Four months since...

It's been 4 long months since I got the itch to come up with a post and also been 4 months since my epic journey across western India! Well it was a conscious effort to not blog about that particular journey 'cause I wanted to test my memory and also wanted to soak in all that I had expericed in those 15 days. Everything was so fantastic and the little things made it even more pleasureable! I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that I would end up doing something of this sort ever! Never thought I could get permission from mom to go solo into unknown lands! Can I conveniently say that I've grown up finally? May be only mom won't agree..

It all started with the beach side party at Alibaug. Great company, great music (Kings of Conveniece and Capoeira music), Capoeira, amazing barbeque, birdwatching, breathtaking sunset etc etc.. Alibaug had it all! Though I had to leave the party prematurely in order to take a train from Bandra to Bhuj, I made sure I enjoyed whatever time I spent at Mancha's den, to the hilt.

Had to take a boat from Mandwe jetty to Apollo Bunder/Gate of India to get to Bandra station. Thankfully, I had Spanty, Devika and Dhruv for company who made sure I made it to Bandra long long before the scheduled departure of  the train. On the way, a flock of Gulls kept following our steamer in the hope of some goodies from the passengers. This gave me a chance to get really upclose with these birdies.

The next day the train took me to a very very cold Bhuj. I had least expected the temperatures to be so low. Thought I could make do with just a sweatshirt but I was wrong. This was colder than even Mussorie in winter, or atleast it felt like! After checking into a hotel and managing to get a bike I rode off to the beach town of Mandvi (had 2 flat tyres!). Mandvi is the home of the Jadeja kings who ruled Kachchh pre Independence. The Vijay Vilas Palace stands as a testimony to the glory days of these kings.

The ride to Mandvi was quite an eventful one. I made several stopovers to click Indian Rollers, Drongos, Shikras, Cattle Egrets, Grey Herons, Purple Herons, Gulls etc. I even spotted the carcas of a Shikra on the roadside. The bird seemed to have been consumed by some kind of illness. Gave it a sort of a burrial in the field adjacent to the road. After a visit to the Windmill Beach and Vijay Vilas Palace, I returned back to Bhuj riding in the chilly cold Kutch evening. At one point I thought I would just freeze and die! I could feel my inner organs shiver to generate heat! Nevertheless I'll treasure this ride for ever.

After some authentic Gujarati dinner (can't recollect the names of the dishes but their tastes still linger!) I made it back to the hotel room and called it an early night 'cause another long ride to the Great Rann and the Flamingo city awaited me!

Flamingo city is this small town 25 kms from Khavda village where the world's largest gathering of Lesser Flamingos is seen each year. Khavda is the last motorable village to the north of Gujarat beyond which lies the Great Rann and thereafter the broders of India and Pakistan. Indian citizens are not allowed to go beyond an army check post called the India Gate which is 15 minutes from Khavda. A very interesting observation I made was that the locals looked very Pathani/Pakistani. Their attire was very Pakistani and also they spoke Kucthi with a Pakistani twang. I guess its got to do with the proximity to Pakistan.

This exciting ride to the extreme north of Gujarat took me past the Tropic of Cancer and through some breathtaking landscape! The Rann was beginning to show up after 40 kms into the ride but the birdlife had no limits. Lapwings. River Terns, Green Bea Eater, Spotted Dove, Shikra, Black Kite, Common Cranes, Black Shouldered Kites etc. they were all there! But all I wanted to see were the Flamingos! They were sole the reason why I had travelled this far. But alas after making it to Khavda I was told by the locals the Flamingos havent arrived yet 'cause the waters in the Rann haven't receeded. The Flamingos wade in shallow waters in search of food and also to mate and lay their eggs and in December 2010 the conditions were not appropriate for their nesting. With a heavy heart I decided to return back to Bhuj.

I must add Gujarat is the bird capital of India. I am not sure if so many species of birds can be spotted in any state and that to with so much ease! No wonder the state hosted the Global Bird Watcher's Conference 2010 at the Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary in Gujarat.

