ಕೋಲಾಟದ ವೀಡಿಯೋ

ಈ ಬಾರಿಯ ದೀಪಾವಳಿ ಹಬ್ಬಕ್ಕೆ ಊರಿಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ತೆಗೆದ ವೀಡಿಯೋ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ಲೇಖನಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ಕಿಸಿ.

Dodda Alada Mara Ride

It was sunday on 22nd Feb, and with no interesting movies to watch, me and Jagga were feeling bored and we started off without knowing where to go. It was already 4pm, so we could think of no place other than Dodda Aladamara. (Big Banyan Tree)


Dodda Aladamara is a giant banyan tree located at a distance of about 25 km from Majestic, Bangalore. To reach there, one has to reach NayanDahalli, (Mysore Road - Outer Ring Road junction) and from there head towards Mysore and cross Kengeri. After 2-3 km, one can see "Rajarajeshwari Dental College", Kumbala godu. One has to take right turn here and Dodda Alada mara is just 7 km away.

The tree is said to be around 400 years old and a single tree spread across acres of land. Now we can't make out which is the main tree and the explaination the localites give is that the main root is destroyed due to some disease some years back. We can, even now, see the connection between most branches (not all).


Nevertheless, it's a good place to hang on particularly for evening walks. Not to mention monkeys are intelligent here! We headed back towards Bangalore after wandering for about an hour there. For more pictures click here.

ದೀಪಾವಳಿಯ ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವುದು ಮತ್ತು ಕೋಲಾಟ

"ಢುಮುಸಾsssಲ್ ಹೊಡಿರಣ್ಣ ಢುಮುಸಾsssಲ್ ಹೊಡಿರ್ರೊ"
"ಢುಮುಸಾsssಲ್ ಹೊಡಿರಣ್ಣ, ನಾವ್ ಹೋಗ ಮನೆಗೆsss" ...
...
"ಯದುಕುಲೇಸನೇsss, ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಪರಸು ರಾಮನೇsss, ಸ್ವಾಮಿ ಪರಸು ರಾಮನೇsss"
...

ಇದೇನಂತ ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಗೊಳ್ತಾ ಇದೀರಾ? ಹಳ್ಳಿಗರಿಗೆ, ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಮಲೆನಾಡು ಸುತ್ತಮುತ್ತ ಅಂತೂ ಇದು ಏನು ಅಂತ ಕ್ಷಣಮಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಆದರೂ ಚಿಕ್ಕದಾಗಿ ವಿವರಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ. ಗ್ರಾಂಥಿಕ ಭಾಷೆಯಲ್ಲಿ "ಅಂಟಿಗೆ ಪಿಂಟಿಗೆ" ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುವ ಈ ಕಲೆಗೆ ಮಲೆನಾಡಿನ ಹೃದಯ ಭಾಗವಾದ ಸಾಗರ ಪ್ರಾಂತ್ಯದ ಸುತ್ತಮುತ್ತ "ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವುದು" ಎನ್ನುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವವರು ದೀಪ ಹಿಡಿದುಕೊಂಡು ಮೊದಲೆರಡು ಸಾಲಿನಂತೆ ಕೂಗುತ್ತ ಮನೆಮನೆಗೆ ಬರುತ್ತಾರೆ, ಬಂದು ಹಾಡು ಆರಂಭಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಮನೆಯವರು, ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವವರ ದೀಪಕ್ಕೆ ಎಣ್ಣೆ ಹಾಕಿ, ಅವರ ದೀಪದಿಂದ ತಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯ ದೇವರ ದೀಪ ಹಚ್ಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಪದ್ಧತಿ. ಅವರಿಗೆ ಹಬ್ಬಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡಿದ ಹೋಳಿಗೆಯನ್ನಿತ್ತು, ಸಂಭಾವನೆ ನೀಡುತ್ತೇವೆ. (ಮನೆ ಒಳಗಡೆ ಬಲ್ಬ್ ಹಾಳಾಗಿದ್ದರಿಂದ, ಫೋಟೋ ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ, ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವ ಗುಂಪು ಹೊರಗಡೆ ಹಾಡು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದರು, ಅವರೆಲ್ಲ ಈ ಚಿತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮೂಡಿಬಂದಿಲ್ಲ)


