Shivgange - Eventful Trip

I stood at top of a mountain ...I had 2 pairs of shoes in my hand and I was talking with early man ....he was hairy like a bear but burly and had human features .He was staring at my shoes... I figured since he was my ancestors (in that matter even urs too ;-) ) he must be knowing Hindi??? (Don’t ask logic)

I said "ese pehenlo aram milegaa ..." that creature wore the shoes and found it very amusing he was jumping with joy ... then suddenly I heard a screech and I saw the railing which the people were supporting themselves to climb the mountain gave way and people falling.....Damn!!! I knew it, I though ... then all of sudden saw people screaming and running for cover ...monkey were attacking people ... and I still wondered "Damn I knew this will happen one day "....

"Kuku kuku kuku ..."The alarm clock buzzed and I woke up from the dream and was delighted to find myself in the comfort of the room ...though still sleepy...

I put my leg on the floor "Uchhh "I felt like a needle pricking me ...."Naah that’s my feet"...It was all messed up... I had a very eventful day yesterday.


This weekend me and badri decided to go to "Shivgange" which was about 60 km from Bangalore....Shivegange is a small town famous for shiva temple on a mountain


We reached the town at around 1200 pm in noon .There was an entrance to the temple with stairs leading to the top. Somehow, considering it was a holy place we did a big blunder ... we decided to leave our shoes outside and climb the stairs (we saw a few folks going without anyfootware inside )

Now as we started climbing the stairs our feet staring burning as the steps were made of stone and at 1200 pm it was like walking bare footed on fire...
Still we began our ascend. It was quiet tough walking bare footed ...to our agony we found every one climbing the steps with foot wares....

As we ascended more we were greeted with cool breeze and amazing view ....it was as if I was getting a view of the city from a cockpit of an airplane...


We took a different route than the usual route ...to make it more adventurous...

In many case we had to climb small monolith rocks only to find steps being carved out ahead ....so it was a mix of rock climbing and plain old step walking ;-)
I was finding it very difficult to get a good grip on the rocks as we didn’t had our foot ware on and in many cases the rock were slanting apart from being baked in the hot sun.I made sure that I move along the grassy path whenever possible as the grass provided coolness to my feet and better grip.

Occasionally we came across some cave like structure ....it was just awesome to be inside it... the rock was cool and gave much needed respite form the heat and sun...

Also cool breeze started to blow across and we felt as if nature was providing us with ac (air conditioner) ....it was simply an amazing experience ...resting

Beneath the caves formed between the rocks and seeing hawks gild beneath us ...for some time we felt like a bird ;-) ...but did not dare to glide ;-)


Then we reached one of the main point in our ascending .From this point the climbing is very dangerous and one cannot climb future without the help of rails.


To my amazement I found many ladies climbing this steep and dangerous path in sari...And that too along with their kids....



Monkey Business
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Before warned that this place is INFESTED by monkeys and those monkey are not afraid of humans (may be they see one of them in us ;-)) I mean they behave as if it’s their mountain and
attack anyone without any hesitations. While climbing the dangerous railing few of the monkeys attacked some folks (not really attack ...They snatched the purse or hand bag)

I wondered why are there so many monkey and the answers came soon enough...we humans cannot keep any place tidy ...where there are humans there is garbage and where

There is garbage there are animals (dogs and monkeys) I was very pained to see the absolute and at times outrageous disregard to the cleanliness of the place ...it

Was as if they felt it their duty to throw empty bottles and polithines and garbage everywhere. Kids would reach to the top and throw bottles down and elders used to clap for that..
Not to speak of the waste food they people threw at the monkeys.... this place is quiet commercialized and hence quiet dirty on your way up.


By the time we reached to the top...we became very conscious of the activates of monkeys


.we didn’t get much chance to take snaps as soon as the camera was out the pocket

The monkey would go straight for it. But once at top the view that greeted us was worth the effort and few snaps here and there and few people screaming as the on key had jumped on them...

We started our way back.



The Shoe Business

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As we started descending my feet started paining a lot. Every step I took I felt a current run through my body ...should I take rest frequently or should I keep moving thru the pain

What a predicament!!! If I took rest it would definitely increase the pain when I started again while it would be difficult to continue walking asd my feet was miserable with pain and heat. My socks already managed to make two big holes in them and my feet were in direct contact with the hot rocks . I rested in shade for some time ...trying to figure out a way out of this agony.... I really missed my shoes so much.... I was people zip past me in those slippers and Shoes and here I was unable to move my feet even a bit ...I wondered how folks in olden times dealt with the situation ...Bingo!!! a scene from the movie "Castway " flashes thru my mind ... tom hanks face a similar situation but he makes himself a sandal form a shoe.....can I do something similar ?

I found few thrown empty packets of water pouches ....I took 4 of them. Coupled them together to form a sole like thing. I removed my torn socks and wore them upside down over the pouches .So now the torn part of the socks were upwards while in the good part I inserted 2 empty polythine pooches 1 for the fingers and one for my ankle for each leg .I got u and haleluyaaa!!! The pain had reduced a lot and it was quiet comfortable to walk....for some time though.

The path was getting increasingly difficult while descending and at places we slipped by how managed to balance ourselves. We crossed the railing part again skidding...Holding tight to the railing...The pain in my feet increased again and I was moving very slowly. I guessed a snail would have given me run for my money at that point. I removed my socks to check if the pouches are intact but to my disappointment they were in shreds .I had to manage the pain somehow before I could reach down...
Believe me folks at that moment all I wanted in my life was my shoe back no food, no money nothing ....SHOE WAS THE BIGGEST INVENTION EVERY MADE for me at that time...

I pulled myself and made it thru few more steps but the pain was getting more and more unbearable ....heck desperate situations need desperate measures...

Badri had already reach to bottom and I was lagging way behind... so I decided to skid thru the railing ...sitting one sided on the rialings i pushed myself and volaaaa!!!...I started streaming down the rail like a train. At times I would be out of control and had to jump off the rail to bring myself to an agonizing painful stop. I repeated it again and again till to my delight I saw the end of rail ... I had reached at the bottom and the first thing I wanted to do was kiss my shoes ;-)......
Limping out I wore the shoe and felt the amazing comfort that it provided to my feet.....

We started our way back to Bangalore by 4.30 pm and were back at out rooms by 8.00 pm .My ankles were in a real mess hardly able to walk. A good overnight sleep made it better but still I do walk with a slight limp and still feel the Pain ....and a good reminder and appreciation of the VALUE of things I have.....I learnt to value what I have NOW more than what I WANT to have latter.



For more pictures click on the below pic
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shivgange