16 counts to Heaven in Bengal's Uru

This story starts from this link click here. If you're just interested in the list, then the current post is one. But to get a perspective on life through my mind do start from here. Thanks.


This I am sure is by no means comprehensive. But its a start. Help from the Bongs in Bengal uru would make this list comprehensive. Lets hope it happens by next year.

The 12th observation (I'd made 11 observations about Puja's in Bangalore in the previous post.) I would like to make is the Bengali's living in various parts of Bangalore are not united in the cause of making this celebration larger than life. And that can happen only if they start unifying themselves. Sadly, for now even at the Puja locations even the chaps running some of the puja's had no clue of the various Puja's except for the big ones.

Unity would not only get access to artisans, it would also bring the life to even the non bengali's in this city to sit up and take notice and also participate in the mother of all festivities.

If someone knows about other Puja's please post a comment with your name and that will be added on and credit will be given to you in the post as well.

Here's hoping for an even greater Puja next year in Bengaluru. I would call this picture below... the three protimas. The deity, the guide and the watcher. The role of the gatekeeper is what's on focus!

1/ Wind Tunnel Road: This is bang inside Wind tunnel road off airport road. (a.k.a Murugeshpalya) Turn right (if you're coming towards the airport from MG Road) at the crossing after Manipal Hospital. You'll find an Air Force camp grounds on the right inside Wind tunnel road. The Puja is INSIDE the camp.

2/ Cambridge Layout: Off Sai Baba Temple Road on Cambridge Layout. Coming from MG Road towards 100 ft road on Sai Baba temple road. You'll find a crossing before a cannal (this is the point where the road becomes two way) Take the left follow the lane to a ground where this Puja happens.

3/ Command Hospital - Cambridge Layout. Off airport Road. Turn right after you take the road towards Cambridge layout from Airport Road. Defence property.

4/ Cantonment: Turn Left before Underpass if coming up towards Cantonment. Vasanth Nagar. There's a park on the right where this Puja happens.

5/ Jayamahal: Pass the Cantonment Rly. Stn. underbridge and take the road on left to proceed towards the TV Tower/ Mekhri Circle. Take a Right turn the first break in the median. Continue on this road. This road curves, and leads you to Jayamahal Park. The Puja is adjacent to it.

6/ Bellary Road: Windsor Manor towards Hebbal. Cross the Mekhri Circle underpass. Entrance through an Air Force Campus on the left. Theatre called Manoranjan.

7/ Yellahanka: Fork on Bellary road towards Yellahanka. Lake left. Find Yellahanka Police Station. Close to it is the Sheshadripuram College. The Puja is held on Campus.

8/Air force Camp: Back to the highway towards Hyderabad. Airforce camp on both sides of the road. This Puja is held on the right side campus. Prior permission required to get inside.

9/ JP Nagar: On Bannerghatta Road. Crossing of JP Nagar. This is the one Puja on this side of town. N R Kalyana Mantapa, adjacent to Mandavi Motors, Bannerghatta Road, J P Nagar, 2nd phase.


10 & 11/ Koramangla: I heard there were two being held, but by the time we reached here we'd run out of steam and did not search around in detail so found only one. From Koramngla Police Station if you are heading up towards Forum Mall. This one falls on the right.

The second one was aparently a break off from the same association and near the police station. I could not find one near the PO. Better luck next time. Or if the association has merged back... that's great news.


12/ Mahalakshmipuram: Sadumatada Sadara Vidyabhivrudhi Sangha, No. 5A, 4th A Main Road, 12th Cross, West of Chord Road, Mahalakshmipuram, Bangalore 560086. Full address nothing more required.


13/ Malleshwaram - Canara Union. Prabaasee Association. This is a confirmed one. But address and other details not found. We could not find this despite spending half an hour around asking shops, auto drivers...

14/ Marathahalli: Right turn from Marathahalli railway overbridge (towards Whitefield. Landmark Aishwarya apartments.


15/ Ulsoor: This is the largest, most happening Puja of Bangalore. Off Ulsoore lake. From the Park towards Ulsoor, take the left on the fork at the lake. Take the right as soon as the lake ends follow the left and you'll arrive at the grounds where this is held.

16/ Brookefields: Almost opposite HLL. Kalyana Mandapa. Cross the railway overbridge (Proceeding from Airport towards Whitefield), left Kundalahalli traffic junction, towards ITPL.

We'd heard there were about 30 Puja's in Bengaluru. Best effort within 3 days and we could come up with 16. If I were Floyd I would say ... Any Bengali's out there?

Shubho Bijoya 2007. This year's Puja turned out to one I'll remember for a long time.

More pictures of street side stories... Click here.

The 11 observations from a Trip to Bengal

Trip Start point: Wind Tunnel Road
The Wheels: My Royal Enfield
Dates: October 19, 20 and 21
Trip End point: Wind Tunnel Road
Distance Covered: 184 Kms
The quest: Hunt for Goddess Durga

It felt amazing that a simple idea can make both of us come alive... to have a bit of fun. And, there was no need for the four Ps to be called upon to have a great time. (Parties, Pubs, Puffs or Piss ups!)

I had a feeling we would have our hands full and it might become a borderline case of fatigue as well...

This was a great opportunity to explore. Plus the bonus of getting acquainted with new areas in our city and the pockets with Bengali population.

The final list of Puja's we discovered, their locations and to whatever extent detail that I can remember is a list that I've put up in the next post. But this post is about the sensations, the patterns I saw emerging, similarities, the dissimilarities, the Probasi Bengali's expressions...

First. In Bangalore Pandal's were obviously not something they even gave a thought. All of them and I mean ALL were more like
glorified tents. Sure, some might argue that there was some decoration inside, the outside including the frontage resembled REALLY large tents. Whatever the reason, no police permissions, no artisans available, lack of funds, not a priority, whatever, the zing of a great Pandal as one would see it in Kolkata was simply missing. So call em, tents, Shamianas... These ain't pandals...

