SivasamudramTalakadGloaterTrip
Trip with gloaters group to Sivasamudram and Talakad
06/13/2004 - 06/19/2004
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
Friday - 3:30 Lakshya - Sanu and Aslam were here and we were waiting for Jacob to come over form Bombay - Lots of kaththi adi amidst TV watching - Jacob
arrives - before long , the card session started - The carding went on till 6 on saturday morning after which I got switched off - At 8:30 , PravinS called
me up and asked myself ,Binoy and Jacob to come over to his place.
Me being the only non-ECE(2000 batch) in the gloater group , felt a little out-of-place since it was natural to expect a few in the group mildly resentful
about a non-ECE guy in the group.May be not.However , there were zero light jabs of the minimal that I had expected.I hanged on for some more time in the van while
Sandeep was telling the love-stories of fellow gloaters and others were listening intently.the ambience was set up very fast.I personally with the
others-can-always-think me a non ECE feeling lied low for some time.Before long , I was out of the pupa and an active participant in the trip.There were some
digital photography sessions followed by Anthakshari.Quite a few of us liked to sing.I was a very important participant as well.I could sense an alikeness in
the good feel that each of the singers were getting.The lyrics and the music were equally felt while the songs were being sung.Malayalam music and lyrics,
quite impressive as they are added even more charm to our enthusiastic Anthakshari.I was totally off-guard while singing , trying to totally feel the mood of
the song and sing it and not having a very measured approach.Mridul and Tiju had quite a good understanding of the lyrics.
The lunch distribution followed the anthakshari as the van had meanwhile reached Sivasamudram.Generally , I would come along last and have my
food.Today , I played a morale role in the distribution , waited for others to get the food , was quite involved with the task at hand suggesting ways to do
it.That felt good.I could see the usual me walking around as Narendran whom I gather to be a loner always minding his own business.The biriyani plus chicken
was interspersed with some wisecracks that were well received to my joy.All along I had just been myself and it felt like I had clicked in well enough.That
was great me being a non-ECE ;).Once we got down , there were three waterfalls to our left and a butterfly habitat to the right.Had a slight episode with
the butterflies after which we walked down to the falls.Tried to capture some good snaps of the falls.Once we reached down , there was nothing interesting as
I had seen enough water falls.So Job and me set out on our butterfly/birding session.We did manage to get some snaps.Noticed that Job had more enthusiasm
than me.We were good partners all along helping each other with observation and photography.The observation details will be uploaded to the imagestation site
as comments.This was another session of good human interaction .. hmm.
After spending roughly 2.5 hours at Sivasamudram , we moved to Talakkad.We had bought mangoes.For some time , one could see all gloaters munching
mangoes.Tall trees by the side of a large waterbody with dry white-sand terrain.Walked through the trees for some time.There were some hanging
branches.Mridul exhibited his tree-climbing skills to the entertainment of the crowd a few of which took photographs.Soon more followed.Rajesh tried to
outsmart Mridul with his antics exposing himself to the danger of lungi-snatching.Sandeep took the ownership and the lungi while I took a snap.The hanging
branches session was fun for all.
We walked back to the water.Tiju had impressive orange swimming trunks that got loud booos from the crowd.the rapport was good all over.Quite a few
times , I have seen people who try to enjoy but are not able to do it as they are too shelled up.I have myself felt it many a time.Here , everything was just right.Job called me for a look around this habitat as well for birds and butterflies.This was a similar episode as in Sivasamudram with equal success and rapport.Job was quite committed to the cause.He was very eager to help me get good photographs as well and took good initiative towards that moving branches away from the view , insisting
that I not take snap as it is not worth and the like.I was a little below-par with Job in the passion , the enthusiasm , the initiative and the
comaraderie.For instance , once the birding was over , while waiting for the rest of the gang , Job suddenly slapped me hard on the back and shouted 'Raptor
Raptor'Thankfully I did see the bird as I turned around shocked.
Soon the saner ones joined.We had a tea session.I explained the SLR focussing technique to Kalyan , Pravin etc to their delight(the joy of discovery).The next stop was
unanticipated.This was a holy temple that had got buried in sand.A kannada guide explained the stories of each of the around seven temples that we walked
to.Though most of us were complaining during the walk , I thoguht it was enjoyable on-the-whole in terms of the paras that are inevitable in such a
gatherng.This was something to remember about.Job showed us an owlet which he had been seeking all aong.
The trip back was generally quiter with just a few of us playing anthakshari.Again I was tring to capture the mood of the song and sing accordingly
with little concern for the vocal tones.This was acceptable and that was really good.It showed that all were singing with their heart in the song.The game
stopped when the songs and the energies dried up parallelly.The dinner was at Ravi's kitchen with an IAS related discussion anchored by Raghu followed by a
palmistry session back at STBed(Sandeep's house).I was the palmist and I could see that most of us were susceptible to palmistry.After another brief kaththi
adi with Jojish followed by card session , I left back home with a very contented heart.
Posted by cinish narayanan on 10:22 PM
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