A Day to remember

Time: 5 AM. Trrrrrnnnnnn went the alarm. I woke up and got ready in the next 40 mins. I was to go to Shivanasamudra with three others. Due to various reasons two of them dropped out and it was just me and my engineering pal Sunil. I left home sharp at 6 AM. It was such a pleasure driving through the empty Bangalore roads. Took me just 25 mins to reach the other side of the city viz Mysore Road. Sunil who was to join me at The Mysore Road - Ring Road junction was late by sometime. There was a varied mixture of activity as always during the dawn of morning sunlight. Newspaper boys, milkmen, morning joggers, Inter state buses , travel enthusiasts.. et al. The drive commenced at 6-40 AM.



We stopped for breakfast at the famous Janapada Loka Kamat Hotel which is most preffered by many tourists travelling on the Bangalore - Mysore Highway. After breakfast comprising of idli vada, not so tasty dosas & sugarcane juice, we resumed at 8-20 AM. We took a a left in Maddur towards Shivanasamudra.


The monsoon this year was very good and it was reflected by the sight of greenery everywhere. Paddy and sugarcane are the mostly cultivated in this part.


This mean buffaloe was very stubborn. I finally managed to get this shot correct.


The lush green paddy fields was soothing for the eyes used to seeing pollution, buildings, computers & people everyday.



My friend Sunil during one of my numerous photo halts.



I rue myself for the fact that I shaked the camera during this shot. They were most probably those tiny love birds.


Ladies at work.



I dont know what was the cause for the blue colour of the water.



Came across an old temple in ruins on the way.


The Five headed serpent gurding the Shiva Linga.



We reached Shivansamudra which at around 10-30 AM. The Gaganachukki and Barachukki form the Shivasamudra Falls which is created by the mighty River Cauvery hurling down from a few hundred meters.



Gaganachukki falls was where we stopped over first. The green dome which you see far off is the dargha which is located near the Barachukki falls. Though they are located just around 600 meters apart, one has to travel for nearly 6 Kms to reach the other falls. I heard there is another shrine hidden among the rocks in the river, but this we could not see because the river was in its full fury.


Sunil stay stuck at the view point enjoying the beauty and lost in thoughts. I decided to venture down near the bottom where one can experience the natures fury and beauty to the fullest. One has to be careful while going down as the rocks are very slippery. One should not try to act smart and get into the water too. The sound of the hurling water from so close was music to the ears. It is said that during the 16th Century,Nanjaraja, the ruler of the region committed suicide along with hiswife by jumping down the Gaganachukki.



Ninety percent of the crowd was from the IT/BPO industry. Many of them are seen here enjoying the spray of water,



Can you picture yourself standing all alone in the night, with not a soul around..Just you, the deafening sound of the water hurling down furiously & the darkness of the night?


Two white forms of matter viz liquid/water & gas/clouds.



The force with which the water comes down is put to a very good use. The first power station in Asia [Shimsha] was set up in Karnataka at this very Shivanasamudra in 1902 to produce hydroelectric power. We somehow missed going to this.



One of the many tourists who had ventured down to the place of the REAL action. The climb back to the top was done in a single stretch of 2 mins. This left me gasping for air. I cooled down with the help of the refreshing tender coconuts.


We left for the Barachukki falls. There was water, greenery and signs of agricultural prosperity everywhere. Atleast the farmers are happy. Mr Dharam Singh must be one beaming man now. Remember the Three year drought, Rajkumar kidnap and a whole lot of other miseries which SM Krishna had to face.



Nice pose for the camera !!



The Barachukki falls is comparatively less dangerous to the Gaganachukki falls. One cab get close to it and enjoy by sitting on the rocks with the legs in the water.


The Gaganachukki from the other side.






Mommy protecting her liitle one. Caught with the Gaganachukki in the background.






The Shivansamudra Valley in full glory.



After being amidst the falls, we left for Talkad. The scared cow atop the front gate of a temple,


The old man taking the paddy saplings to be sowed in the wet fields, strikes a friendly pose.



The bus zooming on the bridge with the river Cauvery flowing underneath. The drive to Talkad which is around 20 Kms from Shivansamudra is pathetic. No proper roads. Wish the MLA's use the funds allocated in a proper manner.



A farmer ploughing the wet fields.


Prosperity here, there & everywhere.



Wonderful sight of the bald trees in the wet paddy fields.



We reached Talkad at around 3 PM. This place again was full of our very own people - u know who? Beautyful Indian,American,Japanese girls !!!


White silk !!



The fact that there is water upto 25 feet, shows how good the monsoon has been. The boatman told us that in normal circumstances we can cross the river by walking across it as the water is hardly a feet deep.


A Nice boat ride.



A fallen tree looking into the water.



We had food in Talkad and left for Bangalore at 5-15 PM. A nice sight again.


The drive back to reach a place called Malavalli was sooo bad, that we almost repented the decesion of visiting Talkad.
Roads reflect our culture !!! Do They ??



Finally we got past these roads and reached a place where we had to decide wether to take right towards the Kanakapura road, which is not so busy or to go stright towards the Bangalore - Mysore highway. Luckily something in me made me to go straight. Why??? You will come to know later. By the time we reached Maddur viz the Bangalore - Mysore highway it was 6-45 PM. The sun was going down and it was getting dark. This was my FIRST night drive in my 6 months of driving experience. As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts I dont prefer night driving as this time is a playground for professional drivers. But this was inevitable.


The road from Maddur to my village Byrapatna is a real fabulous one [ The very road where you find this Cafe Coffee Day ]. We did some 30 Kms in 20 mins. Half way through this short sprint we came across a KSRTC Bus coming down from ooty. I suddenly had a brainwave. Why not follow this bus? So from 6-50 PM to 8 PM all the way from Maddur to Bangalore we rode piggyback on the KSRTC Bus. It was a clear case of Master Slave implementaion of the Flip Flops in real life scenario. I have no words to describe this drive. It was just fabulous. Both of us were doing close to 80 KMPH which I could never imagine to do in the night driving alone with the glaring headlights of the approaching vehicles. What I did was just follow this bus. The driver does evrything, I just need to implement the decesion he takes by showing fast reflexes. The kind of turns [ The Lane interchanges, as the road is still under construction ] was ultimate. We had a hearty laugh inside. There was only one instance where we missed the master for about two minutes somewhere in Ramanagara, but I stepped on the pedal and caught up with the Big Boss in no time. Finally, just as we entered Bangalore to the welcome of the towering streetlights, I put the master behind and as a token of Salute honked the horn in gratitude. What if I had taken the Kanakapura Road which is very narrow, isolated and full of curves? KA01 F7713 - I will never forget you. Finally reached home at 9 PM after seeing off my friend. 15 Hrs - 340 Kms - Nature at its best - Drive of a different kind ... Was a day to remember. *** Dont ask me how I got this snap of the Big Boss ;-)