Highway Inn

My musical musings

2015-07-14T15:32:00.002-07:00

Adventures of my pen (Drain)

Bleeding Indus

TRIP TO SAVANDURGA

2012-01-06T09:44:00.000-08:00

Hi guys....savan durga is a place around 80 kms from bangalore. It is an awesome place for those people who enjoy trekking or rock climbing.

Actually it is a huge monolith which has a nandi temple housed at the top. In all, twice i have been to this place. In our first visit, we were only two of us, me and my friend Rounak. since it was the first time we were going there, we decided to go by the designated arrow markings made on the whole rock. It was quite tiring, but we managed to reach the top almost and then came back after a little rest.

Now comes the real thrill. In the second visit we were five of us on three bikes. Myself, aditya, ruchin, shashank and rounak. we went quite early in the morning, so that we could finish off fast before the sun comes to the top. As we reached near the base of the rock, i declared that we are not going by the usual way and will try to climb straight. Aditya, who had gone earlier to this place with his office collegues had a very bad experience of climbing in that straight fashion. He warned me tens of times not to take too much risk. But my needle got stuck and i still started climbing on the same tract. after climbing for a while i realised that this route is simply impossible. By that time they also had climbed a little and were resting at a near by low lying place. so, i returned back and joined them to start the journey on that line. In few moments everybody was climbing from the same route.

Everything was ok for some time and we were steadily approaching the top. But after about climbing around 65 pc of the total height, me and rounak got stuck at a place. we could no longer move up. we tried all possibilities but to no avail. shashank and ruchin got stuck at one more place a little above us. Aditya moved smoothly all along and reached the top without getting stuck at any impediment. This was utterly frustrating for me and rounak. it was a failure for us that three of the guys manged to cross that particular trench and not us. For me it was even worse due to double failure. After several desperate attempts to cross that trench failed, we decided to climb down, so that we could go by the designated route. me, rounak and ruchin came down slowly and once we reached down,we started climbing along the arrow markings. By then the sun was fully up to dehydrate us and we were panting like anything. after lot of time, finally we reached the top of the hill and started searching for dogra and shashank. we got hold of them in a little while and then we collectively went to the nandi temple. took some snaps there, rested for a while. shashank began telling his story that, for some amount of time he was cut off from everybody and had got really terrified. In those moments of scariness he had shot a video. that video was really awesome.

After visiting the temple and eating some raw tamarinds ( as there was no water at the top), we decided to climb down. within 45 minutes we all were at the base, drinking coconuts at the thelawala. one more memorable thing was that, two dogs were with us all along in our journey , no matter we were changing routes or climbing up or down or whatever. they never got separated from us. that was little touchy.

TRIP TO SIDDARABETTA CAVES

2012-01-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

Siddarabetta is one of very amazing places around Bangalore. Siddara Betta is 12+Kms from Koratagere in Tumkur district and is around 95+kms away from the Bangalore and 35+kms from Tumkur.
Distance from Bangalore : 95+kms.
Nearest Hospital : Koratagere.
Nearest food point : Korategere(Siddara Betta has small tea shops).
Nearest Petrol Bunk : Koratagere.

A rocky hill with temple and caves at the top are the attractions here. Though the major crowd which visits is the one of pilgrims. This place also interests trekkers and other nature lovers. Cave exploration is a thrilling experience.

