Lumiere is Bangalore’s newest (and the only as far as I know) organic restaurant. It is located at Doddanakkundi on the Outer Ring Road connecting KR Puram and Marathahalli. Look out for the decorative ‘Jalsa’ restaurant as you drive by, and Lumiere is right next to ‘Jalsa’. The restaurant is on the fourth floor of a narrow building. The basement parking lot was very narrow and could hold around 5 cars, thats all. However, the restaurant itself is quite spacious and well decorated.

Ambience

The ambience in the restaurant is quite refreshing. The decor has been tastefully done with an elegant stairs leading up to the next level being the center of attraction in the restaurant. There was enough lighting, and to fight the noon-time scorching heat of Bangalore, they had pedestal fans all over. This was definitely an eyesore, as you don’t want to see tens of plastic-looking fans all over the place spoiling the feel of the decor. But they have chosen fans in lieu of AC to be environment friendly it seems. There was also an air cooler next to our table, which was causing more discomfort than anything else. The seating was reasonably comfortable, and the there were large table mats that could hold all of your cutlery, plus some juice glasses. There were some paintings on the wall, and carnatic music was being played in the speakers. Overall, an interesting ambience.

Food

We had booked the lunch buffet. There is a difference in price for the vegetarian and the non-vegetarian buffets, and this is really appreciable. We were served beetroot-ginger juice as a welcome drink, which was surprisingly tasty. The chicken clear soup was ok, and there were wheat breads and bread sticks and accompaniments. The main non-vegetarian dishes were Fish manchurian, fish masala, Chicken schezwan, and a chicken gravy. The fish dishes were refreshingly good and tasty, especially the fish masala.

Chicken pulav was good, but tasted more like chicken fried rice. There was something called ‘herb rice’ on the vegetarian side, which was nice. The veg noodles left a lot to be desired. I tried only the lady’s finger with salt and pepper from the vegetarian side, which was okayish. The desserts were nothing extraordinary. There was some kind of khoa sweet, rice kheer and fruits salad. We washed it off with a cool saunf sharbat, which I had for the first time, and found it surprisingly nice.

I don’t know if the ‘organic’ tag of the restaurant made any difference to the taste of the food. Nevertheless, the food was fresh and tasty. Even items which I do not normally enjoy were good enough in this restaurant. The best part is, they update their lunch menu everyday in their website. Full marks to this. In summary, the food was above average.

Service

This was the best part of the experience. The service was really good. The waiters were all prompt and at their heels to cater to the customers. The used plates were being cleared in no time, and the water glasses were being refilled even before you know it. Also, they answered all our questions on the food items patiently. I would rate the service excellent.

Verdict

Organic food is a new upmarket concept that is catching up in the big cities. Still organic food is rare and quite expensive too. However, this restaurant is priced reasonably (Rs.375 for non-veg, and Rs.300 for veg buffet), and the quality of the food, ambience, service are all good. Parking at peak hours could be the only setback. Overall the restaurant is worth trying – you might actually find the ‘organic’ part interesting after all.

Rating: 3.5/5

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2. The day we were chased by an elephant…
3. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram

After several minutes of walking (it should have been 60 minutes), and definitey covering a lot more than 3 kms, we reached a place that somewhat resembled a railway station. A steep climb up from the road took us to our planned starting point – the Donigal railway station. It was 4 am, and it was pitch dark. The station guards were asleep in the rooms, and we did not want to wake them up. We knew that trekking on a functional railway line was illegal, and were pretty apprehensive that they would drive us away from the station. Silently we tip toed to about a 100 yards away from the station entrance and sat down on the platform for the day light to start peeping out, so that we could start our walk on the tracks.

After about an hour, we started. Walking on a railway track is by no means child’s play. It is difficult, it is painful, and it is dangerous. One wrong step, and you would instantly fall down and bang your face into the concrete sleepers. We had to keep all our torch lights on while walking. The width of the sleepers was in such a way that the middle of our feet started paining slowly. Nevertheless, we knew we had to cover 18 kms of such track-walking, and we were prepared. We had to reach Yedakumari – our destination station by noon so that we could make it before dark to the highway. So, we continued our walk in the dark for the next 3 kms or so. That is when we reached the first bridge.

The railway track to Mangalore passes through some of the most picturesque hills of the western ghats. The train pulls up through these ghats chug-chugging along the bridges and tunnels. The whole stretch of the railway line passes through a number of such bridges and tunnels. Walking on these bridges is supposed to be the most thrilling part of this trek. You are high up in the hills, walking on the bridge, with ground at more than a 100 ft below your feet. You have nothing to hold on to, and one wrong step could leave you hurling down to the valley below. You have to be really careful and alert. And the tunnels are another story. If the train comes through when you are walking inside a tunnel, all you can do is wedge yourself in the small 4 ft space in between the speeding train and the tunnel wall, as the train brushes past your face. It is a shaky experience.

But we did not get to experience all the thrill. A metal sheet had been laid all through the length of the bridges, and it took away half the fun already. Walking on these metal sheeted bridges was a piece of cake. Contrast it with the earlier situation where you had to cross planks that were a foot and a half apart, and a couple of hundred feet high in the air. This track was previously abandoned, and train movement started here only in 2005. Around 3 to 4 trains pass through this route every day, most of them goods carriers. Since some repair work is going on in these tracks all the time, the railways decided to lay these metal sheets so that the workers can walk through the bridges easily without fear.

After walking for around 7 kms, we sat down to have breakfast. One of us had brought nice puliyogare, and the hunger made us lick it down to the last morsel. One thing I have to mention is, all along the route, a number of railway workers keep working on repairing the tracks. The kids in these groups keep asking you for biscuit packets. It would be a nice idea to keep some biscuit packets to give these kids.

Along the path, there were steep hills in some places, lining the track, and they had put metal meshes to keep the rocks from falling into the track. Rajesh displayed his monkeying skills by climbing up one of these meshes and posing for the camera.

As the day progressed, it was getting hotter and hotter, and the pain in our feet was tending to unbearable. We were looking for some kind of water source so that we could cool our heels. Soon we found one. A stream flowing through the ghats was good enough for us to jump into immediately. We played in the water for around an hour. The water was chill, and the stream was deep at places. But we had been to a lot of such streams in our treks, that we found no problem with it. The pain in our feet reduced a little, and we regained some of the energy lost due to dehydration. I should say that everyone doing this trek should carry at least 2 litres of water. That is what saved our day.

We had lunch at a small elevated place along the track. I had prepared nice tomato thokku the previous night in Bangalore, and carried it along. We had a feast on readymade chappatis and tomato thokku. A few packets of MTR ready-to-eat sambar rice packets also helped. Re-energised after the lunch, we started walking again.

