Life is not about learn and do

Hello Guys, Its me again back with one more lecture kind of stuff. Please don’t scold me if its too odd, coz can’t help it out people.

I believe kinda life like Bonjovie “Its my life…” and yes, me A’int gonna live forever!

Can you pause here for a moment. Just close your eyes and try to recollect the memorable moments of your life. What ever it may be, let it be the best, the worst, the happiest, the sad ones, the embarrassing ones. How many you can able to recollect, how does it feel like? Remember, these are the ones that makes your life meaningful. These are the ones that ensured your presence so far.

If you couldn’t recollect or if you don have much to speak about, Im sorry.. you have missed something that’s more valuable and one that cant be fixed. Your Life.
What you have achieved so far with out any fun or with out trying something new. You don’t have a sad, embarrassing moments in your life? Does it mean that you don’t have any friends and you doesn’t learn to love? Believe me, if you have friends and if you have a love affair.. there will be.

You would have crossed so many persons in your life, how many of them do you think they know you when said your name? Things just wont come your way.. And I am not here to advise to go behind things. Its all about making things in your own way. Its all about trying every possible things you can.Its all about living your life.

No one can teach you how to live your life. May be there are few where you can consider them as role models but being them, just think ..is that the way you want your life? Life is not all about learning from things and living. Its all about…

Its all about..

Just do the things you want to do.. sooner or later.. you wont get the chance again.
Just do the things you want to do.. Life is not about learning and doing..
Its all about do things and learn from it.. lets make some difference..
just do it.. if something is there..lets learn after that…

May be its sad, happy, embarrassing whatever.. Just do it.
May be its an assignment in Saudi.. be there too.. You will feel what would be life with out fun and girls…

Lets make some moments from now on.. that reminds our life .. that comes in our mind.

Have some trips with friends.. flirt a lot with your crush either he/she likes or dislikes you..
Try imitating a person in front of him (May be your Boss..a goon.. get hurt some times)… try cooking.. learn to prepare good tea..
If you are a non smoker.. just take it how its like..

Just do what comes to your mind.. Let people think that you are crazy for a moment..
Have fun .. Just freak out..

May be click some photos like this and share with others…




Yaaarrr…Atleast write some crap, junks like this and post some where…
Uffff….come on…just don’t think..atleast leave a comment pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeee………………. :)

LEAVE LETTER

From,
Naan dhan,
Un dept dhan,
Un college dhan,
Un city dhan.

To,
Unaku dhan,
Indha dept dhan,
Indha college dhan,
Indha city dhan.


Respected Sir,

Enna panna mudiyumo paniko, naan iniku varamaaten.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Nan dhan.


Date : iniku dhan
Place: indha oor dhan

Wayanad Trip - Part 6 : Patchi paadalam

We guys split into two groups as one stayed on the forest outpost itself and the other gang started our way to Patchi paadalam. Since the outpost tower is more secured one, the guide and guards need is not there for the one who stayed back. Remaining of us started to Patchi paadalam with guards escorting us.

Now the way is more like walking in a plains where you don’t have proper road. There is a border way which splits the Kerala and Karnataka boundaries. This way took us almost closer to the destination and gives plenty of time to relish the beauty of nature. Since we don’t need to worry about the leeches or the insecure way we started enjoying the complete beauty of the mother nature. We relish and realize why Kerala is called as God’s own country.

One among us is our PM. He started complaining about his legs by now. He couldn’t keep up with us and we had to stop in-between. Its almost one and half hour of fast walking, and we reached the spot. The moment we reached the place we are almost speechless. It’s a place between four valley’s . All the four big valley’s had only grass and its no more as height as Ten centimeters. There is a rock where we can climb up see the complete stretch of the valley’s which is called Patchi paadalam. We targeted it and ran almost to it and climbed up.

Once we climbed up, the scene we saw was stunning. We lost our breadth for a moment. Wow!! So its called nature? Is there anything that is more complicated and more powerful than nature.


/* I got rememberd of this below lines from Shellie Sanchez */
Precious Things
Some things in life are more precious than words can explain,
Watching puddles move from drops of rain.
The sounds of a wave crashing against a rock,
A sunset reflection, a vision you can not block.
Whispers of wind blowing through trees,
Walks through sand where you feel an ocean breeze.
Kittens purring in your ear,
These little things in life are so dear.
A drive at night to watch the stars
Help your dreams seem not so far.
Soft hair of your teddy bear,
A friend you know who will always care.
The sound of a newborn baby's cry,
The first time they open their eyes.
A sweet smell of a yellow rose,
This is something you will always know.
A true love that you have found,
You know your hearts will always be bound.

We enjoyed the beauty, we jumped from there, we ran all over the places, we rolled all over we could, we had photo sessions, we chased one another. Totally it was full of fun. The after noon session went fulfilled and refreshing despite of our long way struggle. The moments made us to feel that we can sacrifice what ever to be there for long. Got jealous on the birds, animals live there.

