idenu sabythae idenu slumskruthi

We were at it again…..And this time was no different. After chilling out in the hills of Kemmanagundi and frolicking in the mists of Munnar, we set out to conquer the 40-odd KM stretch of railroad between Sakleshpur and Subramanya and much more. I hate patting ourselves on our back, but that was a good job done (though I really don’t know whether we actually managed to conquer it).
Well, what can we say about a journey in which we experienced almost all modes of transport (A La Swades) - had to hitch hike on a lorry laden with manganese ore, travel in a rickety bus on a road full of pot holes and very less of asphalt, pack into a small jeep which altogether carried 12 men and sing “Koi kehe, kehta rahe…..” all the way along, whiz through the highway in Theju’s van (not for the faint hearted) and chop through the waters of the Arabian sea in an oversized boat. And to add to it, the mouth watering food and scintillating aromas experienced- the neer dosas and parotas at a road side eatery, the sacred prasadam at the holy towns of Subramanya and Dharmasthala, food cooked by Thims in the middle of nowhere (which tasted heavenly after a hard day’s trek), the taste of South Canara served at Theju’s abode, the ice creams at Pabbas, Mangalore and not to forget the loaves and loaves of bread (albeit without a bit of jam and by no means mouth watering). As if that is not enough, we cooled our heels at Karnataka’s only hot water spring, bathed in the waters of Kempu hole, sanctified our corrupt souls by taking a holy dip in the river Kumardhara, and made merry on the sandy beaches of the Konkan coast. We also had a tryst with solitude at a deserted island off the sea shore and strolled around aimlessly in an estate of areca nut plantations. For the devil in us, we had a look at the blood thirsty sport of koli ghatta. And more importantly, we danced our way (around a camp fire) in to the night on a open railway platform and spent a cold moon less night out in the wild under the star studded sky with the chirping of the cicadas providing the only music for the night. However, we had to take all this with a pinch of irony due to the fact that all of us were together and having the time of our life but knew very well in the heart of our hearts that this is the beginning of the end of our student life.
It seemed as if 10 young men set out to forget the stormy ride they had, had in the past 2 weeks. Some had given up all hopes of securing a distinction this time around, while all that mattered to a few others is to see the magical 4 lettered word ‘PASS’ printed in a piece of paper (known to some as the marks card). But all that mattered now was to throw caution to the winds and enjoy the next few days ahead.

It all began on the 4th night of the 2nd month in the year 2005. The battalion (we call ourselves the SLUMMIES of EC-SJCE) consisted of the following half a score of the weirdest humans you could ever find.

1) Ravi Kiran alias R.K, who was always lost in romantic thoughts throughout the trek, though not necessarily with the same girl every time.
2) Nakul- Mr. Consistent in the studies. You better not ask him to open his mouth, because he is gonna give you a mouthful (don’t say you weren’t warned!).
3) Sunil Y.S- our official photographer & financial manager (no wonder, he got a new cell after our previous tour)
4) Thejaswi ‘Theju’ Bhat, the guy with a humongous body (donno about the brain) and the only guy who supported my appeal for more food for our beleaguered tummies. Also, played a gracious host.
5) Pavan ’Bond’ Kumar- the mercurial chap with a real quick wit (and an even better handy cam).
6) Thejaswi Thimmappa AKA Thims, talk about “eating one’s head”………… but had to take him on board as he was our ‘Ace chef’.
7) Ravi Savkar- never noticed him awake except between 8 p.m to 11 p.m every night.
8) Shashank Jain- he seemed to know everything about everything, though nobody was intent on listening to him (mind you, he was also our doctor/chemist/assistant chef/wood cutter…….. and our only link to the outside world with his BSNL connection)
9) Shashidhar N.S- Instrumentation’s answer to E&C’s R.K, u could find him speaking to his cell phone at all places with HUTCH coverage.
10) Yours truly, Sunil Abhilash…………………….. (No comments please).