But what was left as a gap in that angle was filled by creation of multiple Shamiana's. Plus posters on campus with the programme for the four days. Hey these guys were organised. And, they wanted public to come in a planned manner. The reason for the more than one? Well, entertainment programmes galore. From competitions, to quizes, to music, to kids programmes, the second outlet happened to be the interaction hot spot.

Second. Nizamms (no where close as in the original but then, in a place out of your own city if you're a Bengali, you can't be too nit picky)had a stall in most of the Pujas. Rolls, Kebabs ...

Third. Its true, Bengal has a close affair with China. Be it communism, food, tanneries, populated Chinese communities, proximity to similar looking people...
Chinese food vending was another hit in most of the Pandals. Chow mein can I say is a Bengali Staple diet. And they almost invented the Manchurian... Considering it was a probasi Chinese who came to Bengal thereby became a Bengali and then invented it? Not kidding.

Fourth. Bengali's are the quintessential foodies in our land... of course, with a dash of their own flavours mostly.(for example they For example, they HATE SOUR stuff or even Coconuts. Apart from that they love other flavors. Every puja had a mashup of food stalls, and more importantly people gorging on food.

And that's not all. The most important of them all was the Bhog. And that was impressively organised and looked quite inviting in some of puja's. Amazing.

Fifth. An easy way to find a puja in a locality is to hang around, drift lanes and by lanes and if you find a "Bengali look" drift thataway. Well we can by now make out by the very look, as to who is a Bong and who ain't with about 70% accuracy! A warning note on this one, we could not locate one puja despite our best efforts in trying this approach and we knew from confirmed sources that there was a Puja in that locality.

Sixth. Technology aided the puja's where tradition was expensive or not available. For instance, the sounds of the drum beats which are so part of the Puja were supported by CD's or tapes with a lone ranger (even kids volunteering) beating the drum...

Seventh. It was stupid to try this stunt without actually going to some of the associations before the puja's... As with Bangalore, the traffic is crazy... although nothing like Kolkata traffic especially during the puja, the most effective way of transport was the Metro Rail and the two legs. Nothing else moves!

Here the Bullet chugged along, but the distances were great and lots of detours for the search. The old saying, that working to an organised plan in cases like this makes life a lot easier. Albeit, some effort has to go behind the pre-action days...

Eighth.The Idols were a complete let down. Each one looked the same. The decor was so similar. No imagination. After a point almost boring! A twist in this point. While the face of the Goddess was plastic looking and non expressive, the Asur's (or the evil one if you so would) face had loads of them. More often than not I started taking portraits of Mashisasur!

Ninth. Evenings were a washout for this year. No great angles of light and shadows or the dances could be shot. Every evening was reserved for heavy rains and in fact at some of the Puja's the mud made the day time messy!

Tenth. Every army camp has a Puja. Make arrangements in advance if you want a peek at them. These are the more peaceful ones. But you need to get permission to gain entry.

Eleventh. These were the joints for the traditional Bengali Addas. Flocks of people sitting around and just talking away. Gossip, information exchange, schedules, intellectual stuff, routine ... it was all there, all alive!

The list of Puja's? Click here.

Sniffin' out a dash of Bengal in Bengaluru

Whoever said that the ride had to be one that would take a country road or a distant highway? Whoever said it was wrong.

Sure city riding makes it more painful. The perspective of adventure changes. Of finding short cuts to avoid traffic, of trying to weave in and out of it, of finding that pavement to cut through a long jam, of planning a destination within a given time to eat that favorite food... add to all of this what if one were to also go search and look for festivities? A tiring but different adventure of sorts.

It took us two days... or this weekend so to speak. The occasion was Durga Puja. And for the two of us (that's me and my wife) an occasion when we really miss being in our place of birth Kolkata, the friends, the lights, the festive spirit around us. This is the time of the year when the smell of the city and its emotional appeal goes up by more than a few notches!

This year we were in Bangalore (newly named Bengaluru) and as I put it, twas about the Bengal in the uru (uru means town in some of the south Indian languages.) Strange name, for a city of Bengal in the south?

Anyway, this year, we wanted to find out whether this city celebrates Puja at all! As we'd observed in our earlier years we'd never come across any major fanfare on this occasion... So it was about finding out and nailing it.

That thought in mind we went for it. The whole task had to approached a bit methodically, as it was not a easy task, as in Kolkata, Pandal hopping was a cake walk in our younger days. We actually used to have competitions for the number of pandals and deities seen during the four day Puja...there would be many in every "paraa" one just had to make a route map and run for it everyday.

Here, one had to become a retriever and actually sniff around for that Dash of Bengal. The web searched, Bengali friends asked, references taken...

We'd lined up an impressive list of 10 puja's with addresses that seemed finite. And that was imminently doable in a day or two at best.

The next post is about the two days of the ride, the sights and an impression of what we could make out as the Bangalore definition of the puja. To get the angles read on.

Published

Today got yet another dose of a high... Royal Enfield decides to publish the latest trip on their web site. Read the story here on my blog or there on their site.

The link to the site click here.

The 8 day south side story

Hey as you know a blog runs sequentially in reverse order. The last post coming in first... I tried to construct this trip story in one or two posts, but tough luck, then it ran into quite a few pages. So the only option was to break it up into a few posts and make it by day and place of visit.

As usual lots of things happen when you have an open mind and a restless soul.

To get to this trip story from the beginning click here. Do leave your comments. And thanks for stopping by.

October 7, 2007 – Sunday. The last lap. Mysore to Bangalore

After the morning temple ride which was about 20 kms off Mysore and click a few good ones the ride back was uneventful for a while.

But then, there was a buzz around the highway. Superbikers united.

Kawaks, Yams, BMWS, Hondas about 10 of them zoom in and around weaving through the traffic. They must’ve been at it in the morning.

For a while I was depressed that I was on this slow coach Bullet which just about managed 100 Kms/hr and did not have any pick-up where those buggers could surge even after 90 kms/hr.

