Thank you Vinayaka

I was a jerk. Though there are still vestiges of it, but by and large I can now categorize myself a "non-jerk". It happened a few months back when it occurred to bring down the walls I and the society had created around me. Hence live a life as per my true nature and not that dictated/directed by others directly or indirectly. Live a life unshackled and free.

Though I felled the major wall alone, there were other walls which I could bring down with my friend Vinayaka's assistance. He was there when I was hammering the walls down as bricks and concrete met their grave. He could understand my state. We debated without bringing the societal norms and rules. We talked as individuals- unaffected by the goods/bads and dos/don'ts of the society. It felt so brave, so humanly. Those lengthy debates gave openness to my thoughts, my questions and my confusions. They brought to my fore my natural self- with all its beauty and ugliness. I had to accept both as mine. I have benefitted a lot by interacting with him. The openness with which we discussed everything- including our personal lives- has given me an insight into another important aspect of my being- a sense that I cannot finish with me, but have something beyond too. The last Kumaraparvata was just symbolic; we have scaled so many of Kumaraparvatas that had weakened our self. Now life looks so blissful and celebratory.

Thank you Vinayaka. Maga, please always be as you are.

What's "Decision Making"?

Last week in the calmness of an early morning, a thought flashed on my mind. None of the major events in my life are something that I decided, they just happened. So what's this hullabaloo over "decision making"?

I didn't decide which family I should be born in. I didn't decide who my parents should be. I didn't decide which school I must study in. I didn't decide who my teachers should be. I didn't decide who my classmates should be. I didn't decide who my friends should be. I didn't decide which course I should join. I didn't decide which industry I should work in. Aren't these major events in our lives? In none of these I decided.

You may not be convinced with last two examples I gave in the last para. Think about it- I joined a college/course that was popular. In your case it may be your passion. Industry too, I joined the one which payed me well. Alternatively it can be passion for technology or domain. So there was hardly anything to decide even these cases. We have two options- one is good (passion, salary etc) and another is bad (hate, indifference etc). What's there to decide here? Isn't it obvious?

Then we have options which can't be tagged good or bad exclusively. Alternatively, we have cases where there are 2 goods or 2 bads. Basically, we don't have (sufficient) facts or the options are so similar that we don't know which is better. It's like, you are walking alone in the woods, and you reach a crossroad. With no signboards or people to ask or any other help, does it make any sense to pressurize your mind to make decision. Just take any one path and walk. If you reach your destination, good, else return to the junction and take the second path.

I think there is nothing to decide upon. Let's give intelligence in us its rightful place.

Kumaraparvata Trek

Murli was the third musketeer. The thought of Kumaraparvata (KP) trek came in the last one month and like every time, all the arrangements happened in huddle at the eleventh hour- the sleeping bags, ticket booking, everything. Though we had spent a lot of effort in preparing the list of items to carry, none followed it.

We left by the 22:00 hour 'Vaibhav' bus from Majestic on 10-Feb Friday. The journey of less than 7 hours, the snoring co-passengers, the ghat and our last row seats ensured we don't get a blinkful of sleep. We reached Kukke Subramanya at 4:45. We took a room to freshen-up. Sleep to me is what CM's seat is to our former CM. I was planning of taking a nap till 7 and then start the trek. But the devil Vinayaka kicked me out of the bed and pushed me into the bathroom. The hot water on a sleep-starved body felt like heaven. We had breakfast- 2 idli and 1 vade and uppittu- at the famed Neo Mysore Cafe. At exactly 7 we started our 14 kms long trek.

Thick green forest, pin drop silence that was interrupted only by birds cooing... whoa. My heart was getting tuned to the music of Nature. Considering that it was our first trek, we were walking at a good pace. We had already informed Bhattara Mane to prepare lunch for us. Bhattara Mane is the oasis for trekkers where we can see humans and get food too. We were totally detached from civilization. The route started with level land, then moved slightly steeper and then it became so steep that we were taking breaks every 15 mins. It was easily 60-70 degs to the horizontal. Later we came to know that KP was the most difficult trek in Karnataka and people trek here after getting thorough experience. Junks that we are, we had started with this one. Though there was tremendous sweating, our bodies were cooperating. My jogs and brisk walks had saved me. We reached Bhattara mane at 11. At last we were sighting humans. The cold water flush on our faces was refreshing. The mane is serene. The mangalore tiled house, cowdung carpeted floor, the tulasi katte, the cow shed and the beautiful calves is what makes this mane. Is movement from the cuddle of Nature to urban areas really progress? We rested there for 1 hour. Had rice, sambar and buttermilk for lunch. It was elixir to the tired and sleep-thirsty body of mine.

