turn the luxurious dream into an event in life. Some dreams are easy to realize though, as this one of mine, and all they need to become an event in our life are simple sacrifices, detailed planning, constant passion and a robust stamina. I had this dream sparked in 2012 when I was on a long drive away from my home, with only one friend for company, in pursuit of the then relatively unknown Dudhsagur falls (DSR). It was the beginning of a beautiful dream on a beautiful monsoon weekend as we pushed ourselves hard to get a view of the DSR falls under difficult circumstances, nevertheless, me and my friend had the most amazing moments of our “life on the roads” as we climbed over the Western Ghats, drove through Honnavar, made a night halt at Karwar, fell in love with Konkan, walked the last 14 Kms on a railway track, photographed DSR, waited for the next train until midnight under pouring rains, drove back to Chennai through the unforgiving Anmod Ghat engulfed by the dangerous monsoon winds and darkness, lost strength and eventually fell asleep on the highway in a remote village until the rainy dawn woke us up the next day. That night, when I was struggling to make myself comfortable inside the warmth of the car, as rains were pounding, I had a beautiful dream and it was to see myself on top of the DSR falls and look at the trains in the distant Braganza Ghat. I then thought it was a fantasy and not possible until I really went up there and got the view I craved for in the September of 2016, which was dangerous as the monsoon was still active and the risk of rains in the distant catchment areas turning the cliff we were standing on into a death trap was always imminent, if not certain. That was an amazing journey, completely satisfying my heart, ego and desire but not exactly what I saw in my dreams 4 years back as I seriously felt I was missing the “essence” that added so much beauty to that exotic dream when I was not even having a proper sleeping position that night. As I departed from the remote home stay in Castlerock that evening, I promised its owner I will come back sometime later and wanted to see what I saw in my dream 4 years back, what that had been disturbing my dreams through all of these 4 eventful years. Just before leaving Castlerock we stood on the bridge over the railway tracks, with long freight trains chugging beneath us, and smelt hot coffee while looking at the distant, mist clad Braganza Ghats as I got clarified that the answer to my beautiful dream was lying quietly somewhere up there in the densest of forests, where few had ever walked through when rains were at their ravaging best. I drove back home with my dream now very much active, alive and adamant…

With age, the transition of a year to the next seems so much seamless that life events really begin to appear as dreams, so fast and so unpredictable. As I was wondering whom to ask for a company to live through my beautiful dream, an unsuspecting companion in the form of an office colleague signed up for the 2017 edition, an edition that was bound to drench my old dream with enchantment and ecstasy. We kicked off the long drive to Goa on a rainy night, liberating ourselves from the hectic confines of Chennai city, through the ever inviting national highways with an unusual target of reaching Konkan for lunch by the day next. With only a single stop strategy @ my favorite tea shop near Tumkur, we managed to hit Hubli by 10 in the morning and from here on it was going to be a relaxed drive all the way unto the frontier village of Anmod. Anmod is an exotic village where the highway enters from Karnataka into Goa and more than this, it is the beginning of the notoriously dangerous and beautiful Anmod Ghat section that takes the vehicles under its gripping control for the next 25 Kms with its demanding curves and head turning beauty. Monsoon winds from the west are blocked by these Ghats, and in doing so, rendering the drive to be a mesmerizing event that will even make the blind crave. With Mollem, one of the gateways to Konkan, calling across the Ghats we made no more than couple of halts on the Anmod Ghat to relax and refuel the mind and reached the plains of Konkan for lunch as planned, tired and drained though. Normally when coming here, I prefer the extended route through the much norther Chorla Ghat road as it enables me to extract ecstasy, even before I had entered Konkan, through its mind boggling geography and tendency towards being dramatic. It also completes the day 1 of my trip through its never ending photographic temptations that further lead me into the romantic & setting Konkan dusk as the rains begin to wreak havoc over my speeding car through the dark forest road that connects Valpoi with Mollem. This time though, we made it bit relaxing by; checking into the resort @ Mollem, having our lunch, carrying an immense quantity of sleep and tiredness in our eyes and hitting that chillingly lonely and nostalgic north bound road at the Mollem junction. The rains were absent for some time now and the usually drenched road wore a dry look on a noon