Those chaps were clocking 140 + easily. What a sight. Good for them. I might get one of those but then, what the heck, what’s the big deal of having a bike and then clocking it on Sundays and doing rallys… that’s not the reason we wanted to bike. Our reasons for biking were to explore the country side ride through life…

Sure, we’ll get a superbike but, when they come to the country with proper service stations and reach for parts. Without it Sunday rides were bull shit. Let these fellows try the road to Irrity and get back one piece.

That was that.

Home at last by afternoon. A few beers and lunch later well deserved crash out and back to the more mundane chores of corporate life.

Till the next ride or drive… cheers.

October 6, 2007 – Saturday. Wayanad to Mysore

We desperately wanted to stay back but then the rooms were full and a new lot was coming in that day so we had to pack up.

With the last day going behind brooding, we wanted to freshen up a bit before reaching home. So it had to be Mysore before Bangalore.

At about 130 kms its was a short and great ride through a bit of Waynad and Bandipur forests.

What a change from the hole drive to smooth roads and soon the Bullet was cruising away at my favorite speed. 90 kms/hour. And averaging it as well.

There were places where the sun could not shine through because of the dense overgrowth. The tress and overhanging creepers giving the place a great feeling of living it inside a forest. This lasts for about 15 kms. And then you cross over to the Karnataka border and into Bandipur which is not so dense. You see lots of greens but shrubs and more grubby.

No animals encountered. And we reached Mysore in a flash. The ride took us 3 ½ hours and we were not even tired.

So after grabbing a beer and a bite to eat at Mysore after checking in. We went around town to the palace which was getting decked up for the Dasara festival which was a huge draw here. The town Mysore name after the evil king of asuras Mahishasura was killed by the goddess Chamundi (or Durga.)

The celebrations take place not only in the palace but also around town lights, set-ups the whole city was preparing itself for the mid October celebrations.

After the city rush we went to chill out with birds at Srirangapatnam. Even though this was not season we caught a few. Wifey wanted to become a bird watcher immediately. Good activity. Told her to Ask google.

After lazing around the bird sanctuary while also going to some of the other sights around we rode back to the hotel for the last night out.

Next morning had to be the uphill ride to the Chamundi temple and Mysore city view and then back home.

October 5, 2007 – Friday. Calicut to Wayanad

Off to Wayand. The route took us through many villages, towns and plantations. We were plagued by bad roads here as well, but then, we knew this time we were on route to exiting them.

We stopped for grabbing a bite a small joint midway. The place was clean to sit and have a bite and tea. The famous Parotta’s came hot along with traditional mallu gram curry. We hogged like never before. The serving boy put two glasses of colored liquid on our table.

When I asked what it was. I found out it was drinking water. Yellow colored! This is the water all of them consumed. And we talk of literacy levels and communism and equality. When the bloody state can’t offer people simple clear drinking water, the rest of the promises and festivals is complete hog wash and nonsensical. Gods own country my foot. All this amidst plantations ... twistin by the hill side.

I suddenly hated myself yet again. What are we as a civilization? What have we become? This was worse than stone age. And here we’re spending a few crores on cricketers? Shame on our souls. I wished I could do something about it.

Waynad was spent in brooding over my own soul. Dark and grim thoughts in mind.

Moving on? Click here.

October 4, 2007 – Thursday. A Theyyam look see and to Calicut

Up at 5:00 but could make it out of the door only at 6:00 wifey opted to sleep it off. So it was a solo ride of about 18 kms to the temple in the forest village.

Long winding lanes after a reasonable Mangalore – Kerala highway I found myself in a temple like surrounding. What struck me was the cleanliness of the place. And the absence of touts and I was just yet another tourist.

By the time I reached the main abstract of the ritual was over and there were two fully dressed people (made up like in the kathakali) standing in front of the actual deity. People were clamoring to talk to them for advice and blessings…

No photographs allowed. So for the time being it has to in writing till I get to sight a full theyyam and click it.

Went back to the hotel and we decided to move to the next town.

Calicut that day enough of Kannur. At least chill in the sun and sand of the beach.

Kerala roads are bad. Real Effing bad. More potholes than roads. And that’s not just about highways, but also city and town roads. Dirty, polluted, potholed and messy. And to add to misery the road signs suck bad too.

So after losing our way a couple of time we finally hit the right track and into Calicut. This was only about 90 Kms but took us about 4 hours. And we were exhausted too.

Lazed about the town in the evening. Hung out at the beach. And soon came the topic where next. While this was a more prosperous town than Kannu, this was no chill joint.

So, the forest is what we knew was possible and we could head back homewards as well as the holiday was coming to an end.

Wayand would be it. And lucky again one night’s stay available there. A distance of about 100 kms to Bethery or about 90 Kms to Kalpeta, which seemed doable regardless of whatever roads stretch came our way.

Continue by clicking here.

October 3, 2007 – Wednesday. Kannur

Reminded me of that song by Winwood
Bird flying high and you know how I feel
Sun up in the sky, you know how I feel,
that's what I mean
It's a new dawn
It's new day
It's a new life for me
And I'm feelin' good

That was how I felt at 7 AM. New dawn, new day. Albeit, with a little back ache no doubt. Wifey was not yet up and she was more tired than me. So I let her be.

I took some time out to re-live the day before. This was one I’ll not forget in a hurry, don’t think both of us will. But then, we were here in Kannur, and that too for a special reason. To try and locate a Theyyam.

As the local folklore goes, this goes way back. Precedes even Hinduism. It was a religious ritual plus an art form. No one really knew which part was the ritual and which part is the art. But then, it’s a spectacle for anyone, whether he’s seen it or not. While the performer is doing it, he goes into a trance or a possessed state where he becomes identified with the god he’s portraying giving it a mythical identity. Theyyam means godlike.

The make up, dressing and discipline before the act is rigorous and often stretches into hours where the artists fast till its over without even water to drink. These happen at Kavus or mangroves which are plentiful in Kanoor and Kasaragod. Therefore we were at the heart of Theyyam territory and probably in season.

