Siva's blog.
http://recordsinajournal.blogspot.com/2009/04/mission-kumara-parvatha-sweet-fruits-of.html
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Kalavarahalli betta trek.
[31st Jan 09] It was a day to remember. Decisions to be made on the spot considering the dimensions. New leaders would rise. The future certainly looks bright.
I and Anisha reached Intel at 12.30 PM. That would be the last place to start off as most would imagine. But our ride was there. The 102 BHP Indian bull taunting the punch line "Men are back" - the mighty SX4 with eye dashing vinyl's, sporty little spoiler added to it were the stripes, surely demanded attention where ever it lay its thread marks. And with it was the owner of the car - Aravinda, in his sporty puma t-shirt, was on his toes to hit the highway. Speaking about t-shirts, Ajay was wearing a rather strange one which read " I can't". I had to make sure I was reading it correctly. Given the proximity of the keys I and U on a QWERTY keyboard, that looked like a typo or the printer had too much ink to type the unnecessary 't'. Anisha was sporting a cool shades and so was I. The sun was too bright and we were better off with shades rather than nothing at all. Ajay was eager and was in the front seat. I and Anisha sat on the rear seats.
Time to start. One turn of the keys and the engine screamed. Perhaps it was resonating to the sounds of our hearts. It was as though it was also eager for a long drive. An we hit the roads. Hardly had we crossed 500 meters, Aravind was in a mood to make his mark on World Rally Championship. We let him be the person he wanted to be. It was time for photographs. Anisha was scared to death when Arvind turned back for a snap while he was driving. That would be the only time Arvind's camera would be used. It had done its job for the day and went back to sleep. Music!!!. We started to resonate to the music from my iPhone connected to speakers in Arvind's car. Started off with song from Dostana. We did what the song asked us to - "shut up and bounce" to the beats. Then, it was time for Rock on!!. The strumming in the song made me a wanna-be part of rock band and Anisha was kind enuf to offer me a place in the Intel band. Tons of hard work before I'd get there. Anisha wanted to prove that her Sony Ericson walkman series phone was better than the iPhone. iPhone won hands down - she wouldn't agree. And before we had anything to argue about, we saw Prasad waving his hands. It was Jatin's car and with it were Jayanth,Prasad,Chat and Prasad I'm sure the cars introduced themselves to each other. And with that, the first pit stop - near Hebbal fly over. There we lay in wait for the rest of the team to catch up.
While others got down form their cars and discussing the plan for the day, I was looking at GKVK campus. My friend would be working hard for her PHD in Neuroscience at National Center for Biological Sciences. I thought it'd better not to disturb her. By then, Venu and Suhas arrived. There came our water bottle, snacks and drinks. The only car yet to turn up was Gaurav's car. Ashish, strangely enuf, was late that day. Since Santosh, our guide, was in Gaurav's car, we decided to start off and reach the foothills of Kalavarahalli betta. We stopped at many places asking for directions. Ajay was getting desperate. He had imagined climbing the hill for a dozen of times and that very thought made him lose 2 KGs :). And when a villager told us that we had to travel further and take a left, he shrieked " abhibhi munde left ? "- a perfect mix of the languages he knew - hindi, kannada and english. Little did we know that Gaurav was catching up fast. We stopped once more in front of the Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher, the defense were testing near Nandi hills. And we set off to the foot hills, but Gaurav had made it in spite of starting an hour late. He deserved a bow.
We made it to the foothills. Ashish couldn't believe that he would trek such a mountain. I hear from Gaurav that he was consoling his mind that we would be crazy to trek such a peak. His worst nightmare was about to come true or was it otherwise? Only time would tell. We planned to reach there by 3 PM , but we were close to an hour late. We distributed the drinks and snacks Venu had brought and off we went. We let Santosh, to remind you our guide, to lead the way and Arvind joined him. I was feeling glad that I was with the most enthusiastic part of my team. The sub-team, so to speak, which looked more at staying together even after project hours. The trek started off with an even road and most of them thought that they could trek the mountain half a dozen of times in a single day. They were woken up soon. Day dreaming was not going to be an option. We stopped to buy cucumber. It seemed that we were buying cucumber at a mall in the center of an IT city. The recession didn’t seem to have any effect. Moreover the shopkeeper spoke about inflation. Hmm, not bad I would say.
