A morning in Nandi Hills: Stuff dreams are made of…

So, the wanderlust tantalized by the Shivasamundram trip found me roaming around in yet another amazingly beautiful place this Sunday. And as always, I couldn’t resist putting the experience up on aS travel !

A bike trip to the Nandi hills, Karnataka.

It all was pretty randomly planned for me. At 10:45 pm I got to know about a bike trip being planned, at about 1 am I got the bike keys from Chaitanya.

And at 3:45 am, we 10 batch mates were on our way to the beautiful misty morning ahead. I so love these random escapades from those dry management classes!

I was told that we were going to capture the sunrise. Apparently all of us were biking ahead in the dead of the night imagining ourselves to be sitting on a cliff, watching a golden red sun rise in the distant horizon in the next few hours.

We did reach the hills before sunrise; only to find a long jam right in front of the entry gate. As always, my high expectations had ditched me!

It was very frustrating. Watching excited people stuck in a traffic jam while the sky kept on changing colors. Apparently the road ahead was too dangerous to be travelled in the dark.

Finally, the barricades were lifted! We vrooomed ahead to the hilly road. I again imagined myself on that damned cliff watching that already risen sun in the distant horizon.

And very few times in life you are pleasantly surprised by the gross deviation of reality from your expectations.

As we moved ahead, it all got mystically hazy! As if clouds were passing through our hands. It all was so white.

So flawlessly white. No sign of a Sun. And no need of a sun, for it was so beautiful already that we forgot why we were there in the first place.

I now let the photographs do the talking. And as I myself browse through them, I feel as if I am posting about a beautiful dream that I had this Sunday morning, right there in my cozy bed!

 

 

 

 

“Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, Laughed in the sun, and kissed the lovely grass.”

- Rupert Brooke

Alok K.

 

P.S. The People collage!!!

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Just Hired!

Once upon a time, in a land far far away lived a pretty girl. Every day, she would let her thoughts wander into the depths of paradise surrounding her little kingdom -- the angels flying in the skies, the devils haunting the dark forests, witches and cruel stepmothers, Prince Charming, talking animals and birds, magical spells and curses -- nothing was impossible in her world full of miracles! For years she waited in her cottage -- for she knew destiny wouldn't disappoint her. Lo and behold, one fair morning, as she opened her eyes she found her wings. A fairy had blessed her in her sleep! She could fly! And fly she did, to discover her paradise. The girl was Soumya. arbitSpeculations is the fairy, and the wings are -- well you know :) I thank Team aS for welcoming me into the family! With my newly bestowed e-quill, I set forth to discover the world of Blogging. Believe in miracles, they do happen ;)	Aloha Everyone! Now a member of this blog arbitSpeculations ( Wow! It felt so great to type that down!)- here I am, Vish. Soumya has told you all about me at http://goo.gl/lHI0t (Believe me, it wasn't exaggerated at all). So now it's my turn to describe myself in a few words. I guess one word is enough- arbitrary. So I believe I'm at the right place. I hope you guys like my writing style- I'll be blogging about everything that I know of, that can be put into letters and spaces ( long, detailed sentence to say that I can't write on anything specific). Thanks for welcoming me aboard this ship!
Soumya	Vishesh

 

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Racking arbitSpeculations up!!!

Results are out, ladies and gentlemen!!! arbitSpeculations is done with the hiring process, and here are the newest additions to the hallowed team aS.

 

Soumya Pasumarthy - IIT Kharagpur

 

Vishesh Gupta - IIT Kharagpur

 

We thank all the enthusiastic guys and girls for their awesome entries!

As they say, rejections and selections are a part of the game.

Having said that, winning has its own ecstasy. Welcome aboard Soumya and Vishesh! We chose you not because you two write awesomely good (which you do, by the way.)

We chose you because in you we saw the spirit of aS.

aS we saw, so we read. And so will the world read!!!