ನಂಗೆ ತಿಳುವಳಿಕೆ ಬಂದು ಸುಮಾರು ೧೬-೧೮ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಪ್ರತಿ ದೀಪಾವಳಿಗೆ ಇದನ್ನು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಆದರೆ, ಇವತ್ತಿಗೂ ನಾನು ದೀಪಾವಳಿಯಂದು "ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವವರು" ಬರುವುದನ್ನು ಕಾಯುತ್ತೇನೆ. ರಾತ್ರಿ ಮಲಗಿದ ವೇಳೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಬಂದು ಎಬ್ಬಿಸುವ ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವವರನ್ನು ನೋಡಲು, ಅವರು ಹೇಗೇ ಹಾಡನ್ನು ಹಾಡಲಿ (ಅಥವಾ ಹೇಳಲಿ), ಕೇಳಲು ನಂಗೆ ಚಂದ.

ನಮ್ಮೂರಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಪಂಗಡದವರು ಹಬ್ಬಾಡಿದರೆ, ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಪಂಗಡದವರು ಕೋಲಾಟ ಆಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದು ದೀಪಾವಳಿಯ ಮರುದಿನ. ಎಲ್ಲರ ಮನೆಯೆದುರು ಕೋಲಾಟವಾಡುವುದು ರೂಢಿ. ಇವರಿಗೂ ಕೂಡ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸಂಭಾವನೆಯ ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಹೋಳಿಗೆಯನ್ನು ಕೊಟ್ಟರೆ, ನಮ್ಮ ಕೆಲಸ ಕೋಲಾಟವನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ಸಂತೋಷಪಡುವುದಷ್ಟೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಕೋಲಾಟದ ಮಧ್ಯೆ ಎಸೆಯುವ ನಾಣ್ಯವನ್ನು ಅವರು ಕಾಲಿನಿಂದಲೇ ಹೆಕ್ಕಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ನೋಡಲು ಬಲು ಚಂದ. (ಇದರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಬ್ಲಾಗ್)


ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಹಬ್ಬಕ್ಕೆ ಊರಿಗೆ ಹೋದಾಗ ಹಬ್ಬಾಡುವುದು ಮತ್ತು ಕೋಲಾಟ ಎರಡೂ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿತು. :-) ವೀಡಿಯೋ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದೇನೆ.

Bluff or Shimsa and Talakadu

After our graduation, we, classmates, had never been to any place together. So somebody suggested and everybody else agreed to visit Shivanasamudra and we went there on Jan 31st, 2009.

Actual name of Bluff or Shimsa is Shivanasamudra, which has two waterfalls namely Gaganachukki and Bharachukki. At Shivanasamudra, river Kaveri branches off into two and drops over cliffs forming multiple waterfalls. We went to Bharachukki and left out Gaganachukki as we prioritized visiting Talakadu than Gaganachukki. The hydral power plant in Shivanasamudra is first in Asia! From Bengaluru, there are two ways to reach bluff. One via Maddur -> Malavalli from Bengaluru Mysuru road and the other one is via Kanakapura->Malavalli. Distance is almost same but first one is better as the road is good.


Having breakfast in Kamat hotel, Ramanagar, as usual, it was around 11 am when we reached Bharachukki. Unfortunately, our time of visit was not very good as the water at this time of the year would be less. But who goes only to see the beauty, we were to enjoy the trip after all! Coming back to the day, we climbed down the hillock and reached the bottom. To go below the falls and to play most in water we hired 'Teppa', (Raft or ferry, I don't know what it's exact counterpart in English). Getting soaked in water after sometime was giving us lot of cheerfulness in that heat. After playing in the waters for about an hour we were back to land and started for Talakadu.



Talakadu, full of sand, is a small town beside river Kaveri. It has great history and buried underneath in sand are 30 odd temples! It is also associated with the "curse of Talakadu" by Alamelamma. She cursed "Talakadu Maralagali" along with two more curses which include "Mysore Wadeyar may not have children for all time". Almost everybody in Karnataka know about these and I don't write anything more.