It was lovely to see Ajay race to the top. His marriage is about a fortnight far and he wanted to be in good shape before his marriage. This trek was a weight reduction program for him. He would race to the top, sit on top of a rock and ask us to increase pace. Barely had we walked 15 mins from the cucumber shop, most of the team felt that we had to stop. Gatorade bottles were out and looking at the rate the team was gulping, it would not last the distance. Some of them started to have second thoughts about coming to the trek. Ashish was at his best. His calculations read 40% of the trek was complete. We let him believe that.
Off we start again. Once we got to a considerable altitude, we could see the nearby mountains. It was a beautiful sight. And this time it would be long before we stopped for a break. We were split into 3 teams. Leaders - Ajay,Arvind,Santosh and Chat raced up front. I and Gaurav were behind them at a considerable distance. The followers - the rest of the gang, stopped at times to snap photographs. We were in for a scare. The leaders were leading us to a dead end. We had to head back. Time was running out. Ashish sixth sense had triggered, as he put it, that we were to take a left turn. Most of them agreed, hence we had to turn back. Now there was a new leader and we trusted his "sixth sense" which was unlike the Night Shamlaman's blockbuster as we would find out in some time. We ran into a steep part of the hill and most of them were reluctant to climb there. But then Ajay came to our rescue. He would storm like a raging bull. I followed him to keep him company. Santosh was sure that they didn’t trek this way when he had come last time with his friends. But Ashish's sixth sense won hands down. Ajay's lead came to an end when he saw that this route also lead him to a dead end. But then, I have to sing praised about his spirits. He didn’t want to accept defeat. We were under the impression that once we reached the top we could find a way. A poll from Prasad and we were outnumbered. I, Ajay, Arvind Jayant and Prasad wanted to trek. Rest of them were against it. They failed to see the logic. We failed to be practical. I was not ready to give up. Would I be risking too much if I had gone up. I made my calculations. But I was interrupted and as democracy would have it, we had to come down. Much to the disappointment of the team. Ashish's sixth sense had fired alright, but it led us in a wrong route the second time.
We had to settle down to a rock which was about 10 - 15 meters higher. Ashish's calculations brought a smile to my face as always. But the disappointment was imminent. The actual way was keeping us at bay. Prasad called in for a poll as to who would trek and still 3 of us - I,Ajay and Santosh were still enthusiastic to trek. It was 6 PM but the sun looked too high to descend early. 6:30 was the time they say the sun would set. We started to snap pics and we did have couple of Dostana moments b/w Prasad and Gaurav - you must look at the pic to enjoy it. Ajay was so enthusiastic about his marriage, that even while playing dumb charades, he'd come with film names sucha as "Dolhi sajake rakhna". But as did our SENSEX dip last year, the sun descended early. Ashish got into the act and started to wonder how the sun could be orange and at the same time be very bright at the other part of Earth. Ashish's question was soon lost , perhaps the beauty made us gape in awe. As I saw the sun set behind the mountains, I wondered how it would be to have watched the sunset from the top of the mountain. I still could not believe I hadn't made it to the top. We called the place we were - the sunset point. The view from sunset point was good. But sometimes good isn't enough. These people deserved more. They wanted their faith rewarded. This certainly would be an odd situation. None the less, some of them thought it was time to start back. Prasad wanted to stay back. He wanted to enjoy the beauty for some more time. A final set of pics, that’s what we thought, to the most enthu team of SCD. Time to start back. A shift in my glasses, from sunglasses to reading glasses, was the evidence of the diminishing light.