Decemeber is festival time in Gujarat. The Rann Utsav was in progress in the tent city at Dhorodo Village, 50 kms from Khavda. I decided to head there next. After obtaining the necessary permits I made my way to little known Dhorodo which is by the White Rann, a stretch of Salt Flats and part of the Great Rann. The place gives you the feel of Antartica 'cause whichever direction you look, its White! Spoke up with a duo from Bangalore who had driven here all the way from Bangalore in their Chevrolet Beat. Felt nice to be speaking in Kannada after quite some time. Though I am not a native of Karnataka but due to my upbringing in Bangalore, I somehow relate to this language as much as I do with Bengali.

Ok so something had to go wrong ne? The bike broke down just outside Dhorodo village on my way back to Bhuj and I was a good 100 kms away from the comfort of my hotel room. Night time was fast approaching and from my previous evening's experiece I did not want to be spending the night in this wilderness and cold. Thank God a passing truck offered to help me out and they drove me to Bhuj. Could live another day to tell this story!

After 2 days in Bhuj, I needed a change in scenery. Most travellers to Gujarat either head to the Little Rann of Kutch's Wild Ass Sanctuary in search of such exotic species as the Great Indian Bustard and the Indian Wild Ass or to the Gir Sanctuary, the last haven of the Asiatic Lion. From where I was, Little Rann was half a day's drive away (will do Gir 'nother time) and so I boarded an early morning bus to head to this quaint town called Dhrangadhra, the gateway to Little Rann and the Wild Ass Sanctuary.

I was on a tight budget for this trip. And there can be no better budget option than the Forest Guest House run by the Forest Department in every National Park or Wild Life Sanctuary in India. I asked the auto driver in Dhrangadhra to take me to the Forest Office with an intent to find a cheap accomodation in the Forest Guest House. But I was in for a rude shock. The forest officer instead of helping me out was directing me to expensive resorts that dot the outskirts of the sanctuary for a pricely sum of 5k per night! This is an all inclusive fare which also takes care of the forest officer's bribe and commision as concluded from the conversation with the officer and also backed by the friendly auto driver who also informed me about the other dirty tricks these guys play in order to leech out your money! I am not labelling baseless allegations. When I showed the officer a photograph of the carcas of a dead animal which i presume to of be the endangered Desert Fox, run over by a truck, the officer showed no compassion. His body language seemed to suggest "Oh this is just another highway death!". Ridiculous!

Disappointed I decided to explore my next option, Nal Sarovar near Ahmedabad. Now Nal Sarovar is also reputed to be a flamingo hot spot and once again the hope in my soul rose its head. So I took the very next bus to Ahmedabad for my night halt and make my way to the Nal the next day. On the way, i did manage to catch a glimpse of the famous saffron hue of the Asiatic Wild Ass from the bus. The spirit was high again!

Ahmedabad was warm to my liking. Its a bustling Indian city after all. Nal Sarovar was cold in the morning,  wilderness after all. Though I didn't get to see the elusive Flamingos but the Nal was a visual delight once again and of course thriving with bird life. Little Cormorants, Darters, Common Cranes, Rudy Shel Duck, Black Ibis, White Ibis, Purple Heron, Purple Moor Hen, Grey Heron, Great Egrets and the list is endless. I paid the boatman Alaudin (he knew only Hindi and Kutchi but he seemed to know the English names of all the birds!) an extra buck and he was happy to take me real close and even to some of the islands in the lake where the birds were nesting. We spent the whole day in the lake and even had Jowar roti made by a Kutchi lady on one of the islands. Time had come to a standstill that day and the images are still fresh in my mind!

I headed back to Ahmedabad and took the overnight bus back to Mumbai. Again the night chill got to me. Was so so relieved to get back to the warmth of Mumbai in the morning. I had an interesting conversation with my co passenger. He was an engineer in Surat but a complete movie buff who dreams of making a movie someday. There was something in common between us. Both were not too fond of being engineers!

25th December is Christmas as we all know and so I headed to St. Mary's Church in Bandra's Pali Hill area. This is Mumbai's biggest church and I had originally planned to spend the Christmas eve there. So I was really happy to have executed my plan! Oh and Mumbai time was coming to an end. The next eve i.e. on Boxing Day, caught up with the Capoeira gang for one last time at Cafe Brun where Naveen, Adam and the gang entertained us with Improv Comedy Show. Brilliant stuff!