I can say that the time we spent in that place is the moments I lived. Living with nature in nature… I didn’t thought I would write like this. The time I spent there, I don’t want to miss it at any time in my life. I do wanted to share with you all.

Anyway, we cant be there for long. We have to walk a long way to reach “Thirunelly” Vishnu temple. On the way we have to pick our friends too, more over the PM is exhausted and we are not sure whether he can make it. Its not safe in the deep forest to walk after dawn. We had so many constraints which made us to depart from the place. If things go well, lets come back at least once again in life time. We encouraged our selves like that and we started our way back.

Some of the pictures I clicked over there:

Wayanad Trip - Part 5 : The way to Patchi paadalam - III

Wayanad - The way to Patchi paadalam – III [ Forest Outpost ]

We struggled a lot inside the woods to make our way to patchi paadalam. After the long , tiring and thrilling journey we reached a valley with no big trees. Preciously no tress at all. There were only grasses, thick tall grasses those were grown like big bushes. Its almost our height, and you can feel the fresh grass smell. The grasses hurt us when we go through it. It is so rough enough to make scratches on our body. The worst part is the leeches hanging on the grasses.

Though the valley seems to be very beautiful to see from the other end, it’s the toughest path in our journey. The leeches on the tall grasses and the roughness of the grass that has grown with out any space between made it very difficult to cross. For crossing just more than a kilometer it took lots of effort. Two of my partners vomited and got exhausted in half the way due to the heat produced by grasses and de-hydration. We gave water and made them to rest in a little space made by us in-between the grasses.

We started again and reached the forest outpost way soon. That path made our life easy, it will lead us to the outpost. This is the same path which we left behind to escape from the elephants. We took a shortcut inside the woods to reach the path near the forest outpost. Since the forest way is made for the jeeps to come and it got such a long distance because of the steep mountains, we have taken a short path. Anyway, we have reached the path and now we can see the forest outpost from here.

The guide said that we have crossed half of the way to patchi paadalam, our PM screamed almost..”Whhhaatttt???!!!”. The guide smiled to us and said ,”Don’t worry sir. From here the way is good , only you have to walk upwards. I will assure you that the sceneries will be beautiful”. This gives us a little strength , now at least we don bother about the path and leeches. We were excited about that the guide said sceneries will be beautiful. Its already beautiful and our guide said it will be even more good.

Its true!! So far we can see its green and only green. Except the tall outpost seen in a distance its full green under the cloudy mountains. Now we are in good height and we can see that the clouds are floating around us. Though it is noon Its not sunny too. A pleasant weather and thankfully its not raining and the humidity is too good. Its not sweating, the temperature must be around 15 C only. A cool breeze with the clouds are washing us which is very refreshing. We enjoyed the moment and soon we reached the forest outpost.

The forest outpost is a 4 story height solid Iron tower which had a small watch room on top of it. Its built in a edge of a clip where one side it’s small hill with slops of grass and other side it is a deep valley. Beneath there it’s the dense forest. We climbed the forest outpost tower and reached the watch room, seems people use to make fire there. May be its for cold! We noticed we can climb on top of the room too, and we gone there also.

Now we are on top of the forest outpost. In a height where we can see the complete area where we came from, and 3 deep valley’s which made the place like a heaven. Such a beautiful sight. No words to explain. I have taken few picture from there, also a simple video which I have uploaded in the same post. We enjoyed the moment a lot. The clouds floating around us with almost freezing temperature made the tickly feelings. The wind which pierced through our jackets, the little drops of water left on us by the cloud, a place you cant see no humans other than you, a secured place on top of the jungle ..one and everything made us excited.

We sat there for some time, had some photo sessions. We started munching the snacks items we brought by really enjoying the ambience. The ambience you never get anywhere even you pay for it. We had some photo sessions and took some rest over there. We planned to continue our journey towards patchi paadalam. Our guide showed a valley across and a hill slide path going on it. Between the two valleys a elephant group was moving, we can see it from the top of the outpost.

Now we have to cross those ways shown by the guide in order reach the place patchi paadalam. Few of us got scared because of the distance and because of the elephant group. Now our group got divided into two and became small where one team decided to sit on the outpost itself and the other decided to reach patchi paadalam and come back. So the journey continues again.

