Badravati - The Steel city (April15th,16th 2006)

The only reason I went to Badravati was to meet my cousins, uncle and aunty... And it being a two day (inclusive of journey time) trip ... obviously, I didn't have time to explore the place...

The how to...
Badravati is a small town, taluk HQ, 274 kms north west off Bangalore. To get here (from Bangalore), one must proceed towards Tumkur (via Yeshwantpur, Dasarahalli, Nellamangala) on NH-4. Tumkur is around 60 odd kms from Bangalore, the highway is clogged till Nellamangala, but frees up considerably on the 4-lane toll way to Tumkur. The travel time to Tumkur should be approximately 1hr. At Tumkur, take the Tumkur bypass. Follow this bypass (a little bumpy) and proceed towards Gubbi. This should put you onto NH-206. The next big town is Tiptur (again a relatives infested area for me... luckily, I know none of them... hehehe...). This should be approximately 180 kms from Bangalore. Thre are a few good hotels, in case you wish to take a break. From there proceed towards Arsikere (You need to take a right at a fork in the middle of Tiptur). Arsikere is around 40 kms from Tiptur. Arsikere is, again, a taluk HQ by a lake, hence the suffix kere. Next in line is Birur (70 kms from Arsikere). My Great-Great-grandpa was a native of this town. Anyways, from Birur proceed towards Tarikere (20 kms) and then to Badravati (36 kms). After Tarikere, there is a fork (again!) One takes you towards Shimoga and the other towards Badravati. The Badravati road is a state highway, and hence is in bad shape. There are a few railway crossing on this route, with the railways and the road laid almost parallel to each other on most sectors. You'll be quite lucky to spot a train, or maybe even chase it :-)))

As for me...
I rode (RE Thunderbird) non-stop, well... almost, from Blr to Badravati. The two stops were...
1) to take a picture of a tractor and
2) to answer the stupid cell phone.
The luxuries of travelling solo.

The Tumkur road was a treat :-). But NH-206 was better! The roads were narrow, empty and well maintained. I found a lot of street side vendors selling enormous grapes, tasty tender coconut water and a lot of mallige huva. As I approached Birur, the roads were lined with beautiful homes, colourful boganvillas and flowering trees. Spring was in the air. I left Blr at 7:45 am and reached Badravati at 12:15pm. The next day I left Badravati at 2pm, with ominous black clouds on the horizon. I raced the clouds till Arsikere, and then all hell broke loose!

It poured and poured and poured all the way till Tumkur. I couldn't turn back, nor could I proceed. I had to ride on, come what may, to make it back to Blr before nightfall, since, I abhor riding at night, and am quite capable of falling asleep!

I changed clothes at the outskirts of Ghandinagar, yes a village by that name in Karnataka! And yes, I did strip on the highway... luckily it was an isolated spot :-) (figure out, who is lucky... me or the potential witnesses) Put on a jacket (not water proof) changed into dry socks, (my boots had more water than Kadakwasla and KRS combined) and set out in the light drizzle, which was, as always, a mirrage. I was soon engulfed in a wall of water droplets, hurting whereever and whenever they made contact with my "protected" body. I was shivering, cold, wet, needed to pee badly and riding at a minimum of 70 kmph. I stopped the bike at some isolated spot after Tiptur and before Gubbi. Gingerly relieved myself at some stump, in full view of any passing vehicle. By this time, I did not care. The thought of Bangalore (100 kms away) was as distant as the last rays of sunhine. It was almost 5 pm.

I just kept riding from that moment, almost mechanical, with my brain switched off. Quite a wierd feeling. I was happy when I reached Tumkur! The thought of having the option of halting the night, and sleeping in a dry bed was extremly tempting. Don't know what came over me, perhaps it was the abrupt dry spell, or the sight of a realtively lesser shade of gray (that seemed to hover over a distant Bangalore), but I puttered on forward. That, I was riding a RE, gave a large doze of confidence. After all Bangalore, was only 60kms away, and it was just 6 pm. I still needed to wear some dry clothing, if I were to aviod falling sick. And so with all frontal lobe activity comming to a halt, I stripped, yet again, by the road side (NH-4 this time) and changed into some dry cloths. I wonder, why I was carrying 5 sets of clothes in the first place for a three day trip (that got cut down to two)

My initial baravdo was soon watered down, with another doze of rain. I had stopped caring a long time back. I reached Nellamangala by 6:30 pm... and subsequently did the rest of the 20 odd kms (to home) in the next two hours. By 9 pm I was back home, taking a hot shower and was off to la-la land by 9:30... What a weekend it had been...

Addu-ella saku bladeu... Badravati mein kya karaun???
Good question... A few options...
1) Go to Jog falls (200kms)
2) There is some Tiger park some where... quite like Bannergatta I hear...
3) Visit the steel plant.
4) There is lot of good green grass in this part of town. Nah... like Lendel once said, "Grass is ment for cows".
5) Halebelur is quite close (60kms) from Birur
6) Hosadurga is also quite close (compared to Jog)

Where do I stay???
There must be some lodge, somewhere in Badravati... nothing spectacular, but surely some place to sleep... It isn't as if people don't live here...

Badravati - The Steel city (April15th,16th 2006)

Windy Hills - Himada Gopalswamy betta (March 25th 2006)

As promised earlier, here is an abridged version of that bike ride to Gopalswamy betta...