We knew it would be a rough trek. So we geared up for it. Imagine having to trek 45 K.Ms in 2 days, with the only trace of humanity being a metre gauge rail road decorated with 48 dark tunnels running through the hills of the Western ghats. We booked the bus tickets for the journey from Mysore (home sweet home, we realized later) to Sakleshpur- a town famous for its coffee estates. We stocked ourselves with enough food (or so we thought) to last us for 2 days of treacherous trek- 20 pounds of bread, 20 packets of maggi noodles, 2 huge jam bottles, 2 large biscuit packets, a few tidbits and gallons of water. We also carried a few other things (a bottle of kerosene, some vessels, 3 torches, a hatchet for cutting wood, some paper plates and spoons) that would come in handy during the trek. And add to this, the clothing to last for 7 days, a thick blanket for everybody, and a few other miscellaneous stuff. After packing all this, did we realize the fix we had got ourselves into. Not only were we supposed to trek 40 odd K.Ms, but also carry a baggage weighing at least 10 KGs each.
So, we all met at the Mysore bus stand that night (R.K and co. made it just in time). The bus left Mysore at 10.45 pm, and most of us had planned to spend the night asleep in the bus till we reached our destination. But, I along with my good friend Theju had other plans. We were in no mood to sleep and were up to our usual P.Js. R.K too joined in. Shashi too was awake most of the time, though only to check his beloved hutch network. Theju and I were hungry as usual and made helped ourselves to a couple of buns and some hot ‘ragi malt’ at 2 A.M. We finally reached Sakleshpur at 2.45 A.M and ‘Picnic tea stall’ (near Manjarabad fort) at 3.15 A.M where we initially decided to alight. We later realized that we had to trek 7-8 K.Ms (so the conductor said, it turned out to be just 3 K.Ms) to reach Donigal railway station, and so once again chose to board the bus to get down at Donigal. In the meantime, Theju, R.K, and I decided it was high time since we ate something and devoured some hot parotas with great gusto..
We got down at a place near the station, and according to the information on the net, we had to find a mud path from the main road near a bridge that would lead to the railway station. We set out to search for mud path, and after walking for a K.M or so, we realized we had come too far. We decided to turn back and search again. After reaching the bridge, we found out to our utter amazement that the mud path described in the net was now asphalted! We decided to take to the road at day break, and spent the few hours before dawn at a temple on the roadside. We thought we could catch a few hours of sleep before heading out, but this time around, Bond played spoil sport and all of us ended up being our slummiest right in front of the temple. We found a group of 4 trekkers from Bangalore, who were on their 2nd sojourn. They were all IT professionals, and Thims was onto one of them as soon as he realized one of them was from Wipro.
After much deliberation, we left for Donigal station which was just a 10 minutes walk away. The sun had not risen yet and the morning mist made things seem very romantic (no, this has nothing to do with RK). Somebody came up with a brilliant idea to split up the baggage containing 20 pounds of bread amongst all of us. All it meant was, we had to carry 2 pounds of bread which would be our ration for the next 2 days. So, off we went at 6.30 A.M from Donigal on our way to Yedekumeri 20 KMs away (please note that you have to head towards the left from Donigal station). We found the walk in the early morning sun to be extremely pleasant. A few of us managed to gather some staves, though the hatchet was our only defense against any unforeseen encounters. Everybody was carrying a heavy baggage and the bag containing water bottles made things no less easy (I dare not mention the names who never carried it).
Y.S had his digi cam out, while Bond was busy shooting with his handy cam. Savkar complained that he was better off sleeping in his bed rather than wake half awake carrying a heavy bag, and wanted all of us to turn back and catch the next bus to Mysore. Shashank was impressing upon us with his knowledge about local trees and fruits and…………. The morning chill was making R.K and Nakul stick around together. Thims was up to his usual photogenic self (or so he thought) by posing for pics and obstructing all video shots. Shashi was still sulking over the poor connectivity of hutch, and was using his cell phone to grab a few pics. Theju and I were busy waiting for the breakfast which we knew was round the corner.
