Exuberants in the wonderland - A trip to Sakleshpur
This story is dedicated to my good friend Sathya Sheelan. I have just editied this story, but has actually been written by Sathya Sheelan and all credit goes to him for writiing such a wonderful story.
And the story goes like this .......
Everyone, they say would have an experience of the life time. I am proud to have one such experience. Well folks, that’s what I wanted to share with you all for quite some time. And I guess the time has come.
On 10th October 2004 we leave the office in a qualis early morning and moved thru the city, that is Praveen, Harsha, Gururaj, Guruprasad, Maxmelbin, Chethan and me – Sathya. First halt was near my house at Tom’s Café. Where we packed a lot to eat and definitely not to mention the booze {since we did not have the bottlenecks – the GIRLS…} it was fun.
We reached the city of Sakleshpur at around 8:00 in the evening and sought retreat in a small but pleasant hotel and when day turned tiresome and all felt sleepy the guru-n-guru picks the pack of cards and Praveen his Signature. Chethan wanted to try some Signature and made a bold move – 20 min later the Chethan was all over the bed as the cards were all over the floor. The night began with the fight for blankets.
Next day the D Day we started with the breakfast and the fight over the cell phone connections one says that the Airtel – Express yourself and the other HUTCH – the network follows you. Expression died and the Hutch dog left with the driver in the qualis, when we put our foot on the magnificent railway track of Sakleshpur.
The first few hours we walked. We came across our first Bridge it was just a small Bridge but still no safety bars. The walk across it was a breath taking experience for some, so was the small 50 meter tunnel.
As a team it was an eloquent interview that we had while we walked thru those stony woods, those beautiful creeks and those sparkling little brooks. Some how we did see few people along our ways and they guided us with a brilliant smile, we walked quite a distance and stopped to have a bite and the leaches had their fair share of our feet.
The last encounter with the human kind was a man, a Sheppard who warned us that there is a lone elephant at large and that it has done a considerable damage. We were shaken but still we pursued the quest. When we were tired and about to drop we saw a small stream. We decided to take a dip and we did. Just when we were getting comfortable Mr. Scout Man - Praveen warns us of the time that was running out on us. Meanwhile fate, it seems had a different treat in store for us.
Okay, we move ahead and at one point we have had covered around 18KM and where we had come to a stand still. To walk back is near to impossible to go ahead was a different question. At that point Harsha makes the first move. He walked around 25m across the track to reach a tunnel which made the option of going ahead easy.
We cross that hurdle and to our amazement we reach a railway station and the thought of finding a road to walk out of this forest was beyond excitement!, this is where the fate intervened again. I saw the frowned faces of our team, when we realized that the road is nearly a mile and a half away and is inaccessible. The only hope was that there was a small puppy in that wilderness (in a room indeed that was locked) stating - some one lived there.
The simple thought of being lost in that forest personally, was an exiting feeling. However with the lone elephant who would get better off us… Naa…
Again the Scout’s Man comes to make a point “if we walk the same track we might find another railway station or at least an intersection with the road”. Ironically, for us the nearest inter section is around 10 to 12 KM away… the coordinator Mr. Guruprasad had given-up and had an evergreen sessions with Gururaj which he will cherish for centuries come. We also had a local peacemaker Maxmelbin as a crown in glory we also had a tight-wit Chethan and me a fit-for-nothing spectator; however I had a gala time thru out.
We walked in circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, you name it… At last Praveen took control of the situation and decided to stay in one of the tunnels that we had passed earlier, and we did the same. We had to get the wood, make fire and fight and settle and find more wood …
The next day I here a man whistling a Kannada song I run to find no one… later we walk back to the railway station … no one so we decide to go back the same way and we did, but mid way we find the keeper of the railway station and the maser of the puppy dog.
He shows us the way out and we were indebted to that good sole man who was very amused to here our story. We made it back with blood stain on our pants – which I am afraid is another saga in itself.
This episode has not just left feeling that we had at that moment, it has etched itself in everyone who were a part of it, that which has brought us close as an individual and as a team.