TRIP TO SHIV KHORI

2011-05-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

Hi....one more exciting trip into the interiors of himalayas.....we were three of us.....myself, rounak and Ajay. we decided to go to shiv khori from jammu city on single bike. it is around 110km from the city. we left from our houses around six in the morning.....We started off from subash nagar and soon we were on akhnoor road heading towards the destination. intially the climate was good, so we were riding smoothly ( though we had to wait a little at the akhnoor bridge , it being a military area) for some time. the view of Chinab river from the bridge was awesome. its roaring and gushing water was simply a breathtaking scene. On the way a TATA sumo vehicle seemed to be in a little naughty mood. he was kind of racing with us. for a while, he used to be ahead of us and the suddenly we would increase our speed and overtake him. this game was going on till weather turned ugly and it started raining. such a heavy down pour it was. Rounak could no longer drive in that torrential rain, so we decided to take a halt under a big tree and wait for the sky to get cleared a little....
While waiting, that SUMO guy crossed us and gave a look which was lot disgusting, as he was ahead of us now .After some time rain slowed a little so we thought to start off again. so back on the bike we were racing on the road going towards sunderbani and thus to shiv khori. actually the same road goes to rajouri and poonch also. anyways, the rain increased its speed so did we , without stopping further, at any point. the road was good over all but at few places some of the road tracts were damaged due to land slides. this event is common in high hilly regions. we reached near to one of these tracts and rounak slowed his bike. the road was very poor and it was raining. on top of that, there was some special kind of clay laid down on the road which was making driving all the more difficult because rain water had made everything very slippery. anyhow we are slowly moving forward and at one turn our speed was just around 15kmph. after crossing the turn and moving with even more less speed we were crossing the most difficult part of that stretch. but as luck would have it,due to that slippery clay, rounak lost his balance and the bike slipped a little and then fell down ,but got dragged for a while before settling fully. now the most critical part is that the road being core mountainous, one side of it was a deep gorge. when our bike slipped , it got dragged towards this side of that road and just stopped at the end. i mean the scene was like, we three are on the ground with the bike and we could see down and it was an infinitely deep gorge in front of us..i mean we being on the edge of it. we were simply shocked for a while.but then we got up and accessed the whole situation. one good thing that clay did was that, we didn't get hurt much as it served a cushion. after assuring that bike didn't suffer any damage, we decided to move again but with a changed plan. me and ajay asked rounak to ride the bike alone till that problematic tract finishes....and we both thought to just walk off that seven kilometer stretch.....so everyone of us started moving....our clothes had become dirty...so we were searching for a water outlet also..like a hand pump...while walking we spotted a truck come from the back side....since it was raining and it was still a long way to go to finish that stretch, we thought of asking for a lift...luckily he stopped and we got in..sat next to driver's seat only....he was very much surprised to see both of us in that filthy condition...anyways....in a little while, we finished that stretch and stepped down to join rounak who was coming on bike....then we moved a little and soon we found a hanp pump also..we stopped there and washed our clothes a little , atleast to make them wearable.....then we drove non stop and didn't stop anywhere except for asking route at few of the places....

The temple is deep into the mountains and the final stretch of the road which reaches there is all a downward slope as if it is an entrance to a small valley....

finally we reached ....the temple was not crowded....we had to walk roughly 4km to reach to the entrance of the cave....the cave is really magnificent in nature....as we were walking through it , the pathway was shrinking more and more....we were marching ahead through those cracks and crevices till we suddenly landed ourselves in a big room kind of a thing...it was really astonishing to see such a big platform inside a mountain....a local guide was there....he accompanied us and started telling us about the mythology behind the whole caves....the whole space is filled with a naturally formed representation of one or the other god....starting with the presiding deity of the cave, lord shiva ...there was a shiv lingam...and guide told us that....it is not an ordinary shiv lingam..but it is lord shiva himself sitting there and meditating from time immemorial.......what he implied was that...it was lord shiv sitting him self there and not some indirect reference of it.....apart from that.....there were other gods also in the cave ...right from kali,to other devis and lord vishnu him self...also, there was a natural carving on the rock which depicted lord shiv lying down with goddess kali having her foot on his chest....the most amazing aprt was that.....it was all natural formed....no human being had made it......not only this.....while looking towards the ceiling...we noticed a big circular cut in the rock all around...as we inquired we came to know that....it was the imprint of the sudarshan chakra of lord vhishnu.....
also....there was an opening kind of a thing just above the main shiv lingam....and continuously...water used to drop from that in the form of drpolets right on top of the lingam....though there was no sign of water around on the cave.....one more interesting thing which we came to know was that....on the day of shiv ratri......from that same place ....milk drops emanate and fall on the shiv lingam....

It was looking like we are in the abode of gods and are getting to meet them every now and then......finally....while coming back...we had a sight of doodhgang also.......the whole darshan was something which we could have never dreamt of......
return journey was very smooth......we were able to reach back by late evening...

shiv khori is an independent shrine now.....

their official web site is: http://www.shivkhori.org/

TRIP TO MAKALI DURGA

2011-05-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

this is a place around 60 kms from bangalore.Its a big rock hill total height is about 600 feet climbing height is about 400 feet Gradient is about 65 - 70 Degree. More hot than Bangalore during summer

TRIP TO JAISELMER

2011-02-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

KISHEN GANGA

2011-01-23T07:50:00.000-08:00

Kishen ganga: Beautiful river in Pak occupied side of Kashmir.

WARNING TO ATHIESTS ( mathematical one:) )

2010-01-24T15:17:00.000-08:00

Scenario: A person P on this planet has to decide between two options:

Be an atheist (A)

Be a theist (T)

What should his strategy be? should he go with the first option or the second one?

Assumption: Person P believes in rationality which implies that, he will go with that option which gives him maximum payoff ( return or gain or any kind of profit).