After that comes the Forest Range office where we will have to take permission to enter the Pushpagiri santuary (where the KP is located). With the increasing cold winds blowing, our bodies had started aching- knees, back. Vinayaka and Murli were keen on stopping the trek there and spending the night at the range office. But I confused them enough to continue our trek. KP tip was still 7 kms away. This leg was tougher than the previous one. The route was getting steeper and we were taking breaks after every 10 mins. The moving was getting difficult. The density of the forest too was less. The fog was dense and cool breeze was blowing. Our chit-chat had kept us moving. We were having intense debates on - culture, philosophy and girls. I was overwhelmed by the size of our collective stupidity. We concluded that Mallu, Reddy and Punjabi boys were lucky.

3 empty bottles and 5 attendances to nature's call later we reached our next landmark- the mantapa. We had covered 4 kms from the range office. A returning group from the tip told us that there was nothing much there and due to dense fog the sight too is poor. Respecting their opinions and our body's cries, we decided to stop there. The tip was still 3 kms away. We rested there for 1 hr. The view from there is breathtaking! It was already 5 and though there were talks of spending the night there, we decided to walk back to the range office and spend the night there. We saw the beautiful sunset on our way... we sat there in silence for sometime just seeing the golden sun bid farewell. It was terrific!

Thanks to Vinni who was carrying a torch we could reach the range office without getting lost in the dark. We slid inside the warm sleeping bags after eating the food we had packed from the Bhattara mane and swallowing pain killers. Thank you to the forest officer for the arrangement, you saved 3 innocent lives.

Next day we met other trekkers- Srikanth and group who were of our age and Ramaswamy Reddy and group who were 50+. The descent was tougher than we had thought, our bodies continued to ache. Due to the pain, I was feeling every part of my body- may be this is what Baba Vasudev means by 'being aware of our body'. Was this spiritualism? Spiritualism is killing then. We had breakfast- uppittu and masala bath at the Bhatta's. We finally reached Kukke at about 12. We took a room and gave our aching and stinking bodies rest and wash. We watched India win against Aus. We had lunch at a restaurant. We visited the Adi Subramanya and Subramanya temples in the evening. At 21:00 we took the 'Vaibhav' bus back to Bangalore where-  journey of less than 7 hours, the snoring co-passengers, ghat and our last row seats ensured we don't get a blinkful of sleep.

All in all a challenging trip. It was a beautiful feeling. Yeh dil maange more!!

Thank you, Vinni and Murli. Thank you, my friend Srikanth, for helping me buy trekking merchandises and thank you all jobless buggers who actually read such a big blog. 

A tribute to Mansur

Firstly, thank you Avinash for leading me to Kannada section of book store. Then, thank you the attender there, for making me buy 'Karunalu baa belake' written by Dr. Gururaj Karajgi. It is a collection of short real life stories. Though I am yet to finish reading the book, one story particularly moved me.

We know of Mallikarjun Mansur- one of the doyens of Hindustani music. Karajgi's and Mansur's chambers were adjecent at Dharwad university. Once Karajgi dropped by Mansur's office to convey his appreciation to the great man. Mansur was alone. After a few seconds of silence, without knowing Karajgi asked Mansur to sing a song. Karajgi then realized what he done. He had asked a great music exponent to sing for him! He apologized. But Mansur asked one of his students to tune the tabla and asked Karajgi which song he wanted to listen and started singing. The involvement of the great man was such that as if was singing for recording! He had sung for a stranger- without any ego or superciliousness. Then he offered to sing another song and sang. Tears welled up in Karajgi's eyes. He touched Mansur's feet and said that he will never forget that- once Mansur who was decorated with many national and international awards had sung to him.

Reading this story, my eyes too became wet. Don't know what to call such people. This earth of ours is blessed to have people like Mansur. May their kind grow!