We reached the first bridge after walking 4 K.Ms. The sight posed an imposing view as the bridge seemed thin, built on steel, with wooden planks in-between, and with greenery all around. The space between the planks was enough for a small man to fall through (no wonder, bond confessed he was scared here). It seemed ironic that the heavy bags which were tiring us out would in fact prevent any of us from falling through the space between the planks. The truth is, the walk on the bridge is not as dangerous as it may seem (it may be an altogether different story after the rains, when the planks would be slippery). All of us managed to cross the bridge safely and could have a sigh of relief afterwards.
We crossed a few more bridges (we had got used to them by this time, and it was no longer a hair raising experience) before we came across a small stream of water falling from a small height. We decided to finish off our morning duties, and have breakfast here. It was bread smeared with a small amount of jam (under the watchful eyes of Thims). Now, I really did miss rice n chapattis n…… though I managed to push through 7-8 pieces of bread. We all hogged as much as we could. However, before Theju and I could have our fill, Thims decided enough is enough. He gave us no more jam for our bread slices, and when we appealed, everybody passed a resolution against providing us any more jam. Both of us were up in arms against Thims, and would get our revenge later.
We had planned to reach Yedekumeri by 3-3.30 P.M, by trekking at a speed of 4 K.Ms per hour and accounting for all the stoppages. But, the way we were making progress, it was difficult to be on schedule. After walking for nearly 8 K.Ms from Donigal, we reached our first tunnel. It was not a long one and we enjoyed the sight of it. From here on, tunnels started becoming frequent and lengthy and more importantly, more spooky.
At the end of the 2nd tunnel, we found an opening to the right, which lead to a wonderful view of a water fall falling from a great height. The sight was simply mesmerizing. We took some video shots here, which provide sufficient testimony to my simple description of the above. Here we also found the only piece of wildlife we encountered in our trek- a dead 6 inch snake.
Bond was shooting (videos) with utter disdain, while Y.S was more selective, by taking pics of the graffiti found on the walls, the railway track, and the hills, rather than that of humans. The Sun was beating down on us. Everybody was slowly starting to tire, though Savkar was showing signs of being fully awake. R.K and Nakul helped by keeping the spirits up with their ridiculously dumb P.Js. I still had not lost my exuberance, and Theju was still grumbling over the jam issue with Thims. Shashank was unusually silent while Shashi was busy posing for a few pics to be included in his profile for matrimonial purposes.
We still had around 10 K.Ms to go, when things started to go wrong. The first of the three torches we had brought along with us failed. A few started complaining about their aching heels and calf muscles. We were slowly running out of water, and I wanted to taste something other than bread crumbs.
But then, we found another group of trekkers, 5 in number and E&C students of MCE Hassan. It was a sort of reunion, as Savkar met his good old friend Naga, and I found my long lost friend Sathwik among them. We were pleased to have their company, though we knew that we would now encounter a shortage of cottages at Yedekumeri.
Things started to become very interesting from here on, as we encountered longer tunnels, got darker and felt bats flying all around us. Then, another of our torches bit the dust, and we were left with only a single torch. We followed a formation of a straight line in every tunnel, with every guy holding on to the bag of the guy in front, and following him blindly. The one at the starting of the formation was the lucky chap as he had the torch. The rest simply had to follow. I must however mention here that the 1100 cell phones of Bond, R.K and Theju did really come in handy for their made in India torches.
We did encounter a few people working on the railway track (the track is in the process being converted to a broad gauge track since 1995!) and they provided conflicting data about the distance to Yedekumeri. Then, we came across a huge bridge which was at least 200 metres in length and presented a large curve. This really provided an exhilarating experience which made every bit of the whole trek worthwhile.
Nearby we saw another bridge-this time over a rivulet, and decided to have our morning bath here. We got down without much difficulty (it was the climbing up that proved to be difficult), and took to the waters. It was really refreshing (though the water seemed a bit putrid- nobody bothered about it) and we earned a well deserved break from the hard trek. We also finished off our lunch here and later to our utter dismay found that we had only 4-5 loaves left with us (and we had to survive on them for the next 30 odd hours!).
Immediately after the rivulet, we encountered the longest tunnel in the section-572 metres in length. Here we realized, we had lost our only torch and nobody had the energy to go searching for it. Now, we really were in trouble……………. Suddenly Thims came up with a brilliant (but no so practical) idea of lighting up one of the candles we had brought and tying it up to one of the staves with some grass straws found growing there, and then use it as a torch. Nakul came up with a wonderful idea of making a mashal, though nobody knew whose cloth to use for making it.