It was time to bid adieu to Zorro and Mumbai and head to Ooty in the Nilgiris where I was uniting with my family for the New Year and also doing some photography work for Keystone Foundation in Kotagiri. Keystone Foundation is an NGO that works for the upliftment of the honey hunting tribes of the Nilgiris. Keystone launched their brand - Last Forests with a portfolio of forest based products and I volunteered to help them out with the product shoot for the same. Mr. Samraj, a member of the Badaga tribe, was my POC at Keystone and I got a learn a great deal about the Nilgiris from him.The family comprising of mom, dad and cousin went around site seeing while I shot at the Bee Museum, yet another Keystone venture.

And so the 15 days came to an end with the onset of New Year. Like a good boy I reported back to work as per schedule and henceforth have been lost in thought of the EPIC trip! The icing on the cake would  most definitely have been the Flamingos for sure but Alaudin the boatman has my number and he promised to call me as soon as they get to the Nal sarovar! Hang on... Am getting a call.. Oh my God! It's Alaudin!! May be the flamingos are here!!!! 4 MONTHS SINCE.....

Links to a few Images:

All my people..My Indian People

Capoeira

Western India Landscapes

Birding

Travel and Deception

While on a tour one has to always watch out for deception. Its happeining all around us and in many different forms but we seem to overlook it all the time. Well its quite obvious that people are the usual suspects but anything under the sun can be deceptive! Yes deception is an everyday phenomenon but it according to me can be the decisive factor between a great holiday experience and a shambolic one. Though I was lucky enough to experience a few "fairly mild" deceptive incidences but it helped me become more cautious of anymore future threats!

So I hired this bike in Bhuj to visit the beach town of Mandvi and the White Rann. Initially the bike dealer wouldn't give out his bike to an Indian but after a thorough background check he agreed to lend a lesser bike model which seemed hardly capable of touching 60 kmph. But I still had to cough up the same rate that applied to a better bike say a Pulsar. And that is deception point 1. I was made to believe through all the sweet talking during and after the background check that I was one of the select few Indians who could hire a bike in Bhuj and thus was an elite! Yet for this privilege, I could only get a bike that was last seen on Indian roads almost a decade back! And not to forgot the bike came at the price of a modern bike!

Deception point 2. On a scale of 10, I gave the bike a 2 for its performance before I set out on the ride. I was really not happy with the deal that I'd struck but the whole "elite Indian" feel good factor made up for it. And surprisingly, though the bike scored very low in terms of overall performance, but it was by no means a Gas Guzzler! And this was enough to win my heart 'cause mileage in any motor vehicle is very very crucial for a middle class Indian. In this case, I was "pleasantly" deceived.

Deception point 3. The bike suffered two flat tyres on the first day. But by some strange coincidence, both 'em happened right outside a bike mechanic shop! Initially I didn't pay attention to this as I was relieved that I wouldn't have to go through too much of an ordeal but on closer observation I realized this was no coincidence. Its a dirty game that these mechanics play. They carefully lay out these nails and other minute metal scraps that can cause a flat tyre, around their shops on the highway to ensure steady business through out the day. Deception at its very best! So the next day I was really careful whenever I came across any such "puncture repair" shops and slowed down the bike in order to watch out for any such alien metal pieces that would derail my journey.

So that brings us to the questions, is it possible to get square with deception? And does Newton's third law apply to deception? The answer is not known to me at the moment but there is hope in the form of caution and awareness. Oh but I did get my chance to get square with the bike dealer for lending me such a shitty bike. I was bored of nurturing the bike through out the ride and on the last leg I decided to push its limits. Though I was a good 100 kms away from Bhuj, my night halt, I didn't hold back and as expected the bike broke down due to the extra throttling! I knew God was with me on this one because within 10 minutes I found a trailer to a hitch a ride back to Bhuj. On reaching Bhuj, a little play acting and a sad weary face was enough to convince the dealer that I had gone through shit 'cause of the bike and he waived off the rent for the second day! Yay!

Deception is unavoidable during travel but having a calm head always helps!