Talking to people around, the hotel manager, locals etc led us to find out about a certain folklore academy in Kannur. If we were up to it we would be going there today.

But first, we needed a change of slippers. So went to town to get our feet covered. The afternoon sun was really hot and were in the mood to just chill for the day. So to hell went all research and out came a few beers and then lunch and crash.

Late afternoon we did find the Kerala Folklore academy … bad luck Theyyam season started end of October none to be sighted now. But on grilling the unwilling boys at the academy there emerged one place where it happened but in a small way in a temple. The Patasinikadavu temple where it happened everyday but then at 5:30 in the morning.

Rest of the evening went out in the regular sightseeing, the fort, the beach, the town.

So next morning’s plan was made. The Bullet was given for clean-up and service after I found out the station. Got it back in good shape. Any other vehicle could not have taken that slaughter. That’s the difference between a Bull and the rest.

Lazed around in the evening to unwind.

Theyyam or other things? Click here.

October 2, 2007 - Tuesday. Nagerhole to Kannur

Trip start point Jungle Inn
Distance 140 Kms (approximately)
Trip end point Malabar Residency, Kannur
Route Nagerhole – Husur - Coorg – Irrity - Kannur
Duration/time 6 hours (11:30 AM – 5:30 PM)

The day began at right earnest. With the morning came the call, that Kerala would be the place to visit and not Mysore. God’s own country beckons.

So at breakfast a short quiz with the manager, re-confirmed the route and went back to the Bullet…ready to go. Problem. The rear tyre was FLAT. The friendly staff at the resort brought out a leg pump for air, the only way out, pump it up take it 20 kms to Hunsur and get it fixed.

Baggage dismantled quickly, a rushed out pumping later, I set out to Hunsur at rocket speed through the narrow lanes…

Found the puncture shop, got it fixed, bought a new tube, got it wheeled in, gassed up and rushed back to the resort. 2 hours gone. The most helpful manager came with me and helped through the entire drama… good to see people like this exist.

Back to resort, the entire baggage settled in. Distraught and a little stressed out, but then, that lit the fire in the belly to do what everyone seemed against. We both decided it had to be Kannur and not Mysore come hell or highwater. 11:30 AM.

So instead of turning right on Hunsur road we turned left. A fatal left turn that we came to learn within an hour or so of cruising through coffee and rubber plantations and slick roads and cool breeze on our faces.

Right after the plantations at Coorg the roads become a little potholed. But then, what the heck we thought, if this was what the guys back there were talking about, we’ve seen worse… this was nothing.

Somewhere, (I just did not observe nor do I remember the point) it starts to drizzle. And then came complete disaster. It came like hell unleashed. We hit what was the remnants of the hill road. It was mudslide, gorged up, watered, loose, bricked up, slush pits…

The speed came down to 2 kms/hour. We had to stop at various point and wifey had to dismantle. There were wide pools of mud which had to be ridden through. Jutting rocks which had to be avoided. Loose slippery mud to be crossed quickly, and that was not all, there was rain beating down from the heavens above. Well here's a real taste of gods own wrath.

We went on, soaking wet, praying that our water resist bags remained water resistant. From one hole to another, hop, skip and skid through the terrain.

Only those who did not know about this terrain chose to venture here apart from some foolhardy truckers who came this route to save a quick buck probably or were insane.

We found a stretch where trucks were stuck in the mud. The drivers were piling up rocks on a sudden death pit so that it could cross over. A couple of cars stalled in the middle drivers thinking of turning the other way around.

The rain began lashing out heavily. We stopped beneath some trees and in a mud pile. I got so stressed that I got the urge to puff a cigaratte. Which I did. I lit one and smoked it in the rain. AAAH. What a relief. That hit felt good. Once the nicotine got into my blood and that too after almost 4 months of laying off I was feeling lighter and the pain reduced, a little refreshed.

After that both of us went for it. Eff the rain. And this time focused and serious about getting over with this. Did not have the balls to take out my brand new camera kit to shoot this terrain as a show piece.

Gods own country they say Kerala is. I am sure, that was God’s own shit pot. Where he farted and crapped leaded balls to devastate anything that moved.

I wish the people in this part of the country woke up and started doing a bit of work. Like booting out their idiosyncratic government to the vultures. Bloody politicians filling up their own coffers while devastation like this exists.

Co-incidence that this was Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday as well. What a debacle to the state of the nation.

On one side we talk of progress and on the other such disasters exist. The only thought I could summon up at that time was to build a remote controlled car chain the state head and his crony inside and run that car at 50 kms/hr (no more) flat out on the terrain ONE WAY. If he’s still alive, then, I am sure he would do something about the road within the next 24 hours.

For gods sake at least BLOCK THE TERRAIN for traffic!

We soon reached a shack which seemed like a place to get some tea and also get out of the rain and terrain for a bit. The shop served up delicious Kerala parotta’s (pancakes) and sweets. Wifey dug into them and we lighted up a bit.

As the rain slowed down a bit, we mounted the bull and were off again. We found that the rocks would last another 2 kms. Well after about half an hour we crossed the landslide zone and into a small town.

Passed through it quietly. Surprise, even here the roads were pothole ridden. Nothing compared to other terrain but then, not roads by any standards.

Wifey had taken the brunt of the attack from the rear… the jerking is more painful for the pillion rider and she almost gave up at a point. Where she just wanted to break off. Try to hire a cab (if one existed in these villages) and go.

Somehow managed to coax her to hang on. Some coffee and cigarettes later we rode on to Kannur. And that last 10 kms was good, we made it in one piece. Victory. Found our way to Hotel Malabar Residency a 3 star hotel vending out cheap rooms… well this was off season mate and no one comes here anyway.

The rest of the day went into unpack, drying, slugging a drink, eating and then blacking out! The worst was over.

Next day at Kannur. Click here.

Rockin in them cotton fields ... October 1, 2007 Monday

Fresh and quick to wake up. Great morning, the sun was about to rise. It was 6 AM. Not a soul out on the tread. I went around the campus to figure out if the morning safari was on as that would’ve been fantastic. Alas there were no other takers at that time so it had to be in the afternoon.

