And Away We Go

Chapter - 11 : Overture

Shankar entered the room and shook me awake. I rubbed my eyes and saw Parag and Aishwarya already up, pacing away. I brushed my teeth hurriedly and set out with them, to explore the last of the valley before we left it. There was a rickety old bridge, spanning the lake we'd roamed about yesterday. We crossed it to enter a clump of orchards and farmlands. 

'This is the perfect place and time for bird spotting,' I whispered. 'We should be seeing owls, orioles, coucals and the like; the nightjar, if we're lucky.' Another ornithology freak friend from college, Shubham Sharma, had told us about the camouflage king of nocturnal birds; the nightjar. Its species had an unusually high concentration in the Sharavati Valley. 

We didn't see jack, although we did try breaking coconuts from a palm, by throwing a heavy stone. Shankar handed me a large rock, and I flung it with all my strength - it even hit one bunch, but it was like trying to get coins from a piggy bank by tickling it. I missed the gulel (slingshot) I used to hit mangoes off of a tree back home; although you probably needed a catapult for coconuts. 

'Hey, you guys are getting a little crazy,' Parag said, with almost genuine concern. 'We'll head back.' Aishwarya guffawed.

'We'll come in a while. The other side of the lake should be accessible from here - let's meet at the bridge in fifteen minutes.' Shankar agreed.

We went to the end of the orchard, passing many pineapple trees, until we reached the edge of the lake. It was a tiny opening, like a small window through a house made of trees, built right at the coast. We could see morning waltzing in through the clouds, admiring its reflections in the lake. The others should be stirring awake now. 

There was an unripe pineapple, hanging just within reach. Well, Shankar's reach. He pulled it towards himself and immediately let go. 'There's thorns.'

'Okay, pull it here.' I unrolled my sleeve and started twisting the main branch backwards and forwards, a trick I'd learnt from breaking neem sticks for cleaning my teeth. In a minute, it came off, and we carried the fruit gingerly back to the bridge. 

Aishwarya and Parag had gone over to the other side, along the road that led to Muppane; the place we would be going to for water sports. We joined them at the bridge and made our way back to the camp. The sun was harsh today; ideal for a swim.

'Rise and shine, ye lily-livered landlubbers!' I shouted. Commendably, everyone was up, with packed bags and tents. 'Nice, ' I grinned. 'Hey, someone's missing.'

'Oh yeah. Aniket, Prashant and Ravi went to Rani Falls - the same place we did yesterday. They should be here anytime now.' Shankar mentioned.

Everyone headed to breakfast with their rucksacks (or schoolbags) in tow. We were ready to leave. Just before we were thinking of ringing the alarm bells, our three conquistadors appeared; flushed but excited. 

'Hey. Did you find that area?'

'No, but I think we ended up at a different cliff. Look.'

Breakfast entailed idlis, vadais and thokku. We said our thanks to the cook, for we wouldn't be coming back to the cottage, and made for our van. After putting our bags overhead, we packed ourselves in.

'Oh God,' I muttered, as me and Shankar balanced ourselves on the other people's thighs, 'The Loin Safari begins again.'

Chapter - 12 : Sonata

Everyone was more jittery than usual; even though not many had slept properly, and some weren't even that crazy about water sports. Excitement was always at its peak on the last day of a trip. 

We arrived in Muppane, poured out of our van and into the water. We put our bags at the banks of the backwaters, along with our phones, wallets and clothes. Just the idea of how cold the water was going to be had people shivering. Ramu grinned devilishly at our imagined discomfort, as he tightened our life jackets.

'All right, Part 1 - The Water Trampoline!' Ramu yelled triumphantly, pointing to a platform of sorts, sitting ominously slightly offshore. He pushed us all into the water, and we swam towards it. 'I can't swim!' I heard in multiple voices behind me, accompanied by Ramu's diabolical laughter. Both me and him were the 'push them into the water and let them figure it out' types.

We sat on the circumference of the trampoline, with a burly, yet lithe instructor waiting for us. He started with the simplest stunt - jumping higher and higher, and then bouncing off of his back and landing on his feet. Everyone did it, after a few hilarious fails. Then came the front flips and back flips, and everyone's faces fell. We all tried, reluctantly, and the more athletic ones came close, but no one could really land well. The first hurdle was jumping high enough, and the second was getting over the hesitation of flipping.