As we were nearing the Yedakumari station, some of the railway offiicials who were inspecting the tracks stopped us to ask why we were walking on the tracks. They said we could be arrested for tresspassing on railway property. We had to blabber this and that, to escape from them. They warned us, and told us not to walk on the tracks. We sheepishly nodded our heads, and continued once they left. After walking 18 long kms, we finally reached the Yedakumari station, where a new shock awaited us.

By the time we reached Yedakumari, we were all panting and gasping. Our feet were completely sore and it pained like we could not keep another step ahead. We asked the guard in the station how to reach the highway from there. Shock! He asked us to walk another 4 kms, where we would get a forest path on the right. We had to walk into the forest from here, to reach the highway.

Swearing and cursing, we started walking again. This last 4 kms was the most painful of the whole trek. When we reached Yedakumari station, we had thought the trek was over, all the pain was over. But when we were told to walk another 4 kms, our spirits died away instantly. What a pain! Finally when we all made it to the start of this forest path, we could no longer stand. We all sat down to rest. There was hardly any energy left in us for the day. We were wondering aloud how we were going to make it through the forest to the highway, when our saviors appeared.

A jeep magically appeared on the forest path. It was some railway jeep, which was supplying gas cylinders for welding the joints in the tracks. We just casually asked the driver how far it was to the highway. He said 7 kms, and through the jungle, with elephants moving around. What??? We had expected the walk to be 1-2 kms, but never imagined it would be 7 kms. We were shell shocked. Then came the relief. The jeep guy offered to take us down to the highway. He said, it was dangerous to walk through the forest, and asked us if we wanted to hop into the jeep, so that he would drop us in Sakleshpur. We immediately jumped into the idea. What a relief that was!

Later we learnt that the jeep came there only once in 15 days. I don’t know if it was mere coincidence, or something else that the jeep came to the right place to pick us up at the right time of the day, as though it was waiting to carry us only. It was a long and bumpy ride to Sakleshpur. We had to cross a river in the middle, and the Mahindra jeep effortlessly accomplished the task. We also saw a lot of elephant dung along the forest path. In about an hour, we were in Sakleshpur bus stand.

That night, we stayed in a hotel in Sakleshpur, and the next morning, climbed a rustic and bumpy bus to Bangalore, with a whole lot of memories about an unforgettable and painful trek on the tracks.

You can take a look at the trail for this trek here. It has been mapped at TripNaksha

Related posts:

1. The day we were chased by an elephant…
2. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram

Dell

My PC broke down one fine day, and I decided to make my long term dream to own my first laptop come true. But hell broke loose from the day I ordered the laptop. (Yes, I ordered it, because DELL does not sell it off the shelf. And, I wanted a Studio 14 with Core2duo and with the maximum RAM memory they can stuff in, which was not going to be available off the shelf anyway). Coming back to hell, the laptop I ordered on Jan 4 did not come to me even after Feb 4.

Life came to a standstill, similar to traffic in Bangalore, which grew to insurmountable magnitudes, all the pleasures of life seemed to hopelessly drain into Ulsoor lake and I had to spend several sleepless nights in pain and anguish in this one month, because I had no PC. Finally, Brahma, the unworshipped god, decided to heed to my prayers and voiced a curse that Dell should give me an Intel Core i3 laptop instead of the Core2Duo I had ordered, and Dell had no other option but to execute the order of the one above. Dell gave me a wonderful looking laptop, and exported me to my ’second life’. Phew!

Marriage

I was admiring the sheer beauty and awesomeness of my new laptop, when I felt a sharp excruciating pain at the back of my neck. I groaned in agony, and reached out my hand to the back of my neck to feel what caused the pain. It was a bite – an insect bite – to put it in comfortable words – a bug bite. Then it dawned upon me. I had been bitten by the marriage bug!

I did not realise that January 2010 – the month I had promised my parents I would signal green for marriage – had already come! I was caught completely off-guard when I was asked to give a photo of mine in which I looked everything but what I really am. Wait! That is not ethical – I tried to say, but was swat down heavily with the ‘Kosu-bat‘, and the photos I hated the most (From the enna-kodumai-sir-idhu list) were ripped off from my Flickr albums. The photos have been doing rounds all over Karnataka ever since, trying to attract a suitable ‘cow-girl’ for my parents (Adhaanga… maattu ponnu).

BMTC

In other news, BMTC has found a new passenger in me. Born with insanely large feet, which only accept shoes of size 12, I realised that I could not reduce my footprint. So, as a counter-measure I decided to reduce my carbon footprint by shunning my car and going to office in BMTC. Nice. The ride in the Volvo buses has been smooth for the past month and a half. Taking a bus to office has a whole set of advantages – right from taking off the tenshun of driving from your head, to letting you listen to the mellifluous voice of Goundamani in your ipod. Come on… everyone knows the unspoken truth – sight adichifying and jollu vittufying (revolutionary terms from Tamil language equivalent to the English term ‘ogling’) at the bus-traveling figars – the best way to spend the 45 minutes to office constructively. (Especially if you work in a detested-by-the-fairer-sex  industry like mine). Mission is accomplished I say.

Watched a Tamil movie called ‘Tamil movie’. (Tamil Padam in Tamil). Ayyoo… how many Tamil…!!! A bold venture into the parody movie genre in Tamil. It was refreshing. Despite having irritating actors like Venniraadai Murthy and Paravai Muniyamma, the movie was interesting enough. For a first kind of effort from a first time director, the movie was commendably good. Hope it yields more movies of the same genre in future.

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1. The day we were chased by an elephant…

Aayirathil OruvanThe story is based on the struggle for power between two Tamil kingdoms – the Cholas and Pandyas. The Pandyas destroy the Chola kingdom, and the Cholas are forced to flee their capital, Thanjavur. But while escaping, they take along with them the idol of a Pandya god. The Cholas establish a secret settlement in some remote foreign island, with the hope that some day they will be resurrected back to the Chola kingdom by a messiah. The settlement is well protected by seven blockades, all of which one has to cross, to reach the place. The movie is based in the present day – a 1000 years after the Cholas are overthrown. A group of archeologists and armed men, led by Reema Sen go in search of the lost city of the Cholas, how they cross the blockades, and reach the place. Now, the twists are exposed – the Chola settlement is still alive in the foreign island, and Reema Sen is a descendant of the Pandyas, bearing a grudge to destroy the Cholas and bring the Pandyan idol back.

