“If we admit that human life can be ruled by reason, the possibility of life is destroyed”
This is a team of 22 members with various cultural backgrounds and from different geographies. The common tag that we have is CTC. The sun is right up there where I do not like it to be. The temperature is soaring above 38C and am invited with the news of an elephant attacking a man in his bike a few days ago. I felt sorry for him and began my quest.
Its been a couple of hours since I started and there is no sign of mercury level dropping down. All my fellow trekkers took frequent rests and having known that frequent rests will make me more tired, I took one of the guides and started off in the rough trail. After some time we relished in the shadows of a big tamarind tree and the hospitality of the villagers. It was called a lunch break and my lunch menu read one chapathi and one boli. In these places of earth whatever you eat feels like heaven.All these times the terrain was mostly like a plain. But after this tamarind tree I was told that the terrain is rocky and relatively steep. (Hey man, this is what I wanted). Once again I started off with the guide and this time there were some trees covering the trail and it was good to walk.
I hail from Coimbatore and in my place I used to walk for more than a couple of hours mostly after 6pm in the deserted country side with my mp3 player playing some tracks from Enigma. This is where I reflect on myself and this is what that cultivated a passion for walking where I would not be disturbed by the society and the so called social beings. I had been to a place called Vellingiri hills where the terrain is far more challenging than the current one. There I had to walk on bare foot in the grace of full moon light and the fine ambience of western ghats' ultra cool temperatures. But it is completely the opposite now.After I shifted to Chennai, I understood that it is not possible to have the same experience and I was getting desperate to feel more closer to my soul. Whenever you call for something so desperately, you will be answered most definitely. A good soul in the name of Peter had started something called Chennai trekking club which matched my interests and here I am walking in a remote region called Javvadu hills and I have only the sound of my breath and my shoe thumping on the dry leaves, to accompany me. It feels like God.
Then we went to the summit of the mountain to enjoy the sunset and the view was one of the best I have ever had. I had a bite on the pear that was given to me and it did not taste the same as it usually does. And the water that we had stocked in the bottle had gone very warmer and it would have been better to have a cold one. Then some villager drew some water from the well and gave it to me. Hmm, I never so enjoyed a cup of water like that. It was so cold and I began to wonder. Later, someone told me that well water will be cold during summer and warm during winter...Nature is great! In the night a cute couple volunteered to cook the maggi and the soup that we had brought and it came out fine. Thanks a lot to them I was once again at bliss. For long I never mentioned about the six Chinese guys who accompanied us. These guys enjoyed each other's company and they had a great time. They were always singing something in the bus or in the bonfire that we had after dinner. Till now, I could not make out the language in which they sung. It sounded like Chinese and also like English. After one of the best sleeps I have ever had, I was very hungry. One more guy volunteered to prepare noodles and it was great.(Hey, whenever there is a need, someone volunteers to do it) He mixed the noodles in the soup and no words to describe its taste. Then we started off downhill.
It would be a great mistake if I did not praise the hospitality of the villagers. If I asked for water, they served water along with 'koozhu'(Ragi broth). Whenever I opened my water bottle in front of any villager, he asked,”thanni venuma pa?”( Do you need some more water). And many treated with a great respect that I was truly amazed and understood that the true India is far more friendly and hospitable to people and give least importance to money. But I who hail from a so called city is quite the opposite. It's time for more retrospection on what other effects the city life has laid on me. After a refreshing bath in a stream we started towards the city and I wait for another oppurtunity to be more closer to my soul.Organised by: Ravi Alagappan, Narasimhan
Written by: Vivek
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Arian
Srinidhy hande
Ravikanth
Muralidharan
Ravi alagappan
Narasimhan
Bharath
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