A day in the life of LIFE

After quite a few attempts aimed at getting the gang in place, 5 of us colleagues finally set out on yet another adventure this weekend to the famed tourist destination of “Yaana” that is nestled in the hills that surround Sirsi, about 100 kms from the scenic town of Shimoga.

Friday last had been extremely hectic, and the very thought of driving down in a self chauffeured car for a round trip of 1000 kms almost made me shudder as to how we would complete the ordeal.

But owing to our expert driver SH who has an alias of Michael Shoemaker and prides himself on giving the original a run for his money, we were quite confident of getting back in one piece.

The rendezvous for our departure was Navrang Cinema in Rajajinagar, and the time set to 10 p.m. IST (Indian Stretchable Time). With MB, VH and CP joining us from across the city, we finally departed 30 minutes later. Incidentally, as a tribute to a successful departure, the heavens opened up and showered refreshing H2O drops that gave us constant company through the night.

Even as SH warned us from sleeping, the monotonous sound of the car wipers soon gave way to 12 hours of Non stop music, similar to the punch line of the radio station – fever 104. VH’s cd that contained multi lingual chart busters from KK to Bryan Adams kept us, and more importantly the driver, awake, thorugh the course of the journey.

23:30 hrs: Shell Gas station on Tumkur Road

The drops of petrol gurgled as they entered the metal fuel tank, resonating in a way, with the pattering of the rain drops around us. As the car got its share of fuel, we topped up our edible reserves with Haldiram’s, Orbit, Lay’s, and other paraphernalia that would form our fuel along the way.

3:30 hrs Saturday Morning: Suspended Animation
Amidst patches of long talks, chatter, songs and meditation (as per SH, there is no such word as sleep), we realized that our very own Shoemaker needed a break as well. A 30 minute suspended animation for all of us, that had intermittent snores from the junta, filled the otherwise quiet atmosphere.

5:30 hrs: The lady at the wheel

CP took to the wheel to give SH a reprieve and was graciously allowed to drive as a tribute to the spirit of Women’s Day, that was celebrated a week ago. CP was confident of her driving but MB who by the way is entering a new phase in his life soon, was caught gaping in awe each time the car negotiated a hair pin bend.

8:00 hrs: Pit stop at Sirsi

We arrived at the first pit stop of Sirsi where we checked into our Hotel. A quick shower and a quicker breakfast had us hit the road by 10:00 hrs on a bright Saturday morning, towards our first sightseeing point of Sahasralinga- 15 kms from Sirsi.

The beauty of this spot captivated us beyond description. Secluded from the mob of tourists, this place had 1000 shivlings that were carved in stone and scattered across the river. It is said that these shivlings belong to the period of the Chalukyas that once reigned supreme as the royal dynasty of South India.

12:00 hrs : Divine Blessing - Ganesh Pal

The beauty about Ganesh Pal is that there is a Swayambhu idol of Lord Ganesh that is present in a make shift temple - accessible after crossing a river with knee deep waters. The road leading to this place might resemble the Martian crater laden surface, but believe me, the overall experience was indeed invigorating.

14:00 hrs: Halli Mane Oota

Nope. This is not the famed hotel chain that is spread across Bangalore. This was actually the actual translation of “village home”. We stopped by one of the villages that had a typical house that also served food as an additional source of income. The rock bottom prices, the goodness of the food and the freshness of spring water, all these were straight out of a fairy tale, especially for Bangaloreans such as us who are used to breathing Carbon di oxide everyday.

16:00 hrs: Think Big - 28 rooms and one common hallway

Our next stop was almost a visit to Filmistan Studio. We visited the house where a kannada movie was filmed. To say that this house was “mammoth” is an understatement. With 28 rooms in all and a common hallway, it has about 150 people living under one roof. Incidentally, these people were distant relatives of VH who himself had not visited the place in 15 years. The Sanskrit shloka recital from one of the kids who was barely 5 years old, left us spell bound. It was then that we were told that there is a dedicated school for Sanskrit studies that is present in the vicinity of the village. We rewound the clocks of time and plunged into the rubber wheel race with the kids, racing down to the finish line. SH cheated as usual and won the race, in an attempt to reinforce the fact that he was a good driver, both with the engine and without one. At the end of it all, the glee in the children’s eyes as we distributed some goodies, chocolates and biscuits was gratifying.