Talakadu is a very good place to hang on for some time with family and/or friends. We spent sometime along the river shore after taking a round to the other end in Teppa. This time instead of rowing, they were just pushing with the help of a long bamboo pole. When we asked the depth, the guy told it's just 4 feet! If we knew this earlier, we wouldn't have given him Rs 100 just for taking us otherside of the river once.


The most funny part followed this. One elderly lady volunteered herself as a guide even when we were refusing. Then she started addressing every one of us as "PuTtamma, Chinnupaapu, Ganesha, ... ", and so on and particulary one of our friends Seena, who got very close to her in that short period and was pity about her. She not even closed her mouth for a second and we were just making fun of her.


It was getting dark and we started from Talakadu at twilight hour towards Bangalore and had something in Kamat hotel, Ramanagar once again!

ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಲೀಲೆ

ಅವನೊಬ್ಬ ಸ್ತಿತಪ್ರಜ್ಞ. ಯಾರೇನೇ ಹೇಳಲಿ, "ಓಹೋ, ಹೌದಾ, ಖುಷಿಯಾಯ್ತು", ಅಥವಾ "ಅಯ್ಯೋ, ಹಾಗಾಗಬಾರದಿತ್ತು" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಹಾಗಂತ ಭಾವನೆಗಳಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂತಲ್ಲ, ಆದರೆ, ಇಲ್ಲವೇ ಇಲ್ಲನೆನ್ನುವಷ್ಟು ಕಡಿಮೆ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಪಡಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಅವನು ಏನಾದರೂ ಚಿಂತಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ, ಅಥವಾ ಖುಷಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದರೆ, ಅವನು ಹೇಳಿದರೆ ಮಾತ್ರ ಬೇರೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.

ಎಲ್ಲರ ಜೀವನದಂತೆ, ಅವನ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲೂ ಒಂದು ಹೆಣ್ಣು ಜೀವದ ಪ್ರವೇಶವಾಯಿತು. ಅವಳು "ನೀನೊಬ್ಬ ಮುಚ್ಚಿದ ಶೀಷೆ, ಮುಚ್ಚಳ ತೆಗೆದಿಡು, ನಿನ್ನನ್ನು ನೀನು ತೆರೆದಿಡಬೇಕು" ಎಂದಳು. "ಹೃದಯ ಸುಗಂಧ ದ್ರವ್ಯದ ಶೀಷೆ, ಮುಚ್ಚಳ ತೆಗೆದರೆ, ಅದರ ಪರಿಮಳ ಹೊರಟು ಹೋಗುತ್ತದೆ" ಎಂದ. "ಆದರೂ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ತೆಗೆಯುವೆ, ಇನ್ನುಮುಂದೆ" ಎಂದ.

ಕಾಲಕ್ರಮೇಣ, ಗೊತ್ತೇ ಆಗದಂತೆ, ಭಾವನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ತಕ್ಕಷ್ಟು ಸ್ಪಂದಿಸಲು ಆರಂಭಿಸಿದ. ಮುಂಚೆ ಕಥೆ - ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳನ್ನು, ನಿರ್ಲಿಪ್ತನಾಗಿ, ಕೇವಲ ಆಸಕ್ತಿ, ಕುತೂಹಲ ಮತ್ತು ಕಥೆ ಎನ್ನುವ ದೃಷ್ಟಿಯಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ಓದುತ್ತಿದ್ದವ, ಆಮೇಲೆ ಭಾವಪರವಶನಾಗಿ ಓದಲಾರಂಭಿಸಿದ. ದೂರದರ್ಶನ, ಚಲನಚಿತ್ರಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಳುವ ದೃಶ್ಯವಿದ್ದರೆ, ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಇವನ ಕೆನ್ನೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು ಧಾರಾಕಾರ ಬರಲಾರಂಭಿಸಿತು. ಭಾವನೆಗಳ ಚಿಲುಮೆಯಾದ. ಅವನ ಚಿಂತಿತನಾಗಿದ್ದಾನೋ, ಖುಷಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದಾನೋ, ಅವನ ಮಿತ್ರರು ಹೇಳಬಲ್ಲವರಾಗಿದ್ದರು!

