heart was heavy
grin on the face,
I was all down
cant say why
bunch of kids
on their school bus
were all at smiles,
waved me a bye
giant white cloud
stood from the rim,
like the Mt. Everest-
gave me a heavy sigh
[as i recall,]
was running hard
to catch my bus
and a stranger,
offered me a ride
was home early,
for any reason be-
she was happy
and so was I.
“…ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಎಂದರೆ ಅಷ್ಟೇ ಸಾಕೆ?”
ನಾನು ಹೆಚ್ಚಾಗಿ ಜಿ.ಎಸ್.ಎಸ್ ಕವನಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೆ ಈ ಎರೆಡು ಕವನಗಳು ಸಾಕಲ್ಲವೆ - ಅವರ ಕವನಗಳ ಸತ್ವ, ಶಕ್ತಿಗಳನ್ನು ತಿಳಿಯಲು?
The residents of the village werent any pleased with our detour, because our vehicles rised enormous amount of dust from the roads. On a monday (got to appreciate - they chose monday!) morning, there were a few helping people, hand signalling and allowing us enter the village from the ring road. It was a trap - which we realized only after seeing a lot of vehicles already blocked ahead.
The environment was beginning to get creepy. We were seeing drunkards- naturally, looking violent and speaking violent. A tinge of fear started to show up in all of us. It was as if they were about to start stone hits or manhandle people. (goosa kodovr thara).
[I can sort of compare to a scene from Khakee, where amithab and party are surrounded and fired upon from all sides :)]
We soon got off the cab, reached ring road and caught another cab of ours to reach office. As we learnt later, the situation wasnt that worse. It was just a ‘rasta roko’. Neither were the cabs damaged nor were the drivers hurt.
Deserted roads - people mostly indoors - no noise - rain, now and then - peaceful - fresh air - sanity…. hhhhhhm.. TRUE holiday! Reminded me of Mysore and my 4 yrs there. I just love the place. [I dont care if people call the city - lazy].
Vikas shankar describes here. Read more here.
Well, the pictures speak for themselves - we had been to peNambur beach (Oct 2) and rafting (seetha nadi, Hebri), the next day. Rafting was great experience, but a little disappointed that we didnt have waterproof camera - we couldn’t capture the rough rides.
One of the great survival stories in history:
Everybody wanted something more. So, our instructor(K) planned raft capsize. Well, the instruction given to us was not to panic. But, I did exactly that. I went beneath the overturned boat. Didnt know a thing what was going on. Gasping for air, searching for something to grab, drinking a lot of water - I was horrified. Soon I realized to stay calm (that I was wearing a life jacket & I would eventually float). In the meantime, K pulled me out with a lot of effort.. and so.. I am alive!
More!
In a place where the stream was slow, we all jumped out to float for a while. Soon, it started to rain heavily - so much so that we could hardly open our eyes. It was bliss! (Do I need to describe more?)
In the Ghats:
But, as always happens, there will be an unexpected package that made me more happy.
While going to mangalore, because of the bad roads, we were delayed. But, that made us start descend the ghats at the dawn (just what I wanted!). I was @ the window seat and my head was literally out, trying to grab as much as I could! If we were travelling in our car, we could have stopped to take some mindblowing, wallpaperable snaps! Well, no substitute for snaps but here is a poem I wrote:
Wild splendour
In the wee hours of
this day of october,
everything is damp
mist all-over,
I wait for him to lit
to see the wild splendour
Across the hill, along the edge
As I pass, I see this valley
more beautiful than before,
for, there is a cloud,
sailing through - the wild splendour
I see streams white
run down in haste,
a river in its birth -
flowing fierce
down the steeps,
over the rocks,
into - the wild splendour
I see this village -
with walls and roofs,
all turned green,
how it would be like -
(as always) I wonder
to have born here,
amidst - the wild wild splendour
with plenty for life
to savour.
__________________
A Journey and a Greeting:
On the day we left for mangalore, these things happened:
[I still believe that (a) is no way related to (b)-(g)]