Let me continue Day 3 (3rd Nov): We decided to get up at 5.30 am, as we expected the guide to come by 6 am, and everyone was ready to enjoy the final day in the forest, especially the most expected Varagiriyaru forest, with lots of hype created by people in and around the forest dept. and especially by our Cheenu. But till 6.30am, the guide didn’t reach our place, everybody was ready, our great friend Cheenu went to the bathroom, as he found out the hot water coming from the tap, he decided to have a quick bath. By the time the guide reached our place, and he asked us to immediately start as it was already late and it’s difficult to spot the animals. Everybody was there except for Cheenu, as we searched for him, finally we came to know from Lux, that he was taking bath. We were all pissed off, especially Parthy shouted Lux for telling Cheenu about the hot water. Poor Lux patiently listened for none of his faults. Finally everybody was ready to start. Cheenu and the guide sat at the front. Cheenu put his arm around the guide’s shoulder, he thought being so friendly with him, he can take us to the place where you can spot wild animals, also we started asking about the forest and the forest life. The guide once he opened his mouth later he never closed it….. Parthy got irritated, later he told us that if this guy sits next to him then he can’t drive the Sumo. Believe me, the forest was so beautiful and serene, also the route, as morning sun rays peeped through the trees, we drove our vehicle through it, the weather was chill outside, but the road was bumpy and not good. Parthy did a wonderful job in driving. Finally we reached the destination after a long ride of more than 25 kms inside the thick forest, it took around one and half hours. We saw a guest house there, where you can stay only with “Special permission” as I said earlier. We brought the ingredients for our brunch, the localities were asked to prepare Chapathis and Potato Sabji. We were all ready for the trekking to a water falls which is around 5 kms away from there. Before we started for the trekking, we relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of nature for sometime; we also witnessed a massive wooden cage to tame wild elephants. (Me and Parthy were playing with a bamboo stem) Then we all started our most memorable trekking of the trip, the forest was really very dense, as we need to cross river streams, walked on the rocks, went through difficult paths, expecting from any corner animals to appear. Cheenu recorded the trekking in his mobile. It was around 10 am, we finally reached a lovely water falls, though it was not huge like Kutralam, but still the place was extraordinary. Everybody was ready to plunge in, except for me and Cheenu. I was not keeping well so I decided to skip this enjoyment to avoid further complication. Soon I started taking photographs of others, they started enjoying, that really tempted me, soon I gave the camera to Cheenu and I decided to get into the act. We had lots of fun in the falls, especially the rocks were slippery. I fell down more than 10 times when I tried to accept Parthy’s challenge to reach the other side of the falls, which was extremely slippery, but Parthy could do the same twice because of his massive (Godzilla like) feet. Initially Lux fell down many times followed by Cellman and then it was me who fell down the maximum. (Parthy giving a sexy pose, Silk Smitha thotha) (On top, you can see Arnold and his pregnant wife) We even noticed lots of big fishes near to the falls, Parthy and Cellman tried to catch them using their towel but returned back in vain. We started again from the falls and walked back to our place, (me and Parthy set a challenge by ourself to cross a river stream by walking on top of a log) as we walked further, everybody felt hungry and tired. When we were almost half way through by walk, that was the moment, we all heard the roaring sound from a near by bushes, then we saw lot of pigs were running for life, and the guide said that the roaring sound was of a panther. We were all started starring at the bushes and we were all thrilled, but we couldn’t find anything as the bushes were thick. Soon, we reached the place from where we started; we were all damm tired and hungry, as you can see from the photograph itself (see the face of Lux). We had a good lunch and left from this