The movie is an adventure-treasure hunt kind of movie – at least it looks so in the beginning. The first half of the movie is all about the voyage, and the blockades the crew faces one after the other – all done in hollywood style. Karthi sizzles as a cocky coolie, Reema Sen gives a decent performance as the leader of the expedition and a Andrea does nothing more that just appearing in the scenes.The narration is catchy, and the background score is quite indulging. The crew escapes strange creatures, wades through cruel looking tribes, shoots down hundreds of red-colored men and crosses a quick-sand ridden desert to finally reach the lost city of the Cholas. The audience eagerly get ready for the team’s adventures in the new land. And then, the trouble starts…

The director seems to have become suddenly ambitious. He could have finished it off a hollywood-styled adventure movie with bigger dangers and barricades that comes the team’s way, all of which they successfully break to attain their goal. But instead, the director choosed to become adventurous. He keeps the lost Chola settlement alive in the remote land, and makes Reema Sen the descendant of the Pandyas, seeking to destroy the Cholas once and for all. From here, the movie becomes a torture porn, using the excuse of war, superstitions and agony. The director aspires hard to show how barbaric the Cholas are, and how crude things move about in this land, which makes the audience say, ‘Yuck!’. The script becomes slow, and all characters other than Reema Sen bear a zombie like dumbness about them, while Reema Sen becomes the like of a blood sucking vampire. The audience soon start looking at their watches, mocking at the silliness of the things happening on-screen, and how the movie that started off in a great way, was getting into the boring old rut.

Right from the start of the movie, where a voice narrates the backdrop of the story to the dialogues renders by both the female leads, the pronunciation of Tamil is grossly bad. The difference between ‘la’ and ‘zha’ in Tamil has been sadly ignored almost everywhere. Another thing that was odd about the dialogues was the so-called ancient Tamil used by the cave-dwelling barbarian Cholas. It could have been in normal Tamil itself – at least it would have reduced the zombie-ness of the characters. When a lot of logic has been compromised in the movie, I don’t see the reward in painstakingly bringing in an ancient diction of Tamil, which only alienates the characters from the audience.

‘Logic’ is something missing thoughout the movie. Cell phone works seamlessly in a place which has never been explored by humans. The army from India is able to get to a foreign land and kill hundreds of people there, without any issues or implications. If the army could be air-dropped in the Chola-settlement so easily, why should the crew travel over land, facing so many dangers and losing so many lives? Why do the Cholas look, act and behave like barbarian cannibals? Even though they are shown to have magical powers, how do they get cheated so easily by a girl? When all of the Chola women are raped and tortured by the army, how does Andrea escape, always standing by the side, watching all the horror?

Two good things about the movie are its stunning camera work by Ramji and wonderful music by G.V.Prakashkumar. The songs are indulging, and the background score is good too. ‘Un mela aasai thaan’ and ‘O Eesa’ are tunes that linger along. The computer graphics looks amateurish at some places, but the overall cinematography is quite good.

Reema Sen has given a splendid performance in the second half of the movie, as a vengeful and ruthless female. Karthi disappears in the second half and reappears to sum up at the end. Andrea is more conspicuous by her lack of any part to play in the second half. Parthiban is a huge let down. The most hyped character of the movie – the Chola king – behaves no more mature than the leader of a cannibal tribe. He is speechless and expressionless most of the time, except when they show his large eyes in close-up, trying to make up for the boring screenplay.

The movie is a new venture in Tamil. I have always wondered when the Tamil movies would move ahead of love, revenge and sentiments. This could be a first step, at least the first half. If the excessive gore, barbarianism and blood shed is removed, the characters are made to talk normal Tamil, and the movie is cut down by half-an-hour, the effect could have been completely different. Overall, the movie is nothing close to a must-watch!

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1. The day we were chased by an elephant…

I finished my last year with an eventful vacation in Goa, enjoying all the beaches and birds of the west coast.

What’s more exciting?

The new year for me has already begun thunderously, with my write-up on Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary getting published in The Banyan Trees.

You can read my article here. Many thanks to Dhivya.

The Banyan Trees is a new-age online monthly magazine that gives a platform to display creative content. The Banyan Trees team has been doing a great job, and the magazine has improved a lot since its first issue in November 2009. I wish them all the best in their effort. A neat looking flash version of the magazine…

What’s even more exciting?

Looking at the wonderful show put up by the Banyan Trees, I have been lately thinking about starting my own magazine. It will be a collaborative effort, with the help of friends. Watch out for the first issue very soon…

Related posts:

1. The day we were chased by an elephant…
2. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram

Image Courtesy: americanbedu.com

It is sometimes funny how the simple name of a person metamorphosizes into a hundred different avatars just based on the person trying to pronounce it. The sounds in the names might get beaten black and blue depending on the nasal capabilities of the pronouncer.

Let us take my name for example. DEEPAK. A simple and harmless name with just two noticeable sounds. But the pity is that one of these sounds should closely rhyme with an extra-vulgar super-insultive English word that is often represented by special characters in its written form. So, some cruel callers of my name might choose to call me DEE-%$^#.

Then comes the infamous Tamil teacher at school who prefers to bite hard on the first syllable in the name till it is on fire. The second syllable is, however, monetarily so much valuable. This makes my name THEE-BUCK.

There are more people belonging to the Tamil diaspora who will not be too keen on passing the BUCK so easily. Definitely this sound has to be localized considerably, as in, THEE-BUCKKU – in a coveted Tamil style, or its shortened form – THEE-BU.

Miles away, the English-speaking phoren people, with little or no knowledge of the minute intricacies of the multitude of Indian languages, render new dimensions to the name, munching and punching it into newer shapes, so that my name becomes D’PACK. A better shape would have been a six-pack.

I consider myself enormously blessed and gifted to not have a name as dangerous and diabolic as my brother’s. He is called KIRAN. This name is tossed and torpedoed much violently than a frog on the frying pan. He starts from KI-RAIN and KI-REEN and gets upgraded to KI-ROON and KI-RAN.

If simple names dance with so much glee on our twisty tongues, you can easily make up your mind about the big list of complicated and outlandish names.

The government decided to include the citizen’s father’s name in the electoral ID card, so that people can be more profusely identified, like, M.Kumaran, son of Mahalakshmanan. An unfortunate citizen’s father’s name happened to be ‘Kadarkarai’ (Seashore in Tamil). The hyper-educated officials of the Election commission decided to print his father’s name in the card, in letter as well as in spirit. The result – his father’s name was printed as “The Beach”. May be they found he was a Son of the Soil.

The ancient Tamil kingdom should have been a land of extraordinary scholars and exemplary tonguesmen. How else can you justify the common man pronouncing extra-terrestrial names like Peruncheralirumborai and Thirikoodarasappakavirayar! I believe special tuitions were given for pronouncing these names right. The current Tamils are no less in giving names as long as the Beach-Tambaram railway line. Balasudenthirarajan and Ramanujarajendran are not historical, but very much contemporary names walking around us.

Image Courtesy: givemeaname.com

A person I remotely remember from my childhood had the name “Soodi Kodutha Sudarkodi” – a name actually given to Aandaal – the Meera Bai of the South. For non-Tamil readers, I would like to point out with a slight smirk that this is similar to naming a child – ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge’.