- ಅವನು ಮುಂಚೆ ಇದ್ದಿದ್ದು ಸರಿಯೇ? ಅಥವಾ ಆಮೇಲೆ ಪರಿವರ್ತನೆಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದು ಸರಿಯೇ?
- ಅಥವಾ ಎರಡೂ ಸರಿಯೇ!? ಇದೆಲ್ಲದರ ಮಿಶ್ರಿಣವೇ ಮಾನವ ಜೀವನವೇ?
- ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಪರಿಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗುವಡೆಗೆ ಎಂದರೇ, ಭಾವನೆಗಳು ಕಾಲಕ್ರಮೇಣ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಆಗಬೇಕೆ? ಅಥವಾ ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಆಗಬೇಕೆ?
- ಸನ್ಯಾಸಿಗಳನ್ನು (ಪ್ರಪಂಚದೆಡೆಗಿನ ಸಂಬಂಧ ಕಳಚಿಕೊಂಡವರು) "ಮಹಾನ್ ಸಾಧಕರು" ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುವುದು ಎಷ್ಟು ಸರಿ, ಯಾಕೆಂದರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಮಾನವ ಉನ್ನತ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಯಾಗಿದ್ದು ಭಾವನಿಗಳಿಂದ, ಅದನ್ನೆ ತೊರೆದರೆ?
- ಅನುಭವವಿರುವವನು ಅನುಭವಿ ಆದರೆ, ಭಾವನೆ ಇರುವವನು ಭಾವಿ ಆಗ್ತಾನಾ?

ವಿ.ಸೂ. :- ಯಾರಾದರೂ, ಈ ಕಾಲ್ಪನಿಕ ಕಥೆಗೆ, ಆಮೇಲಿರಿಸಿದ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಏನಾದರೂ ಅರ್ಥವಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಭಾವಿಸಿದರೆ, ನನಗೆ ಅಚ್ಚರಿಯಾಗುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ಅನುಮಾನವಿಲ್ಲ. :-)

Capital of "God's Own Country" & Cape Comorin

I had to go to Thiruvananthapuram for some days for office work. I, along with 3 more colleagues, one of them is from Thiruvananthapuram itself and the other two visiting for the first time, went there on Dec 14th, 2008. Same day, during afternoon, we went to Veli village to mark the start of our trip.

Veli tourist village is a good picnic spot, where the Veli lake (rather river) meets Arabian sea, which is around 10 km from Thiruvananthapuram. After wandering in the park for some time, we went for paddle boating. That was first experience for me. We were given life jackets and half an hour time. It was very enjoying. There was horse riding as well, though we weren't interested. I have been to so many hotels, but I never had Coconut milkshake which we had at Veli. It was good. I don't have any snaps of Veli as my Camera battery had dried out.

Next week, we were busy in our work. On 20th, saturday, we visited Napier Art Museum, located at the heart of the ciy, built in 19th century. The museum houses a rare collection of archealogical and historic artefacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, etc. It's worth visiting the place.


Near to the museum was the zoological park, built in 1859! I had never been to a big zoo before, so I found it providing home to many animals. There were elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, zebra, leopards, tigers, lions, sloth bears, fox, jackals among many more. There were a good number of birds too - various pelicans, parrots, peacocks, vultures, hawks, ostrich etc., Reptiles were there as well.



Next day, we started early to Kanyakumari, southermost tip of Indian peninsula, which was nearly 2.5 hours of journey from Thiruvananthapuram, via Nagarcoil. Wow! Kanyakumari, cape comorin, offers fantastic sight with seas in 2 directions and an ocean in 3rd. It's the very confluence of the 3 water bodies - Indian Ocean, Arabean sea and Bay of Bengal. The thought, of being at the bottom most tip of India, geographically, makes us feel something!