17:00 hrs: Maagod Falls - Waterfalls in the Mountains


An hour’s drive through the winding ghat section brought us face to face with one of nature’s finest creations. Maagod falls thundered down the mountains with an unsaid message of stamping their authority and grandeur. After our professional photographer MB made us pose in a variety of moves, that almost resembled the diversity in the stone sculptures of belur, we were covered by a blanket of mist that embraced us and the huge oak trees around us, with open arms. As the chill kicked in, we reluctantly made our way back to the car. The downpour that followed ensured that SH had to implement some high quality driving skills, since the 4 wheeler almost turned into a roller coaster – swaying from one side to the other along the slushy road.


20:00 hrs : Some chat, some food and a good night’s sleep

As we tottered into our hotel rooms after a hectic but memorable day’s sight seeing, we played some good music in the background even as the chat ranged from mythology to Indian politics and of course the ubiquitous past time of Antyakshari.

Even as we cuddled up into our beds, the promise of exciting adventure the following day left us waiting expectantly for the same.

9:00 hrs : Sunday : The final frontier - Yaana

Thanks to SH, who sleeps as much as the legendary Kumbhakaran, our departure was delayed by an hour. Post this, we set off to the caves of Yaana which was about 2 hours from Sirsi. We cut short the trek due to lack of time and still managed a trek of 5 kilometers. The endless beauty was evident in the countless streams and rivulets that lined the entire pathway leading to the caves. As we reached the summit, we were witness to gigantic monolith caves which stood almost a hundred feet tall, at the heart of which was present a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. A barefoot pradakshina in some tough terrain was concluded by gobbling packed lunch that we had carried from Sirsi. This was followed by the much accustomed ritual of posing for the Kingfisher calendar. The models rewarded themselves with a swig of cool drink after the painstaking photo shoot.

Actually, (the infectious word "actually" was used a zillion times on the trip thanks to SH) I think it was the faulty temperature meter in SH’s car that induced us into believing that Global Warming had reached its pinnacle.

After one final look at Nature’s rich creation, we reluctantly headed back to our automobile.

15:30 hrs: Off to VH’s native village

What could be more satisfying than having wild bananas and hot kashaya (health drink) for a quick evening snack? That’s precisely what the doctor ordered when we reached VH’s native village and lazed around in the areca nut and banana plantations, even as we chewed the freshly plucked beetel leaves during our royal walk. SH set a world record for devouring the maximum number of bananas in one shot.

After some more poses (which were clichéd, by now), we drove out through the village road leading to the highway, silently convincing ourselves that the city life that we led was better than what we had just witnessed. All of us knew deep down our hearts that it was not true.

3:00 hrs Monday Morning: High on the Highway

Don’t be mistaken. We were high alright! But not due to alcohol. It was thanks to two sleepless nights and SH’s insistence that we dance alongside the highway at that unearthly hour. According to him it was supposed to be the valedictory dance that the tribals from Andaman perform, when they complete any successful venture.

With CP initially refusing to come out of the car, what eventually did bring her out were the high decibel levels emanating from the inside of the car.

6:00 hrs: Namma Bengalooru

With CP taking to the wheel again, we managed to reach Bengalooru at 6:00 hrs. Even as the droopy eyed zombies entered my house, we were welcomed by Ma’s piping hot breakfast of kesari bhat and shavige bhat.

A quick freshening up exercise and all of us were off on our paths and a surreal world of 2 days gave way to the hard hitting reality of everyday life.

But the more we sank into the experience we had just had, the more we realized that “life is that which happens to us, when we are busy doing other things”….Life’s calling..Where are you?...

A few of the 400 odd pictures are below. - In order - The Gang, Sahasralinga, Maagod Falls, Yaana, with the Kids..