The home minister of India Mr.Chidambaram bears the name of a town in Tamilnadu. However, he is not alone in this feat. Town names such as Madurai, Palani, Tirupathi, Tirumalai, and Kaasi commonly acquire special status as the first names of people.

The Members of the Mallu-land like to KISS… (Keep it simple, stupid!). Rarely would we have come across Mallus with names exceeding two syllables. Biju, Ciju, Ribu, Tanu, Jiby, Simi, Rinu… the list is endless. Of course, Beenamol and Kunjumon have to be interspersed in between these in order to give us the option of breaking the monotony with a smile. Over the years our minds have been rutted to nail names such as George and Mathew directly into the coconut trees of the Mallu-land.

Even the simple names of the Mallus have beware-of-names type of surnames. There is a rumor that certain Mallu surnames are usually generated by writing a random syllable generator in Perl, with only two constraints. (1) It should be a mix-up of syllables, rendering any kind of attempt to remember by a member of the human race, impossible, and, (2) It should end with ‘-il’. Thazhathidathil, Thevaruparampil, Puthenuvetil are some samples. Let us not get started with Prasadaramanakooti!

Funny customs in some families could lead to non-funny situations. For example, I had a friend in school. His family has a strange custom of rotating only 2 names for all male members of the family. He was named after his grandfather, as, ‘Chinnasami’. His brother was named after his own father, as, ‘Chellasami’. So, his brother becomes Chellasami, son of Chellasami, and brother of Chinnasami, also grandson of Chinnasami. I used to find it embarrassing to call his name standing outside his home.

Much ado has been made about the older names. Tuning our focus to modern names, most parents nowadays like to create names for their kids, with combos which have never been used, ever. May be it is their effort to make their kids outstanding by making their names standing out. A person I know has named his kids Migal, Kayal and Iyal. (It is up to the Tamil scholars among my readers to dig into the etymology of these names).

Sanskrit names uncommon in the South like Dhruvesh, Hritesh and Saharshita are among those being commonly conferred nowadays on kids in Chennai. I am sure, when these kids grow up, they will have much more complaints than I had, to write about the way their names are handled by the name-starved public!

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There are quite a few e-stamping centers in Bangalore, where you could get a stamp paper with the denomination of your choice just within a few minutes. However, instead of the papers printed with the rupee note kind of stamp at the top, here you would get an e-stamp. This is essentially a printed information with the document number, and a couple of other numbers, and it says Government of Karnataka e-stamping with the national emblem of three lions on it.

Stamp papers - Before and After (Courtesy: www.chowchowbath.com)

A couple of days back, I had been to the Domlur BDA complex (Near the Domlur bus-stand, adjacent to Domlur fly-over), which houses the Sub-Registrar’s office. I wanted to get an e-stamp paper. I was given a form to fill, where I had to mention the type of document, the first and the second party details (name and address should be suffcient. PAN number in case of high-value registrations), and sign it. The form should be given at the counter with the amount for which the stamp paper is sought. The amount could be paid in cash, or by way of demand draft. I guess this depends on the total amount being paid. I had to wait for approximately 10 minutes, and then the person at the counter gave me the e-stamped paper. The whole process took me just around 15 minutes. The stamp duty for different types of instruments is displayed on the notice board in the office. It is also available online here.

The e-paper is as authentic as the normal stamp papers. Also, since this has authentic numbers printed on it, anyone can verify the authenticity of the e-paper by logging on to this site (http://www.shcilestamp.com) and entering the appropriate numbers from the e-stamp paper.

The working hours for the e-stamping facility in Domlur BDA complex is from 9:45am to 4:30pm with a lunch break from 1:00pm to 2:30pm. It is open from Monday through Saturday. In addition to Domlur, this service is also available in Jayanagar and Koramangala sub-registrar’s offices (SHCIL branches). The government is also looking at making e-stamping the only way of buying stamp papers in future, as this eliminates all duplicate stamp papers and scams, and also renders authenticity to the papers by way of printing these numbers and making them available online.

Thanks to Kiran for providing useful information in his journal.

Addresses of SHCIL e-stamping centres in Bangalore:

Head office:
SHCIL, Bangalore Stock Exchange Ltd.,
Stock Exchange Towers, 51, 1st Cross,
J.C. Road, Bangalore,
PIN : 560027
Ph: (080) 22995246, 22995236

Jayanagar:
Shop No.7, Ist Floor,
#44, 33rd Cross, Jayanagar, 4th T Block,
Bangalore
PIN : 560011
Ph: (080) 26991062, 26991060

Koramangala:
Shcil, # 103, 1st Floor, Mig
Khb Colony, 17 Th Main, 5th Block
Koramangala, Bangalore
PIN : 560034
Ph: (080) 25529149, 25529150

Malleswaram:
Shcil, No.13 Vasant Milan, 1st Cross,
Malleswaram, Bangalore,
PIN : 560003
Ph: (080) 23318225, 23560525

Domlur:
Shcil, Domlur BDA complex,
Near Domlur Bus Stand, Bangalore
PIN : 560038
Ph: (080) 25352907

Related posts:

1. The day we were chased by an elephant…
2. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram

But before getting into the finer details of the story, let me take you to South Coorg, or Kodagu as it is known, where it all started, with an adrenaline pumping white water rafting experience in the Barapole river.

The Rafting

The upper Barapole river that drains the Brahmagiri range of hills in the Kerala-Karnataka border, gets its lion’s share of water during the Southwest monsoon. During this season, towns are flooded, bridges are broken and normal life goes to coma. So, when we decided to raft in Barapole in the middle of July, we were highly apprehensive if we would make it, thanks to the incessant rains which had cut of a large chunk of the Kodagu district from the rest of the world [Click]. However we were assured that this was the season, and rafting would happen at any cost.

So, five of us made it to Kutta, a small town in South Coorg, in my friend’s Fiat Palio Stile on a Saturday morning to conquer the sneering river of the south. The route taken was Bangalore – Srirangapatna – Hunsur – Nagarhole – Kutta – Iruppu. (Route Map) The drive through the Nagarhole sanctuary was scenic, where we saw dozens and dozens of grazing spotted deer, till our eyes were tired. We reached Kutta in less than 5 hours, and called up our homestay host, Mr.Timmaiah, who gave us directions to reach the homestay from Iruppu.

Travel Advice: If you head to Coorg for a river rafting experience, the best thing to do would be book a homestay. There are a plenty of homestays aroung the Kutta-Iruppu area, which give stay and food as a package. Call up the homestay, who can fix you a rafting trip in the Barapole, and there would be no hassles. We had a great experience at Irpu Homestay, with a friendly host, lovely mountain views, cozy rooms and home cooked food – all in a budget.

In no time we reached the homestay where we were greeted by our friendly host, Mr.Timmaiah. The homestay was seated amidst the green setting of the Brahmagiri ranges, and we could see white cotton clouds traveling innocently across the green background. We were surrounded by coffee plantations, and the sound of the gushing waters of Iruppu falls could be heard even from a kilometre away.