So we spent the morning in the fields. Cotton and paddy. Walking around with the village folks. Chilling out right in the middle of the fields and way off the roads… Almost fell off the Bullet in one of these fields rides in the mud.

But then, this is just the right concoction to beat the heat of the city.

3:00 PM our resort manager comes looking for us and takes us on for the Jungle ride. The ride in the cramped up Gypsy was ok for wifey, but for me there was no leg room at all…

While we started off with much gusto this became a wimp as we discovered it had rained last night and we were not allowed to take the mud roads into the real terrain to do some real spotting.

So we had to settle for some deer, wild elephant, fox, bison and monkeys…so much for Jungle Jim. To top it off a short shower followed, so the very thought of probably doing it again next day was off.

That night was the drifting for the next destination. Much discussion, debates, references. Books, routes, times ... Kerala seemed like a destination. Somewhere I read about a fascinating ritual called Theyyam. And Kannur was the hot spot for experiencing this, it said October was the given time for it.

That was it. Both of us were in agreement. To the land of Theyyams be it. Let the free spirit rock.

After a quick dinner we told the manager that we would be out the next morning after breakfast. We told him where we were headed. He gave us a mysterious look (which we'll realize why later on the next day when hit the road) and then told us that there were bad roads ahead. A long stretch of it. And it was raining on the other side. The total distance would take us about 4 hours.

That was enough for another round of debate between me and wifey and we left it undecided till the next morning. We were going out anyway we’ll decide if it’ll be Mysore or Kannur on the way!

The journey to land of Theyyams or Gods... click here.

September 30. A raging bull in Nagerhole.

Trip start point Airport Road
Distance 200 Kms (approximately)
Trip end point Jungle Inn (Nagerhole)
Route Bangalore – Srirangapatinam – Hunsur – Nagerhole
Duration/time 4 1/2 hours (8 AM – 1:30 PM)

This ride was really really repetitive and boring. Done this stretch so many times. Cut till Hunsur. Nothing changes… do refer to my earlier trip stories for more on this route (Bangalore-Mysore).

After Hunsur comes the diversion to the small single road which leads to the jungle. And that’s where everything changes. The road less tarred. Lush greens all around. Cotton fields on either side. Clouds painting sketches in the blue sky. Lone cottages looking serene. The cool fresh air right on your face. And even the mind changes, thoughts change. Forgotten are the frustrations of the city life, the irking traffic, the pollution, the navigation, the deja vu... this is life to be lived, loved.

This is fresh, green, passionate. The mix with the clear blue sky, a canvas that makes the mind go wild… the whiff of natural scents, the flowers blooming, the smell fresh soil which has tasted water… this was the real trip.

Well, it lasted all of 20 mins and the resort sign welcomed us. We dismantle the Bull and walk up to the office where the friendly manager helps us find a place to stay room or tent was a choice. We were lucky he said, normally, this place was packed on weekends this weekend the bookings were a bit low.

We went for the jungle tent which was a contraption hung on solid foundations of course and with a walled up toilet.

Freshening up and lunch went in a flash, we were out on the road to find our way to the Jungle. And it came within 5 minutes… NO ENTRY FOR MOTOR BIKES.

No amount of coaxing the forest guard could change his mind. So I guessed something must’ve happened. On chatting up with the manager later that evening we got to know that some bikers were caught unawares by a wild elephant and had suffered injuries. I am yet to fathom how one could survive an elephant attack though!

Anyway the day went behind finding designs by clouds and subjects by the village folk. Thumped back in the evening to our tent.

The night is different here. Everything shuts down at 7. There’s no light, no music no cacophony of sound. One can hear the sound of crickets, some distant howling, and of course the staff at the resort having a scrap over something insignificant.

After a heavy dinner, a short night walk around campus, and, overhearing a corporate gang's drunken conversation how they should be working (there was a convention on those two days at the resort) we decided to call it a day.

Quick to fall asleep with dreams of getting into a jungle safari the next day.

Read the next part. Click here.

Roads to terrains by accident. September 30 – October 7, 2007

The wandering mind…a spoonful of indecisiveness or a thimbleful of inspiration? - quote by "yours truly"!

This was the much needed break after cramming the last few months of real hard work. While the break was a necessity, the places came quite by accident. And, even the actual date of riding out came like that... an accident.

Only two things were planned. One, the deed of taking the break, and two, the thought of biking “somewhere” …

To be true to the spirit of the road hog that I've become, the Bullet was checked up, serviced and tuned to perfection, a short test ride to make it highway prone, the saddle bags sunned out, a list of things to buy and do before take off made and ready.

The leave due on September 25, dragged on till the 28h. The vaguely-fixed date of departure 29th, we still were not clear where we should go… few bland options…Mysore, Hassan, Ooty, Bandipur … seen em all many times over. Boring mate.

So the 29th was the first day of inspirational focus, to figure out whether we’re going out at all or not. Loafed around the whole day, bought most of the things needed, hung out at Pecos, waffled over a movie, floated over a book, random searched google (with words like yawn, fiber optics, tar, nicotine not even remotely associated with what I wanted to do)…

It did strike early evening. Wildlife as a first to go. So after a few searches and phone calls later, we KNEW that we were going to ride out the next day, and where we were headed and the first pit stop became Nagerhole.

Time to move to the next part of this travelogue. Click here.

Bangalore to Ooty and Conoor April 14 - 17

Well this was the second real trip I took on my Bullet. And the anticipation of the sheer thrill of cutting across two forests and then doing a steep climb on the bike was well an experience that was perhaps as good as the real deed and then its fond memories...

Been going nuts doing too many things and therefore this post really is a post from the past. Something which I should've done a while back. But then, here it is...

Trip start point: Windtunnel Road Bangalore. 6:00 AM
Break point: Mysore junction
Trip end point: Hotel Khems, Ooty
Distance covered: 295
Accessories: Saddle bags, new double horn.

