Things I learnt about Facebook(ing)

 

I am not a regular user of the Facebook (FB), not because I didn’t know how to use, but that I didn’t know what to use it for.  In due course, I learnt it the hard way. I always felt alien in the FB world, in such a place where the old people also are posting updates, playing games and competing big time with their kids or grandkids or kindergarten kids.

I resolved that I should get into this and prove that I am not a tech-ignorant and started Facebooking quite aggressively. So here are some facts I have  learnt about FB:

1. You exist, only if you constantly visit and do some activity on FB. There’s a timeline that keeps track of when did you last exist.
2. Whatever nonsense you post on FB, there is always someone out there who likes it.
3. Gone are the days of personal invitations. No one invites you for any occasion through an invitation card or a phone call or an email anymore. They post an event on FB which curtly asks you if you are attending.
4. Any event in your life has not happened yet, unless you post it or update your status in FB. So, you are a bachelor until you change your status to “Married” or an expecting father until you post your newborn’s pics online.
5. You should not ask anyone what they are up to. You are outright admitting you have not visited FB of late to check what he/she is up to and further up, wasting their time.
6. If you don’t find your best friend in town suddenly, do not panic. They sure must have updated FB to let everyone in which place they are.

Guess I am still wedded to old ways of  communicating and not yet tuned to the current trends. An old wine in an older bottle.

Hah! Reminds me of Artie Decker getting fired as a baseball game announcer because he is not up to the latest technologies, in the movie Parental Guidance.

Get on board Artie! If we wish to exist, we have to get adapted to this revolutionary digital way of life named Facebook.

Hola Mark!

Ganpatipule

This year, I had decided to celebrate a completely eco-friendly Diwali. Completely, I meant it! Thus, I decided to spend the two holidays showered on us for Diwali, elsewhere. I narrowed down on Ganpatipule, which is a good place to visit for two days.

   

Ganpatipule is a small village on the western coast, and is 375 kilometres from Mumbai. Though it is famous for the Swayambhu Ganapati temple, the crystal white sand beaches and the serene and clear sea are the biggest attraction. If you are the person who wants to run away from the maddening city crowd, traffic, unending office work, hourly status updates to bosses, then this is the ideal place. For, you will hear nothing but the splashing waves, and see nothing but the sea.  

The best way to reach Ganpatipule from Mumbai is to drive by car. It should take seven hours, depending on how fast you can cut through the Mumbai traffic. If you don’t have a car, then train should be the best and most convenient option. Ganpatipule does not have a railway station; you have to get down at Ratnagiri, which is 35 kilometres from Ganpatipule. The third mode of transport is by a private bus, and here as well, plenty of options.

The trains were full - as always - and being Diwali time, I couldn’t even get a tatkal ticket. So, I booked a bus with KSB travels. I got into the bus at 7.30PM and crossed Panvel at 12.30AM. Five hours to just cross Mumbai. After that, the bus went at a superb speed. I woke up at 5.30AM to find the bus parked next to a dhaba. I thought it was a loo break for the driver. But an hour later, we were still at the same place. Upon enquiry, I found that there is a problem with the bus and that it would take an hour to repair. Time passed and the bus didn't move. A mechanic came down and told that it would be evening before the bus could be repaired. Then, the travellers accosted the driver and his helper, in Marathi. They demanded a separate bus; some took pics of the bus. I did neither! Thankfully, the bus broke down close to a town called Khed! I went to Khed bus stand. The next direct bus to Ganpatipule was four hours away, so I got into a bus to Ratnagiri, which took me three hours. The journey was very tiring, but the surroundings were exquisite. The road ran through picturesque valleys, rivers, mountains. It was then that I felt that one should drive down. I got down at Nivli Phata, twenty kilometres before Ratnagiri and hired an auto-rick to drop us at Ganpatipule, which is thirty five kilometres from this place. I was cursing the bus journey and my fate as well. Finally, we reached the MTDC resort in Ganpatipule completely sapped due to the strenuous journey.