Solution:

Two possible conditions can be there

God Exists (GE)

God Doesn't Exist (GDE)

for each of the conditions and the associated options, there can be two kinds of payoffs:

He will get screwed by God: Screwed

He won't get screwed as there is no God: Not Screwed.

Payoff matrix:

Since person P is supposed to behave rationally, he will choose the dominant strategy to maximise his payoff (gain).

Dominant strategy: Game theory says that dominant strategy (option) is the one which is better than another strategy (option) for one player, no matter how that person's opponents may play.

In this case, strategy " Theist" has highest payoff as the outcome is "not screwed" in both the conditions.

Conclusion: One should always try to be a theist no matter god exists or not. Mathematically this policy will bring him the highest gain.

------Illustration coined by Prof. V.K.Handoo.

India on Wheels

2010-01-03T10:15:00.000-08:00

List of the places I have been till now:

1. VAISHNO DEVI (JAMMU AND KASHMIR)

2. KASHMIR (JAMMU AND KASHMIR)

2a. SHANKARACHARYA TEMPLE

2b. NISHAT BAGH

2c. BOTANICAL GARDEN

2d. SHALIMAR BAGH

2e. DAL LAKE AND THE NEARBY PLACES

2f. HERWAN

2g. TULMUL TEMPLE
2h. GULMARG
2i. SONAMRG
2j. CHASHMA SHAHI

3. SHIV KHORI TEMPLE (JAMMU AND KASHMIR, REASI)

4. AGRA (UTTAR PRADESH)

4a. TAJ MAHAL

4b. BULAND DARWAZA

4c. FATEHPUR SEKRI

4d. SIKANDRA

4e. HUMANYON'S TOMB

5. UTTARAKHAND

5a. HARIDWAR

5b. RISHIKESH

6. SHIMLA (HIMACHAL PRADESH)

6a. NALDERA

6b. MALL ROAD

6c. CREGNANO

7. MANALI (HIMACHAL PRADESH)

7a. ROHTANG PASS

7b. HIDIMBA TEMPLE

8. KASAULI (HIMACHAL PRADESH)

9. MAHAMAYA TEMPLE (JAMMU AND KASHMIR)

10. PUSHKAR (RAJASTHAN)

11. NAHARGARH (RAJASTHAN)

12. JAISELMER (RAJASTHAN)

12a. DESERT

12b. JAISELMER FORT

13. SALASAR BALAJI TEMPLE (RAJASTHAN)

14. JODHPUR (RAJASTHAN)

14a. MEHRANGARH FORT

15. SHIVASAMUDRAM (BANGALORE)

16. SAVANDURGA (BANGALORE)

17. MAKALI DURGA (BANGALORE)

17a. GHATI SUBRAMNAYAM TEMPLE

18. BANDIPUR FORESTS (MYSORE)

19. PUNE ( MAHARASTRA)

19a. PANCHGANI

19b. MAHABALESHWAR

20. AKSHARDAM TEMPLE (DELHI)

21. KHATU SHYAMJI TEMPLE (RAJASTHAN)

22. SIDDARABETTA CAVES (BANGALORE)

23. KAAL BHAIRAV TEMPLE (UJJAIN)

24. DHARMSHALA, MCLEODGANJ, LUNAMATA TREK (HP)

25. CHITRADURGA FORT

ADVENTURES OF MY PEN

2009-01-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

Life Like A Drain

Life as you call it, drain it is

Bright as u wish to see it, dark it is.

Sinking, sinking and sinking down

Perpetual it is, with no hope around.

It drills and drains me all the time

Don’t know why it haunts me all the time.

Had started with hope of something beautiful will happen

But dooming it is, down the line with full of mayhem.

In center I am, of a dense maelstrom

With no sight of light in the dark storm.

Fighting I was till now, all my way since inception

But now the nerves are giving up, cursing the very baptization.

All seem to be hunters except me, shooting arrows with such proficiency

Some are my own people and others any ways are always in urgency.

Pain of the arrows is eating me, tearing apart my flesh

Don’t talk of soul, so bored she is, thinking to start everything afresh.

She thinks of leaving me and my residual flesh stands up to give the way

Sometimes I do ponder, why me, why me only am not having any say.

Am I at fault or this damn world is not fit for me

Not able to resolve this only riddle…help me..help me...

----Sheetal Bhat----2nd Oct 08----

Adventures of my pen

2009-01-02T20:27:00.000-08:00

Bleeding INDUS

Up above the roads, lies the heaven with snow and water all around,

Indus rushes down screaming all along.

Down there are the popular trees, all spellbound.

Crossing through the deodars, it rushes into the valley,

Running away from the defending barracks, it leaves the valley.

It pains my heart, as she leaves me so soon,