Castaway at Alibaug

Its been a day shy of a week since I had the most amazing time at my friend's beach house in Alibaug and the experience is still fresh in my mind. Its great fun hanging out with the Capoeira gang in this part of the country and the guys are very passionate about this martial art form. Its like Brazil is right here in Mumbai. I can't wait for Baba, the Capoeira instructor, to start classes in Bangalore. Am sure its gonna be well recieved!

Here's a sneak peak at Capoeira..



Big thanks to Baba, Zorro, Mancha and all those who shared their space with me and made my holiday a better one!

The Philosophy of Mumbai

Mumbai as we know has a huge influx of population from the smaller Indian towns and villages too, who come to the city in search of a better life. Its not everyday that someone goes up to them and speaks to understand their psyche but when the opportunity presents, these guys are efficient enough to hold on to the attention that they are receiving presently. I chatted up with one such Mr. A Balsubramanium, a street food vendor on Marine Lines promenade last evening.

Bala hails from a very small town in Tamil Nadu (can't recollect the name) and has been a regular to Mumbai for the past 32 years. Why I say regular 'cause Bala has a peculiar work philosophy. He detests permanent jobs and his work locations are decided by the Indian monsoons or the lack of it! So when there are rains in Mumbai, he heads to Chennai and when the rains are in Chennai, he is in Mumbai. Or when Mumbai is burning in the summer, he is in Kashmir carrying out his trade. He just doesn't wanna settle down in one place!

Bala, fondly called as Anna (elder brother in Tamil), goes on to explain the two simple things that make Mumbai tick, according to him. He says just soak up everything thats happening around you and when you are asked to testify, hold on to your ear lobes (the Indian way of gesticulating that you are sorry) and say you saw nothing! The other he says is the Marathi phrase "Aamchi Mumbai" which till yesterday I thought meant "My/Our Mumbai". Anna tells me it actually means "Maa Chudaye Mumbai"! Quite shocking coming from someone who has made Mumbai his second home for so long. But I guess thats how he has been able to survive in this big bad city.

As for me, only time will tell which of the two meanings will apply to my life!

Traveling the way I do..Aint for the faint hearted!

"Travelling" or "traveling"? What's the right way to spell the word? Nevermind... 'Cause there aint a right or wrong way to travel either!

This is gonna be the focal point of this post..

Had the most heart stopping experience last morning while boarding the train to Mumbai. Everything that could go wrong, went awry!

For starters, to catch the early morning 630 a.m. train, I woke up late. And then discovered that there was no hot water for my shower. Got delayed even more 'cause I'd to now wait for the water to heat up and by the time I got ready and headed for the station, it was already 620 a.m. Took me 5 minutes to get to the station but I landed on the wrong platform! My train was to depart from platform 6 and I was at platform 1! While I was dashing to my platform, the zipper of my bag gave way and all the contents started spilling out! If not for some friendly passerby I wouldn't have even noticed it. Had to retrace and pick up all my stuff from the trail and dump them in the bag and shut it. All this while precious sands of time slipped away...

Finally when I got to the designated platform, I was relieved to see the train still there and also that I didn't have to run further to find my wagon as it was parked right where the overbridge descended. After depositing my luggage on my berth, I was like "OK! This is it! Finally made it! Nothing can go wrong now!" but wait, episode 2 was even more gripping!

In my haste to the railway station, I missed making a pitstop at the ATM and so now I was pennyless! I had no idea where an ATM could be in this railway station! I ran the length and breadth of the platform and quite obviously there wasn't one! In the meantime, I bumped into an old pal who was also making the trip to Mumbai in the same train and who obviously was quite shocked to learn my current situation. We inquired at a vendor and learnt that there was one outside the station. So I made a dash for it and returned back just in the nick of time! By some stroke of luck, the departure was delayed by 5 minutes and the train started to move right when I got back from the ATM... Quite an eventful morning!

So like I said, there is no right or wrong way of traveling and the purists are definitely not gonna applaud my performance from yesterday but what the hell, I enjoyed every bit of it! This also gave me a chance to test the condition of my heart and it passed with flying colors! (Thanks to all those cardio workouts!)