that reminisced one during my “late twenties” when I used to think magic and fantasies indeed existed. The drive was eventless, though not boring, and gradually gained enchantment as we climbed up the legendary Chorla Ghat with the guardian of solar system slowly disappearing behind us into the west, thus forcing us to expedite the drive. Like any time in the past, Chorla mesmerized with its ability to wrap itself in a cocoon of beauty, mystery and dreams thus making time seem non-existent and death, just an ordinary antonym for life. It was now time for couple of chilled bottles of beer and this urge, amplified by the slowly dying eyes, took us back to our resort through the “desire in the depths” like forest road under pouring rains and blinding darkness. Hot water from above my head never seemed to be such an addiction than during that night, until I decided to turn off the shower and open the bottle that contained bubbling malted barley and instant refreshment. Anything that is first time is bound to disturb your sleep, but my awaiting “first attempt” atop the baffling Braganza Ghat the morning next sent me into a deep sleep sans dreams, for I had already dreamt about that event for more than 5 years now…

The dawn was humid and sultry, typical of a morning that graces a tropical rain forest, slowing down our enthusiasm, but the fact that Ghats must be already getting thrashed by rains kicked us both to hit the road winding its way towards a romantic village, the Castle Rock. Castle Rock is the gateway to Braganza Ghat section and we will be driving 5 Kms further beyond it, from where a 4 wheel drive Jeep will pick and drop us at the starting point of this much awaited trek. There is an option to even hike all your way up the Ghat from Castle Rock itself, but that’s more than a day of time you will need to do it in comfort and safety. The rains were pounding the mystic meadow, intersected by a wild stream, pumping in the much needed enthusiasm to embark on this 6 hour hike through the mystic forest tract strewn around with thousands of blood suckers, and an ambience to overcome the threat imposed by their formidable presence. Mists made the path dark, rains made the ambience electrifying, sustained stream crossings made the experience exhilarating and the very fact that our destination was still a good 150 minutes away, thus giving the opportunity to enjoy all of these until we called it a day, pumped in an incredible intensity of contentment. We were heading to the top of a hill that sat exactly opposite to the world famous Dudh Sagar falls in an attempt to get a glimpse of the new perspective which I had dreamt for years, a perspective that even the “natives” of this region had rarely seen or bothered to see for it was tough to reach here when monsoon was rampant. The trek to the point of conclusion, which was just a small clearance amongst the massive rainforest, would land us on a precarious slope facing right at the monsoon fed fury of this massive waterfall. When we reached there, it was as an incredible moment on my timeline as one of my long dreamt dreams culminated in a nostalgic and secluded manner that I wanted to close my eyes now and hear the distant gushing of her, braving the disturbing cries of Cicadas and shrill of rains. There she was, nonchalantly pouring thousands of liters over the Braganza Ghat and giving a nasty bath to all of the inhabitants downstream, and as she was doing this, I instantly went back in time by 5 years to recall my first date with her, when I didn’t even know there was a route up to her crest. Silent and seduced, we began our retreat to adhere to the rule of the Jungle, to leave it undisturbed soon, and grasped the same trail that brought us here. It was a long hike back to the extraction point, and the absence of drinking water had set in dehydration, eventually making the mind to wander in tiredness unable to enjoy the beauty of the trail. Upon reaching our pick up point, the rain had gained immensely in intensity as we frantically removed our Gumboots and stuffed them back into the boot of the Fiat hatch. As I increased the rate of the wiper blade and drove cautiously through the pristine forest road towards Castle rock and beyond, a Serpent Eagle flew right in front of the car for about a hundred meter, with a snake grasped between its beaks, before disappearing into the dense canopy above, imparting a beautiful conclusion to this secret dream. When we hit the tea shop at Anmod, it was time to stretch and smell caffeine as the clouds were busy gathering and pouring across the vast spread of the Ghats, we were thrilled. Unlike today morning, tomorrow wouldn’t be special as we would be departing back to our homes 900+ Kms away, but the day after tomorrow promised to be intensely special as I would already be dreaming about this fulfilled dream lying on my bedFor now, as we ascended the Anmod Ghat to go back to our resort, I could control my emotions with darkness wiping away the beauty of this region, thus preventing another dream to be born out of here, like it exactly did 5 years ago…