But paradoxically, a ray of light came after the sun had set. Jatin stumbled upon the actual route. Santosh moved in to claim that this was THE route. Ajay started to run up the hill. I and Santosh followed him - running. We were running so hard that at one point of time we sat down panting. When we looked back Arvind, Ashish Jayant and Jatin were following us. We had to be sure that this was the actual one. Someone had to lead to make sure and we did it. But by then Aravinda and Ashish dropped out. I, Santosh and Ajay waited for Jatin and Jayant to join us and we were off. A team of 60 down to 15 and now down to 5. the rest 10 had started back. A quick check of the supplies we had - 2 water bottles, a can of Gatorade and 3 torches. We should make it - we thought. We moved on - reaching a point which was similar to Magic box and we called it so. Santosh called it the half way mark to the top. That scared us. It would take quite a while to reach the top and head back. Hence we decided to ask those who started back to leave. We had Jatin's car and we could manage. The coordination now was more than important. All we had were 3 torches compared to 1000 candles a square feet the sun offers us. Finally after couple of breaks and relentless effort we made it to the top. We were ecstatic, and we were flooded with shopkeepers trying to sell some stuff to us. But even before we could eat anything, we wanted to inform all the people who missed out. We gave them a call, and were screaming on top of our voice. The feeling can't be expressed in words, to win against all odds was a tough ask. Having done that I'm sure we have enough confidence to beat odds from now on. We cherished every moment we spent at the top. Photos to remember this moment and maggie to fill our stomach.
The descent was easier but very dangerous. We didn’t know the right route. But we managed to trek down the hill. It took us 1 and half hours to get to the car. We had to act responsible and we called our managers to let them know we were safe.
In a day's trek, I could see people play different roles. The software industry is a controlled environment. When you get into the wild, a more uncontrolled environment, one gets a chance to see people play different role. I feel privileged to have watched people assuming responsibility, making decisions , leading from the front and added to that risk taking. Risk looms around us in our every day life. The point is to take a calculative risk. I remembered the adage from one of the e-mail signatures and I quote " Opportunities are never lost, someone else takes the ones you miss.". I'm glad to have witnessed the meaning of the adage from a very close proximity. This trek has taught me lessons that are sure to stick. I hope to make the most of it.
I and Anisha reached Intel at 12.30 PM. That would be the last place to start off as most would imagine. But our ride was there. The 102 BHP Indian bull taunting the punch line "Men are back" - the mighty SX4 with eye dashing vinyl's, sporty little spoiler added to it were the stripes, surely demanded attention where ever it lay its thread marks. And with it was the owner of the car - Aravinda, in his sporty puma t-shirt, was on his toes to hit the highway. Speaking about t-shirts, Ajay was wearing a rather strange one which read " I can't". I had to make sure I was reading it correctly. Given the proximity of the keys I and U on a QWERTY keyboard, that looked like a typo or the printer had too much ink to type the unnecessary 't'. Anisha was sporting a cool shades and so was I. The sun was too bright and we were better off with shades rather than nothing at all. Ajay was eager and was in the front seat. I and Anisha sat on the rear seats.
Time to start. One turn of the keys and the engine screamed. Perhaps it was resonating to the sounds of our hearts. It was as though it was also eager for a long drive. An we hit the roads. Hardly had we crossed 500 meters, Aravind was in a mood to make his mark on World Rally Championship. We let him be the person he wanted to be. It was time for photographs. Anisha was scared to death when Arvind turned back for a snap while he was driving. That would be the only time Arvind's camera would be used. It had done its job for the day and went back to sleep. Music!!!. We started to resonate to the music from my iPhone connected to speakers in Arvind's car. Started off with song from Dostana. We did what the song asked us to - "shut up and bounce" to the beats. Then, it was time for Rock on!!. The strumming in the song made me a wanna-be part of rock band and Anisha was kind enuf to offer me a place in the Intel band. Tons of hard work before I'd get there. Anisha wanted to prove that her Sony Ericson walkman series phone was better than the iPhone. iPhone won hands down - she wouldn't agree. And before we had anything to argue about, we saw Prasad waving his hands. It was Jatin's car and with it were Jayanth,Prasad,Chat and Prasad I'm sure the cars introduced themselves to each other. And with that, the first pit stop - near Hebbal fly over. There we lay in wait for the rest of the team to catch up.