The third was not landing on someone else.

'Okay, those who want to try the pedal boats and kayaks, swim back to the shore,' Ramu announced, joining us on the trampoline.

'This is ridiculous,' I fumed. 'I'm doing this.' Me, Parag and Abhishek stayed back, determined to do a proper flip. Our instructor watched us failing for a while, bemused, until it was too painful to bear. He came up to us, and stood slightly away from the centre, telling me to stand on the opposite side, symmetrically to him. I started jumping, and he followed suit, reaching his peak when I'd reached the bottom. We realized what he was doing.

The first few times, our altitudes were so high, we couldn't even balance ourselves. But at this height, a flip would be much easier. Finally, I jumped with all my strength and somersaulted, landing on my feet. One foot slipped, but it was still legit. 'Nice!' Parag beamed. 'We'll count that. Now let's boat.'

Part - 2 : The Kayak.

Me and Shankar took a boat - Ramu had tasked us with fetching the others, who had wandered off far into the lagoon. We rowed with an innate sync, feeling the sounds of the shore fading out, replaced by the tranquil hum of the gently rippling water. 'It's so peaceful. One just feels like floating away into the...'

A sudden splash of water drowned my words. I turned to see Jaya and Chetanya pedalling away furiously, chuckling to themselves. Our Holi alter egos took over, and we gave chase, catching up to them in seconds.

'You row, I'll splash,' I said, and exacted my revenge - splashing more water on ourselves in the process.

We rowed away to a calmer shore, the symphony of the water seguing to the ballad of the jungle life. I was reminded of my trip to the backwaters of Kuttanad, Kerala. I saw a flash of colours flit across the bushes. 'Shankar,' I whispered. 'There's a bird in the undergrowth. I think it's a paradise flycatcher. Let's get closer.'

'Or it's a panther and let's not get closer.' Shankar gulped back.

'Never mind, it flew off,' I followed the shape into the sky, its long, twin-tailed end flapping like the flag of a ship at sea. 'Hey, no! It's a racket-tailed drongo. Damn it, where's Vedant...'

We heard whistles and shouts from the shore, and looked back to see Ramu calling us back, with 'Et tu?' written all over his face. We turned around and rowed back, bumping into Prashant on the way, promptly getting into another splashing match. As we approached the shore, we heard an ominous roar.

Part - 3 : The Jet Ski.

Parag and the instructor zoomed past us, into the blue, on a giant jet ski, spraying everyone they passed. One kayak even capsized. It was like a shark had entered a school of fish. The fish scattered, scampering back to the shore. Me and Shankar lost a paddle from one of the oars, and we swam for a while, looking for it at the surface. 'It probably sank. These things are heavy.' We finally concluded.

The jet ski returned to the shore, and then Bhaven zoomed past us. They completed a round of the lagoon and were on their way back, when the overexcited navigator made a turn too sharp, and flipped into the water. Our concern for them was fleeting, as they resurfaced, laughing like maniacs.

Part - 4 : Floating Away Into The...

'All right, people! Into the water, and make some creative formations.' Ramu commanded. Even he had a glow of childish excitement upon him.

Some of us played along, making starfish and dolphin maneuvers and formations and whatnot, while the others swam lazily, a little apart. I floated on my back, feeling the dry heat of the sun battle with the humid cool of the water on my body, hearing the treble of the chirp of birds and swimmers above me, and the bass of the waves and ripples below. I was floating in the twilight zone of this duality, like steam between fire and water.

In my peripheral vision, I saw the others climb back onto the dock, taking off their life jackets and putting their clothes back on. I remembered our 1:30 bus. It was time to leave - and fast. 

Chapter - 13 : Rigaudon

'Okay, people. On the double - pack everything, while me and Shankar sort out the finances.'

Everyone stuffed wet clothes into plastic bags and changed hastily, exchanging luggage and promising to take it back in Bangalore, till the point where no one had their own stuff in their bag. 

Shankar went with Ramu into some shady hotel, like he was going to pay him in unmarked bills. I was in charge of making sure we left nothing more than clothes behind. Shankar returned, and we stuffed everyone into the van, taking a head count.