Well the start as we'd done it many a time in the morning, the road to Mysore was well a road! clipped at an average of about 80 through. So we were in Mysore by 9:00 AM that was quick and no-nonsense.

Hunted for some breakfast joints where we could leave the saddle bags as is and continue but could not find an open Idly vada joint, so it had be packed so that we stopped on the Mysore Bandipur road and ripped open the leaves and squatted on the roadside and hogged and washed it down with mango juice... everything around was suddenly different, the trees greener, the roads cleaner, the vision clearer and less pollution.

Cut to smaller road and through lanes clustered by trees on both sides off went the helmet and down came the speed. The feel of a cool breeze, the sound of the thump of the Bullet and the top of the world euphoria of chuggin along the roads less traveled (yea less than city at least) was amazing...

Chugged to Bandipur the first forest road and went through the single roads anticipating wildlife, but none at that time; we were well past that time when the creatures come out. Anyway out of Karnataka border and into Tamil Nadu and Mudumalai and the same continues, the roads meander and wave and cave in all over...

We decided to take a short break at the foot hills before the climb. And decided that the weather gods and the hard work of the ride earned us at least a bottle each of beer... So chilled beer it was for both of us. From the wanderers look of us, the restaurant chappie did not want to us to sit in the family section instead we had to go to the regulars... a dungeon like hole... fortunately, we were the only ones around so gulping the beer down was easy... and both were actually eased up after the drink...did us wonders to sustain the 30 km steep climb to Ooty.

30 Kms, 33 hairpin bends and the incline really steep. The Bullet could run only on the first gear and at times on the second. At times, I feared weather it would over heat! Thankfully it did not and we caught the first wave of the smell of Eucalyptus trees around, the Scotland of south india was close at hand.

The town centre was more crowded than we'd seen a few years back, the place was dirtier, but hey it was clear, cleaner fresher than the city life we were used to. Asked directions found the hotel, check-in. Lonely Planet guide was good. This joint was not bad at all. It was 1:00 and we were thirsty and hungry... quick round of beer and food and crash... the hot water tap worked only in the mornings and evenings so we had to postpone the shower for the evening.

The evening out was incredible in the small town. We went around town, looked around for anything quaint but then, in the midst of drizzle it was becoming a pain so we decided to head back to pavilion soon enough.

The next day (April 15) was the day out for sights around Ooty. The place had become so touristy and so bloody crowded the old world charm was gone and the crowds took over... Some home made chocolates happened and then we decided by early evening to break for the day and relax by the boating house.

Conoor was perhaps the secluded heaven that one seeks... the short ride via Wellington and then to reach this quaint hill station complete with an old world charm was what we both were seeking for a while... wish we'd planned to park ourselves here. We would be back here again. Magic. Chill out zone was at the Taj Retreat we sacked out for almost 4 hours, idling over a few beers and snacks...

Pity we had to leave as the sun was getting covered both by the clouds as well as the dusk... A quick but short dash back to Ooty and also bundled with an encounter with the rain. Decided to get wet and go through for the heck of it... The rain drops really prick at you especially since its cold out here as well. Anyway, reach back all wet wet wet.

After drying and rum we were back in action to take the town by the evening. This was the last evening before we headed back next morning.

What the heck, we thought nice and sozzled, let it be a bit late morning will ya?

And so it was late and we started out at 9:00 and yea downhill was as tricky as uphill but the confidence that one gets on a bullet is something else, rock steady. So we went past the forests, and tree lanes and were in Mysore by afternoon for lunch.

Bangalore we reached around 3. But then, from the entry point to Windtunnel road 3 hours with the traffic snarls, honking and dirt, I was completely tired and washed out in the city ride... next time its best to leave early. So that, the exit is clean and so is the entry in the afternoon when the traffic is lesser.

That's that till the next log.

Biking to the Land of the Kodavas - March 16 - March 18, 2007

Trip start point: Airport Road, Bangalore.

Trip end point: Aalath Cad estate, Amathi, Coorg

Route: From Bangalore - Srirangapatnam - Siddapur - Ammathi

Distance: 300 Kms (approximately)

Accessories: Saddle Bags

This happened to be my first long ride on the spanking brand new (albeit, after the first service and a bit of running in) Bullet. I have an Electra 5S.

After an early start (6:00 AM) we hit Mysore road and the ride till Srirangapatnam - if this had been a seasoned biker - was rather uneventful, with there being more tarred roads than real nature. But for the newbie biker in me, this was the grand opening of tunnel vision...

I have done the road less traveled, but on four wheels and inside the cabin of a car with a boxed up windshield view and streaming windows.

With the wind blowing directly at you, and the whole world as you can see it out in the open thumping around on a Bullet was completely other worldly! Apart from a short break for some hot iddly's and coffee on the way close to Mandya, no breaks.

Right turn after a bit from Srirangapatnam and we were out of the highways into state roads. Cut through the loopy roads asking around a bit (no road signs or directions can be a pain) and we were on way looking for Madikeri (the capital of Coorg.)

Right after we exited the grandly done up Mysore road, we also exited good roads. But hey, Suddenly we came up against a dilapidated sign which said Siddapur, Orange County, and we stopped confused.

If Madikeri was where we were to go, what's this? Looks like a short cut! Like wise people, we decided to take the small lane to Siddapur... Behold, here the roads ended and pot holes and stones made up the way!

Cursing our the spell that made us take this turn we trundled on. This was just about 30 kms, seemed more like 300!

Anyway after this hard boiling on the back side, we found ourselves suddenly, entering a different landscape. The smells, the vegetation, the lush green and the quiet atmosphere got to us. Enough to forget the rough ride and enough to get great thoughts about the beauty of life in general!

From Siddapur to Ammathi about 10 kms a real cool 10 mins and we were into a plantation... Aalath cad. The path way to the home was pebble stones and that's it! The home... this is amazingly calm and serene. One could spend days without doing anything and not getting disturbed.

Parked ourselves here for the next two days.