While others got down form their cars and discussing the plan for the day, I was looking at GKVK campus. My friend would be working hard for her PHD in Neuroscience at National Center for Biological Sciences. I thought it'd better not to disturb her. By then, Venu and Suhas arrived. There came our water bottle, snacks and drinks. The only car yet to turn up was Gaurav's car. Ashish, strangely enuf, was late that day. Since Santosh, our guide, was in Gaurav's car, we decided to start off and reach the foothills of Kalavarahalli betta. We stopped at many places asking for directions. Ajay was getting desperate. He had imagined climbing the hill for a dozen of times and that very thought made him lose 2 KGs :). And when a villager told us that we had to travel further and take a left, he shrieked " abhibhi munde left ? "- a perfect mix of the languages he knew - hindi, kannada and english. Little did we know that Gaurav was catching up fast. We stopped once more in front of the Multi Barrel Rocket Launcher, the defense were testing near Nandi hills. And we set off to the foot hills, but Gaurav had made it in spite of starting an hour late. He deserved a bow.
We made it to the foothills. Ashish couldn't believe that he would trek such a mountain. I hear from Gaurav that he was consoling his mind that we would be crazy to trek such a peak. His worst nightmare was about to come true or was it otherwise? Only time would tell. We planned to reach there by 3 PM , but we were close to an hour late. We distributed the drinks and snacks Venu had brought and off we went. We let Santosh, to remind you our guide, to lead the way and Arvind joined him. I was feeling glad that I was with the most enthusiastic part of my team. The sub-team, so to speak, which looked more at staying together even after project hours. The trek started off with an even road and most of them thought that they could trek the mountain half a dozen of times in a single day. They were woken up soon. Day dreaming was not going to be an option. We stopped to buy cucumber. It seemed that we were buying cucumber at a mall in the center of an IT city. The recession didn’t seem to have any effect. Moreover the shopkeeper spoke about inflation. Hmm, not bad I would say.
It was lovely to see Ajay race to the top. His marriage is about a fortnight far and he wanted to be in good shape before his marriage. This trek was a weight reduction program for him. He would race to the top, sit on top of a rock and ask us to increase pace. Barely had we walked 15 mins from the cucumber shop, most of the team felt that we had to stop. Gatorade bottles were out and looking at the rate the team was gulping, it would not last the distance. Some of them started to have second thoughts about coming to the trek. Ashish was at his best. His calculations read 40% of the trek was complete. We let him believe that.
Off we start again. Once we got to a considerable altitude, we could see the nearby mountains. It was a beautiful sight. And this time it would be long before we stopped for a break. We were split into 3 teams. Leaders - Ajay,Arvind,Santosh and Chat raced up front. I and Gaurav were behind them at a considerable distance. The followers - the rest of the gang, stopped at times to snap photographs. We were in for a scare. The leaders were leading us to a dead end. We had to head back. Time was running out. Ashish sixth sense had triggered, as he put it, that we were to take a left turn. Most of them agreed, hence we had to turn back. Now there was a new leader and we trusted his "sixth sense" which was unlike the Night Shamlaman's blockbuster as we would find out in some time. We ran into a steep part of the hill and most of them were reluctant to climb there. But then Ajay came to our rescue. He would storm like a raging bull. I followed him to keep him company. Santosh was sure that they didn’t trek this way when he had come last time with his friends. But Ashish's sixth sense won hands down. Ajay's lead came to an end when he saw that this route also lead him to a dead end. But then, I have to sing praised about his spirits. He didn’t want to accept defeat. We were under the impression that once we reached the top we could find a way. A poll from Prasad and we were outnumbered. I, Ajay, Arvind Jayant and Prasad wanted to trek. Rest of them were against it. They failed to see the logic. We failed to be practical. I was not ready to give up. Would I be risking too much if I had gone up. I made my calculations. But I was interrupted and as democracy would have it, we had to come down. Much to the disappointment of the team. Ashish's sixth sense had fired alright, but it led us in a wrong route the second time.