Friend Vs Figure - An Un answered hypo

Enjoy the story!
Translations:
Mokkai – Boring/ blunt
Kalaaichufying – teasing/ mocking
Figure – slang for good looking girl
Padips – Nerd
Kadala – slang for flirting

Now the story…

A typical class in any engineering college can be divided into various gangs. While the girls in the class are divided into 2 categories – the good looking ones and the not so good looking ones, the boys are broadly classified into the following gangs:

1. The Gethu gang – this gang easily forms the majority. Anyone and everyone (male) with good sense of humor or ‘kalaaichufying skills’ is welcome to join this gang. Usually found occupying the last rows (if they attend class i.e.). They usually don’t talk to girls or when they do, it’s always with a purpose like notes or textbooks and stuff. Even if some member wants to befriend a girl, fear of being chucked out of the gethu gang makes him control his temptation. Extracurricular activities include drinking, smoking and roaming with fellow gang mates. Language spoken – Tamil. Movies include Tamil masala films and English movies at times (with sub titles). Members of Gethu gang don’t get along well with other gangs.
2. The Dude Gang – forms the minority among boys. Language spoken and movies seen are always English. Possess the knack of impressing girls. Members of dude gang are always seen in groups of 5 or 6 which include 1 or 2 girls. Activities include Pubs, Discos etc. Also known as Peter gang.
3. The Kadala Gang – these are guys who somehow don’t fit into the above said gangs. They possess the ability to easily befriend girls. Always found occupying the middle rows in class and messaging girls two seats away. Possess enough sense of humor to make girls laugh (pretty low i.e.). Act as protectors of girls and show deep care and affection for girls and fellow gang mates.
4. The Padips Gang – as the name says it, these are the nerds who occupy the first row. Possess inhuman ability to stay awake even in post lunch sessions of the mokkayest (most boring) subjects. Usually taken advantage of by other gang members during exam time for notes, books etc. Do not indulge in smoking or drinking and watch movies only if there is no test or exam in the next 2 months, probability of which nears zero.
With the above definitions in mind, let’s get into the story. The story will largely concentrate on the cold war between the Gethu gang and the Kadala gang, as I have no knowledge about the remaining two gangs.


CSE – B of the National College of Engineering was a class with the above mentioned groups. At the beginning of the first semester, when there was no division in class, all the boys lived peacefully and the teachers who attended CSE – B were a happy lot. But with time, each guy found his own group according to his character and slowly the formation of gangs within the class started. The class somehow managed to stay united for the entire first year. But the beginning of 2 nd year marked a complete change in things with the gangs becoming more and more prominent as the students got closer to each other and got to know each other better. The dudes went aloof and lived a peaceful life of their own, never bothering about the other factions in the class. The first benchers were treated like different species altogether and they formed a group (mainly to exchange notes and other materials).The guys who knew how to talk to girls or at least thought so formed the Kadala Gang. The remaining majority who created nuisance to teachers and other sincere students in class formed the Gethu gang. Each group barring the Padips gang had a ‘leader’ (you don’t expect a leader for nerds do you?).

While the guys were divided based on character, the girls were divided based on looks. But one similarity brought them together – studies. Almost all girls in the class somehow managed to do well in academics. They possessed 5 pens of different colors, each used for a different purpose (Blue for writing, black for underlining, red for circling, yellow for highlighting etc). All girls and the Padips gang of guys had the habit of submitting assignments one day earlier than scheduled. They somehow found time and motivation to draw margins and decorate their notes as well.

Raghav Sarathy, famously known as the don from Chennai headed the Gethu gang. He can be best described in one word – Porikki (rogue). The gargantuan lad from puduppetai was a terror for everyone in the class. But for his friends, he was the guy to look up to for any problem or help. He was bighearted and generous guy who was always willing to help the needy by sponsoring for sarakku(booze) and dinner. Raghav never interacted with girls and vice versa. Even if he wanted to for some reason, he would order one of his subordinate gang members to do it for him. His friendly nature with his close friends and gang mates belied his mammoth size.

The Kadala gang too had a leader – Raghu. He was a smart guy much smaller in size compared to Raghav. He was very similar in nature to Raghav, with the only difference that he helped girls while Raghav helped the guys. Raghu was the point of contact for anything and everything related to girls. Some girls looked up to him as a godfather, some as a big brother, some as a savior and some as a true friend.Raghu enjoyed all the adulation and respect he got from girls and other gang members.

For some reason, members of the Gethu gang and Kadala gang never got along well. Some experts say it was because the Gethu gang didn’t know how to talk to girls even though they wanted to, while some say it was because the Kadala gang could never have the fun the Gethu gang had. The Gethu members loved to kalaaichufy(mock) the Kadala members in public, while the Kadala gang never missed out on giving it back to the Gethu gang(which would often be followed by the Kadala gang members laughing along with the girls which infuriated the gethu members further).

The cold war between members of both the gangs was a well known fact and it was a mundane task for each member to try and come up with innovative ideas to mock each other. The Kadala members would come up with ideas to irritate the gethu members and impress the girls, while the gethu members continued to deride the kadala members and the girls to impress their leader Raghav. The usual happenings at the class happened without much participation by the don Raghav, who preferred staying silent and only involved himself if matters went out of hand. Raghu, on the other hand would participate in each and every petty issue and impressed the girls to the maximum limit possible by a human being. Thanks to Raghu, Gandhiji’s idea of freedom was possible, as girls felt safe to roam around even at 12 midnight. Why fear when Raghu is there? One call, Raghu will appear, the girls thought.

