Sunday, June 24, 2007

Black and White - Part I

"Saale chutie firangi, kya samjhte hain apne aap ko, saala bahinchudh", Tomar shouts into the microphone, but of-course it is on mute. He pulls his hair to release the frustration(it doesn't helps, he feels as if nothing helps), turns on the mic and
"Sorry sir, there was some disturbance in line, how may I help you??"
This is a common scene in the Gurgaon based Indeo call centre where Ajay Tomar (son of the Gen. Vijay Tomar, retired, Indian Army) works. These intermediate fits of rage, slamming of desks, pulling of hair (one guy actually got bald, serioulsy man, not joking, it happened right there in front of Tomar's eyes, day by day this chap was losing hair until…) are mudane. The not so ocassional rebuke from the floor manager doesn't upsets them (Tomar and his co-workers) anymore.
“I’m afraid, that’s not in our capacity to say sir”
Some one's frustration at the politics of becoming floor manager, then a bigger asshole(a.k.a manager), and then a much bigger one is met by strange looks of co-workers as if suggesting "kya nautanki kar raha hai saale, roj kee kahani hai yeh toh". The thing that excites them is the fight for the latest bomb-shell who joined a week back. In Tomar's words they all are comfortably numb. What gets his blood rushing(he longs for complete numbness) are the reports in the media applauding India's economic surge, reports selling the dream of India's bright future with more than 60% of its population still young.
“It’s nothing to do with race, nationality or getting personal sir, as I said earlier its not in our capacity to say sir”
He asks how can India be booming when so many guys like him are stuck in the peanut-sized paycheck jobs (like his) of the the so called Knowledge economy?? May be it was much tougher for mediocre (yes he knows he is damn toooo average) guys like him earlier, to hell with it. He's living now, and it has not been easy for him.
"Thank you for calling Indeo, we deeply regret the inconvenience caused, you're talking to Marc, have a nice day"
Tomar slams the receiver and heads for a break, smokes out his frustration along with his lungs, comes back to his seat in 5 mins, the phone is ringing, recalls his fake American accent and
"Thank you for calling Indeo, you are speaking with Marc, how may I assist you?"....................

Passenger(P): "are Ismael bhai abhi tak!! ek ticket dena Rajiv Chowk kee"
Ismael(I): "are miyaan majraa kya hai, har din last Metro??"
P: "are bhai aap bhi toh roj double shift maarte ho. baat yeh hai kee ghisani toh padtee hee hai roti ke lie"
I: "ha ha, sahi baat, lekin bahut hui ghisai, bibi bachchoon ko lekar ja raha hoon nainital"
P: "are wah, chalo phir, gud nite"
I: "shabakhair"
Soon after giving the last ticket he rushes home. It’s already 22:30 and tomorrow is going to be a big day for him. Kicks his Splendor to life and off he goes. It’s too damn cold, and commuting 30 kms in this freezing Januray cold is difficult. But life has never been easy for him and its not as if he has any regrets. He thanks his Allah everyday for bestowing him with the ‘fighter spirit’. Most of his colleagues have cars (of-course on EMI’s ), but he can’t afford that luxury. He has his farz to fulfill. He has high dreams for his 6 yr old angel – Aasha, and 3 yr old Rishi.
He dreams of Aasha and Rishi going to college, visualizes his 2BHK apartment in delhi, he even dares to dream a silver colored Getz. He smiles and recalls Mirza Ghalib :-

"Hazaaron khwaishein aisi ki har khwaish pe dum nikle,
Bahut nikle mere armaan lekin phir bhi kam nikle"

He is aware of the dangers associated with being over-ambitious. But, he knows that this not being over-ambitious, he knows that this is damn realistic. He knows that he can make it happen. What if he is only B.A.?? What if he had to shuttle from one office to another, hearing the babus cursing him for over a month before he got his job at DMRC’s Rithala Metro station?? What if he makes only 15K a month?? But he has made all this happen even after being a witness (as a 15 yr old kid) to the gory incidents of that Oct’89 nightmare in his village of Logain. He has made all this happen even after he saw all of his family charred to death at the hands of religious fanatics that night. He made all this happen even after he was treated like dirt in his uncle’s home at North Delhi for all his youth. What’s this in comparison to all that?? It’s a piece of cake. He knows that he will turn his "Hazaaron khwaishein” into reality.

He’s parking his bike when Aasha comes running out to him. He lifts her up, looks at her angel like smile, hugs her. With his spirits lightened, mind freshened, and his strength restored, he enters his rented hole like one room apartment............................

