A Story in Stone

Come on. That’s more than a man can ever take. Around 10-15 mails a day talking about the glory of blogging and two trips filled with colorful snaps waiting to be written about and uploaded, screaming into my face every time I open my comp. So here I go … space man Spiff … on his ship exploring land, sea and air …. Blip, blip, blip with my radars going hay wire … Hmmm… perfectionist, as I am most often termed, lemme put things in a more chronological order.

Towards the fag end of another weary year 2007, when people at home had enough of looking at the same faces and brawling over the same topics, we decided that we needed a God damn break!... we were to do the thing that we never thought we ever would … go on a family vacation. The word was out. Father, mother, son and daughter had their mean monkey minds scuttling helter skelter trying to choose the best holiday spot. Dancing gleeful images of sunny golden sanded shores of bright blue beaches scored with gracefully swaying coconut tress peppered my minds 70 mm screen. Then all of a sudden there was this earth quake which ripped apart my iMax theater in which I sat dreaming of Casino Royale- styled vacations. My father and mother in unison expressed their deep felt, unfulfilled penchant desire of visiting the temples and places of Saints of Maharashtra. Swallowing hard I smiled politely and exclaimed what a wonderful idea it was. Over the following weeks … a couple of unforeseen happenings and the hand of merciful God and his companion fate decided to play the game mean. So our trip to Maharashtra got cancelled due to the non availability of train tickets …. Sigh … now what? The relief and pleasure of not going through a forced trip is one thing … while on the other hand, to see the dejection on the face of your sweet mom and dad is another. (Believe me I AM a good boy.)

As things would have it, Debo had come down to Chennai for a days’ stop over, amidst all that rocket launching and PhD work he had been busy with. There at home in the course of an after lunch chit chat he pulled out his memory stick to show all of us his recent pics snapped at an office trip that he had gone on to Bellur, Halibedu and Shravanabelagola ….blogh, blogh, blogh … my tongue got knotted … hold on a sec .. lemme untie it. It was spectacular … the scenery, the splendor of the temple carvings … at once we asked him how far these places were from Chennai. Assuring us that it is very close to Bangalore and that they can be covered in a days’ time (perhaps if we traveled on ISRO’s rockets), he urged us to go on a VACATION!!! The ball was set rolling once again. Spirited and over excited, the next few days saw us on meticulous preparation for the Bellur-Halibedu trip.

After an unpleasant last seat bus journey to B’lore and another rather pleasant day at Kadugodi, we were on a cab towards Bellur. We had estimated that it would be 4 hours before we got there. However, kinder souls who spoke to us put it in milder terms the fact that a trip from B’lore to Bellur will be just a wee bit strenuous. It was around 5:30 am that we started. Excited about the greenery that would accost our hungry eyes; we fell silent … and slowly slipped into our respective timely slumber. Shuffling in and out of my short naps I noticed that our driver lost his way and found it too adding another extra hour and half to our trip. The dawn broke and we left the city behind … and yet there was no greenery. All that the trip had to present was one long winding red mud cloud that followed us everywhere we went and a sun that chose to shine brighter on that day. Stifled by heat (despite the continued snore of a rumbling A/C) and thrown off our nerves by the fact that our time scale estimates of the journey had turned out to be grossly wrong, we cursed every single being who invaded our discussion topics …Approximately, close to 12:30 we landed at Bellur. The place by itself was not very impressive. Like any other haughty tourist flaunting their dark sunglasses and glistening cameras, we walked up the temple stairs and through its massive entrance. Right there a few steps within the premises of the temple we had to make another important decision; whether to hire a guide or not … after a few seconds of family brain storming we decided we would go about exploring the place on our own, at our own sweet pace… without the aid of an guide’s broken English and crafted-to-excite descriptions of the sculpture and history.

We had no idea of what was in stock for us. We spent about half an hour at the entrance to the first enclosure marveling at the quality of the carvings that adorned the temple’s base walls. Walking further up the steps into the sanctum sanctorium, we were welcomed by dark walls of finely sculpted figures and massive pillars that wore … believe me, its not a joke … laces and brocades through which one could pass his/her hand… all chiseled out of one single stone. The whole temple was like an enchanted dream from the royal past of a mystical kingdom. As you stand at the center of the temple with the four corners offering exquisite sculptures of dancing damsels in bovine settings, and close your eyes; you would feel transported into a beautiful story that the temple resonated.