Luckily for us, our old friends from Hassan still had not crossed the tunnel, and we joined hands with them and trekked with them till Yedekumeri. They had a sufficient number of torches with them and hence saved the day for us.
Nakul was still having his hangover from the O.S exam and was applying all these concepts almost everywhere albeit without much success. Bond though tired, was still at his creative best and was coming out with dialogues one after another. Y.S and Shashi were pacing fast at quite a distance from us and were sharing their chat room experiences with each other (we still do not know the complete story). R.K had taken over the job of providing commentary for the videos which we repent today for allowing him to do so. Theju was finding it difficult to drag his heavy body along the way. Savkar was sleep-walking his way, though he occasionally made us know that he was still here.
We found some multiple tracks a K.M before Yedekumeri, which made us realize that our destination was not far away. We finally reached there at around 4 P.M and were happy to find a resting place for the day. We emptied most of the snacks we had got with us. Most of us used Shashank’s cell phone to inform our near & dear ones that we were safe here (paapa Shashank!).
Then, it was time for some cricket. R.K and Theju were our star batsmen, though Nakul can aspire to be one if he learns how to hold the bat. It was getting dark fast, and it was time for the Thims-Shashank show to begin (with a bit of help from Y.S). They first chopped some firewood, lit a fire, washed the vessels and got down to prepare the maggi noodles. I am not a huge fan of these noodles, but everybody including me appreciated the taste of the food cooked by these guys.
We then had only 5 pounds of bread left with us, and it was then that we decided to skip the next days trek to Subramanya, and instead head out to the high way, and catch a bus to Subramanya. The camp fire was then lit at around 8 P.M and we hen made merry by dancing around it. Shashi was usually at the butt end of our jokes that night (check out the videos if u can). Thims took the responsibility of maintaining the fire, while the others just had fun. We were all dead tired by 9.30 P.M and decided it was time to take the much awaited sleep. The fire provided the only source of heat on a cold railway platform (albeit for a very less time).
The sky looked great studded with stars without the moon. But, nobody other than R.K was in a mood to appreciate the beauty, and everybody was fast asleep in no time. We were suddenly awakened by the slight drizzle at around 5.30 A.M which made a few head for cover. But, the rain gods were kind enough on us not to open the gates that day, and we fell asleep again only to get up at around 7.30 A.M only to be greeted by the surrounding beauty of the hills.
We soon finished off the morning rituals, and got ready to descend down the hills and reach the high way which is a 5 K.M trek from Yedekumeri. We all were in high spirits and looked forward to the day ahead.
The slopes were wet and I was sliding all around the place. Our friends from Hassan accompanied us too. R.K had taken over the handy cam. We soon reached another rivulet (Kempu hole is the name). Here we bade goodbyes to our Hassan friends. We decided to take a bath here, though Thims insisted on bathing at Subramanya. The water was very clean (though the name suggested something else) and we took to these pristine waters in no time. It was here that R.K shot a video (please don’t check it out) of our bare bodies, which in fact is good enough to cause another MMS scandal.
We then made our way to the highway and it was quite same distance away from the hole when Savkar remembered something (really unusual) he had long forgotten. He realized his beloved goggles (which he was flaunting by wearing it during the night journey) were missing. It was really a pleasant sight to watch Savkar bolt back to the hole to fetch his goggles back. We, in the meantime, settled down for some snacks and emptied a large biscuit packet. Shashank was hell bent on drying his wet towel and resorted to standing in the hot sun light, with a wet towel over his head. R.K, Nakul, Theju, Bond and Myself were showing off our singing skills with a few catchy numbers though nobody seemed to be bothered by the cacophony.