(To be continued)

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Thursday, June 21, 2007

Trek info: Tadiyandamool


Name: TADIYANDAMOOL TREK

Trivia: Tadiyandamool is the tallest peak in the Coorg district, 2nd tallest in Karnataka, the tallest being Mulayangiri in Chikmaglur distt. Both Coorg and Chikmaglur are famous for their Coffee.
Location: Coorg district of Karnataka, nearest town is Madikeri
How to reach: Buses till Madikeri are available from Majestic. KSRTC has good service on this route, with a good number of deluxe(Rajahamsa-volvos) and semi-deluxe serving this route (atleast at night). If you are an economy trekker like me then you'll have to rely on private buses Madikeri onwards. From Madikeri catch a bus till Napoklu, from there catch another bus and get down at Kakkabbe (Kakabe'). There is another route , i.e. B'lore-Virajpet-Napoklu.

At the Kakabe' bus stop you will find some signs directing you towards Nalknaad palace. Follow these directions. One you are at the palace, you will find several boards of different home-stays (during tourist season people provide their houses as cottages to tourists). You can chose one of these as per your pocket, if you intend to stay at night. I and Santosh stayed in one of the economical place. Like all the hilly areas people are very cordial and helpful.

Ask the locals for the route up to the peak. They will be more than happy to help. Specifically helpful is one Mr. Prasad who owns a coffee plantation and the best and most expensive home-stay (by the name of Palace Estate) in this area. A cool, helpful chap with a very beautiful wife!! . He drew a very descriptive map (to the peak) for us and also served us upma for breakfast.

The climb is of medium difficulty. Terrain varies from easy-medium-tough. It took two of us nearly 3-4 hours to reach the top. But if your group is bigger then of course it would take you longer. On the way up you come across one huge stone, from there a bylane takes you to a stream (this is the last source of water on the way up) The water here is very sweet and refreshing. But it was a pity to see polybags, packets of Lays, Good Day and other snacks littered all over. It filled me with contempt for the human race for sometime.

Some say that if you visit Coorg at the time when coffee fruits are still ripening then the whole air is filled with fragrance. But quite unluckily we visited when the fruits were already ripe [:-(]

Surely you get a lot tired by the time you reach the top, but the juice is surely worth the squeeze!!. The view from the top is exhilarating, and you are filled with respect and love for nature seeing the beautiful scenery all around. Some people pitch in their tents near the top, and spend the night there, it must be cool.

On the whole a rewarding trek, and a B.E.A.utiful place. Surely worth going and trekking!

The next day we visited a nearby waterfall by the name of Madan-abbi (abbi means fall in Coorgi language). Aaaah, what should I say about it, absolute Shnagri-La. Amazing place. Totally untouched. You have to walk nearly 3-4 kms from the cottages/home-stays to reach this place. Neither did we find a single person on the way, nor at the water fall. Both of us enjoyed a lot in the water-fall, we braved the slippery rocks and climbed up. The water was chilling, but the experience was priceless.
I'm really scared about mentioning this place here, as may be it gets popular, hence commercialized, and hence dirty. If you ever visit this place, then Please don't do the thing we humans are best at, messing up with nature.

Here is a link to the trek album :-
http://picasaweb.google.com/prakhar.sharma/Tadiyandamool

I've still have the map drawn by Mr. Prasad of Palace Estate, may be I'll upload it sometime (if I don't, feel free to ask for it, if needed). Here are some numbers that might be helpful in planning your trip/trek:-

Mr Prasad (Palace Estate) :- 09880447702
Mr. Ashok (Twins Cottage, the place where we stayed) :- 08272-238361, 09880908091

As requested I've uploaded the maps at my public gallery on Picasa, here is the link:-
http://picasaweb.google.com/prakhar.sharma/TadiyandamoolMaps

happy trekking!!

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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Trek info : Savandurga


It has been quite a long while since I last posted, so, I'm starting with small posts to get back into tempo of blogging. So, I thought about spreading gyaan and info about some treks that I've done. So, here comes the first one:-

Name: SAVANDURGA TREK
Trivia: Savandurga is the biggest monolith in Asia.
Location: somewhat 60-70 kms from B'lore, nearest town is Magadi
How to reach: Buses are available from the KR market bus stand. The condition of the buses is bad, so if you want a leisure trip then take a private vehicle, but you are going on a trek dude, who wants leisure ?? [:-)]. From Magadi catch a local auto till the starting of trek, just say savandurga to the auto-wallah, he will take you to your destination.

Many things make Savandurga a good place to start trekking. Firstly, its proximity to B'lore is a big point in its favor, then it is a short trek. But on the same hand the climb is not a cake-walk by any means. The climb to the top varies from easy to quite steep at some places. One differentiating factor from other treks is that being a monolith(stone structure), there is no soft grassy ground beneath your feet, so one gets exhausted easily. One thing I really wondered about is that what were those dogs on the top doing?? May be they were also nature enthusiasts, trekker dogs!!, sounds cool na?? [:-)]

Other than trekking Savandurga also serves as a destination for rock climbing and Mountain Biking enthusiasts.

On the whole a nice trek, you return home by the evening, have a nice sleep and wake up to the realization that you have been bitten by the 'wanderlust-bug'!!.



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