The war between the gangs became public in the third year, when the class went for an industrial visit to Bangalore. The trip started peacefully with the usual routine of music and dance in the bus. But in no time, the Gethu members got drunk completely and decided to play pranks. Sensing this, Raghu and the other guards took positions to safeguard each girl. But this time, Raghu was in for a surprise. The leader himself was in action now. Raghav, drunk but steady, came to Ranjini, a good looking, sensitive and a very well mannered girl under Raghu’s guardianship. Ranjini was the heartthrob of every member of the Kadala gang. Though friendly with everyone, she was aware of her limits and knew how to keep people at a distance. Without knowing this, many members of the kadala gang including Raghu had made futile attempts to win her heart. Raghav came next to her and asked her if he could sit near her. A confused Ranjini agreed. He took her hands and placed his huge fingers inside hers. “What the hell is he up to?” thought all the Kadala members and other girls. The kadala leader Raghu was sweating profusely inside the AC bus, but he knew he could do nothing about a drunk and huge Raghav.

“Ranjini.. people here see me as a don.. they see me as a leader..they seem to think I hate girls.. they seem to think I am a rowdy..they seem to think I am a porikki with no heart..I don’t know why I am saying this..but people usually speak the truth when they’re drunk.. I somehow want to be your friend.. don’t mistake me.. I am not hitting on you.. I just want to be your friend.. I don’t know why I chose you.. but somehow.. I feel you are a nice girl who will understand me..i feel we can be really good friends.. it wont be an artificial friendship like how you girls have with Raghu and his friends.. please think about it..” , as these words came out of Raghav’s mouth, the earth stopped rotating, the driver stopped driving, the kadala gang stopped putting kadalai and every other impossible event happened. How could Raghav of all people say this?? Raghu and other members were scared and puzzled.

“I never thought you were such a sweet guy Raghav. I would be more than glad to be your friend. I never had any grudges against you personally and I never looked up on you as a don or a porikki. I am sure we can be good friends like anyone else”, said Ranjini, smiling(blushing). At this moment, Raghu felt his heart burst. He felt numb. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t speak. He couldn’t do anything. What the hell had just happened??

Even as Ranjini continued to blush and others around her gave reactions varying from shock to disappointment, Raghav got up from his seat and went to the last row where the members of Gethu gang were seated and shouted

“Machi…. She trusted me!!!!!!!! Didn’t I tell you? It’s easy to correct girls da! All you need to do is act like a good guy..just like how I did now and how Raghu has been doing for years..hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahha”. The gethu gang members jumped up in joy and hugged their leader. The don had struck a major blow! The don had arrived.Raghu didn’t know what to do. He hung his head in shame. The kadala members were infuriated and vowed to fight back. ‘Thalaivar vaazhga…gethu thalaivan Raghav Vaazhga’ echoed across the bus, even as Ranjini sat at her place, sobbing.


Raghu, whose ego was hurt more than Ranjini’s, soon got his opportunity. Raghav and Raghu were group mates in lab, as they were adjacent roll numbers. Raghav, being the dumb guy that he is, had no clue about what was going on and left all the work to the ever sincere Raghu, who had no choice but to complete it as his grades would suffer if he didn’t. Even though the coding was taken care of by Raghu, the viva was a oral one and Raghav had to face the music. When it was their turn, the teacher shot Raghu a question. Raghu, who was very well prepared, stood up, answered and sat down, as Raghav looked in awe. Now was Raghav’s turn. Oh those vivas gave him a scare. Yes, vivas had potential to even scare huge creatures like Raghav. As he stood up, his legs were trembling, causing a minor quake underneath. “What is a Friend Function?” asked the teacher. ‘wtf?’ thought Raghav and looked down to Raghu for some help. Raghu sensed opportunity here and whispered “if a normal function doesn’t perform its function, the friend function takes over and helps out the function.. just like how friends help other friends”. For some reason, Raghav trusted his partner and reproduced the same words in a loud and confident manner. As soon as he completed the answer, everyone in class except 2 people was ROTFL. One of them was Raghav, who stood confused, and the other was the teacher who spoke some unsavory words which are best left censored before saying “GET OUT OF THE CLASS”. The Kadala members gave a thumbs up sign to their leader and exchanged smiles with girls, as the Gethu members saw their leader walk out slowly like Rajnikanth in the film Muthu.

The incident sparked off yet another round of never ending arguments and fights between the two gangs, with the gethu gang emerging winners most of the time. The gethu gang members stopped talking to girls completely, and the only time they did was when they made prank calls before exams (somehow, everything else seems interesting before an exam!). The kadala members participated in various extracurricular activities and continued to impress the girls.