wonderful place, while coming back we asked our guide to sit at the back side of our Sumo, near to the luggage. This time he stopped talking and was silently sitting behind. As usual we were all chatting, that was the moment he suddenly asked us to stop the vehicle, and told us to get down from the Sumo. We walked back few yards, not knowing exactly what he was trying to show and then he whispered that he had seen the movement of wild elephants in distant, but no one could see anything. So, we started again with much of frustration and disappointment. Just after a km, he again told us to stop the vehicle, this time again we walked back, that was the stunning moment, we saw a herd of wild elephants along with calf, I utilized my high zoom camera to click more photographs. Soon, elephants moved out of the sight. We were all satisfied with our Varagiriyaru trip, it was fun and excitement. We finally reached Top Slip area, before settling the amount for the guard and the guide; we experienced the final excitement of the forest, ‘The Elephant Ride’. Cheenu didn’t come as only four were allowed to sit on top of the elephant, his name was Tusker. We went for that memorable ride; believe me, the elephant really found very difficult to walk, (aparam eppadi da nagarum, yaana maela oru yaanaya ukkara vecha, andha yaana ennathuku aavaradhu) as there was a mahout sitting on the top and a mahout behind the elephant. We were taken inside a very narrow path, dense forest; we noticed a wild black squirrel. Also we witnessed a huge honey comb. When the elephant was asked to climb up on a steep, the Tusker released flatulence, and we all closed our nose, including the poor mahout who came behind the elephant, covered his entire face, hahaha, it was real fun. We also witnessed an elephant taking bath, with the help of her trunk. Then we settled the money to the officer and the guide, from there we started, it was really difficult for Parthy and Cellman, as they have to ride the Sumo for the whole night, after our tiresome trekking. Initially Parthy started later on continued by Cellman and vice versa. When Cellman drove the Sumo, all of a sudden, an old lady (aachi) swift across the road in a village, we just missed her by a whisker. We scolded the oldie using all good words in the world. Great work done by Karthik, his presence of mind is appreciable; he made it only because of his experience in driving. (Idhae vaera yaaraavadhu oatirundha, andha kezhaviku sangu dan) Also, we rectified the bumper problem of our Sumo, which was there even before we started our trip. We dropped Lux from where we picked up (Krishnagiri). Later we had our dinner on the way in a small road side shop, myself, Lux and Parthy ordered for the dinner, Cheenu didn’t get down from the Sumo as he slept inside, whereas Cellman tasted only biscuits, After our dinner, they claimed around 240 for that useless mutta dosas and 2 pepper chicken (kaevalama irundhudhu), avana asinga asingama thititu angirundhu kelambinom. We again started our Sumo with full of energy, Parthy initially started and later on he asked Karthik to drive. It was around 4 am, as everybody were fast asleep, Karthik suddenly stopped the vehicle; he got down from it, walked here and there, drank water, I asked him what has happened, he said that he almost slept while driving, you know its very difficult to drive during that time, moreover he is not a pro in driving. We all should appreciate both Karthik and Parthy, for bringing us safe to the place where we started. The memories are colourful like this photo, and it will never fade away from our hearts. The following statement has become a myth now, “It’s impossible to plan a trip for more than a day in our IC group” –we proved it wrong, that we are all capable of planning for more than a day trip. We are all successful in terms of planning and execution, thanks to Cheenu, who did a good job in calculating the expenses, which is very important in any trip. Hope, our next trip should be along with the rest of the guys, and its exhilarating even while I think. Am sure everyone enjoyed my narration as the way I did, again am reminding you that please mark your comments and your feeling about this trip, if you are a part of this trip, then you please add some more moments, which I would have forgot to mention. Share your feelings. Love You Guys!!! Joy