Soon after a hearty meal comprising of vegetable biriyani, aloo curry and chicken masala, we were on our way to the rafting site. The rafting takes place at a place called T.Shettigeri, which was around 15 kms from where we stayed, and a guide accompanied us all the way to here.

We were greeted by Kamal, who was our raft guide. After paying the organizers, and after signing some documents, we were given life-jackets, helmets and an oar. Kamal briefed us about the commands and safety measures. The whole thing was quite professional and he made sure everyone got it right. After 10 mins, we were in our raft, and out into the roaring river waters.

The gushing sound of the river water made us more excited and we looked forward eagerly what the river had for us in store. The initial few minutes was a practice session. Kamal gave us orders, and we followed it religiously. Forward, Backwards, and a lot more. We got a good hand at the commands soon, and set out on our raft. After a few metres of rowing, we were at our first rapid – the Morning coffee. It was a simple rapid, and the effort was miniscule though it flowed quite ferociously. Soon we were through it. Kamal kept giving us commands so that we cross each rapid at the right place and with the right momentum.

Rafting in Coorg

We came to a part of the river where the water was not too fast. Kamal said, if we wanted we could jump into the water. Oh my god! I was just thinking if I should jump, and the time I could decide, the rest of them were already in water! Now, I had no option. Slowly, I too got into the river. And wow! It was exciting to be for the first time in neck-deep water, with no land under my feet. Of course, I believed in those life-jackets. We stayed afloat for a couple of minutes, when Kamal ordered us back into the raft. All of my friends got in, and pulled me up into the raft. It was an experiene.

The next two rapids were a bit more challenging. We had to meticulously follow Kamal’s commands, and also balance our weight in the raft. The rapids were called The Grasshopper and The Wicked Witch. We were enjoying the ride thoroughly. Those in the front went in and out of water in each rapid. Soon, we were approaching our last and the most challenging of the rapids – The Milk Churner.

On the Raft

Kamal stopped before the rapid and instructed us. We were asked to sit tight, and follow his commands. This could be dangerous, unless we did it from the right direction. He told us where to swim to in case we were thrown off the raft. In a moment we were in the Milk Churner. The raft bounced up twice, angled to the right and pushed and pulled us as much as it could. We were all soaked in waves completely, and when we knew what was happening, we were out of the rapid. Phew! We heaved a sigh of relief, and thundered a loud hurray, for having done this adrenaline pumping adventure. We had a hell of a great time, and I was already thinking when I would do it again.

That night, we had a hearty meal, talking over the experiences of the day, and hit the sack soon after.

The Chase

The next day, we made a trip to the Iruppu falls, which was bursting with water. The mild and gentle falls I had seen in my previous visits was gone, and here was a monster. We had a nice fun taking bath in the waterfalls. We were back for lunch by 1 pm. Had a sumptuous meal, and started our return journey. We passed through Kutta, and after entering our vehicle details and signing the register, we entered the dark forests of Nagarhole for the second time in our trip.

The journey was mostly uneventful, with lazy looking spotted deers smiling and waving at us every 100 metres. We noticed that every group had a male and 3-4 females. We also saw a couple of barking deers, a sambar and a jungle fowl marching happily with its chicks. We were soon tired of spotting deers, and were traveling gradually at a slow pace in the Nagarhole forests, when the incident happened.

I was at the wheel, and my friend beside me. I was just looking at the road, as I was fed up of deers. All others in the car were fast asleep. My friend suddenly started repeating frantically, Elephant, elephant!! I just alerted myself, and looked ahead carefully. The road was empty. But, by the side of the road, there was a large clearing, and a huge elephant with large tusks stood there agitated. It’s tail was raised as if it was furious, and was angrily pulling down a branch of the nearby tree. I have never seen an elephant in the wild, and all I have seen are elephants in the temples meekly accepting coins from the devotees, and showering them with blessings

I slowed down the car and moved gradually towards the elephant to get a good glimpse of it. We were almost there, and the elephant was beside us on the road, facing the car on the side. Suddenly, the elephant got highly agitated for some reason. It shook its ears wildly, and gave a deafening trumpet. We were already scared. Someone nudged me to drive ahead fast, and I slowly moved ahead. Now, the elephant was just behind the car. I looked into the rear view mirror, and the elephant was moving towards the car.

A heart-in-the-mouth moment, and I stepped on the accelerator. The car slowly gained momentum. My eyes were fixed on the mirror, and I could see the huge beast running fast towards us with it head bobbing, and dust kicking out in all directions. We were clearly terrified.

I drove away as far as I could. The tusker charged for another 100 metres. Soon I saw a jeep coming in the opposite direction. I just could not think what the jeep guy was going to do. If the elephat had continued the charge, it would come straight and bang on the jeep. I didn’t want to think about anything, and kept driving. The moment the beast saw the jeep, he saw a threat fast approaching, and changed its direction. The elephant moved away from the road, and steered clear into the forest.

We stopped the car a kilometre ahead and thought what an escape it was! Had we been behind the elephant, with the elephant attacking us from the front, we would have had the day of our lives. Just as we had crossed the elephant, we were safe. But, the incident left a huge impact in our hearts. What more could we ask for? A drive through the jungle where we were chased by an enormous tusker. Phew!

We made it to Bangalore in another 4 hours, with loads to tell our family and friends.

More information on Rafting in Kodagu:

• Irpu Homestay – Mr.Timmaiah, Ph: 08274-244233, or +91 94486 47932
  
• I read about Irpu Homestay in Rohan’s blog.
• The place is 15kms before Wayanad. Good driving directions here.
• Information on Coorg Rafting at Getoffurass.
• Neelesh’s blog on rafting in Barapole.
• A nice writeup on a Coorg rafting trip organized by BMC.
• Photos from this trip on My Flickr

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. Shravanabelagola – a paradise of peace

The route:

Bangalore – Magadi – Kunigal – Chanrayapatna – Hassan – Belur – Chikmagalur (See map)

I would say, the above route is the best to take to Chikmagalur, Hassan, Mangalore or anywhere on the west coast while driving from Bangalore. The Tumkur road has become quite notorious for its traffic, and having been on this road a couple of unfortunate times before, I had decided to skip this road at any cost. So, took the Magadi road in Bangalore, which straight goes to the Magadi town. The road to Magadi is pretty good, and I could easily do this at 80 kmph, given that there was no traffic at all. When we returned from Chikmagalur, I took the same route, and faced some traffic near Magadi, but nothing comparable to Tumkur road. And, when driving on Magadi road, avoid turning at the brightly lit and marked right turn to NICE road, and continue straight to the Magadi town.