In the meantime, time flew and before they knew, it was final semester. It was time for the final year project. As luck would have it, Raghav was put in a group with Raghu, Ranjini, 3 other girls and 2 other Kadala members. Worse, he had to go out of campus and finish his project in a company with his group members. It was like Sachin Tendulkar forced to play cricket for Pakistan! It was just not possible. How would he live away from his friends for 4 months? How would he live with Raghu and other members? He felt so out of place that he even considered quitting Engineering, but sense prevailed and he found himself parting with his Gethu members for a 4 month stint with Kadala members. The kadala members, understanding his situation, had a hearty laugh and used every opportunity to bring down the mountain. He was cornered, he was helpless. He tried putting up a brave face but deep within, he knew he was like the character in the movie Chennai 28 where Jai cried inside the bathroom. How will he adjust? How will he get along with the girls? How will he laugh for lame jokes to impress girls? How will he act artificial to make girls laugh? All these questions haunted him. It was too embarrassing for him to handle but he didn’t have a choice.

During the initial week, all the members were given modules and 2 of them had to share 1 system. To his dismay, Raghav had to share his system with the worst possible person in the group – not Raghu, it was Ranjini. He was a big zero when it came to programming, but there was no way he was going to ask her help after what he did to her a year back. He silently sat next to her as she did their work. It was too humiliating as she didn’t even treat him like a stranger, she completely ignored his presence. During lunch time, everyone in their gang would eat together. Raghav had no option but to eat alone. He would quickly eat and get back to his system.A week passed and they had to report their progress to their team lead. For the entire week, though he had sat next to her throughout the day, they didn’t speak even a single word. Now, the need had come for him to talk to her. With a lot of hesitation, he spoke.
”Ranjini”, he said as she turned. “I really don’t know how to talk to you after what I did the other day. No amount of apologies would suffice. But as you know, I know absolutely nothing about what’s going on in the project and what you are doing. I wont even understand it if I tried reading it myself. I would flunk the project big time if you don’t help. Frankly, it’s very embarrassing to sit idle all day. Please explain to me if you feel you should so that I can talk something during the viva...” he said, and walked away for lunch, without even waiting for a reply.

As he was eating alone in the food court, a familiar face came with a plate in hand to sit next to him. It was Ranjini. He was surprised but happy. He didn’t know how to react. He struggled to keep himself normal.

“Relax”, said Ranjini. “I know what you did to me was wrong. I felt really hurt when you did it. But I got over it soon. I have no grudges against you. But I didn’t talk to you the entire week because I too felt embarrassed, just like you. Nothing else. I realized how harsh I had been only when you came and spoke to me today. Do you remember what you said to me during the IV in the bus? I still think we can be good friends. I trust you will not hurt me again. I know you are a nice guy.”

“I would’ve cried in happiness had I been a girl. Thanks so much Ranjini. And sorry once again”, said Raghav.

“No sorrys and Thank Yous between good friends. From tomorrow, join the gang for lunch. Don’t say no. it’s an order... and oh... I will teach you the module today after lunch”, she said and walked away.

After the day, Raghav went back to his room with a multitude of thoughts. How could he have hurt such a nice girl? It felt nice to talk to a girl. He finally sympathized with Raghu. He had been a barren land for years. Now, he sensed a little bit of rain. But amongst these thoughts, he was suddenly reminded of a more important problem – how on earth was he going to have lunch with a group of guys and girls from the Kadala gang?????????

The next day, he went to his system in a happier mood. “Ranjini.. please understand.. I cant come for lunch with everyone.. you know it.. I wont get along well with them..they don’t like me either..it’ll be embarrassing for everyone.. I feel comfortable eating alone.. or at max with you.. but its just not possible to eat with everyone..and I know it wont be nice if we ate together leaving the rest.. so please let me alone..”

“Shut up and come with us. Did you think you could ever be my friend? No right? So don’t pass judgments before knowing people. I will talk to them and they will make you feel comfortable within the group. Don’t worry. Shut up and sit now while I code.” barked Ranjini.

Raghav’s reactions can be divided into 3 parts:

Raghav’s mind : ‘wtf!! Mariyaadha rumba korayudhu?(no respect at all?). not even my best friends had spoken to me like this..not even when they were drunk!!’

Raghav’s heart : ‘ *blushes*. Feels so nice when a girl takes so much rights in you to talk in this manner’

Raghav’s mouth : “err.. okay…if you say so..”.

Soon, it was time for lunch. Raghav went along with Ranjini to join the Kadala gang. He wondered what his gang’s reaction would be if they saw this. He felt scared. He felt nervous. He dare not inform his friends about these developments. He had to put up with Raghu. He had to put up with the other Kadala members. He had to put up with girls. His only savior was Ranjini.As they started to eat, they started talking about the usual mokka(boring) stuff.