The rest of the day was spent recuperating from the experience and in some rural landscape photography. Will put em up once I am back to my crib!

Winter Break

Today's the first day of my first winter break since, lemme see, school may be. Hmmmm.. Considering I left school in Y2K, its quite a long time! So since these long breaks are hard to come by, I've some interesting things  lined up for myself. (My closest buddies know how much I detest plans but everyone also understands the value of a well deserved break, so I'd no choice but plan! Not that I'm gonna be a time table freak for the next couple of weeks, but I've managed to combine my "no plan" policy with a bit of travel research in order to make the most of this time on hand. The days of being brash are long gone I guess.. )

Winter is when the sub continent is most generous to travelers and there is a lot of activity over here as a result. Be it Kaziranga in Assam or the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat (Am excluding other options 'cause my choices were torn in between these two destinations). So where do I go was the big question for most part of November. What clinched it for me was the Annual Batizado, a capoeira convention in Bombay, of which I wanted to be a part. Even though I couldn't make it, I still believe that Batizado was the sole reason I ditched the north east.

Winter is also the best time to be in Bangalore 'cause of the weather primarily and also for the festive season. But the downside of being in town during this time of the year is I end up spending my New Year's eve at home every year. I do not know yet where I am gonna be for twenty11's new year eve but its most definitely not gonna be at home! May be Bombay.. Oh and for Christmas, I plan to visit Bombay's biggest church - Church of Mount Mary.

Am gonna miss my doggie, Magic the most for the next15 days!

      

Fingers crossed for the trip! Have a good one Bangalore!

Wildlife Rescue Volunteer at People for Animals

I wanted to involve in this kinda volunteering program from a long time but wasn't finding the right channel until I came across People for Animals' Bangalore chapter. Well, they are quite well known and I guess I wasn't searching in the right places and thus the treasure hunt! :P

Last Saturday was a workday and so I landed at the shelter in Kengeri on Sunday along with my bro. While we were waiting for Mr. Kishen, the head caretaker at the shelter to brief us, he got a call for a snake rescue from a nearby village called Kodihalli and he asked my bro and I to accompany the rescue team! 

Snakes??!! It gave both of us goosebumps! Nevertheless we tagged along..

On arrival, the worried family showed us to the drain where the mysterious snake was taking a refuge. Rahmath, the PFA snake handler got into action and swiftly grabbed the snake by its tail! Surprise surprise! It was the dreaded Cobra! And a mighty one at that! Rahmath handled the beast with ease. He apparently has been in this business of Snake rescue from the time he was kid and has endured 28 cobra bites!

After securing the Cobra in the basket we headed back to the shelter. And back at the shelter Kishen had already received another call and he set us off on our next errand and this time to rescue a  juvenile crow that fallen from its nest and had injured one of its limbs. Rahmath and I set off for the rescue while my bro stayed back at the shelter. It was a long uneventful journey to Tyagrajnagar (except that it took us some time to locate the spot). Upon completing the quite a "regular" rescue we headed back to the shelter.

The afternoon was spent in exploring the shelter. The shelter's very own pet cemetery draws quite a large crowd  despite the steep price but it is this funding that helps in its smooth running. Pariah Kites, Parakeets, Star Tortoise, Barn Owl, Monkeys etc rescued from the city and the outskirts are rehabilitated here and then finally released in the woods.

By 5:30 p.m we set out to the nearby Turahalli Reserve forest to release the cobra and a few other snakes that had been rescued earlier. At the forest, Kishen gave us a few lessons on handling snakes. 2 cobras, 3 rat snakes and one sand boa were released in the forest and I even managed to get my hands on the sand boa. Yes, the experience was quite weird!

A few shots from Sunday...

   

Upon coming out of the drain-Furiuos

Rahmath directing the snake into the bag

PFA Shelter

Bro playing with a monkey

PFA logo

Turahalli Forest

Kishen giving handling lessons

Those who are interested in volunteering can look up the website www.pfa-bangalore.org. Also to aid in wildlife rescue call PFA on the numbers
+91-80- 2860 4767
+91-80- 2860 3986
+91-80- 2273 3350
+91-9980339880.