On the beach, I laughed remembering my question to my father, almost 15-16 years before. "How can we distinguish the 3 seas at Kanyakumari" I had asked, to which my father had replied, "The three seas have different colours - Red, Green and Blue and my boy, you can make out the difference."

Post lunch, we went to Vivekananda Rock Memorial. One needs to buy a ticket and wait in a long queue to put your foot on the boat, which carries to the rock. History says that Vivekananda swam to the rock in 1892 and meditated for 2 days and attained enlightenment before leaving for World Religious Conference, held in Chicago. The memorial was built in 1970. Many books titled "Awake, arise and stop not till the goal is reached", the very famous quote of Swami Vivekananda, were found there.

Beside this is Thiruvalluvar statue, 133 feet tall stone sculpture. Thiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet and saint and whose exact period is not known, though it is predicted as between 2nd century B.C and 8th century A.D.


We were waiting for the sunset and on that day, sunset time was 5:50 and clouds covered the sky from 5 to almost 5 45. We just started for bus stand and the clouds started to clear. We could just watch for a minute just before getting into the direct bus to Thiruvananthapuram.


Last place before heading towards Bangalore was Kovalam beach, roughly 15 km from Thiruvananthapuram. My friend Raghu (who is in Cochi) happen to be there in city on 22nd and we went out to Kovalam beach together. There we chatted more, than playing or enjoying the sunset at the beach.


I should tell you about the food practices in Kerala. It was horrible at the Kovalam beach (the only beach I visited in Kerala) to even glance at the shacks, as they display dead prawns, crabs, lobsters, kept on trays. Being a vegetarian, it was not a good sight for me. I used to have Veg meals for lunch in Thiruvananthapuram and the supplier would ask beef toppings or curry along with veg meals!

On 21st, I was in Kanyakumari, TN, 22nd Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, 23rd, Bangalore, Karnataka and on 24th, I was at my native place! (Talavata).

For more pictures, click here.

ರಾಮ ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಮರೆಯಿಂದ ಕೊಂದಿದ್ದು ಸರಿ?

ಯಾರೇ ತನ್ನೆದುರಿಗೆ ಯುದ್ಧಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದರೂ ಅವರ ಅರ್ಧ ಶಕ್ತಿ ತನಗೆ ಬರಬೇಕು ಎನ್ನುವ ವರವನ್ನು ವಾಲಿ ಪಡೆದಿದ್ದು ನಮಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತೇ ಇದೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಅವನು ಸುಗ್ರೀವನ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯನ್ನು ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಂಡರೂ ಸುಗ್ರೀವ ಅಸಹಾಯಕನಾಗಿ ರಾಮನ ಸಹಾಯ ಬೇಡಿದ. ರಾಮ ಒಪ್ಪಿ, ನೀವಿಬ್ಬರೂ ಹೊಡೆದಾಡುವಾಗ ನಾನು ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲುತ್ತೇನೆ ಎಂದ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಮಾಡಿದ ಕೂಡ.
ರಾಮ ಬಾಣವೇನೋ ಬಿಟ್ಟ. ವಾಲಿಗೆ ಪೆಟ್ಟಾಗಿ ಮರಣಶಯ್ಯೆಗೆ ಹೋದ. ರಾಮನನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ ವಾಲಿ ಹೇಳಿದ. "ನಾವು ಮೃಗಗಳು. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹಾಗೆ ಮನುಷ್ಯರಲ್ಲ. ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹಾಗೆ ಒಂದು ಹೆಣ್ಣಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ಗಂಡು ಅನ್ನುವ ನಿಯಮ ಇಲ್ಲ." ಪಶ್ಚಾತ್ತಾಪಗೊಂಡ ರಾಮ "ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ನಂಗೆ ಮುಂದಿನ ಜನ್ಮದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೀಗೆಯೇ ಸಾವು ಬರಲಿ" ಅಂದ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಅರಳಿ ಮರದ ಕಟ್ಟೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಕುಳಿತಾಗ ಅವನ ಕಾಲನ್ನು ನೋಡಿ, ಜಿಂಕೆ ಎಂದು ಪರಿಭವಿಸಿ, ಬೇಡನೊಬ್ಬ ಕೃಷ್ಣನಿಗೆ ಬಾಣಬಿಟ್ಟು, ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರ ಕೊನೆಗೊಳಿಸಿದ ಎಂದು ಮೇಧಾವಿಗಳು ವಿಶ್ಲೇಷಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.
ಇಲ್ಲೇ ಉದ್ಭವ ಆಯ್ತು ಒಂದು ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆ. ವಾಲಿ, ತಾನೇ ಹೇಳಿದ ತಾವು ಮೃಗಗಳು ನಾವು ಯಾರ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯನ್ನಾದರೂ ಇಟ್ಟುಕೊಳ್ಳಬಹುದು ಎಂದು. ಹಾಗಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ, ಮರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಒಂದು ಮೃಗಕ್ಕೆ ಬಾಣ ಹೊಡೆದದ್ದು ತಪ್ಪಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ. ಅಥವಾ ಬೇಟೆಯ ನಿಯಮದ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ತಿನ್ನುವುದಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾತ್ರ ಮರೆಯಿಂದ ಪ್ರಾಣಿ ಹತ್ಯೆ ಮಾಡಬಹುದೇ? ಆಮೇಲೇ, ಸರಿಯೇ ತಪ್ಪೇ, ವಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಕೊಲ್ಲಬೇಕಾದರೆ, ಅವನಿಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗದಂತೆಯೇ ಕೊಲ್ಲಬೇಕಿತ್ತಲ್ಲ (ಅವನ ವರದ ದೆಸೆಯಿಂದ).