‘hey .. ivan un aalu..’ …*giggles*.
’ hey..ava un aalu..’ * giggles giggles*
‘ hey Swetha, nee modhalla saaapdu’, said one guy.
‘inga modhala elaam kidaikkumaa saapda?’, said Swetha as the whole group burst into laughter, leaving Raghav with a shocked expression which conveyed various meanings :

1. FTW?
2. how could people laugh for this?
3. how could this be classified as a joke?
4. how could a guy laugh for this?
5. why don’t girls have good sense of humor?


Ranjini, on her part tried her best to keep him involved in the conversation. After lunch, as they went back to their desks, she asked him “how was your experience with the ‘kadala gang’?”

“err.. it was ok.. except that I found the jokes to be pretty lame..frankly, I can’t get myself to be this artificial..”

“haha.. I can understand..thats exactly what I like in you... but don’t worry..you will get used to this..:P ;)”

There is something about a girl’s wink which makes you forget who you are. Raghav certainly forgot that he was head of the Gethu gang back in college. As days passed, he found himself completely attracted to Ranjini. He spent the entire day time with her at the desk and even went out with her a couple of times. He knew for sure that she didn’t have any intentions but he was pulled towards her by a strong force – you can call it love or attraction or infatuation or whatever, but he just wanted to be with her. He even got along well with the Kadala members. All this, without his friends knowing of course!

Weeks flew and the project got over. It happened so that their module was chosen as the best one in the group. All credit to Ranjini, of course. She was elated and gave him a big hug! It took him by surprise and this is exactly when he knew it. He knew that he was in love! He wished he could tell her, but there was no way she was going to accept and he didn’t want to lose a wonderful friend. More than that, he didn’t want his gang members to ever know about all this! All these thoughts made him keep it to himself. But to his surprise, that night, he received a message on his mobile:

“Next Friday, on our farewell, I want to tell you something very important. It happens to be my birthday too!! And I am sure you will be happy. Now go back to your friends and keep guessing for a week!! :D. gnite. Sweet dreams! And oh..btw.. you were a wonderful partner to work with.. though you never worked ;) lol ”

This is all he needed! He knew it! She felt the same too. With a million thoughts, he went to his house. One week felt like one year! He missed her badly. He wanted to hear from her. He messaged her a thousand times asking what it was about, but there was no way she was going to tell him! ‘Damn it. These girls make even the hardest of persons go crazy!’, he thought.

Friday came. Farewell day. The end of an era. The end of college life. So many fights, so many arguments, so many friends, so many ups, so many downs. In a way, college life was the biggest experience in life. It had everything. Friendship, love, enmity - he experienced it all! It was also the day he got back to his kadala gang after 4 months. He missed them, but he was more than happy with what he had got. There was no way his friends were going to understand if he told them about the developments. After all, he was the don of the class. He was their leader. He himself had insulted so many couples. He used to mock at the idea of falling in love. But now, he was facing it himself. How would the gang feel if he told them he loves Ranjini? He couldn’t even imagine. They would feel the way Indians would feel if Sachin was accused of Match fixing. They would probably not even give it a thought. “Mokka podaadha da” , might be their reply!

Which one was a wrong choice? Falling in love? Or being in the gethu gang? So many questions came to his mind. Then he saw his angel walking into the hall in a saree. It was her birthday as well. There was no way he was going to talk to her directly in front of his friends. So he went to the restroom for some privacy and sent her a text message:

“You look gorgeous in saree. Happy birthday. What were you going to tell me?? Cant wait. Tell me now”
5 minutes after he sent the message, he got 2 messages in his inbox.

He opened the one from Ranjini :

“ Thanks. Thanks :D. no way. Come to the coffee shop at Besant Nagar after the farewell. I would like to see your reaction when I tell you. Till then, keep guessing :P”


Blushing, he saw the next Message. It was from his friend Pandirajan :

“Dey naaye.. we are going to get sarakku for party tonight.. farewell sarakku.. last time! Come to Arvind’s terrace at the end of the mokka farewell party..varalenaa konnuduven.. some 35 guys are coming..vandhu seru..bye..”.

(dog.. we are gonna get drinks for party tonight.. farewell booze..last time! Will kill you if you don’t come..be there.. bye.”)


………..and he was faced with the everlasting question to which no guy has found a proper answer –





“ Friend ah?? Figure ah??”

I know that some people are searching for me now for posting this..Anyway..Cant help it now I say...

Wayanad Trip - Part 4 : The way to Patchi paadalam - II

Earlier:

I was wondering when the guide brought “ gingley Oil, tobacco powder “ and said it will be useful. I was thinking what else can go wrong when everyone advised to take good care and watch your back, watch and keep track of your fella’s.