We finally reached the highway and presented a pleasing sight for us city dwellers to see an asphalted road after a long time. Y.S and Shashi (who were quite a distance away from the rest of us) were waylaid by a forest official demanding papers about the permission to trek in the ghats. Luckily for us, we found a lorry heading for Mangalore via Gundya, laden with manganese ore. Y.S and Shashi made good their escape from the official and headed for the lorry. We climbed on to the back of the lorry, and all of us seemed excited at the prospect of traveling on a lorry. Thims, Shashi and Shashank preferred to sit next to the driver to start up a conversation with the driver. The lorry got moving, and Y.S started clicking some pics. Bond, not wanting to be left behind, filmed a fun filled video. We got quite a few stares from the passing vehicles, and we seemed to enjoy more of them. Nobody summed up the courage to do a “chaiyya chaiyya – version 2” though everybody other than me stood up and help on to watch the lorry speed through the highway. I had no intention of risking my life, and preferred to lie on my back (did not mind the red stain on my shirt due to it), to watch the wonderful hills and the sky.
We were greeted by a string of eateries at Gundya at around 12 PM, and alighted from the lorry in no time, paid the lorry driver 70/- and headed to the nearest eatery. The only items on the menu that day were neer dosa and parota. We started our first feast of the day (nearly 60-70 dosas and 10 parotas were consumed along with many bottled drinks).
Everybody consumed their share of the local nimbu soda until we lost count of how much we had consumed. But, what pleased us the most was to hear the total bill at the hotel amounted to just 240/-, a real meager amount compared to what we had consumed.
Now, we were in Theju territory. He struck a deal with a jeep driver to take us to Subramanya which was 20 KM away for 20/- per head. The jeep seemed small, but we managed to pack our bodies along with the driver and his assistant and not to forget our heavy baggage.
As we approached Subramanya, R.K got something he was deprived of, for the last 2 days. Airtel was very much available there, and took some time of to give missed rings to a few of his many friends. All this only made Shashi more desperate, and he longed for his beloved hutch connection.
We decided to alight for a holy dip at the Kumardhara River. We were greeted by our Hassan friends who had just finished their holy dip. The river seemed calm enough for a session of swimming. Nakul, Shashi, Shashank, Savkar and Myself preferred to stay away and got busy rearranging our bags. Bond summed up the courage to enter the river, and strangely enough scared the hell out of the poor fish. R.K showed off his floating skills. Just when everybody decided to head back to the bank, Savkar felt a sudden urge to get wet, and took to the waters for the second time in the day.
The sacred temple of Kukke Subramanya was a couple of KM away, and we rushed for it as we did not want to be late for the afternoon lunch. We met our good friends Advith and co, who had just arrived at Subramanya after scaling the peaks of Kumara parvatha. For more about their adventures check out the following link: http://paichronicles.rediffblogs.com/
The temple was closed for the afternoon and would reopen at 3.30 PM. We decided to have the lunch offered at the temple premises and it really tasted godly (no pun intended). We then had to stand in a long serpentine queue for our glimpse of the Deity which only lasted a few seconds. A few of us bought some prasadams to be taken back home, which only made our bags a bit heavier.
It was a short walk from the temple to the bus stand, but the afternoon sun made things difficult. We bade our Hassan friends good bye again (and for the last time). We resorted to some local ice candies for relief, though they tasted bad. I bit into one of them in spite of my wheezing, only to be rebuked by Nakul and Bond. We took a bus following the Subramanya-Bellare- Puttur route and little did we realize what was in store for us.
The condition of the road was so bad, that the bus usually drove over the footpath and the strollers took to the middle of the road for obvious reasons. The curves made things no easy, and for all those who expected to catch a few winks of sleep, were subjected to a rude awakening every time the bus braked. I as usual opted to stay awake as I was longing for some solitude though the constant cranking of the bus did irritate me.
After a tiring 2 hour journey, we finally made it to the town of Puttur at 6.00 PM. Theju’s house was another 20 KM away from Puttur town, and we had to catch the last bus scheduled at 7.15 PM. As we had time on our hand, we made our way to Hotel Hariprasad, half a KM away from the bus stand. R.K, Nakul and myself were left behind by the ever hurrying Thims and co. We did not seem to mind it though, as we helped ourselves to some podi being prepared on one of the pavement shops.