The literal translation of Himada Gopalswamy betta would be "Misty Gopalswamy Hill". Apparently, it does live up to its name for most part of the year. There is a temple at the top, dedicated to Krishna (I think). It must have been one treacherous trek through forests and hills in the olden days. People were sure, quite dedicated to GOD back then :-)



We (Googendra, KiniMaam, Paddax and I) visited this hill (on two bikes, one RE-Thunderbird and one Honda Unicorn) sometime in march, the peak of the southren summer, yet we were overawed by the beauty of the distant Madumalai range...

First the how to's.

The closest big city is Mysore (89kms). From Mysore, proceed towards Ooty on NH-212. You should pass through Nanjangud and Gundulpet. A few kms ahead of Gundulpet, before Bandipur, you should see a big Karnatka Tourism billboard on the right hand side, in the middle of a villiage. Take this right turn and keep riding/driving. There is a fork some where around 4kms from this right turn, select the road on the left. By this time, the hill should be visible. It is 10kms from the base of the hill, where there is a forest department checkpost and toll gate, to the top. The roads aren't that great, but there was some repairs being carried out. However, the riding experience is excellent. The gradient is almost 45 degrees (or more) in places, so make sure your bike can handle it :-) There are a few hair pin bends, so be a little careful. Shouldn't take more than 2 hours from Mysore.



Now that i am there, what?
If you are adventureous enough, you could camp here, with the permission of the forest officer at Bandipur. There is also a forest dept guest house (in a delapidated condition), with no running water. Once again, its use is entirely dependent on that forest officer in Bandipur. So, if you plan to camp, make sure you take all the water you need, else you'll have to fight the elephants for some muddy water :-))

On a good day, you should be able to spot a herd of wild elephants aroung this hill. We went on an "off"-day. Only one elephant :-( but, we came across a lot of elephant poo, probably from the same grass decimating machine we saw.

One word of caution, don't leave light objects unattended for any period of time. No. It is not the people, nor is it the monkeys. It is the wind!! It is so windy, so windy, it could take a thick jacket away :-)

Am I in TN or Kar???
Good question! Airtel. Yes, even the windy hill is connected :-(. Airtel thinks HGB is in TN, but actually it is in Kar. There is this small little boundary that you can see, demarcating TN and Kar.

Any historical significance?
I am not sure, but, to our non-archeological eyes, it looked like Himada Gopalswamy betta, used to be a fort at some point in time in the ancient past. You can see a mote carved around the hill. Or, perhaps it could have been built, to protect the camping devotees, from the wild animals. I wish I had found out more.

What about food and water?
Food? Water? Watitiz??? Carry your own stuff, but for God's sake don't dirty the place. It was quite clean when we went, I sure hope it remains that way!!

Windy Hills - Himada Gopalswamy betta (March 25th 2006)

Manipal Mist (Jun 24 - Jul 4, 2006)

Two years ago, while leaving Manipal "for good", grateful for the four painful years that went by so very slowly, I was quite sure I'd never come back. Ever. No wonder, I am no soothsayer! To my credit, I never went back for a little more than a year. Not even for my convocation, for I was a thousand miles away. However, since last November I've been to Manipal four times! Stayed there for an aggregate of 15 days, wondering every moment, how I managed four years in the first place.



The place is hot, humid and it never stops raining. I don't even know what I was thinking when I chose to study there, must have been the REEJEE shock! All that, however, is in the past. I had a good time, in my own eccentric way, and thats all that matters.

The place has changed beyond recognition in two years. The biggest shock, is to us MITians, no more girls in the OLH/NLH!! No more Maal-Gaadi! A 13th block, Innovation center, Student supply center. No more Juice center, cafeteria! Syndicate Bank has been cut to size, quite literally! In a few years, we might find it hard to believe that we actually studied there.



No more Bioscope I heard, not that it bothers me, I had been there only once, to see "Mohobatein". I know! Of all movies to be seen at BioScope! No more shack point. High rise apartment complexes instead.

Change, that, I guess is the character of Manipal.

End point seems to be the new development spot. There were some earthmovers at work there. Wonder if the future generation of students will get to see that panaromic view of Manipal, that refuses to leave our minds.

What strikes you more, as an outsider (i.e. me, since i am no longer a student of MAHE), is the stark contrast in the road quality inside the university and that on the outside. The district officials should be ashamed of themselves for letting such roads be.

Of the half a month that I've spent at Manipal, as an outsider, most of the time has been spent at Kasturba Medical College. Why? I am not even answering that!!!

The staff at the hospital do a commendable job. Right from the Doctors, to the sweepers. Each one of them is dedicated to their jobs. The nurses were extremly friendly, efficient, always smiling. What a difference between the Manipal, Bangalore nurses and the KMC nurses! The PG students... well they all seemed to be quite competent, obviously they are being mentored by skilled surgons and doctors. That, I'd say, is the difference between MIT and KMC. The quality and the experience of the people who guide the students can't be more contrasting.

I chanced upon a sweeper cleaning a rubbish bin with soap and water! I don't think I'll ever see a BMP worker doing that. There were no Paan stains on the corridors either. The hospital charges are almost next to nothing, compared to the services and facilities that are extended to patients.

By the way, I "discovered" Kini canteen. The Goli bajjis were heavenly, the dosa's enormous. I was wondering, why I never chanced on that, while I was studying! Wouldn't have ever made the trek back to the TAPMI mess every afternoon to eat "good" food.

And when I left Manipal for "good" for the second time, there was mist, while there were none the first time around. Yet, on both occasions, I was glad to so say goodbye. I know I will go back, if only to get those recomenadations letters!!

Manipal Mist (Jun 24 - Jul 4, 2006)