Cont :

We started from the Thirunelly Vishnu temple asking him to be with us along the journey. We crossed the temple and started our way along with a small mud road that took us inside the forest. After a few minutes walk we reached a small stream that is flowing out from the deep woods. The water is too cool that when it touched our feet we were almost frozen. The water seemed clean and fresh, we asked our guide whether we have such streams above also. He said yes, there are lot many. He also asked us not to take water from it and he didn’t give any reason for it at that time.

Thirunelly Pictures

There is small temple across the stream which looked very different, our guide said that’s a local tribes belief. Actually it’s the edge of the deep-thick forest where people pray to the god they believe and start their journey. We did the same and walked forward. The way is bit tough now where we have to climb and jump through few rocks. We again reached a stream and its bigger the one we crossed already. The water is fresh and clean. Our guide stopped us there and took a plate made up of leaves that he brought. He poured the oil he brought and mixed the tobacco powder into it.

Every one started at our guide that what is he doing. He patiently mixed it up and asked us to take off our shoes, foot wears that we wore. He asked us to check our foot, by doing that every one shouted or jumped. The PM almost fainted. There were 3 to 4 leeches minimum in every ones feet. The place was full of leeches. They were attracted by our body heat and running towards us like in a race with blood thrust. If you see closely its like a James Cameron’s Alien’s movie how they run to you.

Guide said not to panic and its nothing! He gave the mix he prepared and asked us to apply all over the leg. The powder will keep the leeches away and the oil will hold the powder in our legs. Hmmm..amazing and a simple way to protect you from the dangerous leeches. The place ,even the entire forest is wet and chill. There were leeches all through our way and the entire forest. The leeches were in different sizes, different types, shapes and they were seen every where. My god..from where they are feeding anyway?!

Into the woods... Few shots

We started our journey again through the woods. The path become more rough and tough now, and to make it even worse its full of leeches. After a couple of kilometers we guys got very tired and we desperately needed a stop. Since we are walking in a dense forest and there is no path also , we had to climb rocks some times these things made us exhausted so soon. The guide said that we can walk some more and find a small stream or some plain place to stop. And that will be safe too!

We reached a stream in no time, better to stay a forest river since it had water flowing out in good speed. It’s a beautiful sight , the water was coming from the rocks behind us and its flowing from a good height. It went down and disappeared in the woods in front of us. We had to cross the water body to proceed further. We planned to cross it and to stop by at the other end. When we did so, we noticed that the guide immediately prepares the mix again. Oh no..its because the precaution we took before was washed away in the water when we crossed the stream. I don’t know how leeches got the invitation, there are so many of them jumping and climbing in our feet’s. The water we crossed also got some and those are already started sucking our blood. Yeeeeuuuccckkkkkkk!!!!

Its good that out guide came up with the first aid’s and precautions where he prepared the mix again and we applied it in our feet and this time up to and above knee also. That’s what we are advised as going further the forest is even more wet and also we found the leeches in trees , Bushes and tall grasses too. When we start in a few steps suddenly the guide ask to keep quite with his body language. Issshhhhhh..!! We kept our heart beats even and looked at them, we can see the guard who came along with us taking his weapon out now and both guide and him are seeing each other and smelling something.

The Guard confirmed that its smells elephant. We were wondering what is it meant. Then the guard explained us that when ever the elephant is near by you can identity by its bad smell. The elephant that roams in the forest will be having a very bad smell from which these guys identify. Since the forest is thick and dark you cant see even a person who is there with in some 10 feet away. These tribes and the people who roams around in the forest whether its day or night, they have some unique ways to identify these kind of animals. The elephants doesn’t like any intruders in their area especially momma elephant with its kid . That too a single elephant on your way is a real threat.

Here I like to share something with you guys. If you encounter such a situation and you find that an elephant is charging towards you, run,run,run and run “immediately”. While running make sure you are not climbing or running upwards in a slope/hill. Because elephants are amazingly fast in running upwards in hills/slope. So always run downwards while elephant chases you also try to run in zig zag way, its very difficult for an elephant to chase you in that way. Happy running! He he

Back to our trip. With a bad smell our guard and guide came to know that we have elephants nearby. Our guard took his weapons and asked everyone of us to stay alert and calm. With in few steps we saw elephant dung’s here and there. Its hot and smoke was coming out, means they just left the place. There were so many broken leaves and branches of tress. They have toured the big trees also. Seeing those things the guard told that there must be some 4 or 5 elephants at least. Actually we were following a way that forest guards used for their surveillance purpose. The forest range have been spread across over the Karnataka state too. It’s a SUV 4x4 type track where only rough vehicles can go through it. The way is almost covered with thorn plants and broken. We were using that path for sometime to cover our distance.