 

 

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मैं लिखता हूँ |

मैं और आलोक अब एक ही शहर में रहते हैं| ऐसा बड़े दिनों बाद हो पाया है|१२ साल पहले एक ही क्लास में पढने से लेकर आज एक ही शहर में फिर से दोनों रोज़ अपनी अपनी दौड़ दौड़ते हैं | इन बीते सालों में बहुत कुछ किया है हमने साथ में,लिखने बैठूं तो शायद रात से सुबह,फिर सुबह से रात हो जाए| aS भी इन्ही में से एक है| पहले हम दोनों थे ,फिर और लोग जुड़े| अर्पिता और शिवी की कलम की अमिट छाप यहाँ पड़ी| फिर मोही आई और अपने साथ लायी इतना सारा जोश की जैसे मैं और आलोक तो बस देखते ही रह गए |आज aS का दूसरा जन्मदिन है और हम सब बहुत खुश हैं| बस यही बात कहनी थी ,और कुछ नहीं |और अब तो जिस तरह के लोगों के साथ मेरी दोस्ती है ,इनके साथ तो जीने के लिए १००० साल भी कम पड़ जाएँ ,पर जो साल बीत गए ,उनमें ज़िन्दगी ने ...

कभी खुशियों की बारिश में मानो ऐसा कर दिया हो तर-बतर

तो कभी छोड़ दिया यूं ही अनजान से मरू-स्थल में प्यासा भटकने को..

इसी रिमझिम फुहार को , तो कभी इसी प्यास को

कहीं कुछ शब्द दे सकूँ,सो

मैं लिखता हूँ |

कभी झाँका खुद में ही तो दिखा अथाह समंदर

कभी इसी स्वयं को पाया छिछले पानियों में पत्थर मारते हुए..

इसी अथाहता, तो कभी इसी छिछलेपन में

उलझा हुआ कभी- कभी

मैं लिखता हूँ|

कभी पाया खुद को पहाड़ों पर गला फाड़ कर चिल्लाते हुए,

तो कभी गिरा यूं भी ठोकर खा धड़ाम से..

इन्ही ऊंचाइयों को,इन्ही गहराईयों को मापने की कोशिश में

मैं लिखता हूँ |

कुछ दिनों पहले में और आलोक ,हम दोनों दोस्त "ज़िन्दगी मिलेगी ना दोबारा" देखने गए. इस फिल्म ने हम दोनों को कई स्तरों पर प्रभावित किया |

ये कविता इसी मुलाकात के बाद बस में बैठे बैठे लिखी थी . "मैं लिखता हूँ " इमरान के शब्द हैं जब उसके पिता उससे पूछते हैं की वो क्या करता है |

-प्रणव

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Rising in a fall : ShivaSamudram, Karnataka

 Image courtesy: Bhavya Sindhu M.             

“ I faced it and tried to open my eyes. I just couldn’t. The mighty waterfall was coming down on my face and my chest full on.

It hurt.

But I had never felt this alive before. With my arms stretched wide, I tried looking around. Hazy sights of white bliss falling on a bunch of adventure freaks.

Of IIM Bangalore. Thanks, Anveshan.”

 

My first few days at IIM B had made one thing clear. I was not gonna have time for myself. Or so I had thought, only to be greeted by a pleasant surprise, and a much needed break.

Along came Anveshan – the Adventure and Mountaineering club of IIM Bangalore. Yes, it’s hard to believe. Future management honchos can be as footloose as a wandering hippie. It was this wanderlust which brought together a bunch of adventure freaks under the umbrella (or parachute) of Anveshan, and they decided to visit the Shivasamudram falls of Karnataka.

I joined the caravan!

We were a bus of management students ready to experience the thrill. For most of us, this was a first encounter with a real mighty fall, not any random warm stream in a hilly terrain. For me, well, my closest encounter with a waterfall before was my default waterfall wallpaper on my laptop. ;)

I can go on and on with explaining the uplifting spiritual feeling of facing the might of nature in all its glory. But I would rather let the photographs talk.

A view of the Gagan Chukki Falls; Image courtesy: Kartheek T.     

 

Zoomed in shot of the fall.   

   Arnab’s YAMAHA R15, which took me to the  other end of the fall.  