From doorway to doorway we went, scaling wall after wall of intricate carvings. Every patch of the wall had a scene from an epic to narrate. War, dance, joy, coronations, miracles, descents, accents, birth, death ….Thanks to the Canon digicam that we sported, we clicked relentlessly at every nook and corner of the temple. We literally captured every inch of the temple on stills. How true it is … a thing of beauty is a joy for ever. When we come across a thing of such beauty our soul effortlessly surrenders to it. It made us wonder, if an object captivates so much of beauty, then how much more beautiful would the heart of it’s’ creator be? We would have spent the entire day ...nay … perhaps a couple of days, admiring the out-of-the-world works of art had we had the time. Just finding enough time to slip a sheet of news papers beneath the magical pillar that till date is suspended in air, we dashed out bundling into our waiting cab and set rolling towards Halibedu.

Spirited by our visit to the Bellur temple, we were briefed on the glory of what awaited us at Halibedu. Now … I must stop my self. I am running out of expressions. Halibedu was no less in magnificence or beauty. It was in the afternoon and the sunlight added a thousand kaleidoscopic patches of light, reflection and shadows, making the entire experience ethereal. Despite the mindless irrational scribbling proclaiming pastime love sports of pee brained road side Romeos, the carvings and idols wore the same …. shall we say … eerie shroud??? Because the sculptures here were more true to life. The smiles and smirks on the faces of the idols were more “reaching out”. It made me think, perhaps when the sun went down and the temple gates closed for the visitors, these idols and sculpture would come to life and relive the past of a long forgotten era.

Praising myself for having been thoughtful of clearing enough space on my memory card, we snapped at as much of the temple as we could before the grumble in our stomachs got louder than the chatter of the tourists around us. Slowly and very reluctantly we shuffled out of the temple towards our waiting cab. It was one of the most memorable holidays in our lives. The painful journey was worth its bit. Often in my school and college days I would sit in a silent corner of the library gaping in wonder at the heavenly statues of Rome and Italy. But this day’s visit added pride to my heart. So much of beauty in my own land, and all the while I have marveled at the creations across the seas! There certainly is more to be seen; more than the brief span of my earthly sojourn would permit. But be it as it may, this little serving would suffice, for it overflows like a spilling goblet of beauty.

Paradise discovered ... Tada Falls

I must have written much earlier … when the memory of it all was still fresh and vivid in my mind. Often as I read big fat novels describing soulful escapes into thick green unsullied jungles …. I have found myself dreaming of a gurgling brook of crystal water running through a canopy of dancing shadows of heavy branches … with the sunlit patches of the forest floor forming a thousand kaleidoscopic images … with the noisy birds and omnipresent deafening silence … all just waiting with their arms thrown out to wrap you up in an embrace of a lifetime.

Phew! … well I saw that and much more … in an office trip to a place named Tada Falls. Somewhere on the border of Andhra Pradesh and that of Tamil Nadu, there is this magical Eden hidden beyond huge hills and long hours of rugged walks up and down the dales. We started out early in the day, taking a Tempo Traveller. Stopping en route on NH5 for breakfast … we headed straight out of TN. We reached the place in about one and half hours. But the journey actually began from that point onwards. We were told that beyond that point we had to rely on God given means of locomotive structure, our very own legs. So we began … at first chirpy and full of fun …. After climbing up and down a hill and stopping to realize that we came the wrong way … some of us began to show signs of agony, anguish and simple raw red pain.



Retracing our steps to the place where our cab stood waiting … we took ample pictures of both the right and the wrong directions to pass on as valuable legacy to any future generations of extra adventurous group from our office who decided to make it to Tada falls to enjoy a peaceful holiday! Then we walked …. Walked …. Walked ….. and walked …. Hey wait …there seemed no damn end to it ….. but the only thing that kept us going was the distant rubble of a laughing stream …. Both our bodies and minds were aching to lever ourselves in to the cool depths of that running water.

After a short span of endless eternity we came to the foot of another ominous looking hill where there stood a temple of sorts. There were a couple of elderly looking villagers who readily offered us advice, direction and “if willing” paid assistance. Politely refusing their guidance offer …. We proceeded towards thicker foliage admits rockier terrain. Finally, along the way we spotted the brook … that grew into a stream … and then led us to a steadily flowing glass like mass of water. …. GOD!!! We couldn’t have asked for anything better after the inhumane torture that we put ourselves through. The sight of water rejuvenated us to go further and try to reach the base of the famed water fall. But that was a long way off …. soon realizing that … we settled for a beautiful clearing, where the water was flowing faster and clearer with multi colored fishes swimming in and out. Skirting the banks of the stream there were tall trees held in place by huge rocks and kept alive by a group of wild monkeys. It was simply as if we had run away from reality … somewhere out of the world through a window of beauty.