Innocent Love

One of my favourite drawing, i can consider this as the best, because when i see the drawing, i can see a life in that, the innocent smile of the baby and the mother, thats why i titled this drawing as 'Innocent Love'.

I submitted this drawing in my Deviant Art site with this same title, i received a good response from the viewers across the world, also i submitted this art for an online competition conducted in Deviant Art site.

I also mentioned in the artist comment, that am dedicating this drawing to one of my lovely sister, who is expecting a baby by this month end, that is none other than our Our Own Mani's sis Latha.

She was so happy to find my dedication in the site and am really proud of this moment.

I started this drawing on 12th Oct and completed on 10th Nov, i was distracted by the diwali holidays and our forest trip. And this is the longest time, i took an art to complete.

I spent around 25 hours to complete this art.

I used pencils like 2B, 6B, 8B (Staedler, Made in Germany, i bought it from Landmark, Chennai, a single pencil costing 50 Rs.), 2H, 4H, 0.3mm Mechanical pencils, also blending stump, tissues, ear buds, painting brush, kneaded eraser and normal eraser.

Our Maiden Trip!!! (Day 2 continues...)

(I apologize for the delay in posting the photographs as well as the blog, pls understand, i have to concentrate on my work too..)

Let me start from where i left...

We were all tired after walking for more than 6 kms, the moment we were on the bed after our spicy dinner, by no time we all slept off before keeping alarm at 5.15am for morning trekking to spot the wild animals.

Day 2 (2nd Nov): I was the first to get up from the bed at 5.15am, soon Parthy and Lux were ready and we were keen to go out for the memorable early morning trekking with high expectation to trace the animals, however initially Karthik and Cheenu found their sleep were more important than trekking, so they decided to quit. Somehow finally they realised the importance of being here.

It was still dark outside and very cold, we went out to sight the wild animals, we walked few kms here and there, also we reached a small pond, where generally animals used to come for drinking water in the morning hours, but that day seems to be a black out day, as we couldnt find any animals, except for some black monkeys, which were on the top of the trees.

We decided to come back to our house, collected our towel, tooth brush, paste and extra jettis and headed towards a river stream to take a fresh bath. The stream was a km away, before reaching the stream, we have to walk on a log, which was placed on top of a canal, to reach the other side, except for Lux, everybody crossed with ease. (Cellman even took the video of Lux, while crossing the log)

Atlast we reached the river, believe me the water was damm cold, initially we hesitated but later on we decided to plunge in. Cheenu didnt join us in this party, as he was sitting at the river bank and was capturing plenty of those memorable photographs, Cheenu did a splendid job with my camera. The river was not deep, but because of the slippery rocks, it was dangerous. But we enjoyed it thoroughly.

After spending there for more than an hour in the water, we decided to return back, but this time the guide took us in a different short route, as we were asked to cross a nearby river channel, in order to avoid few hundreds of metres.

That was the time, we saw the pugmark of a 'Tiger', the forest department person, who accompanied us, carefully analysed the pugmark and said that the pugmark looks very fresh, as a tiger might have come to drink water last night. And immediately Parthy, Cellman and me recollected the previous night roaring sound, which came from the backyard of our house. We were all thrilled. It was reported around 29 tigers live in this dense forest as per the recent census. And a normal grown up tiger would be more than 7 feet length, the pugmark also looked very very big.

Soon, we reached our house, this time myself, Parthy and Cellman walked in barefoot. After reaching the house, i noticed a leech on my toe, which was sucking my blood, initially i thought it was a leaf, later on i pulled out from my toe, but the blood kept oozing for sometime, and the scar even now is still visible and painful.

It was around 8.30am, and we decided to start from this memorable "Thellikal IB" house, and started walking to our Sumo, which was 8kms away. Initially started as a group, but later on we were all separated. Cheenu, along with the two guides walked front asking about knowledgeable questions like "Puli epadi Oakum?, Puli evlo naeram Oakum? Yaanai ku kanji evlo varum? Yaanai puli ya Oakuma?" indha madhiri arivu poorvamana kaelviya kaetundae munaadi nadandhu poitan.

Inbetween Karthik slipped and twisted his ankle, myself and Parthy were along with him, we sat and rested there in the forest, as Karthik applied Ointment, we opened the Glucose Packet, and started eating it, we decided to sit there and to wait for Lux, as generally Lux used to come as last person during trekking. We waited for him for more than 30mins sitting there and chatting, suddenly we heard a noise, somebody was shouting, in a distant we saw one of our guide asking us to come soon, we told him that we are waiting for our other friend, but the guide said that they reached long time before.

So, we walked fast, and finally reached the place where others were waiting for us, we shouted at Lux, to create a scene, then we bluffed, that we went back more than a km in search of Lux, and literally scolded him, our poor Lux, said that he even dont know through which route he came from.

Atlast we reached our Sumo, we were all very hungry, we soon reached a small hut like hotel, the food was very good, but i couldnt enjoy as i was feverish, Parthy and Lux tasted the food with fish fry too....

Later we reached Parambikulam Dam, it was huge.

I decided to sleep inside the Sumo, as i was not at all well.

Rest of the 4 guys got down and went to have a look at the massive dam. Soon Parthy and Cellman, woke me up, saying that there is a steepy path, through which we can reach the bottom of the dam, said that it would be challenging, as i always love Challenges and Adventure, i decided to get down with that fever. Cheenu and Lux, refused to accept the Challenge, fearing that it would be difficult to climb back. Me, Parthy and Cellman went down and had a breathtaking view of the dam from the bottom. With not much of difficulties we reached the top of the dam.