Watch the digital Speedometer vrooming up to 109kmph in some frames. (Ignore my irritating appearances in the video. I just was happy and I wanted to capture it!)

Anyways, we reached the other side of the falls.

     

It looked better from here. I wish I could append the gurgling sound of the fall with the picture.      

  

   They were already inside! I chose to take snaps without entering the waters. I cared for my SONY H55 and my HTC Wildfire S.

Hesitating, I touched her. The nature.   

After this we went down. Down to the place where the falling met the fallen. And that’ where the flood gates opened.

I had chosen not to get drenched. God asked, why not? And there came rains! We reached the bottom of the waterfall. Strange circular boats were waiting to transport us to a stranger place.

Who in his right senses would resist this temptation! Hopped on a boat. It was raining anyways.    

  Image courtesy: Bhavya Sindhu M.

And  this is what was waiting for us on the other side. ShivaSamudram Falls. In all its glory!

Image courtesy: Bhavya Sindhu M.

And this is where I lost myself. The next hour was one of the best hours of my life. I took off my shirt and went right beneath the falling waters. It hurt in the beginning. As if I were standing unguarded in heavy rains that hurt the skull.

I faced it and tried to open my eyes. I just couldn’t. The mighty waterfall was coming down on my face and my chest full on.

It hurt.

But I had never felt this alive before. With my arms stretched wide, I tried looking around. Hazy sights of white bliss falling on a bunch of adventure freaks.

Of IIM Bangalore. Thanks, Anveshan.

Image courtesy: Bhavya Sindhu M.  

 “No matter how hard your day, how tough your choices, how complex your decisions are, you always get to choose what you want for lunch.” – Denny Crane, Boston Legal. 

--

Alok K.

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aS Travel

 

 Diu Fort, 2009

While I was in Ahmedabad, one of my co-interns from Bangladesh planned to visit Diu. He wanted to spend at least three days there. I asked him what would he do for three days, when he could have effectively roamed around the entire place in a single day.

He said, “I don’t want to be a tourist. I want to be a traveler.”

I pondered over what he said. He was right. Most of the times, we forget the difference. This ‘Travel’ tab of aS is a humble attempt to make us realize it.

Some disclaimers: This section would essentially contain our experiences of the places I get to roam around, rather than the technicalities related to standard tourist attractions, like how to reach, where to stay, what to eat etc.

So, if you land here in order to get some help on the travel details, you might be really disappointed.

But if you are of the sort who likes getting lost in unknown places, may be you will want to come back to aS Travel page again and again.

Enough of boring text, let’s move on to some arbit places and explore the colors hidden in them.

--

Alok K., on the behalf of Team aS.

P.S. Happy second anniversary, aS. This ‘travel’ tab is my gift to you this birthday. :)

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ZNM Dobara. Facing one’s fears was never this poetic.

Yeah yeah. Management is one taxing course to pursue. Especially timewise. I remember talking about good movies here on aS every time I saw one. And though this post comes after a long long time, I think it’s worth it.
So, after one hectic week full of exams, I got a day to myself. And I watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara here in Cinepolis, Bangalore. 

Take out the beautiful landscape of Spain. Take out the Tomatina festival. Take out Hrithik’s perfect body, Abhay’s chilled out demeanor and Farhaan’s amazing dialogue delivery.
Take out the gorgeous Katrina.
You still are left with a great movie that talks about how important it is to face your fears and move on in life. And a poetic one. Javed Akhtar’s words, mixed with a bit of Europe’s fresh air and some honest emotions on known faces, make one think. The movie goes beyond its own range. Each one of us has got to shed his/her inhibitions, doubts and fears because, of course, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.
And then there are the breath-taking deep diving under sea frames, and the wonderful skydiving shots. Try searching yourself in them, and suddenly you feel good. Uplifted. Amazing feelings.
The bull running sequence could have been portrayed better, but then, you have a movie with Hrithik in it. Don’t expect too much. :)
All in all, a movie full of fun and soul searching scenes. You get reminded of Dil Chahta hai. Shankar Loy Ehsaan disappoint in this one, but then, Spain edges over Goa. ;)

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