Bhimashankar Calling...

Date - 27-Nov-2005 (Sunday)
Time - 8:15 a.m.
Destination - Bhimashankar.

Almost 128 Kms away, on the north-eastern side of Pune lies a place called as Bhimashankar. As the name suggests, this place has a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in India. The place is also a forest reserve to protect the habitat of Shekhroo. This is one of the world’s largest squirrels, almost the size of a domestic cat. It is an endangered species and Bhimashankar is the ‘fiefdom’ of this majestic squirrel.

We planned our journey as: Pune > (9 Kms) Chakan > (~25Kms) Rajgurunagar > (~12 Kms) Chaskaman Dam > (~52 Kms) Bhimashankar > (~70 kms) Manchar > (~58 Kms) Pune. This was to be a round trip covering a dam, the temple and a trek through the jungle.

We left Pune at 8:15am. Our first destination was Rajgurunagar, from where we had to get off the main highway. We had a quick breakfast at a local eatery. The menu was short and sweet - Sabudana Khichadi, Sabudana wada, (Batata) wada sambhar and finger chips. Once done, we then proceeded for Chaskaman Dam. There is a hydroelectric power generation station here, which supplies electricity to near by industries. The water from the dam is also distributed to almost 40 nearby villages. For this they have constructed a tank on the hilltop and the water is pumped up into the tank. Photography was not allowed, hence no pics from the dam.

After spending almost 1/2 hour or so, we started the journey on the long and winding road to Bhimashankar. Our road went more or less parallel to the river and provided us with some excellent view. I tried to capture some of that beauty into my camera (but couldn't quite pull it off well!!!).

Top to bottom: A farnmer's land, crossing the river in a boat (remember Swades?) and trees and farmland under water (perhaps the aftermath of the incessant rains in Maharashtra.

Once we reached Bhimashankar, our first destination was the temple. There was not much of a crowd. Normally one would associate lot of crowd with temples, but not so much here.

After paying respect to the god, we decided to get some snacks at the local eatery. Wada Pav and lime juice was what every one ordered. Pav was ice cold and the lime juice was served in a glass, which by any standards, was not washed properly. (It seems, these guys pay big money for the water they use).

Anyways, after that we proceeded for the trek to the GuptaBheema, the spot where the Bheema river emerges from the rocks. The trek trail winds though dense foliage. Away from the humdrum of industrial Pune, this place offers peace to the soul. Winds bristling through the trees, occasional shirks of the Shekhroo, and the occasional chattering of a noisy trekking group.

Left: The long and winding trail through the foliage. This was in the afternoon and yet, it looks very 'shady'.

Right: The fallen tree adds to the creepyness of the place.

The Majestic Shekroo on the tree, perhaps basking in the sun (and also in the attention being showered on it by us) on a lazy, sunday afternoon.

On the right, I am dwarfed by this tree... There were few big trees around, old and new. Then there were the remnants of a waterfall. Nothing much, but big, really big, rocks.

After about 30 mins or so, we reached the spot from where we could hear flowing water. There is a Ganpati temple at the top. A slope beside teh temple takes us to the river bed. Rocks, big rocks greeted us. The river was flowing between the cracks and falling over. We missed the water fall part of it. We didnt know where to look!!! We just thought that the flowing water (in the cracks) is the Gupta Bheema. Too bad, better luck next time...

The view of the GuptaBheema from top.

Thats me in the corner!!! To be frank, I was in no mood to trek over the rounded stones. One wrong step or even if the shoe grip is lost, I wouldn't be writing the blog now. (I will be positive from now on.)

We chose to return by another way, this one was even more intersting. Winding through trees, going up the slope. It was impossible to climb without taking support of a hanging tree branches or a exposed root. There was gravel all over and was very slippery!

Then we reached a T-Junction which had the following inscription. (X mark pointing to the direction we just came out from!!! Now I can vouch for that mark very much. This route was not for climbing down.

Then we chose to go one way. On our way we met some native folks and asked them the route back. They confirmed that we were bang on target. From now on, it was just a routine walk down the road to the temple. And a long and weary walk up the stairs of the temple. By the time I was on the top, I was exhausted. Well almost. When the team decided that they will continue for Nagphani, i decided that the second trek could very well be the proverbial "last-straw-that-broke-the-camels-back"!!! I headed straight back to the bus we had come on.