After Magadi, the road to Kunigal is a dream. It is nicely laid and passes through some rocky hills on both sides. It is pleasure to drive on this road, especially in the night. By morning, you will have to negotiate slow moving villagers and cattle standing on the road, but in the night I could easily touch 120 km in my Santro. It took us around 1.5 hours for us to reach Kunigal.

The road from Magadi to Kunigal goes straight for a long distance and finally ends at a T-intersection. Here, take left to go towards Hassan. The right will take you to Bangalore via the Tumkur road. And, while returning back, don’t forget to take this deviation in the right to go to Magadi instead of going straight to Nelamangala.

From Kunigal onwards, the road becomes pothole-ridden for a while. You also get lorries coming from the opposite direction once in a while, and the road does not have a separator. But, this hardly bothered me. After a while the road conditions get better, and you can have a pleasant drive all the way to Hassan.

The Hassan to Belur road cannot be better. It is neatly paved and marked. The road is pretty straight and you can reach the limits of your car’s speed here. It hardly took us 30 minutes to cover this distance of around 35km. Near Belur, the road deteriorates for about a kilometre or so, but it can be tolerated given the condition of the rest of the road. Also, as you drive out of Hassan, you get to see a nice lake with mountains in a distance. There are some huge windmills over these hills. It is a sight to watch and capture.

From Belur, reaching Chikmagalur takes just around 15-20 minutes. There was hardly any traffic, and there were green fields all along, making the drive even more enjoyable. Anywhere after Chikmagalur, good roads are not gauarenteed, and you have to be quite careful driving. To go to Kemmangundi, there are two possible routes. From Chikmagalur take the Tarikere road. After about 10 kms, you get a left turn towards Mullayanagiri. This road can also take you to Kemmangundi. But, it is heavily pothole-ridden and best avoided. Instead, proceed further on the Tarikere road (which is in an impeccable state), and reach the Lingadahalli village in about 40 kms, from where you could take a left turn towards Kemmangundi.

The weather:

July is supposed to be the wettest month of the year in these parts. However, this year, the monsoon has delayed, and there were not much rains. Nevertheless, there was a slight drizzle all the time in Chikmagalur, which gave a pleasant feeling wherever we went. Also, since it was overcast all the time, I had a good time with my camera too. But I had been hearing that there were heavy rains in coastal Karnataka and Shimoga, which would ensure good inflow into the reservoirs, which in turn would translate into uninterrupted power supply. Bangalore, on the other hand, had absolutely no rains (except two 15-min drizzles for the whole month) till when I am writing this post.

The trip:

I am not going to talk about all the details of all the places we visited, since the information available on the world-wide-web is plenty. I would however point out what is specific to this season (July and raining), so that it helps anyone who wants to visit these places.

The first place on our agenda was Belur. The sky was heavily overcast and the imposing structure of the Belur temple was a delight to the eye and mind in the early hours of the day. We were in Belur by around 7 am. Yeddyurappa (Chief minister of Karnataka) had ordered that early morning prayers be offered to all temple deities across Karnataka, so that it rains in the state, and people around the temple looked quite brisk and active for a dull Friday morning. Belur is a symmetric and well architected structure when compared to Halebid, but the twin Nandi statues and the asymmetry in Halebid draw my heart closer to Halebid than Belur. I went on a photo-clicking spree and my friend Joseph quite liked the place too.

After spending about an hour in Belur, we decided to go straight to Chikmagalur to check-in into the hotel. We had already booked a room for two days in Hotel Planters’ Court in Chikmagalur. The room costed us around Rs.850. I would call the price expensive considering that the room was not maintained very well, and the bathroom fittings were leaking. All other hotels in the town were in the busy main road, and costed much less. But I did not want to risk a holiday in a completely crowded place, and at the same time didn’t want to splurge. The hotel looks good from the outside, and the location was a bit out of the main town, and the room was quiet and peacefull, and had wall-to-wall carpeting. Anyway, you have very few good choices to stay in Chikmagalur town, and Planters’ Court looked like the best we could get inside our budget.

The usually dull and dusty Chikmagalur itself look bright, green and lively in July. The drizzle does the magic. I would say, this is the perfect season for doing nothing, reading a novel, getting wet in the drizzle, playing in streams and the sort. The ideal place to stay in Chikmagalur, especially during the monsoons, will be in a homestay. The weather was perfect for just idling around in the courtyard of a nice and cozy place, and it has to be a hometay in one of these exotic locations of Chikmagalur. There are umpteen homestays around the place, and I bet these places would be like heaven during the monsoons, especially since it was only a slight drizzle. The homestays fall on the expensive side, but come as a package offering food and activities which I believe are worth the price. Especially if you are a couple set out to enjoy the beauty of Chikmagalur, I would advise booking a homestay rather than a regular hotel in the town. I don’t have any knowledge on the service or quality of these homestays, but I just noticed one called Nature Craft Homestay while driving to Muthodi, and the location was cool and I wouldn’t think twice to book such a place.

Coming back to the trip, we reached Planters’ Court around 9 am, and we were disappointed to hear that the rooms were full and we could get a room only at 12 pm (the chek-in time). We were ready to pay extra for an early check-in but unfortunately, there were no vacant rooms. So, we had breakfast in a nice South-Indian place adjoining this hotel, and left to visit Halebid and be back by 12 pm.

We had to drive back to Belur, and take the road on the left there which goes to Halebid. It took around 30 minutes for us to reach Halebid, and by this time the drizzle had become steady and continuous. By the time we took photos of the Gomateshwara statue on the left side of the main temple, we were completely drenched. (After this I don’t remember any time outside our room, when we were not wet ) We took photos of the temple in the rain. The carvings had become partially wet in the drizzle and looked magnificient. In another hour and a half, we were back in our hotel and checked in.

Hotel Planters’ Court has a restaurant attached to it, and we had lunch there. We were thoroughly disappointed with the food served there. We noticed that kebabs and fried rice were the only things that the chef prepares well in this restaurant. Any nice looking item on the menu should be best avoided. Adding to the woes was that the restaurant had a ‘Chicken Festival’ and a menu full of Chicken items. So, we ordered a fleet of chicken items, and were heavily disappointed. Anyway, KF Strong did some damage control for the afternoon

That evening we decided to head to Mullayanagiri, the tallest peak in Karnataka. The road to this peak is virtually non-existant. It pushed my Santro to the limits it can endure. This peak is a trekker’s paradise. But, the constant drizzle and thick fog did not encourage us for anything of that sort. We drove up, drinking in the beauty of the green-clad slopes. The hill is normally dried up in summer, when trekking is at its peak. In the rains it gets covered in green, but the fog plays around with you and your camera. By winter I guess this should be heaven. The drive up was one of the most frightening I have done. The road was hardly 2 feet wider than my car, and after that there was a deep green valley. I drove at the brim of an imposing mountain on one side and treacherous valley on the other, and it was an experience.