ಪಾಪ ಕೃಷ್ಣಾವತಾರದ ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಅನ್ನಿಸ್ತು ನಂಗೆ!

Shivagange - A Holy Rocky Hillock

"Lets go to Nandi Hills", I said, "But we have to be there by 6 am!".

We were planning for the next day, i.e., 15th Aug (2008). But in the evening, it rained so heavily that made us to drop the idea of being there on the summit by 6 am. Not just that, we even dropped Nandi Hills picnic, which never came true till today!We inquired some friends and decided on Shivagange, a rocky hillock and a fantastic trekking place with temples at the summit. The place is around 60 km from Bangalore towards Tumkur. A deviation has to be taken from NH 4 at Dabas pet and travel for 8 km to reach at the base, though the hillock is visible from Highway.


Me, Jagga and Acharya started by 9 am and picking up Manu, Prasanna and Deva on the way, all wearing jackets to protect from rain, set towards it and reached by around 11. Thanks to Varuna, the rain God. Nevertheless the weather was so nice and with clouds covering entire sky, Sun was not visible, A happy sign for trekkers.


We started climbing the hillock and we struggled a lot to keep the biscuits and chips with ourselves when our so called ancestors were trying desperately to drag them away. I am talking about monkeys, which would be there in large number at Shivagange. At once it jumped at me and even opened the zip of my bag to peek inside! So daring. Its a challenge how much you can keep before reaching the summit.


Half way, there is a place called "Olakallu Teertha", where, inside a cave, a small well with a diameter of 3/4th a foot is there. There is water in it but one has to shove his hand till the shoulder to reach the water. If he touches it, it is believed he has good luck, otherwise considered bad luck.


We took around 2 and half hours to reach the summit, eating cucumber, watermelon and drinking buttermilk on the way, including testing our luck by reaching water inside the well. The scenery is so fantastic and fabulous that I can never forget, at least in the near future. There is a suicide point also and a kannada novel refers it to as "Shantala's suicide point". I am not sure but I guess a character named Shantala committed suicide by jumping down in the novel at that place.


After photo sessions, we climbed down, which took an hour and a half approximately. But Varuna thought he should not keep quiet and heavy rain started pouring when we just started our ride and not even reached Dabas Pet. Finally, when it sl0wed down we resumed towards Bangalore and reached not before having snacks at Kamat hotel, Dabas Pet.