The MTDC resort is exquisite. Spacious villa type rooms amidst plush greenery and facing the sea! The location of the resort is the best part; it is adjacent to the Ganapati temple and the beach. The room I booked was very big; even the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom of my house in Mumbai. The rest of the day went into exploring the village. People were having fun in the beach; some were playing volley ball, some were swimming. There isn’t much crowd here, probably, thats why most couples prefer to come here. We found out a tour operator who would take you on sight-seeing for a full day, to all the places around Ganpatipule. Most of the places – other beaches, forts, and museums – are near Ratnagiri. The tour was economical, but we decided not to go. Already a full day went into a bus journey, and we weren’t ready for another one.

The next morning, we woke up early and came down to the beach. There was ample light already and the other guests from the resort were there too. I was searching for the sun on the horizon, and suddenly realized that I was on the west coast, and not on the east – old Vizag habit. We took a long walk in the beach, occasionally collecting shells. The morning chillness, the faint moisture on the skin, the splashing of the waves on the feet, the grainy sand adding cushion to your walk, boy, it was just wonderful. Tranquillity! It wasn’t until then that I realized how much I missed Vizag. The white sand is the perfect setting to the gentle sea waves. No wonder Lord Ganapati had chosen this place to self-manifest.

After breakfast, we went to a museum nearby, where the ancient Konkan tradition is depicted with life-size mannequins. A Konkan village and the traditions are well constructed. A guide takes you through the entire museum explaining the significance of each Konkan tradition. I knew that Kerala came from the sea when Lord Parashurama threw an axe into the sea, and the sea receded. However, the guide told us that the Konkan also came the same way. So thanks to Him, for throwing the axe, for, this beautiful coastline came into existence. Later, we took a motor boat ride into the sea, and were lucky to spot a few dolphins.

In the evening, we took a bus to Ratnagiri, from where we had to catch a train to Mumbai, which took 2 hours. We got into the Konkan Kanya express at 22.30 hours and reached Mumbai at 5 AM next morning. That much convenient the train journey is.

So, that is how my eco-friendly Diwali went. So much eco-friendly it was, that I didn't even light a match stick!

I am not happy...

That sick, sucking, despondent gloominess has gotten over me again. Yet again! I am not at all happy. I just cannot recollect the last time I was laughing out heartily. I don’t understand how I have gotten myself into this energy sucking deep quagmire. No matter I do anything, I do not seem to find a way out of this crap. There are ample things to bother me all the time. I had been in situations akin, in the past, but never this long. I am bleeding since the dawn of this year, and the worrying fact is that respite is not in sight.

I am miffed with the decisions I have taken this year. The decision to call it quits with my previous organization. The decision to change the job at any cost. The decision to join the current organization. The decision to not listen to anyone. The decision that my decisions are correct.

This one bad decision I took, to change my job, is sucking all the energy in me. I am weighed down and defeated by the circumstances it has brought on its back.  

What have I lost? A promising career, a rewarding appraisal, happy times with my family and friends, and the most important of all, peace of mind.

What have I gained? Emotional trauma, more white hairs, fights with everyone, gloominess, irascibility.

I feel like kicking myself for taking such a lunatic step. But well, the truth is, if I ever knew it would be so bad, would I ever make such decision? Am I making any great money being away from my family? Nope! I remember this guy in my previous employment, who said that I am changing my job only for the lust of money. Money! What lust for money, you moron? Where is the money? Whatever I am earning is just enough for a basic lifestyle in this Financial Capital of India.

The office I work here is filled with leeches. People are filled to the core with ego. No one wants to help anyone and try all the treacherous ways to pull down someone. I am irritated to go to such antagonistic work culture, but there is no other go. I have to sit beside shit-faced people, work with them, bear their mood swings, but still accomplish the work I am assigned. Who do I go and complain to? My boss wants just results; he doesn’t bother what I am going through. How badly am I missing my boss in my previous org!

