KP

I did it...I didn't know it all...But i did it justice...It’s a nickel or a dime for what I’ve done, The truth is that I don’t really care, For such a lovely crime I’ll do the time, You better lock me up I’ll do it again...

yeah using DMB's words shamelessly here to say I finally did KP!

For the trekkers fraternity, KP needs no introduction but for others, KP stands for Kumara Parvatha, a mountain in Western Ghats. At a height of 1712m its one of the favorite trekking destinations in Karnataka. More info here.

Before the start of the trek I had this fear that I wouldn't be able to complete the trek, and that I may end up staying back when all the others would go ahead. In a way that did happen, except I was on the other side, out of 13 people only 5 of us went all the way! :)

Another 'proud of myself' moment was completing the first stretch to Bhatta's Mane in just 2.5Hrs and that too without sitting anywhere in between! Though i did have many standing rests on the way... :) , but yeah I didn't sit... :P

The next stretch was not as gr8 as the 1st one, was really sluggish, after a heavy lunch...and it took quite a while to burn it off. Watching the sunset from the peak and doing a moonlight trek down to the base where other guys had camped were two other memorable parts of the trip.

But even those pale in comparison to what followed next - the worst night of my life. An entire night spent in the tent, with wind almost flattening the tents, wondering when the nails would give way and tent just fly off...Thankfully it didn't happen, but there was no sleep either, what with tent flapping on the face and at side and all that noise... Sleeping outside seemed like a better option later after stepping out early morn around 5am...

But morning was beautiful and all the bad memories of prev night seemed to be gone with the wind... :)

The climb down from Bhatta's Mane was painful, thanks to the hit on my right knee I had while coming down in the moonlight prev night... But on the whole this was one of the treks i escaped with least injury, just 2 minor slip-falls (I still slip a lot, but i seem to be getting better at stabilizing myself and not falling :) ), 2 bruises - one on knee and one on arm, though I've no idea when the one on arm happened...

Oh yeah, talking of injuries, used the pain relief sprays for first time and they actually sting! :|

Few more things -

> Don't wear Jeans for trekking

> Find a good camping site, not in terms of scenery but in terms of shade, I did know this but yeah got reinforced as to how important it is...

> A cap and a jacket - can't appreciate their value enough...

Now for the best part of this post, Snaps.. :P

Vadi

Arun

Tom

Redthil

Sanjeev

Your's Truly

Pls: On a side note, after all this years i went for go-karting... :)

Grief

stages of grief -

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

sooner you can accept things, the sooner it is to move on...

kodagana koli nungitha

Last week was FOSS.in week and this was probably one of the best ones I've attended so far. I never got to attend all the talks i wanted to but it was still good. And instead of attending I actually got conned into giving a talk! It wasn't much of a talk but yeah whatever... :D :P

Plus thanks to conference, got to know few ppl, whom I knew for many months, much better. Angels i thought them to be and they turned out to be Devils(in good sense of course) :)

Saw Raghu Dixit live for the third time, and this was their best gig by far. All the geeky jokes, with live twitter feed projected behind the band, it was awesome! Also they played 'kodagana koli nungitha' 'n I'd never heard their version before 'n it was pretty good! If you were wondering abt the title, now you know. Its this really nice kannada folk song, you can listen to the original version here. Kodagana Koli Nungitta

After the concert went to a friend's friend's place and had the most amazing home cooked pasta, not the stupid sunfeast thingies either! Friend prepared this marinara sauce with the whole oregano, parsley, olive oil, white wine etc the whole deal! I'm really surprised that he managed to find all those ingredients, considering he had come to B'lore just that day before! It was fun time, somehow even though I was meeting other ppl for first time, it didn't feel awkward.

Finally fulfilled my wish of taking long exposure shots! You know those 'gimme red' torch writing thingies, it was so much fun!

Next day was again interesting. Had slept ard 4am prev night, then got up at 6:30, reached home at 7:30, took head bath and then left for tennis ard 9:30, played till 11. After playing it for some 3-4 times now, I think I actually like playing Tennis! :)

Later on went to Forum 'n Landmark, bought 'Thus Spoke Zarathustra" then met friends at Meghna's for Lunch. Had amazing Andhra food - Chicken 555, Chicken Biryani, Kakkinada Fish curry with white rice...yummmm... :D Later on as friends went shopping, I'd a tough time trying to stay awake, kept dozing off every now 'n then! But somehow managed to keep myself awake on the ride back in auto. Once reaching, nicely slept from 3:30 to 7pm. :)

So yea, that was last week!