Stripping bare we jumped into the welcoming water. Ahhhhhhh….. I can feel the cool water over my chest … hitting me on my back …. Splashing and diving we washed the weariness off our sore limbs. Imagine … lost in the middle of a serene forest … neck deep in see through clear water …. No one to call you out of the fun!!! Bet we had a whale of a time … Infact, we had our lunch standing in the water waist deep. After we had had enough we walked out dripping wet with shriveled skin. Wiping dry we reluctantly got dressed and bid adieu to that pool of paradise.
And then began the return stroll … ah! an after lunch stroll …. After walking a rough two and a half kilometer distance under a bright golden sun, who somehow found it merrier on that particular day …. We found ourselves kissing the floor of the cab in thanks for the air conditioner that it had …. We then drove back home, well reclined in our seats … watching some crap movie. And before we knew, another day of great adventure had come to a fitting close …. We were earlier in our home than we would have been on a normal working day!!!!

A weekend by the sea ...

After a long week of rebellious planning and last minute hitches and change in schedules, we managed to find ourselves on a bus that took us to our weekend adventure spot - Mahabalipuram. Before I could talk of all the fun we had, I must.... shall we say ...pause in awe to gape at the grandeur and mystery that shrouds the place.
No one knows for sure when or how or even for what Mahabalipuram came into existence. Oh! It slipped my mind to tell you what you would find in Mahabalipuram. It is a rough green sea lashing ceaselessly against black rocks and sun colored sandy shores. Along the coast are excavated temples and cave temples which stand as timeless testimonies to the superiority of the ancient Pallava dynasty's architectural consummacy. With a shift in the sea lines and perhaps an unforeseen catastrophe, a large part of these monuments got entirely submerged, not in the sea but in the sand! Because of this a major part of the intricate carvings and sculptures are eroded and what is left behind is a hazy clue of what they must have set out to depict.
You don't need to know about the smoky history that adds to the magical flavor of Mahabalipuram to enjoy it. However, when I came back from my trip to blog about it... I decided I must know a little more about Mahabalipuram. So I did some web research (not much though) to rediscover the enigma that Mahabalipuram is. It was then that I felt ... that had I done this internet look up prior to my trip, I could have better appreciated it (not that I didn't enjoy it).
OK! That cursory salute to all my high school history teachers would have made all their stuffed souls happy. Now to the trip! It was in the early hours of a cool and crisp morning that we set out. As soon as we landed at Mahabalipuram we had a light breakfast to keep our minds off such mundane things as the rumblings of a grouchy acidic stomach. We then headed straight to the biggest of the excavated temples. It is a huge temple made out of a single rock, standing solemnly in a large and deep pit cut out to better reveal the long sculpted treasure. Like a seashell singing the secret depths of the soul of the ocean, the walls and the stones were almost humming the tune of a long forgotten tale colored by the pangs of pain in waiting for someone ... someone who would listen to them. It was as if the whole temple was desperate to tell you something ... if you would only listen. Oh my God! What an experience. There were three shrines and each held an idol of a God in the most unusual posture ... all of them like clues in a treasure hunt or pieces in a bigger puzzle. I could have sat there all day long, had it not been for the boisterous sea calling out to the kid in me. Oh! I simply cannot keep from the waves...
All around the temple, in the direction of the sea ... a long stretch of mighty black boulders were thrown in to keep the sea at bay (an attempt to save the findings from further future damage). We decided that we would climb high on the boulders and sit there for a while looking far into the green sea ... chatting and cracking jokes and of course ponder upon the meaning of life ;-) Salted by the peppery sea breeze and made crisp by the warm sun we recollected all our student days. When I could hold myself no longer ... we got down and went into the waters. Or rather I went in and the rest, preferring to stay dry sat on a lower rock to continue chit-chatting. I had a whale of a time. It’s a totally unexplainable feeling when your body rocks with the waves. It’s like you're a part of it and at the same time you're not. Only when I had enough and had a call from home (some how parents have the instinct that tells them when they need to panic, even when their children are miles away on a supposedly safe outing near the beach. Mind you it was not long before we had the tsunami here.) with my mother checking in on me did I walk out of the waters to lay on the rock to get myself dry. She knows too well how irresistible the sea is to me.
After changing into a new pair of clothes we moved over to the cave temples, not far from the sea. You have got to be there to see what I am talking of. There are numerous caves amidst a cluster of small rocky hills. On each one of these hills was a temple beckoning you to climb up to them. Most of them have no humanly mitigable path that leads to them. We felt like a bunch of explorers who for the first time are treading fresh grounds, discovering never before seen wonders. Puffing, panting and laughing we went up and down the mountainous hills looking into every cave we came across and stopping before every shrine we passed. Finally we climbed the highest hill and lay there roasting in the sun (just to catch all the lost breath) for quite some time.
I guess it must have been the primitive urgings of the base growls from the bottom most pits of our stomachs that pushed us down to the lower realms of earth in search of organic edible substance made fit to eat. And so we drove back home from there dreaming of good food!