I want to meet God and question Him. I would put Him to trial; ask Him to defend Himself for what all He has done to me. I never got what I wanted! Oh, should I say, You never gave me what I wanted? I wanted to be a basket ball player, but I was only left passing the ball to Anand, who went on to become a state level player. I wanted to get into IIT, and despite my best efforts twice, I didn’t even qualify. I wanted to get into Infosys, but now, for the rest of my life I cannot get in there. Neither did I graduate in flying colours from B.E., nor did I get into the IIMs. What the heck is going on in my life? How much more do You want me to endure? Compromise with everything in my life? I am a loser; a loser who is better off being a loser rather than the fight the situations around, because I know that I ain’t gonna win a thing. I feel like shrieking at the top of my voice, “I am not at all happy”. Will my pursuit for happiness ever end?

Shirdi trip via IRCTC package

I had been on a trip to Shirdi, a package tour organized by the IRCTC. I was initially planning to go there on my own, but lack of tickets on the train to Shirdi from Secunderabad, forced me to look for alternatives. And that's how I chanced upon this package tour.

This package offers a 2 night & 1 day trip, from Secunderabad to Shirdi, and back to Secunderabad. The price per person, is Rupees 1850. Other offerings were two dinners, a breakfast, pickup from and drop to Nagarsol railway station. This, I felt, is an outrageous charge for a simple one day trip to Shirdi.

Since I had no other choice, I did go ahead with the booking of this tour for myself and my spouse. A week after I booked, I got a call from the IRCTC, about the confirmation of my booking, and an intimation that other details, like where to collect the travel tickets, would be provided a day before the journey. And so was it. An option was given to collect the tour tickets at their office near Sangeet theatre, or in the Secunderabad railway station; I chose the latter.

I was asked to collect the tickets at the IRCTC kiosk in the General waiting hall on Platform 1, where the IRCTC agent showed up at about 5 PM, just an hour before the train departure. He handed over a bunch of papers, and explained what each one was for and when it should be used, and wished us a happy journey. The bunch consisted of meal vouchers, train tickets and a complete itinerary.

The train we had to get into is Ajanta express, a daily, which runs between the Secunderabad and Manmad railway stations. This train departs from the Secunderabad station at 6.05 PM and reaches Nagarsol at about 5.30 AM, the next day. As per the tour, we are supposed to get down at Nagarsol, from where we would be transported to Shirdi – which is 50 Kms from here – by road. In the evening, we would  be transported to Nagarsol, and we are to board Ajanta express again, to reach Secunderabad the next day at about 9.30 AM.

We just settled into our seats in this train and dinner was brought in by a vendor. He handed over the hot dinner and took a meal voucher from us. The dinner was quite a heavy packing; there were  two chapathis, a dal variety, a masala curry, a biryani rice, a packet of white rice, one cup of Vijaya dairy, one doodh peda, and one banana. I had never seen such a big meal offered in any train; sure this must be a special packing for the tour.

The next morning, we reached Nagarsol at around 6.15 AM, a touch late than the usual time. There was one person holding a placard which read, “Welcome to IRCTC”. We walked up to him and he immediately addressed us as “two member group”. There was another group, a five member group, who had come on the same tour, hence he named us according to our size. We were asked to travel with another family, in a Maruti Ecco AC vehicle. The family occupied the front seats, so we had to sit in the rear. It was an uncomfortable ride, for, one – the road was bumpy, and two – the family had a baby, so they turned off the AC. After an hour of such riding, we reached Hotel Saish in Shirdi, where our accommodation was arranged. The hotel looked grand from the exterior, much different from the sleazy ones I had stayed in, during my earlier visits to this holy place. We were given a double room, which was big enough for four people to stay. Since we weren't going to stay beyond the evening, I felt this was a waste of money.

We got ready and headed to the temple. Bang opposite the entrance is the Udupi Hotel. We had some mediocre iddly for breakfast. Lesson one: Never have South Indian dishes in Northern India. However, the filter coffee was amazing. The taste is on par with any Sagars of Bangalore. Then we got into the Darshan queue, after crossing many hurdles of hawkers, swamis, touts. Lesson two: Hawkers say that we have to go inside the temple only with a garland, coconut and prasad. This isn't at all necessary, unless you have made an oblation. They try to scare you on god’s name and sell you these. We put our footwear in the Sansthan managed counter, which is exactly opposite the queue entrance. They dont charge you anything, but may ask for tea ka paisa.