The guard told us that the elephants were headed that way by tracking its foot prints. So we have to leave the way now and find some other way or make our own way. Now the guard and the helper he brought along with him took their long knifes they brought with them and start to cut the tree branches and bushes. They started making a small way and moved forward. We were thrilled and also scared and following them. Those guys were good, they just cut those really doesn’t allow us to move forward.

Now the journey becomes really tough for us. We have walked almost for 3 hours for now in the jungle, we are hungry, thirsty and worst part is scared. The way is really tough were we have to watch for the harmful plants, creatures and the leeches everywhere made it even more worst. Some places we scrawled under tree roots ,some places we jumped above the bushes and in some places we skied along with the wed mud under tree branches. I don have any words or picture to explain it. Its almost 4 to 5 kilometers we struggled like that. “Remember guys..All these are while climbing the mountain. The patchi paadalm is a big valley on the mountains. Its very touch to climb upwards in such a thick forest with out any proper way ”

I will continue how we reached a outpost created by the forest department. The Outpost is 3 mountains away from Thirunelly, means that we have to cross all the three mountains under the woods of the dangerous forest.

Wayanad - Part III - Way to Patchi paadalam

I heard a big noise and some one was shaking me. “Siva..Siva..Wake up man..Wake up..Its late”, woken up by this and I slowly opened my eyes..Its the PM ”Sir, its still dark outside and what’s the time?” I asked by closing my eyes again. “Come on da.. its 4 already. We have to take bath and start soon”. What the F..!!! Getting up by 4 AM in such a hill station and taking bath? That too its drizzling outside. Finally he woke me up and when I saw my friends, they were also in same situation which made me happy..! He he.

Its almost 6.30 when I came out of the tourist home and I was shivering in cold. Oh.. What a beautiful town it is. Its covered with the morning due and fog. A freezing breeze oozed. Everyone gathered and enjoying the moment. We are so refreshed and now we have to execute our plans. Wait..First break fast, then rest of the day plans. We have done a little research on the previous day and found out a Keralite traditional restaurant which opens a bit early. We got into the restaurant and break fast was ready by that time.

The break fast menu is very simple and in traditional way. The call the restaurant as “Puttu Kada”. We started with Kerala famous ‘Puttu’. We tried so many items like Vendaya dosa, chappathi with patcha kari, Vada and zeera coffee. Food items were served very hot and traditional style plates which made us feel like a heaven at early morning of a cold hill station. Anyway we had a heavy break fast with simple menu as our plan is to have dinner only, also its not possible to have any food items since we are going to be in a deep , thick forest.

We have enquired and came to know that there is place called “Thirunelly” and there is a famous Vishnu temple near by. Actually the thick forest range starts from the temple. We cannot cross the temple with proper permission from the forest ranger and its not possible to go to the place with out guide and local guards. We decided to reach the temple first and spend some time there, so that we can plan for the rest over there. There is a bus starting from Wayanad Bus depot by 7.45 AM and reaches the temple by 9 AM. Its not a big distance – only 52 km if I am not wrong, but due to the hill ride it takes much time.

We reached the temple and before us there are so many families and other gangs, among them it’s a ladies arts college from Cochin(Again, the girls from Gods own country are really beautiful..!! Mummy.. I want a dolly.. )




It’s a very old Vishnu temple and I forgot what century it is built. Before entering there were so many restrictions like don’t wear trouser’s , jeans, T- shirts / shirts. No leather items or camera should be carried inside etc, etc. We made one complete round and admired the beauty of the temple along with the beautiful girls. The temple is simple and with out any electricity. They used traditional oil lamps for light. We felt very good when we came out, its really a good experience.

The basic idea behind going to the temple is that there is a broker who is running also a devotional books and music shop that explains the history of the temple. We spoke to him about the permission for entering into the forest and guards to take us in. We negotiated with him and finally he agreed for a good amount and its his responsibility to take permission from the forest officers and arrange guards.

With in half an hour or so he made all the arrangements(Really..! Money can make wonders..!!). He got permission from the forest officers and also arranged guards to take us to the place. Among the guards one was a government forest official and other guy was a local tribe. He might have paid some good amount to them also, since they showed so much respect. The local guide brought “gingley oil” and some kind of tobacco powder. He said that it will be useful later. (Oh..!! what is it for?!).

Okay..now its all set. We have the permission to go inside the forest, we got guards and guide with proper weapons for our protection and here we are ready to go in. We had just taken 3 water bottles and some 4,5 packets of snacks because we cant carry so much wait also. We have been advised that to eat less and don’t loose your energy. Keep walking and keep your focus. Don’t loose the track and make sure every time that you are with your team.

I was wondering why so much of hype.? We are just walking in the woods, and its not possible to miss each other because we didn’t even loose others in T.nagar at festival shopping..!!!

But later I realized how its really true. The Journey wasn’t simple as I thought. Its like a dream I am alive now and writing this blog by recalling the events. I will share my thrilling experiences in my next post.