That day was spent chilling out in the widerness of the estate during the day. (We'd reached the estate at 12:00PM.) The beer and light lunch (the food at the estate is complete suckage and also costs the earth) and the village down below offers no better. So the best alternative is one is fussy about food is to stay at Madikeri. But then, you'll miss out on the entanglement with nature which ranks way over on the priority list when one is travelling!

The next day was spent immersing ourselves in the land of the Kodavas. Spotting Elephants, checking out the Tibetan monastery, Riding to a Dam, Spotting the origins of the Cauvery river. While the bad stretch of roads continued right till Madikeri we went at it completely tripped out on nature, weed and beer.

And to top it off the variants of spicy food that the Coorgi's eat wherever we went. Madikeri was a great day trip for food and beer.

Two days was two days too short! The Bullet took everything in its stride. And even for a newbie like me this was completely smooth sailing... picture perfect!

March 18, 2007, was time to head back to Bangalore. There has to be a next time. They say once you go to Coorg, you might leave it behind, but the place will continue to haunt you and lure you to come back.

Already, feel the urge to pack my bags and go once again as I relieved those moments.

Coorg was shot completely in Black and white. Pictures here.

December 30, 2006: The last lap. Pune to Bangalore 887 kms

Please read from the beginning, the first post onwards. This is a complete journey which took me from Gurgaon to Bangalore and this is the last lap. Click here to go to the post.

The only thing that I knew about this drive was to make it before dusk as driving through the day is tiring and then to take on the night traffic and lights takes its toll. So 6:00 AM was the trip start time. We both decided to stop on for leak breaks and also for food pick stuff which we could eat while driving...

The early morning sun rise was amazing. A new day was dawning in our lives, this was also a new chapter in what we could be doing. A mix of good and bad roads and a stopover at Hubli for a quick bite we ripped on homewards.

Enter Bangalore, a third coming for me, a second for wifey sharp 5:30 PM. 11 and 1/2 hours, not bad! But then the next three hours were spent in wading through traffic to reach Koramangla where we were staying till we moved to our new home.

We made it. It was one heck of a ride. At times I often recall an acquaintance had made a passing comment to me that I was "fantasizing" when I spoke about a ride to Delhi from Chennai... not done in the real world.

Wanted to tell him this was for real. And real in a much grander fashion. People are strange. They disbelieve the real ones and believe the grand liars! On that note I end this trip story. There are many more to come. Of course not in a chronological order.

December 29, 2006: Vadodara to Pune. 547 Kms

Completely uneventful and medium speed driving till we reached Panvel to meet the grand expressway to Pune. This was the speed ride of the trip. Rubber meets concrete rips through high speed of 170 kms/hr. Rave through tunnels, cut bends, rip the straight lanes whoooohooooo... This is what I felt I lived for! This is it. Pity it ended in a flash too! Did you know you get a card when yo pay the toll tax for the expressway ... something like a debit card which you submit at the exit point?

That set me thinking on the amount of toll tax we would've paid on this whole trip... A roough guestimated calculation and the figure that poped up then 3,300 bucks (Rs)! Wow. Don't ask me to calculate it again as I've lost most of the tokens by now.

Pune city was easily the most excavated one I've seen in recent times. There was less room for traffic and more room for dug up roads... within all the debree and grime we looked around town a place called Swargate which a friend had tipped me off. Suddenly a scream.

Wifey sees a hotel and orders for a check. Which promptly I did and found it reasonably good to stay over.

That was it. Next morning the last lap to Bangalore. 887 Kms.

December 28: Lake views and preparations for the last leg. To Vadodara... 365 kms

Late morning wake up with a phone call. The Packers had arrived in Bangalore. Our new home beckons us. It felt fresh already. New life ahead mate a fresh new start at what I wanted to do professionally. So now that Jaisalmer stay cut and now the Udaipur full house was nudging us to move on... Probably time.

So just a cursory view around Udaipur town and the lakes and palaces we were bound towards Vadodara...

The only memorable part of this drive was the 100 odd kms of a six lane super highway between Ahmedabad and Vadodara. No cycles, two wheelers, three wheelers allowed. Only cars. And while the signs mentioned some 90 (or was it 100) kms/hr top speed, traffic was oblivious to the signs and ripped at 150 kms. So did we. And we were at our destination early evening!

Checked into a reasonable place. Went around town a bit. This was, well, just another town! So we tried to find a place for getting the local fare. Heavens were blessing us we found this joint called Kansaar... This most amazing place served hot Gurati food the whole range of it... the waiters made sure you were stuffed before leaving and their language of communicating for a refill on plate? Snap! Yup snapping fingers and feeding the hungry... eating there was intoxicating.

Well that kinda brings me to the last but one lap next day.

December 27, 2006: Jaisalmer to Udaipur. 600 kms

6:00 AM and out on the streets of gold. This ride was going to a long one the second longest in the entire trip. The longest would be the last lap Pune to Bangalore...

7 days on the road... this has been quite a colourful ride so far. In Rajasthan the temperatures have incredible swings of highs and lows. The early mornings and late nights are biting cold, the day time is hot even in December! This early morning was no less, but with a heater in the car, could not quite feel the bite. But a stop over for tea and snacks got us to reality! It was a freeze outside. nothing seemed to get the food or the tea hot! Even fresh baked Alu Paratha became cold in a jiffy. That roadside dhaba breakfast turned out to be the most expensive one we'd had in quite a while. Imagine shelling out 300 bucks (Rs) at a roadside shack for nothing!

The road to Udaipur meanders via Jodhpur. So we decided to do a gas filling halt. And I decided to go back to that friendly petrol bunk once again to feel good. Yeah it did feel good. From there on trundled along village roads, lost our way somewhere outside Jodhpur went all over before coming back on track and heading towards Ranakpur.