The darshan of Sai Baba’s samadhi happened in less than two hours. The darshan queue is quite long, with two compartments, but it is continuously moving. In one of the compartments, refreshments counter is available. By the time we came out, the heat picked up and we were searching for water. There wasn't any available in the premises, so we had to go out and buy one. Next we went to Dwarakamai and Chawadi. Walking back to the hotel was like a punishment – the heat was so severe. We came out again for lunch, which we had  in a place named Goradia’s thali. There was an Andhra variety thali and a Gujarati one, anyone costing 100 rupees. The food is very tasty and the service is amazing. They don't just let you sit idle. Pulkas were served piping hot, one after another, until we said please no more!

The rest of the noon, we couldn’t step out of the hotel, owing to the heat. At 6.30 PM, we checked out of the hotel and got into the same car which picked us up in the morning. The night dinner was given in the IRCTC canteen, in the Nagarsol station. The Ajanta express turned up an hour later than the scheduled time. The next morning, in Medchal, we got breakfast – two iddly, two vada. And we reached Secunderabad at 10 AM.

That’s how my trip went. Overall, I felt it was a good one, particularly the quality of the food, the hotel, road transport – it’s a well organized trip. I calculated the expenses and it justified the 3700 rupees both of us paid. Here’s the split up (approximate amounts):

Train tickets	1200
Hotel room	1600
Dinner	100 * 2 * 2 = 400
Breakfast	25 * 2 = 50
Road transport	100 * 2 * 2 = 400
Total	3650

For more details, please visit the Rail Tourism Website

The 4D Experience

During my visit to Hyderabad, I went to PVR with my cousin to watch a drab movie. (okay, I came to know that its drab, only in the end, else I wouldn’t have gone). During the intermission, we were discussing various movies when he asked if I had watched a movie in the new 4D theater, in Prasad’s. I gave a lazy no, to which he gave back a shocked & surprised look. His expression was as though I had committed a huge crime. So, after the boring movie was done through in PVR, he took me to Prasad’s multiplex. I was in no mood for another movie, but his promise was that, one, it’s a short movie of just 15 minutes, and two, you will really enjoy this one. I obliged, for, I wasn’t even given a choice.

A movie is played every 20 minutes in the 4D theater. There are four or five animation movies of 15 minutes duration each, and they are played in a cyclic order. Hence, it’s up to us, which movie to see and wait for our turn. My cousin pronounced that it is the effects that are more important and hence, it shouldn’t matter whichever movie we see. He made an agreeable statement, and so I obliged yet again. And that I am a first-timer, I didn’t thought it was wise to contradict my “guide”. So we purchased two tickets for the movie SOS Planet. As I stood in the line, the spectators of the previous show came out. Each one was having a puzzling expression on their face – some are giggling, some are shaking their head sideways, some are huffing and puffing. What’s the big deal about this 4D thing? In 5 mins, I would know.

I entered the tiny hall of close to forty big seats. Just at the entrance, the usher would hand over the 3D glasses, sporting which we gotta watch the movie. We were some ten people for this show and we seated ourselves scattered. My cousin suggested we take the second row. Next to him, one gentleman took the seat. Then the lights dimmed and the first slide were instructions to be strictly followed/obeyed while watching the movie. Two things caught my mind – one was, “…for safety reasons, please keep your hands and legs close to your body.” And the other one, “….this is strictly not for heart-patients and pregnant women”. The first one made no sense to me, but the second one upped the tempo for the movie. I thought I was in for an exhilarating heart-throbbing adrenaline pumping treat. After the instructions are orated, the narrator tells to wear the 3D glasses. I didn’t need this, for, I already had them on.

And lo, the movie begins. The earth appears on the screen, spinning with a rumbling sound. The earth was spinning right in front of me. The screen was at least twenty feet away from me, but everything is happening within inches’ distance. Some boring background narration goes on as to how deforestation is leading to global warming and destroying the earth. Then, we move into the polar ice caps. The camera zooms out of the eye of a walrus and then moves out showing many walruses and ends up close to the nostrils of a polar bear. Then this bear sneezes out loud; immediately the seat jerked and water sprayed on the face, to simulate the impact. Two cubs are playing there and suddenly a loud explosion – the ice cap has broken. This effect was so enthralling that you feel you are on top a cracking iceberg.