We had to settle down to a rock which was about 10 - 15 meters higher. Ashish's calculations brought a smile to my face as always. But the disappointment was imminent. The actual way was keeping us at bay. Prasad called in for a poll as to who would trek and still 3 of us - I,Ajay and Santosh were still enthusiastic to trek. It was 6 PM but the sun looked too high to descend early. 6:30 was the time they say the sun would set. We started to snap pics and we did have couple of Dostana moments b/w Prasad and Gaurav - you must look at the pic to enjoy it. Ajay was so enthusiastic about his marriage, that even while playing dumb charades, he'd come with film names sucha as "Dolhi sajake rakhna". But as did our SENSEX dip last year, the sun descended early. Ashish got into the act and started to wonder how the sun could be orange and at the same time be very bright at the other part of Earth. Ashish's question was soon lost , perhaps the beauty made us gape in awe. As I saw the sun set behind the mountains, I wondered how it would be to have watched the sunset from the top of the mountain. I still could not believe I hadn't made it to the top. We called the place we were - the sunset point. The view from sunset point was good. But sometimes good isn't enough. These people deserved more. They wanted their faith rewarded. This certainly would be an odd situation. None the less, some of them thought it was time to start back. Prasad wanted to stay back. He wanted to enjoy the beauty for some more time. A final set of pics, that’s what we thought, to the most enthu team of SCD. Time to start back. A shift in my glasses, from sunglasses to reading glasses, was the evidence of the diminishing light.
But paradoxically, a ray of light came after the sun had set. Jatin stumbled upon the actual route. Santosh moved in to claim that this was THE route. Ajay started to run up the hill. I and Santosh followed him - running. We were running so hard that at one point of time we sat down panting. When we looked back Arvind, Ashish Jayant and Jatin were following us. We had to be sure that this was the actual one. Someone had to lead to make sure and we did it. But by then Aravinda and Ashish dropped out. I, Santosh and Ajay waited for Jatin and Jayant to join us and we were off. A team of 60 down to 15 and now down to 5. the rest 10 had started back. A quick check of the supplies we had - 2 water bottles, a can of Gatorade and 3 torches. We should make it - we thought. We moved on - reaching a point which was similar to Magic box and we called it so. Santosh called it the half way mark to the top. That scared us. It would take quite a while to reach the top and head back. Hence we decided to ask those who started back to leave. We had Jatin's car and we could manage. The coordination now was more than important. All we had were 3 torches compared to 1000 candles a square feet the sun offers us. Finally after couple of breaks and relentless effort we made it to the top. We were ecstatic, and we were flooded with shopkeepers trying to sell some stuff to us. But even before we could eat anything, we wanted to inform all the people who missed out. We gave them a call, and were screaming on top of our voice. The feeling can't be expressed in words, to win against all odds was a tough ask. Having done that I'm sure we have enough confidence to beat odds from now on. We cherished every moment we spent at the top. Photos to remember this moment and maggie to fill our stomach.
The descent was easier but very dangerous. We didn’t know the right route. But we managed to trek down the hill. It took us 1 and half hours to get to the car. We had to act responsible and we called our managers to let them know we were safe.
In a day's trek, I could see people play different roles. The software industry is a controlled environment. When you get into the wild, a more uncontrolled environment, one gets a chance to see people play different role. I feel privileged to have watched people assuming responsibility, making decisions , leading from the front and added to that risk taking. Risk looms around us in our every day life. The point is to take a calculative risk. I remembered the adage from one of the e-mail signatures and I quote " Opportunities are never lost, someone else takes the ones you miss.". I'm glad to have witnessed the meaning of the adage from a very close proximity. This trek has taught me lessons that are sure to stick. I hope to make the most of it.
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