For more photos please follow this link http://picasaweb.google.com/gowthuhk/ShivagangeTrip#

ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ

ಯಮಧರ್ಮನ ವರಪ್ರಸಾದದಿಂದ ಜನಿಸಿದ ಯುಧಿಷ್ಠಿರ ತನ್ನ ಧರ್ಮ ಪಾಲನೆಯಿಂದ ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನೆಂದೇ ಕರೆಸಿಕೊಂಡದ್ದು ನಮಗೆಲ್ಲ ತಿಳಿದ ವಿಷಯ. ಆದರೂ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥಾನ ಮೃತಹೊಂದಿದ ಎಂದು ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಒಂದು ದಿನ ನರಕವನ್ನು ನೋಡುವ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆ ವಿದಿಸಲಾಯಿತು ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಆ ಹೆಸರಿನ ಆನೆ ಒಂದು ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಸತ್ತಿದ್ದರೂ, ಅದನ್ನು ಹೇಳಿದ ರೀತಿ ದ್ರೋಣಾಚಾರ್ಯರ ಮಗ ಅಶ್ವತ್ಥಾನನ ಮರಣದ ವಾರ್ತೆಯಂತಿತ್ತು. ಹೀಗಿದ್ದಾಗ ನನಗೊಂದು ಸಂದೇಹ. ಪಾಂಡವರ ಕೌರವರ ಜೋಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ದ್ರೌಪದಿಯನ್ನೇ ಜೂಜಿಗಿಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ, ಯಾಕೆ ಧರ್ಮರಾಯನಿಗೆ ಏನೂ ಶಿಕ್ಷೆಯ ಪ್ರಸ್ತಾಪ ಆಗಿಲ್ಲ?

/* ಈ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗೆ ಉತ್ತರಿಸಲು ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಆಹ್ವಾನವಿದೆ. */

Goa - A Tiny Emerald

One fine day, 2008 March last week, we (Me, Jagga and Manu) thought we could go for a trip. We also thought we should decide the date, place and invite others instead of asking everybody for probable dates, otherwise the trip itself wouldn't have happened. We called our friends immediately we booked 4 tickets in KSRTC to Karwar (as we didn't get train tickets) for April 4th evening when only we 3 were confirmed, rest denying. Finally Deva joined us as 4th member, when none of us were aware of boarding, lodging, travelling etc., in Goa. We just googled it and found out some places and left.

It was 9 am when we got down in Karwar and had breakfast. Not knowing the train timings, we caught a KTC (Goa state transport) bus and reached Margao by around 12 noon, two of us looking at Western ghats, rest continuing sleep...

When we checked into a hotel in Margao, everybody was eager to have shower - a desperate needy at the hour. After having lunch in a Kamat hotel nearby, we set for Colva beach dressed in shorts, convenient to play in sea-waters. We played in sea, watched sunset and returned to our hotel. We used only public transport on our first day.

One unusual thing about Margao (or rather different than what we thought), is town's time to embrace the sleep. We started for dinner at around 9 pm and we walked around 3-4 km till the town's center and still we didn't get even a single hotel opened that time! Hotels, shops, market, - everything was closed for the day. We had a tough time finding to have food and finally we settled for paav bhaji, he too was packing up, which we found luckily on a roadside.

Next day (6th) we went to Anjuna beach, where Scarlett Keeling's body found just one month prior, and we got into a cottage. We changed bus once at Panaji and then at Mapusa on our way to Anjuna village. It is quite a different beach, full of dark brown rocks near shore, not usual sandy. Its also a famous shooting spot.


After playing for a while, We left the shore and hired two bikes. Now this is something very common in Goa - rented bikes. We asked a guy for two bikes, which he gave willingly, taking Rs 250 per day per bike, and not even bothered to ask whether we knew the driving or not, let alone DLs! When we were about to start, he told about accelerator and brake!


We then visited Bhaga and Calangute beaches. Those two are beautiful beaches, where we enjoyed most. We played water sports, watched sunset for second successive day, and did shopping. There is a very good veg restaurant in Calangute, (name I don't remember now, must be some 'Sagar') where we had both lunch and dinner.