'Where's Aishwarya?' I yelped. As if on cue, she zoomed past me on a cycle she'd gotten from someone there. 'Be right back!' she yelled, disappearing into the road beyond. I groaned.

Thankfully, she took a quick U-turn, came to us and grinned her way back into the vehicle. 

'All right, folks,' I settled myself into the loin safari and pointed dramatically, 'To Sagara!' The van hurtled forward, and I promptly fell over. 

The driver, to his credit, was doing his best, while we were all huddled back together, discussing logistics to the background of the Mission Impossible soundtrack. 

'Okay, the journey to Sagara takes 40 minutes. The bus leaves in 45.'

'We'll reach with five minutes to spare. Now, the tickets - 6 were booked by Jaya, 5 were booked individually, and 6 by Vedant. Oh damn, we need the screenshot of that m-ticket.'

'Someone with network contact Vedant. We need those tickets asap.'

'I just talked to him. He's sent me the message.'

'Brilliant. Well, gentlemen, it's been a pleasure working with y...'

A loud thud was heard, as a shape blurred in front of our eyes, across the back window. 

'It's a tent! Delta One, stop the car, an egg has fallen from the nest. I repeat, an egg has fallen from the nest.'

The driver halted, and hands emerged from the dense gathering to open the door. 

'Sprinters, go, go, go!' 

Me and Shankar raced off, the blue container laying deceptively close. I reached there, and tossed it to Shankar, who raced back. 

'All right,' I huffed as we swam back to our spots in the back, 'Let's amscray.'

'Okay, this puts us three minutes behind schedule. Team Alpha - you're in charge of expediting the luggage unloading. Team Bravo - collect the exact change and keep the cash ready for the driver. Team Charlie - when we reach the station you hunt down the bus and make sure it waits. Me and Shankar will coordinate all three t...'

'Is that our bus?' Prashant interrupted, pointing out the back window. We read the number, saw the destination and looked at each other. We switched off the soundtrack and relaxed. 

Chapter - 14 : Canon

The station came into view. Teams Alpha, Bravo and Charlie did zilch, and the driver handed us our bags from the top. We took them lazily and trudged to the station, as the bus rolled in climactically. We paid the driver and left. The heat was stinging again, and I wanted to jump back into the water. 

The bus looked exactly the same, right down to the tears in the rubber. We took our iron tetrahedron seats again, and drowsiness settled in. 

'Does anybody have food?'

Sleep and hunger. A bus ride brought everyone back to the basics. 

'One moment,' Rhythm retrieved a huge ziplock bag, and sleep was gone. 

The bus set off, as we nibbled on mathri and mixture - an assortment of groundnuts, chevda, sev, condiments and spices. We drifted off, one by one, to the sweltering heat. A melody played again and again in my head, and I hoped I would remember it when I awoke.

'Bin puchhe mera naam aur pata, haathon mein haath, liye...' Rhythm sang as I stirred awake. 'Chaar kadam bas chaar kadam, chal do na saath mere...'

'Beautiful tune,' I said. 'It can have really interesting chords.'

I took the ukulele and fiddled around a bit, missing my keyboard.

'Oh, hey, a mashup of this and Lag Ja Gale would be interesting.' I mumbled sheepishly. Rhythm grinned and started off, and I followed with the other song. They blended quite well, although I couldn't sing either song properly. 

'Danish, flute.' Bhaven called from the back. 'You didn't play it yet.'

I extricated it nervously and looked around. People were sleeping, the bus was roaring, and the torrid wind was slapping our faces. The music would melt away into the surroundings.

I started playing Charukeshi, and Rhythm smiled. The breeze carried away my tunes and scattered them into the air, to be heard as whispers, perhaps by future travellers.

'Isn't this the scale for Baiyyan naa dharo?' Aparajita asked. 'The main line, at least...'

'Yes,' Rhythm nodded. 'Have you heard He surahno chandra vha? This is that scale.'

Aparajita had a beautiful voice too - she was Rhythm's senior from BITS Hyderabad. They both started singing, and the entire bus sat up and took notice.

