Meghane trek log - V

l The journey l Meghane peak l Meghane village l Basavanabayi l PaduBeedu l Godanagundi l

24/12/2006
07:20 PM: After reaching a point, Nayana asked all of us to switch off our batteries, as that might warn the animals and they might turn violent, also, the artificial lighting would limit our vision to only one part of the road, and it doesn’t help us be wary of what’s happening around.

That was a great suggestion, in fact, we got adjusted to the chauti (fourth)-moon’s light, and it was a great experience to be walking amidst a thick forest in the darkness of night without any artificial lighting. The experience showed us how addicted we have been to the artificialities of life and how good life is without them all!!

After the night trek in the forest for about 1.5hrs, and thru the flowing water on the road, and thru an old woody small bridge, accompanied by some songs and jokes, we were at the gates of our palace for the night. Suddenly, there was a very big noise, emerging from a thick bush of shrubs. We stopped. Nayana predicted it to have been made by a few rabbits. Poor fellows must have been afraid of these unusual invaders thru the night.

08:35 PM: We entered the compound and searched for the house of Nayka, where we were to reside that night. Padu Beedu was the name of the village. It must have been an 18-20 km trek that day that took us there. Family members of Nayka were surprised and felt happy to find us there at that time of the day.

Probably they were preparing their beds to say quit for the day. The family head himself sat by us guiding us where to and how to make fire and all such things. We first prepared tea and had a few gulps of each one of us. By the time dinner was ready, we made the bonfire on the porch leading from the front entrance of the house.

We made a full circle around the fire and tried to identify a few galaxies and stars amidst that sky. The sky looked so different from that we encountered in the city. Millions of galaxies were up there, we needn't go to a planetarium to watch them live!!

Food was served to all the very hungry people, we had a leisurely dinner at 10PM, and prepared the spreads and pullers to sleep. But the bonfire that was afloat didn’t allow us to do it. There was a session of songs. Sandeep sang very well. Manoj also presented a song.

All the married men, Sampath, Dwarka, and Ravindra gave tips to the bachelor boys on how important is savings, and how good it is to start well ahead of marriage. Some said real estate, some said mutual funds or equity-linked plans, but all of them agreed to a point that investment must be smart and secured. It must be a retirement plan, not for the immediate gains or something.

The next thing was the introduction of one and all, in detail this time, on how one spends time, who does what basically and habitually. Everyone seemed to have an impressive back record.

Sharat seemed a brilliant student, excelled at studies, and had secured university ranks in a few subjects. Applauses!! He also turned out to be a good painter.

Subbu turned out to be an outstanding student too. He had secured a rank in his batch too, also, he had an experience to share, that he had been a student at Dharmasthala Manjunatha hostel which is a popular residential school, situated at Ujire.

Datta had a peculiar interest, in Vedic hymns, while Rajsekhar had a strong interest in Vedic mathematics. Usha shared an interest in Sahitya, while Dwarka, a BahurupiyaJ. Ravindra shared some of his Japanese experiences. Dwarka and Sampath shared some of their strange experiences from previous treks, including a detailed account of religious conversions among the tribal.

Everyone in the team turned out to be a champion, a hard worker, and immensely interested in Indian and Kannada culture, literature and philosophy. Very much impressive account and time of the trip was this moment. Everyone shared similar tastes and interests, discussed varied topics throughout the night.

There were discussions on how our ancestors drew Rangoli, encompassing many modern laws of geometry and trigonometry in them. How Indian astronomers fared well ahead of their times. There were a few moments dedicated to astrological sciences, astrology as a science. It was nice to be discussing great things with learned people. There was a talk about automobiles too. How can one miss out on the topic of nuclear treaty with the US and other political happenings when learned people are around. Much and little were discussed about the Indian views of cosmic energy and how Indians follow Bhagavadgeeta in their daily lives, knowingly or unknowingly. It was a time well spent. All was going well until one of us had a look at his watch. It was 2:30AM the next day!! That played the culprit and we all went in and slept for the night. Nayana and Madhu were already on their mats. We found someplace for everyone and rested our minds reeling in the joy of coming all the way, enjoying every moment of it. Joy had one more reason that there was only one more day to be spent, before being back at home.

One thing was missed out on in the previous account. It's nothing but a small amount of impressive talk with the people inside the house. They were discussing many stories of the forest and how they live with no amenities, where do they study, and all such stuff. There were 10 houses in the village, each house was at a fair distance from each other, had to live with all the wild animals, and had to trek for 3-4Kms for a primary school. One interesting story was that of a villager getting busted by a wild bear. It had dismantled his face and skin, it seems, he was taken immediately to a city hospital. He recovered slowly, though.

P.S.: Pictures are a recap of the previous post.

To be concluded…………