Next day early morning, we explored Anjuna Beach a little more before heading to to Panaji. As soon as we got down, probably guessed by our confusing looks, somebody came and was leading us to a hotel, the next moment! We checked into a hotel, Sona, near Panjim bus stand. After enquiring about cruise timings, we booked for that day evening's, since it was already time for morning's.

We then booked a cab cum guide to show us temples and churches. First we visited St. Francis Xavier's Church, whose speciality lies in the preservation of St.'s body from around 450 years. Near to that, we can find one more famous monument Se Cathedral, which truly depicts the royalty of Goa during the Portuguese rule. The art museum there, is good to visit. I am not going to write the historical significance of these architectures that you can get, very well detailed, if you google it.


Churches enough, next thing was to visit some of the famous temples. We visited 3 famous temples - Shri Mangesh temple, Goa's one of the most prominent temples, located at Mangeshi village, followed by Mahalasa temple, another name of Vishnu's Mohini incarnation, located at Madroli village, and Shantadurga temple, which has an impressive idol of Durga, who is said to have mediated between Vishnu and Shiva and stopped their war. Goa's temples are really good and one can find the architectural similarity between them.


After that we went to Dona Paula and Miramar beaches, visiting 'big foot', a miniature setup to recreate the rural life of Goa's olden days. Big foot got its name because of big footprint that was discovered on a rock and the footprint is believed to bring good luck for those who stood upon it. The laterite sculpture of Saint Mirabai in Ancestral Goa has been cited in the Limca Book of Records as the Longest Laterite Sculpture in India.

Hmmm, it was time to say good bye to Deal(Deva, our friend), who had to leave us for his home. We then went on to ride cruise. In cruise they take us on the water for about an hour's ride. There will be dance and / or similar programmes on it.


Next morning, we woke up early and before 6 am, we were at Panaji bus stand to catch the bus to Margao, from where we had to catch Konkan train (Vokha - Ernakulam Express) at 8 or so. That journey from Margao to Karwar in train was the best train journey I ever had! Though we got the seats in II class, we soon left the seat and stood in the door for our entire journey till Karwar. It averages about 120 kmph. There are so many small tunnels and 2-3 lengthier ones as well. (2-3 km long). Even inside the tunnels, dark and lit by small bulbs, the train didn't reduce the speed. The sound was horrible, when it goes inside. And we were afraid at times, seeing rocks and stones very much near to train! Wonderful journey nonetheless. It reached Karwar in 45 mins (rail distance - around 70 km or so)


Finally we got down in Karwar and caught a bus to Talavata, (my native place) via Gerusoppa ghat on 8th of April.

PS : For more pictures, you can refer to my picasa album http://picasaweb.google.com/gowthuhk/GoaTrip#.

ಪ್ರೀತಿಯ ಹುಡುಗಿಯ ಪ್ರಥಮ ಕವಿತೆ ... ನಿನ್ನ ನೆನಪು ...

ಮುಂಜಾವಿನ ಮಂಜಿನ ಮುಸುಕಿನಲಿ ಸೂರ್ಯನ ಬೆಳಕಿಗೆ
ಹೊಳೆಯುವ ಇಬ್ಬನಿಯ ಹನಿಯಂತೆ ನಿನ್ನ ನೆನಪು ...

ಚೈತ್ರದ ಚಿಗುರಿಗೆ ಮೈದುಂಬಿ ಹಾಡುವ ಹಕ್ಕಿಯ
ಚಿಲಿಪಿಲಿ ದನಿಯಂತೆ ನಿನ್ನ ನೆನಪು ...

ಬೆಳದಿಂಗಳ ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲಿ ಮೈಚುಂಬಿಸುವ ತಂಗಾಳಿಯಲಿ
ತೇಲಿ ಬರುವ ಕಣಗಿಲೆ ಹೂವಿನ ಕಂಪಿನಂತೆ ನಿನ್ನ ನೆನಪು ...

- ರಂಜನಾ ( ಯಾರಂತ ಕೇಳ್ಬೇಡಿ!!! :-) )

- ಸ್ಪೂರ್ತಿಯ ಸೆಲೆ ಗೌತು !!!