Later from there we started and reached the tunnel point, nothing great to describe, except for a "Spider's Web". Me and Cellman took a macro images of that web.

Then we reached the Top Slip Forest Dept., we already booked a night halt at 'Ambuli Illam' from Pollachi Forest Dept. we showed the receipt to this Top Slip Dept. We met one of a 'Guard' (nama ooru security guard kedayadhu, its a powerful designation below than Ranger). Cheenu, Lux and Cellman went to meet him to get a permission for a restricted forest called "Varagiriyaru", generally its very difficult to get the permission, as it requires Political influence, or high authority people's recommendation. Aana namo Cheenu avaru kaiya pudika, avaru Cheenu kaiya pudika, Sir, neenga dan engaluku ellamae nu Cheenu dialogue vida, avaru nan paathukraen, evening 6pm ku va nu sollitaru, engaluku orae sandhosham.

Soon, we reached our "Ambuli Illam" better place than our previous night halt "Thellikal IB". We refreshed ourselves soon we came back to the Top Slip Forest Dept. to go to 'Kozhi Kamadhi' - its a place for tamed elephants. We were asked to follow a RPF officer's Sumo, who was considered as a VIP, with extra protection police officer. After a 4 kms ride inside the forest , we reached the spot, where we found plenty of elephants and also their calves. We played with Bullu (calf), very naughty, he tried to put his trunk inside my shorts, he also pulled Parthy's neck with his trunk, we also captured photo with Tamizhan, another calf, naughtier than Bullu. We met Kapil Dev, 68 years old, who is the senior most as they stopped giving work for him, we met Kalpana Chawla, who is also called as a Gang Leader, all these elephants were once wild elephants. These elephants were given food in the morning and in the evening, and rest of the time, they will be allowed to roam with their legs buckled by thick chain. They generally go around 5 kms deep inside the forest. For an adult elephant, 2 Mahoots will be alloted and for a calf, 1 Mahoot will be alloted. Elephants will only obey their respective Mahoots, its very dangerous to go next to a tamed elephant without their Mahoot.

None of us were ready to leave that place, as we really enjoyed the presence of Bullu and Tamizhan. But finally we decided to leave, that too because of that VIP.

Soon we met the Guard at his office, finally he permitted us to the restricted forest 'Varagiriyaru'. We were all happy, immediately we came to our 'Ambuli Illam', we decided to go for a night drive, this time without any guides. Before that we thought of working out for the expenses at 'Ambulli Illam'. Our dinner was ready, so we had Chapathis and Potato Sabjis and then we went for the thrilling ride inside the forest for the first time, as a night drive in our own Sumo.

This time Cellman refused to come, as somebody said that there were wild elephants near to 'Ambuli Illam'. We almost dragged Cellman to our Sumo. He was sitting at the middle of the seat, and except for Parthy, everybody were having torch, and we were checking out for the animals with the torches.

It was the most thrilling ride till now, we were all excited to see the thick dark forest, the roads were bumpy and it was not a good tar road, we went little ahead and we found a group of bisons on the middle of the road, Parthy stopped the Sumo, we both got down from the Sumo, i was having my camera, soon i clicked number of photographs. Looking at us, one of the bison was ready to charge, soon Parthy started the vehicle, later we again stopped our vehicle, this time Cheenu pointed out plenty of sparkling eyes in the dark, they were all spotted deers.

After little bit of driving, this time we saw the shadow of a Cheetah alongside the road, everybody was stunned, we stopped the vehicle, we raised the window glass, i kept my camera ready, we waited for the Cheetah to move little bit.

Alas! it was a deer, we started laughing, but again we were silent, this time looking for any wild elephant, but we couldnt trace. Its illegal to drive vehicle in the middle of the night, as there were no other vehicles.

After all those suspense, finally we reached our 'Ambulli Illam', we were all tired, before going to sleep, we kept the alarm for 5.15am, we were asked to get ready by 6am, as a guide will arrive by that time from 'Kozhi Kamadhi'. It was a dead sleep for everyone.

(Day 3 continues after sometime....

Hope you enjoyed the narration of Day 2, i will be pleased if you can mark any comments, also if you are not clear, please raise your queries, whoever came for the trip can add their experience in their comments)

Its not that easy to narrate... so pls encourage or suggest me....

Mani, thanks for your suggestion. (Mani suggested me to paste photographs along with the details)