Then we move into the depths of the ocean. A turtle & sea-horse are playing merrily. Beautiful coral reefs are shown, and all kinds of sea animals appear. Then a school of tiny fish circle in and move in rhythm. The fish come so close to us; the gentleman next to my cousin was shoving them away. J then a big fishing net is thrown and all the sea denizens swim amok. There are plethora of dolphins that run into you; the effect is so breath-stopping, I jerked back as though trying to evade the dolphin from running into me. Mr. Gentleman announced that he had shut his eyes. He wasted thirty rupees with that act.

Next, we move to the jungles. We glide down huge trees and stop staring a branch. Coiled on that branch is a huge python. It slowly lifts its head, moves forward and comes straight at us. The snake’s face is right in front of my face; touching distance, I tell you. When it flickers the tongue, one may get a feeling that it may touch our face. To make this effect more realistic, air is shot from our seat right into our ears. The python’s hiss! So here I was, staring right into the green eyes of the python; I held tight on to my seat praying that this thing should go away from me. Damn, I have seen many snake episodes in Animal Planet and NGC, but this thing in front of me is just an animated object and it is sending shivers up my spine. That’s what 3D does, may be! The hissing effects aggravated the fear. Suddenly a chimpanzee appears on the branch and pulls the tail of this python. That’s when this green eyed monster looks away. Ahh, great relief. Two more chimpanzees join the branch, throw the python from the tree and start playing merrily, plucking fruits and splashing at each one. in this turmoil, one chimp throws a fruit at us as well. The fruit splash is again synced with the water splash from the front seat. Then we hear people's voices and they chop down these trees, that come down crashing with a deafening sound.

Huh, once again the narrator explains that what we have seen are the ill-effects of deforestation and global warming and that we have to save our planet. There ends the movie! After we came out, my cousin was eager for my feedback. I was truly impressed with the visual and audio effects. This is the first 3D movie i have ever seen, and so I was enthralled. I asked my “guide” how this 4D, differed from the 3D? He said that the seat movement and water splash effects make up the fourth D. This dude has done his thesis on the 4D.

I was thrilled with the effects and a hundred rupees for fifteen minutes’ of visual fantasy is very much worth. I decided I would visit this place again, during my next visit to Hyd, but I would sure check out if the movie has no snakes. Again, I don’t want to end up staring eye in eye, with a python.

The Incredible Manager

Who is a manager? He is just another well paid brick in the organizational wall, who is responsible for making the bricks below him work. Isn’t it as simple as that? Maybe yes, but that just wont suffice. Just like how every brick is not durable, every manager is not capable! He may not be able to lead his team! May not be able to win his team’s faith, confidence and love! May not be able to meet the expectations of his superior brick! If he could, he would be the perfect manager!

Sid and I were having a conversation during which he deduced that I would make an incredible manager. I defied that his perception is wrong, for I am having a tough time managing my subordinates. Well, here is my problem! I have a small team of just three people. Since I am at the threshold of a managerial role, I was offered or rather ordered to monitor three people; just three people. This shouldn’t be tough, isn’t it? But what I thought would be a smooth ride, soon turned into a roller-coaster ride.

I have these three people with three different attitudes, three different aspirations and three different approaches towards their work. Their wavelengths are different and they lack even an inch of cohesion amidst themselves. I feel that these people are pulling me in three different directions - each one according to their comfort zone - but neither is the direction where I want to see myself or my team. One dislikes the work I assign, another dislikes the way I assign work and another dislikes me. I approached my manager for intervention, but his answer was that I should sort this out for myself, since I am leading them. True! Taking a cue from his words, I had a one-on-one meeting with my team members. I took the complaints they had against me or their work, and also explained my expectations from them. I tried to motivate them, inspire them, let them know how crucial they are for the company, but to no avail. They would do anything but work for me.