Once we reached the top and got out of the car, we had another shock. The wind!!! It was blowing like hell, probably a couple of hundred kmph speeds. We could not stand without holding the car. There was another Mahindra Jeep which had a couple of guys. They were inside the jeep too, not able to venture out due to the wind. We could see the South east monsoon winds literally blowing from the other side of the huge peak, carrying truckloads of moisture along with it. After a while I saw that my car was shaking! I had this fear that my car might get lifted off the ground, and might fly away into the deep valely below (imagine how strong the winds were…). We were at the top for around 20-25 minutes, and then started driving back downhill. A few metres down, and soon the wind was not so strong. We took nice pictures all along the way down. The surroundings looked magical and Joseph gave some nice poses there.On the way back from Mullayanagiri, we saw some nice sunflower plantations. It looked like all the flowers were turned and smiling at us. We took a couple of shots and drove back to Chikmagalur.

Joseph got a leech bite. We noticed it only when we came back to the hotel room. It was the first time for him, and he was quite tensed with the bleeding. We got some cotton and dressed the bitten area so that he could stop worrying about it. Adding to the problem was that he got cold due to the rains, and generally was not feeling too well. So, a warning to all those who easily catch a cold in the monsoons – beware! The next day he visited a doctor and took some medicines so that he could make it to office without problems in Monday.

We had a small sleep in the hotel and then went into the town for the night’s dinner. We found a place called Hotel Maharaja on the main road (I think the road is called Indira Gandhi road). It had some nice kebabs being made outside in the fire. We had some rotis, naans, and tandoori chicken. Dinner tasted exceedingly good after our stint with the wind and rains that day.

The second day in Chikmagalur, we decided to visit Kemmangundi. The drive was long, and the last 10km stretch was bad. On the way, we stopped at a beautiful waterfalls called Kalhatti falls. This waterfalls was a sight to watch. It was not something falling from great heights, but instead, this one came down in multiple steps through the forests, and there was temple at the base of the falls. The rocks at the base of the falls were carved with figures of deities, and it looked splendid. I remember a prevous time when this falls was crowded. So, make it a point to visit this place early in the morning especially on weekends.

Joseph was a bit apprehensive about climbing up the falls, but I did not hesitate a bit. Having gone on a good number of trips has made sure, I don’t much desitate to climb, get down, get dirty or get wet. Climbed up a few hundred feet, and here it was, the gentle falls making three nice streams down the rocks. The falls were very inviting, and if it was not drizzling continuously or if Joseph had come up with me, I would have taken a nice bath in the waters. Nevertheless, took good snaps of the same

Kemmangundi, with all the fog, rain and wind, failed to impress. The otherwise impressive hill station looked covered with a sheet of white. A few college guys and girls were enjoying a walk around taking pictures, and no one else there. We drove to Tarikere (10 kms) and had lunch there. It was already 4pm, and I wanted to visit the Muthodi sanctuary that day at any cost. The sanctuary was around 35 kms from Chikmagalur, and I pretty well knew that the sanctuary gates will be closed by 6 pm. Nevertheless, I wanted to test my luck whenever possible for any kind of animal sightings in the forest. We were not lucky that day, The person-in-charge told us that the last safari of the day had left (which did not surprise me), and we had to return. I made a note of the place, and decided to visit it early on the next trip to the coffee-land.

Thus our day ended with us returning to Chikmagalur. Had to visit the same Planters’ Court restaurant for dinner, despite the previous day’s woes. Ordered only those dishes which we knew would be good. The Chiken Malai Kabab was especially good, and we ordered two plates of the same. RC did some magic, and soon after, we were back in the hotel room and were fast asleep.

The next morning, we started back to Bangalore with nice memories of the lush green and mist covered hill-slopes, gushing water at the falls, long forest drives, Hoyasala wonders, and an overall exciting weekend. I have promised myself that I would be back to the lap of the coffee-country in spring this year, to have a more fulfilling experience of the Malnad.

Related posts:

1. A trip to Somnathpura, Talakad and Shivanasamudram
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…

The Visalakshi Mantapam

I attended a YES+ course from the Art of Living foundation a few days back. It was a different experience for me, and I have queued up my observations about the course and AOL in this post.

First, a little bit of history…

A few years back, there was a big ‘Art of Living’ (let us call this AOL henceforth) gathering in the grounds of Anna

University in Chennai, where the new age guru – Sri Sri Ravishankar was answering questions from devotees. I had attended this gathering too. Though I call myself an

avowed atheist, and strongly go by the principle that there is no god, I normally like to attend these kinds of sessions. There are two reasons for this: One, there could be something good to pick up from anybody – be it a godman, or a professor of Physics. Second, a lot of people come to such gatherings, and it is a nice place for watching people. The yoga and breathing exercises taught that day were good, and I decided to attend something like this in future too, if I get a chance.

So, here I was called to attend one of the preview sessions for the YES+ course. It was a lecture on the glory of ancient India, titled “My country – My valentine”. I would not want to go into the details of this session. To put it plain, it was unbearable. The presenter was dangerously biased, with lot of attitude, and needless to say, I hated the session to the core. Another issue was, there were some crazy people in the audience who would clap and cheer at every pathetic idiocy which was passed on as a joke. It was irritating, and I was not convinced at all why I should attend the YES+ course.

The Guru on his Aasanam

Then, I thought, this person could just be one odd-man out, and the whole of the AOL group did not seem to be so dumb and prejudiced. I went through some stuff on the web, talked to friends, and read views for and against AOL. Finally, I decided to give this course a try.

Now, coming to the course itself…

Putting it in a nutshell, I have mixed feelings about this course. There are positive and negative points. I would go over the positives first.

The YES+ is a five day course, with each day taking up 4-5 hours of your time. I am pretty sure, at the end of these five days, you would not feel your money has been wasted. The course is usually scheduled to fall across a weekend, so that it is convenient for all. During the course, I was asked to visit the AOL international centre (called the Ashram) a couple of times, which, though unplanned, was a good experience in itself. The course is a mixture of yoga, breathing exercises, meditation and some interesting lectures.

First, some yoga exercises are taught in the course which, I feel, are really worth learning and practising. These exercises work out the body and give a sense of accomplishment, especially to people like me, who lead a sedentary lifestyle. By the end of the yoga exercises, you feel tired and exhausted. But, after a short period of doing nothing, the energy comes back and you are more active than you were before. The meditation is good, and relaxes the mind a lot. You feel peaceful after the meditation sessions.