What a change in the goegraphy. Right from arid dessert lands to hills and valleys and greenery all over... Ranakpur incidentally also houses a mindblowing Jain Temple which is held up by more than a 1,000 columns. The carvings on these are intricate and each is different. As for the place its breathtakingly relaxing. Wifey wanted a stay here and not at Udaipur. I was the ass who felt the drive up to last leg should not be too stressful so that extra 100 odd kms would be a good saving and the roads were really bad! It took us close to 3 hours to cover the 100 km distance to Udaipur.

At last the city of palaces, lakes and colours. City of Octopussy. The good thought screeched to a halt when we found the directions to the Ram Palace hotel... a single slender lane with cattle, bikes, cycles, people, cars, jeeps running through it! After a long and tedious snaky drive finally the spot. It resembled a shack! And there was no parking space for this hotel. We could not stay here.

Too numb to figure out what to do next we decided to hunt for a coffee shop to sit down, look at the options and then make the move. The shop we found was a South Indian joint. They also claimed to have hit the Guiness book for the longest Dosa made in History. We were too distracted by our own plight... ordered coffee and started calling all the hotels around from the books... none had ANY room. Imagine, Udaipur was full. We had visions of sleeping in the car already!

Not to give up I chatted up the restaurant manager for help... these guys were more than helpful. They came up with a list and recommendation as well. A few calls later we'd hit the sweet spot. The hotel turned out to be quite a decent one at that as well. And they were charging twice the tarrif we'd paid so far (3,500 plus.)

Dejected that this seemed to be spelling the end of the mega trip and unable to scourge Udaipur for a couple of days we just blacked out.

Few and bad quality pictures were taken from this day on till the end of the trip. Faulty Camera.

December 25, 2006: Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. 310 kms

At 6:00 AM we told a rather disappointed Mr Newton that we would be moving on in an hour. So that was a short but packed stay at the Blue City. Next stop the mysterious dessert town or the golden city of Jaisalmer. Rajasthan is a colourful place.

What caught my attention was the fact that the people here were kool and different from the abrasive crowd that we left behind in Delhi and UP. Three days into Rajasthan and we'd met and talked to people in all walks and I felt they did their thing and were polite, warm and friendly.

In fact, a scene at the petrol bunk struck me. Where this attendant would welcome customers with a Namaste. Get the car wiped, but request us to shut the windows first, ask if we needed a drink of water to freshen up before we went on our journey. Asked us where we're headed and give a short cut to the highway... this was great relationship building. We left feeling good. It was routine petrol filling and air check. But that was a different for us to vividly remember even now (5 months later.)

Before we hit the dessert road, we went straight to the halwai shop we'd spotted for the usual breakfast... jalebi's, kachori's (these were different from the ones at Agra) and stock up on Chilli pakoras and drinking water.

This ride was simply amazing. The route via Pokran was deserted, in the middle of the dessert and had sand on the road with straying camels, stray cattle. This was the Thar dessert. But let me tell you this was not like the dessert we'd seen in movies. It ain't eloquent sand dunes and winds blowin em away as dust... it was grimy, scrubby and shrubby with a dash mustard plantations to boot. So THIS was the Thar! The temperature was rising rapidly as we drove along and the winter wear started coming off as we went along. Soon we were in the city of Gold. And yes there was no doubt about the gold.

This town's landscape is dominated by the fort which was made of sandstone and was actually a living fort. People still lived there and did business inside and that was a tourist attraction by itself.
I think I skipped the bit about how my camera got back into action... but that late bit of tinkering on the shutter seemed to have worked. But then, on developing rolls realised that the pictures we blotchy only some came out ok...

Anyway, headed straight to FIFU Guest House yet another decently rated place by the Lonely planet it did match. This place was made of sandstone. The rooms had a quaint heritage look and we were apparently lucky to have landed a room here for a couple of days as the traffic was high. This place had some amazing views from the rooftop restaurant as well as a sitout on the floor we were staying. Just too good. A few beers and food later, we were tripping off on a drive around the dessert and dreaming of leaving city life and living here.

Evening was left to a canter in town. Jaisalmer town goes to sleep at 7:00 pm! It was dark and the only lit up place was the fort which we'd decided we would attack the next day...

December 26th was a day I'll remember for the sights that I got to see. A chocked up fort completely busting in its seams, dirt, shit and grime all over, trinket vendors bustling around, tourists making their way into crowded lanes inside the fort. Well no wonder this fort is on self destruct mode. Seeing is believing. Yet another piece of history becoming history soon enough.

We got our share of the views of gold from the top and then it was time to get on to other things such as looking around for trinkets that wifey would take home, or for that official bhang shop to pick some cookies... loaded stuff better watch out how you consume it.

Next on the agenda was a day trip to the interiors of the dessert. We ripped across some touristy places and then up ahead in a distance a Camel vendor...

Time to break for a camel ride... Mine was called Abdul, wifey's was called Michael Jackson. Wow. A couple of hours around the sand, and I started feeling a little tired. So break for a snack and then browse around in the sand dunes - yea these were more movie like! But the minute we went a little further the entire streach became the original grimy, shrubby et al...

Enough of sand for the time being, we planned to stay over an extra day to chill out before making the last stand in Rajasthan at Udaipur.

But the almighty had other plans... Bad news, we'd heard about it, but experienced it first hand. Camel safari's are a draw for the hotel one stays... if you don't take the day or night shift from them they would throw you out!

Since we did a round of the dessert by ourselves and we'd indicated to the FIFU owner that we would not be taking his safari, we were told that the room was not available for the extra day... mind you, this very room was available when requested in the morning... sudden change? Since I had a couple of pegs inside me, the view to the world had changed. And we (that's me and wifey) discussed the situation inside the room and decided to show the finger and fuck off from FIFU fucking guest house early next morning. So all the books came out and calls made to many hotels in Udaipur... finally one yielded a room yet another Lonely Planet guide, but by now we were quite tentative about the whole thing. Obviously this book worked only about 60% of the time for us. But then, no other option for now. What the heck.

The hotel fella was actually surprised when I just quitely asked for the bill and settled the thing after a detailed scrutiny then and there... no tantrums, no arguments, no skirmishes.

Pictures of Jaisalmer. Click here.