All the hutchies had a field day from then on. Shashi sprung up to life as soon as we entered Puttur and was unapproachable till we left Puttur (no points for guessing why!). Theju proved beyond doubt that he is the most happening guy in the group as he got a whooping 20 messages. Savkar was too asleep to switch on his cell phone.
Bond then called up on his friend Prashant of harkyonda fame. It was a pleasant surprise for all of us to see Prashant with another of our good friend Praveen (in case u don’t know him, he’s the senadipathi of aaghogli boys). We gorged to our hearts ‘fill at the hotel (Praveen got us a discount of 10% on the bill, thank u dude!). We then made our way to the station, while I decided it was time for some more podi again.
We took the bus to Irde, from where we had to walk another 3 KMs to reach Theju’s house. The bus ride was extremely enjoyable, with Nakul being the bakra for the evening. The poor guy was missing Venugopal (another slummy who could not make it this time, even we missed u dude but for an altogether different reason) very much. We were getting piercing stares from everybody, and Nakul for some strange reason, was enjoying it. Almost everybody in the bus was clad in a dhothi, shirt and a pair of chappals whereas we were wearing denim shorts, trekking shoes and our caps worn backwards. Savkar was too lazy to take off his goggles while Shashi still had to utilize 200 minutes for his free talk time and decided to make the best use of them, the next day.
We got down at Irde and still had to trek in complete darkness to reach Theju’s abode. YS had his camera out to experiment with abstract photography, and even managed to grab a pic which he believes is that of a ghost (It was ‘decided’ rather than proved to be that of a ghost). It was a moonless night, and our only saviors were the 1100 cell phones. Bond was pacing ahead of the pack and seemed to know the route even better than Theju. R.K and Nakul suddenly found an irresistible urge to sing a few romantic numbers, though I still wonder about whom Nakul was thinking about. After a few reminders to everybody about what to (and more importantly, what not to) be mentioned at Theju’s house, we entered his estate house.
We were greeted by the smiling face of Theju’s mom. We were offered a welcome drink by his granny (nothing to worry, it was just majjige). His dad and granddad were extremely pleased to see us, though I really don’t know how they felt after they saw the way we behaved. The house being extremely spacious, presented us with a good chance of getting lost in it. Most of us headed for a hot bath, and quite a few burnt their fingers in the hot water awaiting us. Nakul and Myself preferred to wash our bodies the next morning which fortunately made everybody stay away from us for the night.
The dinner was just awesome (believe me, it was not just bcoz we were tired. Now, I’ll never blame Theju for putting on weight), and we polished off almost everything that was served. Shashank took the opportunity to show off his culinary knowledge and was more than successful in impressing Theju’s mom. Thims helped himself to a more than imaginable serving of curds that left me deprived of it for the night. All that was left to do that night was to go to bed, which we did as soon as possible, though Savkar had a bit of trouble at it. I chose a place next to RK who in turn had slept next to Nakul and for no obvious reasons. Bond was making proposals about buying a pond in Theju’s estate we were due to see the next day. Shashi was the first to charge his cell phone as it had a heavy workload for the next few days. YS was busy totaling the expenditure incurred in the 2 days (by god now I remember, he owes me a hundred bucks). Almost everybody wanted a taste of the exotic and chose to wear dhotis for the night though they were nowhere to be seen the next morning. It was a well deserved rest for our tired bodies which had borne the brunt of the troubles experienced in the past two days.
We had some amazing experiences in the first two days of our sojourn only matched by the second leg of our trip. When I sit back and reflect on the sights and sounds experienced, it only makes me want to do the trek once again (and this time around, I wanna complete it). The untouched valleys of the Ghats, the pristine waters, the marvelous greenery, the unforeseen dangers of the dark, the rotten smell of bat droppings, the aching bodies, the starved tummies and more importantly the sense of oneness and togetherness (which is the essence of the slummies) all want me to do it all over again. Anybody interested?
I have summed up my thoughts of the first 2 days. Do forgive me for missing out any important detail. However, if any of you have been insulted by the contents, believe me, its purely intentional. That is it for now, I will be coming out with the memoirs of the second leg our fun filled trip shortly. Do watch this space for more about it. Until then, “Adios amigos”.