My manager is a wonderful boss to have! He is deft at people management. I have never seen him raise his voice, never treat anyone harshly. Everyone and anyone who speak to him give him utmost respect and he too treats them in the same way. He is touted as the best manager my company ever had. True! Now, I more or less treat my team the same way as my angel manager treats me, but nay, I don’t seem to get even a 1% return on my investment. The big question is, what is going wrong? Am I lacking the so-called managerial skills? Or is it that my team are killer sharks?

Lots of managers have their unique, distinguished - given a chance, patented as well - methods of getting their team’s act together. So which one is the perfect manager, is a bit difficult to decide, because each methods implemented by the managers are liked by some and disliked by some. Ultimately, from the top level bricks’ perspective, the work delivered is more important than the way the work was achieved. So managers are smooth, they are harsh, they are commanding, they are demanding, they are dependant on you, they care a fiddling about you, they crown you, they crucify you. What not?

Rock told this quite sometime back, that his manager is BOB. Before you presume that his manager’s name is Bob, or try to expand the abbreviation, let me announce that neither it’s the manager’s name nor does that expand to anything. Rock has a fabulous explanation of BOB. The Bs are the ears and the O is the head. Anything told to the manager, goes into one ear (B), passes through the hollow (O) and exits from the other ear (B). The incredible manager!

Sid has a supportive manager! He claims that his manager makes him feel like he is in a sporting arena and not in an office and always keeps challenging him. Fun@work! Well, Sid has the perfect ingredients in his work. Sid also explained why his manger is successful and an award winner as well.

1. He gives utmost importance to people’s career objectives both long and short term

2. Knows when to lead and when to follow.

3. Is neither too loose nor micromanages people.

Nice traits for a manager. Quite obviously, he is giving the required freedom to his team and hence able to bring out the best in them. The incredible manager!

And my buddy KP has a tragic tale to narrate! His manager is a dumber who extracted work out of this bloke as if he was squeezing a lemon. Despite being the star performer, only his weaknesses were highlighted and caustic remarks hurled at him. KP was nearly broke unable to withstand the lunatic pressure his iron-hand manager exerted on him. I pity this dude who converted most of his Sundays into workdays. Adding insult to injury was his appraisal, where he was underrated claiming that his work was below par. His manager is very inhuman and team members are just resources to him. So put the resources aka sugarcanes into the crushing machine and get the juice out of them. Prove to your superior bricks that you have managed well and get rewarded. The incredible manager!

Three different managers, three different attitudes, three different approaches towards team members. Maybe I should try each of these methods on my team to tame the sharks. Am I going to be the next Incredible Manager?

Nandi Hills

KP and I were munching McAloo Tikki in McDonald’s, when he decided that we go on a long drive. Nandi Hills was the obvious choice, for, it is 70 kilometers from here and hence a not-too-far distance to travel on a motorcycle. I made a call to JL and he agreed to join. AG hesitated a few seconds but he joined too. We decided to start early in the morning so that we can reach the hill top just around the sun rise time. 4.30 AM was the time we would wake up, leave the house by 4.45, pick our partners and hit the road by 5. Everything went well, except that all the events got delayed by 10 minutes. We sported heavy winter coats; the drivers – KP and I – had helmets, so AG and JL got woolen caps. Of course this preparation is necessary - a long drive at five on a mid-October morning is no small deal.

The NH-7

I picked JL while KP got AG and we all met at one petrol bunk – not to fill, though! I was told that we have to cross the BIA – Bangalore International Airport – to reach Nandi Hills. So we dashed off towards Anand Rao circle and then through the Race Course Road, ended up at Windsor Manor hotel. The BIA is one big straight road from here. I and KP were racing against each other, driving like crazy at a speed in the nineties. The road was near empty, and the only other vehicles could as well be heading to the BIA. At one point, my bike let out weird sounds and I was worried. Two heavyweights – me, seventy-eight kilos and JL seventy-five – were riding on my old pulsar at a high speed. I feared if the engine would heat up too much forcing me to stop. KP and AG are light-weight and they were riding smoothly on KP’s new Unicorn. Nandi Hills was 40 odd kms still and I could already see the sky dimly lit, which means that I would miss the sun rise view from atop the hills.