As far as my limited knowledge in yogic exercises goes, doing these exercises regularly goes a long way in maintaining a healthy body and stress-free mind. I would embrace such practices whole-heartedly and plan to do such exercises in the days to come…

A Satsang Session

There was a guy called Bawa (Khurshed Baltiwala) who gave us lectures and answered participants’ questions. He was there all five days talking to the participants. This guy knows his onions, and spoke exactly what the young teenagers wanted to hear. He was quite convincing, and most people I saw, serious about the course or not, enjoyed his sessions. He claims to have taught courses for 18 years, and it was evident in his wise handling of the participants’ queries. He was, for most part of the course, not preachy and tried to reason out with the audience. Another guy called Dinesh was always accompanying Bawa. He spoke less, and trained participants on a few Pranayama techniques.

And the Ashram… it is a nice, peaceful and serene place, especially in the evenings. The whole place has been landscaped quite well, and is pleasing to the eyes (even my lenses . They have a magnificent meditation hall which has two floors above the ground floor. It has been built with cantilever beams, with no central pillar for support. The mantapa is ideal and quite appealing for yoga and meditation purposes. We had our course for a couple of days there, which was more effective than doing it at the other venue.

The Ashram serves food to its visitors every day. Though the food is bland and nothing much to talk about, the fact that it is served for all without discrimination is worth mentioning. Especially on Sundays, a large crowd comes to the Ashram from the city (Bangalore is 20 kms away) and engages in group bhajans (called Satsang). Food is served for them all in stainless steel plates, which you are expected to wash yourself after the meal. I liked this part quite well.

Though I have a pack of negatives to say about the course and the organizers, I have to emphasise on the fact that doing the course gives an overall feeling of wellness and feel-good attitude. It does not harm you in any way. Except for idealogical and practical disagreements, I feel the course is not bad at all.

Now, let us come to the negatives…

The landscape of the Ashram

The course is overpriced! I know places that teach yoga for a fraction of what AOL charges, and is nothing different from the yoga taught here. They claim that the ‘Sudarshana Kriya’, which is their USP, is a magic of sorts, which is the be-all and end-all solution to all problems one can face. I have a strong feeling this is a marketing gimmick, and just over-hyped to draw people to the course, though the AOL might claim otherwise. Of course the meditation has a calming effect, but nothing dramatic as the AOL team wants people to believe. The course teachers try hard to convince you that you are experiencing something out of the world, when in reality, you just feel a bit calm and dizzy like you have just gotten out of a sleep. I don’t say it is totally worthless, but I say it is hyped.

Let us look at the guy ‘Bawa’. Though I said this guy steals the show at AOL courses, all of what he says, I have read umpteen times in Self-help books available in any ordinary bookstore. He doesn’t speak anything new. He is wise, learned and speaks of generally good things only. However, be it lectures on life, relationship, attitude or whatever, he sounds too cliched. For a teenager who is trying coping with a lot of peer pressure and teenage issues, or for a normal person who is under lot of stress and depression, he might sound like a god-send and just the right and amazing person with solutions to all issues. But, that just means you are not smart enough. If you are well read, and have done your homework, you know he is just trying to be smart. And if he has indeed taught at AOL for 18 years, I am not at all surprised that he is an instant hit among the young crowd.

The shop selling CDs

For the initial couple of days, listening to Bawa was a pleasure. But, on the next days I lost interest as he was totally predictable and became a shrewd marketer. His proposition of the YES+ course as the supreme elixir for a good life and repeated canvassing for the same without convincing proofs, did some damage to his image, and a few sensible among the audience did feel the way I felt. Again, the course had little mention of religion and Guru-worship initially, but subsequently, it all converged into spirituality, religion, rebirth, punishment for bad karma, and lots of Guru-praising which left a bad taste in the non-believer that is me. I should say at this point that I am an atheist by principle, and this could be the reason why I can’t take these things in the way they are given.

Another major complaint I have is, AOL promotes herd behaviour. There is no place for individualism, or at least that is the end feeling you get. You have to be a group and do things in a group, which might not be healthy as far as teenagers are concerned. There are these group leaders who are members of the AOL, who try to influence you a lot in thinking the way they want you to think, and it looks like they succeed in this very well. The young adults desperately want something to hang on to, and the volunteers promote AOL and Sri Sri to them, which becomes an instant hit. Although AOL says, Don’t be a football of others’ opinion, all of what they do and promote are contrary to this, and the teachers want you to comply, no questions asked.

The pathway

For instance, when Bawa is asked simple half-baked questions, his face brightens up and he makes witty comments. He takes the opportunity to lecture on the agenda he has on hand. But, when he is confronted with practical issues and difficult questions, he tried to brush them aside politely, and makes sure the person who asked the question looks foolish in the eyes of others around him, that he feels embarassed to have asked the question in the first place. After a few questions, it is not difficult to see that everything Bawa says comes back to promoting YES+ and hailing the Sudarshana Kriya, rather than giving real-life solutions. Again I would say, he is smart, and with 18 years of AOL experience, this is child’s play for him.

I have another point to make. A lot of the participants in the AOL’s courses are repeat audience, since AOL wants people to do their courses again and again. And, the sad and irritating part is, a lot of these people act like zombies, with fake, and out of place enthusiasm, and I-am-eager-to-please attitude. These people are the ones that go gaga over even cliched jokes and one-liners, for which normally you can’t even manage a smile. They clap and cheer every now and then which idolizes the teachers. These people promote the herd attitude, and you are made to feel out of place if you think otherwise.

Also, I have listened to the Guru – Sri Sri a couple of times, and I have a feeling, that he proposes too simple solutions for complex problems, which might be good to be said and heard, but is too far from reality to be pragmatic solutions. You are made to float in utopia till you get out of the ashram and have a taste of reality. On the Sri Lankan issue, the Guru says, “You will soon return to your homes in peace”. Nice to hear. But on what basis is he telling this? He makes it look like some one broke up with his girl friend and is worried about loneliness, when in reality hundreds of people are dying on the streets of Lanka caught between warring sides. Again, I have never been among followers of any Guru, and I strongly detest blind faith and worship, and that might be the reason I felt totally out of place during the course…

Okay, so what is the conclusion???
Having said all this, do I recommend this course or not?
Should you do the course, or not do it?

A group of participants

The answer is ‘yes’. I would definitely say ‘Yes’ to YES+ for anyone. Every course has its pros and cons, but this one is definitely worth giving a shot. But take it with a pinch of salt. The experience could be different for you than it was for me. AOL is not that bad… it is just hyped. There is always something to take home from everybody, and there are lots to take home from these AOL courses too. This course will leave something for you to remember, whatever be the ideology you might belong to. I have definitely learnt some things from this course, which I feel would be useful for me. However, what I don’t approve of, I just reject.

There is a YES+ advanced course, which I would want to do sometime in future, which is a 5-day residential course. Who knows, after that, I might become a disciple of the bearded Guru, and might end my blog saying ‘Jai Gurudeva’. But for now, it is just a bye…

Related posts:

1. The Dhaba on Dr.Radhakrishnan Salai
2. The day we were chased by an elephant…