Two hours, and a quick nap (by me!) later we all started off for Blue Mormon. That was supposed to be a holiday resort. The approach road to the place looked straight out of a Ramsey Brother's flick. Not a single soul on the road. But soon we reached the place. Food was freshly prepared. We had to wait till they cut the vegetable and cook them!!! The place was homely. After a decent dinner we all started back for Pune.

As all good things have to come to an end, so had this too. When i reached home at 10:30p.m., I was sure of one thing. This is could be my first trek, but definitely not my last. At the very least, this is a sign of things to come and places I will go. Good night.

Nostalgia, Part 3 - Chilling out in M'Lore

After having fun in Manipal, the party continued in Mangalore. Our friend was getting married at "Sangha Niketan". Well, I don't know if he will remember seeing any one of us at the wedding. May be he will have a vague idea like, "My friends were there... I don't remember who all... Ahh... There were so many of them..."!!! No, I am not getting pessimistic here, but that's how I would have reacted if confronted with "Do you remember me?" after all the wishes and blessings that happened during the wedding, on the stage.

Anyways, after the couple was wished/blessed (one of us is supposedly an uncle of the bride groom :)) the junta decided to move out of the hall (it was crowded and hot and humid). And we needed to "chill out". So off we went to Pabba's. The most happening ice-cream parlour in M'lore. Lots of options to choose from. I have not been able to sample all of them, till date!!! Anyways, here is a group pic of all of us...

From left: Harish 'Babz' Babu, Sushil, Vivek Pai, Vinod KS, Vinay 'Chicken' Shenoy and Merlyn Sequeira. Nice goatee, Chinks.

After we had our fill of fun and icecream, we loitered around on the footpath, deciding our next P.O.A. One of the items was bumps to Vinay Shenoy, who could be seen running around cars and trees trying to save his 'ass' (quite literally :). All that fun has been duly captured in a video and is beyond the scope of this travelouge.

With that we decided to have lunch (yeah after having all that dessert), at Kavitha Residency (opp Infy M'lore). Merlyn had decided that she's gonna push off in 15 mins. Before she left, we decided to have a quick snap of ours...

Try and observe the demonic look on Vivek Pai's face... And what's there in his hands? A knife? (Thankfully the table knife...). Going by his intentions, I am glad that I am not sitting next to him!!! Har Har Har.

Food was generally good (except the soup, which was very spicy). We all then went to Vinod K.S.'s flat nearby. Loitered around... watched "Lost" and the Ind-SL match. By 5:00pm, it was about time I said good-bye to them. I do not know when will I get to meet them again. But the time I spent with them was some of the best moments I had.

Thank You.

Nostalgic in Manipal (2) - An experiment gone awry

Well, I kicked lots of dust about this "wide-angle-snaps". Actually its nothing but a panoramic view. All one has to do (as I explained to my friends) - "Click snaps one after another, each snap having atleast 30% of the layout common with the previous one. Then merge them together. Simple!!" One thing I did not take into consideration was the warping of snaps that form the edges. So here i am, with "oval" snaps, the middle snap not aligning with the ones on its left and right, and many more falacies...

Check out the guy near the main gate in grey... the same guy can be seen near the right side of the picture on the foot path as well!!! And what about the lady behind the pair in the foreground? Now thats ghostly!!! :)

The rings are not overlapping :( and is a absolute giveaway in an otherwise good looking pic. I guess that will need some 'photoshop'ing!!!!

Getting Nostalgic in Manipal

That's where I graduated from!!! Well, this entrance was not there in my days at M.I.T. But, nonetheless, looks nice and professional. Though I would like if the glass was not broken in the lower left side...

My friends... From left to right: Shenoy 'chicken' Vinay, Vivek 'har har' Pai, Sushil 'chinks' Siddesh.

Again something new at Manipal, this one came up at near the coffee shop in KMC (and as usual)after I left!!!

This is another new landmark that's come up near the KMC greens. Seems like they were waiting for me to leave Manipal before they came up with these beauties. Or is the nostalgia getting too much, so much so that I am liking every thing I see there... Whatever!

Side view of the above landmark. Whatever purpose it serves, it does look sophisticated!!!

And this is the KMC Greens, with the hostels in the background. The gardner is indeed working hard!!! And his work shows in the beautiful design on ground. Mind you, he would not have the privilege of an ariel view.
Does the landscaping look like if its a dart board of cosmic proportions? Well... :)

Given a chance, I would love to be back here and enjoy the nostalgic feeling. But alas, my professional schedules do not allow me the liberty...