At the next stop, a young boy boarded, playing a pitiloo - a two-stringed instrument made from a coconut shell and bamboo. He took requests, and even approximated Chetanya's favourite Bollywood oldie pretty well. Even with the crudest of materials and designs, the melody filled the entire vehicle. 

'What is it about music?' Rhythm mused, mostly to herself.

'Pandora's box, this is,' I chuckled. 'Except everything inside it is good.'

'Except EDM,' she replied. I winced. We discussed music and emotions, and how deeply it affected us, regardless of any labels we chose to divide ourselves over.

'It's all in the mind, in the end,' I said. 'Your entire life, your experiences, your exposure, everything decides what music you like, or whether you like it at all.'

'True. But I'd like to think music touches the soul itself.' Rhythm said, strumming her ukulele sagely.

'What would you call the soul?' I asked.

'A soul is who you are, deep down,' Aishwarya spoke up from behind, joining our discussion. 'Your truest self.'

'So you mean ethics and beliefs, personality maybe?' I answered. 'Cause even that is determined by your life and the world around you.'

'Yes, but isn't there some part that's, I don't know, pure?' She gesticulated.

'I think what she's trying to say,' Rhythm spoke up, 'is that when you're born, there's a certain template already there, upon which the other layers that you mentioned grow onto, in the child's life. That starting template remains, and that's probably the closest definition to a soul, for me.'

'But think about all the layers that come on later,' Vishnu turned around and replied. 'I do believe a soul exists, but after a certain point in life, the world and your experiences become the sole stimuli for your actions and thoughts. That's why children start out so pure, and slowly get humanized, so to speak.'

'That means the soul is basically the most basest human instincts - or the Id, as psychologists call it.'

'But there's sub-conscious and unconscious parts of our mind too. We don't even know what goes on in there. That's part of our soul too.'

'But if that has no bearing on our thoughts or actions, then is it really who we are? I mean, aren't we just our thoughts and actions, in the end? It's like that age-old question - If a tree falls in a forest, and no one's around to hear it...'

'But we do hear it. We don't know what happens exactly, but we see its effects. Dreams, flashes of genius, creativity - we still don't know where it comes from.'

'Ah, see, for that there's also a Recycle Theory going around, which basically says our conscious brain itself accumulates everything our senses take in and produces thought bursts of their permutations, which explains all of the above.'

'Food, anyone?'

The discussion came to a halt. We dismounted quickly at an Udupi restaurant. The Id took over, and we sat down for idlis, vadais and dosais. As we were wrapping up, the bus played peekaboo again, and we scrambled for it. Taking a head count was harder, as the aisle was now filled with people. We were close to Bangalore.

Me and Rhythm sang Top Of The World for a while, until the din became too much.

The people at the back started playing Contact, and I joined them. Aparajita proved to be a force to reckon with, this time, as made-up words were allowed too, while giving the clues. Anjana wasn't amused though, with Ravi and Chetanya making up ridiculous words like 'Ravi-solate' and 'SachKaSaamna-tious'. When we'd exhausted words even Urban Dictionary wouldn't entertain, we switched to Dumb Charades.

Parag, Rhythm, Madhulika and Anjana took a side to themselves and chatted away, sharing campus lives and anecdotes.

Some people drifted off again, and the six of us stopped Dumb Charades after a few paranormal, telepathic guesses. The energy was waning, and people just wanted to go home. Soon, the bus rolled into Majestic Station, and we collected our bags. The sight of the sheer drop of Jog Falls came back to me, and I stepped out of the bus, wondering if we'd passed home by in one of these journeys. 

Chapter - 15 : Cadence

Harsha was waiting there, his trunk already open. We gave him the mattresses and tents, and I shook hands with him. 'Keep in touch,' he said, smiling. 'I hope you find someone closer to home.'

We started walking towards the local buses, to leave for our individual homes. 

'Hey, we didn't click a group picture!' Jaya exclaimed.

'Well, better than doing it in Majestic,' Gaurav chortled. 

'That's not a bad place.' Aniket pointed to the area in front of the metro station. 'There's good lighting, and enough space for us.'

We requested a passer-by to take a photograph, and posed unceremoniously, shuffling around like a Kendriya Vidyalaya school outing. Finally, we settled in our spots and bared our teeth.

'This is sad,' Shankar groaned, and the rest murmured in assent, as the passer-by smiled and showed us a thumbs up. 