This my friend, was the gift of fate that was in store for us at that one day 11th October 2004.
And the story goes like this .......
Everyone, they say would have an experience of the life time. I am proud to have one such experience. Well folks, that’s what I wanted to share with you all for quite some time. And I guess the time has come.
On 10th October 2004 we leave the office in a qualis early morning and moved thru the city, that is Praveen, Harsha, Gururaj, Guruprasad, Maxmelbin, Chethan and me – Sathya. First halt was near my house at Tom’s Café. Where we packed a lot to eat and definitely not to mention the booze {since we did not have the bottlenecks – the GIRLS…} it was fun.
We reached the city of Sakleshpur at around 8:00 in the evening and sought retreat in a small but pleasant hotel and when day turned tiresome and all felt sleepy the guru-n-guru picks the pack of cards and Praveen his Signature. Chethan wanted to try some Signature and made a bold move – 20 min later the Chethan was all over the bed as the cards were all over the floor. The night began with the fight for blankets.
Next day the D Day we started with the breakfast and the fight over the cell phone connections one says that the Airtel – Express yourself and the other HUTCH – the network follows you. Expression died and the Hutch dog left with the driver in the qualis, when we put our foot on the magnificent railway track of Sakleshpur.
The first few hours we walked. We came across our first Bridge it was just a small Bridge but still no safety bars. The walk across it was a breath taking experience for some, so was the small 50 meter tunnel.
As a team it was an eloquent interview that we had while we walked thru those stony woods, those beautiful creeks and those sparkling little brooks. Some how we did see few people along our ways and they guided us with a brilliant smile, we walked quite a distance and stopped to have a bite and the leaches had their fair share of our feet.
The last encounter with the human kind was a man, a Sheppard who warned us that there is a lone elephant at large and that it has done a considerable damage. We were shaken but still we pursued the quest. When we were tired and about to drop we saw a small stream. We decided to take a dip and we did. Just when we were getting comfortable Mr. Scout Man - Praveen warns us of the time that was running out on us. Meanwhile fate, it seems had a different treat in store for us.
Okay, we move ahead and at one point we have had covered around 18KM and where we had come to a stand still. To walk back is near to impossible to go ahead was a different question. At that point Harsha makes the first move. He walked around 25m across the track to reach a tunnel which made the option of going ahead easy.
We cross that hurdle and to our amazement we reach a railway station and the thought of finding a road to walk out of this forest was beyond excitement!, this is where the fate intervened again. I saw the frowned faces of our team, when we realized that the road is nearly a mile and a half away and is inaccessible. The only hope was that there was a small puppy in that wilderness (in a room indeed that was locked) stating - some one lived there.
The simple thought of being lost in that forest personally, was an exiting feeling. However with the lone elephant who would get better off us… Naa…
Again the Scout’s Man comes to make a point “if we walk the same track we might find another railway station or at least an intersection with the road”. Ironically, for us the nearest inter section is around 10 to 12 KM away… the coordinator Mr. Guruprasad had given-up and had an evergreen sessions with Gururaj which he will cherish for centuries come. We also had a local peacemaker Maxmelbin as a crown in glory we also had a tight-wit Chethan and me a fit-for-nothing spectator; however I had a gala time thru out.
We walked in circles, squares, rectangles, triangles, you name it… At last Praveen took control of the situation and decided to stay in one of the tunnels that we had passed earlier, and we did the same. We had to get the wood, make fire and fight and settle and find more wood …
The next day I here a man whistling a Kannada song I run to find no one… later we walk back to the railway station … no one so we decide to go back the same way and we did, but mid way we find the keeper of the railway station and the maser of the puppy dog.
He shows us the way out and we were indebted to that good sole man who was very amused to here our story. We made it back with blood stain on our pants – which I am afraid is another saga in itself.
This episode has not just left feeling that we had at that moment, it has etched itself in everyone who were a part of it, that which has brought us close as an individual and as a team.
This my friend, was the gift of fate that was in store for us at that one day 11th October 2004.
Comments
How come Idi Amin type Manager in retrospective mood.
Sathya S Sheelan