Almost near the BIA, one road took off from the NH-7 to the airport and the other led directly to Devanahalli. I strictly obeyed my friend’s route map that we had to cross the airport to reach Nandi hills and hence took off into the airport road while KP took the other one. Initially KP told that he didn’t know the route to Nandi Hills so I thought that he was going in the wrong direction, but that bloke had already been there and hence he was going correct. I traveled quite some distance before I realized I was off track. Again, loss of time! Finally, we went in the correct way and entered the small road, a deviation off the NH 7, which leads to the Nandi Hills.

The Nandi Hill

Our bikes were short of fuel, and there were no filling stations at all. We purchased petrol at rupees seventy a litre from a condiments shop. Well, it’s our necessity and he is the only supplier, so no fussing about the cost. The hill looked awesome from its foot; thick fog capped its top. The ride to the peak took us through picturesque locales of the surrounding hills and floral valleys. At the summit, the mist was so heavy that I felt as though I was in Ooty or Kodaikanal. We could hardly see people some thirty feet away. The time is half past seven and there was no trace of the sun; of course, he is there somewhere behind the foggy clouds, but not to be seen. Silly me, I wanted to watch the sun rise. Maybe a good thought, but not in this rainy cum wintry season. The breeze was rapid and the fog was whizzing past my ears. We took a long walk around the hill, snapping pictures. There are guest houses for accommodation, a very well maintained garden and a few eating joints. There’s a place called Tipu drop, and the legend is that the emperor Tipu Sultan used to punish his prisoners by pushing them off the hill from this spot. This side of the hill is barren rock and if one falls from here, I bet he’d die midway even before hitting the ground. What a ghoulish way to die!

This is how the sun looks

We all sat on a big rock on the edge of this place and relaxing, watching a wonderful view in front of us. JL and KP had just removed their jerkins and laid it on the ground. AG was taking pictures of us when out of nowhere a small monkey raced towards us. AG alerted us and KP immediately jumped and grabbed his coat, while the monkey grabbed JL’s coat. We tried to scare it away, but it scowled and sped off downhill, with the coat in its hand. We all could do nothing but watch, for, just one step ahead from the place where we stood, we would bring alive the legend that Tipu Sultan created. The monkey was searching for food and it went through the coat very often. Meanwhile, KP said that it would bring it back, so we’d hide somewhere and watch it. I thought KP has gone mad due to this chilling wind, but he was dead right. The monkey went across and came up some twenty yards from us, but still clutching the coat tight. It was dragging the coat all along and it got stuck to one sharp edge of a rock. After failed attempts to retrieve it, the monkey left hope and jumped on to a surrounding bush. At this point, I made a bold move and went towards the coat. I couldn’t see a thing on my right; just one wrong step and that’s the end. I evaluated my path and went bare-foot, with maximum weight on to the left. Just as I was about to get hold of the coat, the monkey gave one final frown, but I didn’t budge and very gingerly turned around and returned safe with the coat. KP was dancing after this and JL’s face lit like a thousand watt lamp. And why not, he has reclaimed his property from the most capricious animal. Monkeys have taken so many things from me – peanuts, bananas, coconuts – but never did I get anything back. This one is a lucky dude. JL, remember this day forever mate.

The monkey with the coat; me, going to get the coat.

After that (mis)adventure, we roamed around for an hour more and then had breakfast. We tried all varieties – idly vada, bread omelet, maggi noodles – but nothing was tasty. Well, we can’t ask for anything more. They at least have something to eat. It was eleven in the morning but the thick fog cloud didn’t go; visibility was still a problem. It was a long walk back to the parking lot, but even longer is the journey back home. I dreaded the thought of driving back seventy kilometers and that too when the traffic is heavy. As we descended the hill, the coolness began diminishing and finally when we reached the foot of the hill, the weather was warm. On the highway to Bangalore, the sun was scorching. Not a delightful ride this was to be. It took us an hour and half to get back home. After getting down, I could barely walk. My back was sore and my thighs numb. Took a hot water bath and dozed off. It was a very long drive indeed, but worth the pain and effort, for, we had been to a fantastic and beautiful place – The Nandi Hills.

Some pictures from the hills.