'Pretty sure he turned the front cam on and took a selfie,' I blurted out as Ravi took his phone back. 'All right peeps, Splitwise, photos, all that jazz, we'll sort out tomorrow. Just get home and drop a text on the group, so we can sleep in peace. If you don't confirm you've reached home, I'll assume you were kidnapped and I'll, um, do something drastic tomorrow.' I yawned and walked off with Shankar, Anjana, and the Domlur and Spice Garden people. 

We took the bus that went to Kundanahalli. Our group dwindled one by one, until it was just me, Anjana and Shankar.

'So, how was it?' I asked her. She smiled and said nothing.

At Kundalahalli Gate, we all walked to her PG - it was almost midnight. There were no shops open, save for a fresh-looking lassi place. We each slurped a thick shake, reliving the memories of the trip.

'I loved it,' Anjana finally said, looking at me. 'There really was something for everyone.'

'I know,' Shankar concurred. 'Temples, flora and fauna, bus rides, cliffs, waterfalls, trekking, water sports, night skies, music, fun and games - boy, this was a huge trip.'

We got up on our tired feet. Anjana left for her PG. 'Bye comrades,' she waved, 'Do let me know about the next one.'

Me and Shankar went home. Again, the night had grown silent, and the only eulogy to the end of the journey was the staccato of our crunching footsteps. This time, I went inside without hesitation - for I knew this would happen again. 

With a ticket torn, in the birth of morn,

With battered friends, today we go,

With aching toes, and dirty clothes,

With tattered ends, today we go...

Just give me strings and a voice that sings,

And carefree smiles, for the way we go,

Has cliffs, falls, lakes, and all it takes,

Is to dare three miles, for the way we go...

I'll stare into the infinite blue,

Each moment gone, the day we go,

I'll make my peace with memories,

I'll lament long, the day we go...

But I'll return with more to learn,

Just give us a road, and away we go,

For all it takes is cliffs, falls, lakes,

And away we go, and away we go...

Photos, courtesy of Prashant Shekhar Singh, Anjana Pillai, Parag Agrawal, Ravi Pranjal, Abhishek Shankar, Bhaven Parakh and Vishnu Raveendran.


Anjana's Blog : https://anjlifeexperiences.wordpress.com
Vedant's YouTube Channel : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_-wTP-OKAF6HskDOqSeREw
Vedant's Instagram Page : https://www.instagram.com/vedantsapra/

TL;DR (January 25-28, 2018)

Costs:

1) Transport from Bangalore to Sagara: KSRTC - Rs. 700 per head, round trip.

2) Forest Department Package: Rs. 2500 per head (including four meals, trek to Dabbe Falls, campfire, one night accommodation and water sports) 

3) Rent for Tents and Mats: Rs. 250 per 4-person tent per day.

4) Cab for transport to and fro trek and from Jog Falls to Sagara: Rs. 2800 total

5) Bus to and fro Tyavarakoppe Lion and Tiger Safari: Rs. 120 per head

6) Bus to Jog Falls: Rs. 60 per head

Itinerary:

1) Bangalore to Sagara: 11 pm bus - 8 hours, overnight journey

2) Sagara to Ikkeri Temple: Half an hour walk.

3) Ikkeri to Tyavarakoppe Sanctuary - 2 hours travel time. 1 and a half hour for safari and lunch.

4) Tyavarakoppe to Jog Falls: 3 hours.

5) Next day, jog Falls to Dabbe Falls: Half an hour, post breakfast.

6) Dabbe Falls trek: 1 - 1 and a half hour. 

7) Dabbe Falls to Sharavati Backwaters - 1 hour, post lunch.

8) Back to Jog Falls - 1 hour.

9) Next day, Jog Falls to Muppane - Half an hour, post breakfast.

10) Muppane Water Sports - 3 hours, give and take. 

11) Muppane to Sagara - 1 hour.

12) Sagara to Bangalore - 1:30 pm bus - 9 hours, day journey. 

13) Majestic to Amazing Lassi Place at Kundanahalli - Worth it.

Contacts:

1) Ramu (Forest Department Package Guide): 07019001059, 09916747124

2) Harsha (For tents et al): 08971000735