Covered Bridges of Connecticut - Comstock Bridge

Third installment of covered bridges of Connecticut. Comstock bridge, built in 1873, is one of the three historic bridges remaining in Connecticut. Photographing it in -4˚C was an experience in itself. Enjoy the clicks.

Covered Bridges of Connecticut - Huckleberry Bridge & Kent Falls Bridge

I decided to cover the covered bridges of Connecticut in this winter. If possible will try to cover in fall again.

Huckleberry Bridge

The first two bridges our more of shelters and travelled on foot. Huckleberry bridge located in the town of Avon is more of a shelter now.

Kent Falls Bridge

Next Bridge I covered was the Kent Falls bridge in the Litchfield county. Driving over an hour into Litchfield county, final encounter with Kent falls bridges was enticing. Snow laden ground welcomed me with semi frozen waterfall.

Thoughts on Republic Day!

Happy Republic day to one and all!

To all people posting crap about not celebrating this day - Respect this day because it is this day that lets us post crap on these forums. Had not been the Constitution safeguarding your freedom to express, that came into effect this day, you would probably be shot between the eyes or hanged publicly on posting what you post just by copy-pasting the words or thoughts without even weighing it in your head. It was someone amongst you and me who committed the heinous act and our constitution did not certify such acts. Even the people in government regardless of which party or coalition they belong, are from us and regardless of who is in power, crimes more heinous and gory in nature have been committed. But still without an iota of doubt I feel proud of everything bestowed upon us as a nation, be it the freedom that we have enjoyed over 65 years, or the biggest achievement of always being a democratic republic throughout this period unlike the nations that got independence at the same time but have been swinging between dictatorship and democracy with fundamental rights or should I say even basic human rights curbed and unheard of. 

Take pride in this my friend, you never know the value of things until they are taken away from you.

He said I deserve it!

On a side lane, in the puddle of mud
as I lie again, in my own blood
my body deranged, my soul stripped
dragged kicked shoved and gripped
through the settling dirt and dimming light
the words still ring clear and high
He can't better serve it!
He said that I deserve it!


With burning tires in the garbage pit
breathing my last, my motherhood slit
They came one they came all
they ripped my soul they crushed it all
O Lord, he said its in your name
and the words were still the same
He can't better serve it!
He said I deserve it!


the night was dark when I was jailed
little I knew what my crime entailed
my soul shivered, my heart sank
tears dropped from my eyes blank
dress he wears, is the law, he said
he repeated the same as I pled
He can't better serve it!
He said I deserve it!

names, reasons, powers or nothing
nobody,co-worker, protector or king
they haunt me everyday
in a different way
I bear that gaze, I bear it all
the words are clear once and for all
I can't be better served
This is what I deserved!

Epilogue:

I deserve toys I deserve care
I deserve life I deserve share
I deserve friendship I deserve love
I deserve respect and all above

- Ammar H Zaidi


As 23 year old Braveheart rape victim of Delhi incident passes away in Singapore, my heart breaks for her. The condition of safety of women in Delhi is so dismal that most of them have become used to incidents that actually outrage their modesty. A small piece highlighting the plight.

Fall Colors in Duluth, Minnesota - Scenic Skyline Parkway Drive

Fall in United States is marked by the changing of colors of leaves. People travel to hundreds of destinations to just see this wonderful natural phenomena and capture it. Duluth is one such place. Plan was to tread the Superior Hike Trail along the North Shore of Lake Superior from Duluth to Canadian border. However as my assignment in Minneapolis drew to close, it boiled down to driving along one of the four scenic Superior Byways - Skyline Parkway (aka Skyline Drive) that starts from Duluth.

Duluth is some 150 miles from Minneapolis and I-35 N is what you need to follow.  The scenic drive stretches from Spirit Mountain where there is a small amusement park and party venue which can be rented. Fall colors are amazing and it gives a nice view of lake superior from the top. 

As you continue, the Skyline Parkway marked by green signboards with a small painting on it, the view gets as breath taking as it can. Road meanders through the hilly terrain at places. Trails carry signs and lead into forests for further enchantment.

The scenic byway then leads through multiple attractions which so mesmerizing  specially during the fall, when the colors are just amazing. The drive is mostly hilly and gives a beautiful view of the lake, town and various state forests.

Fall is the best time to drive through the scenic byway. On the way there are some major and numerous smaller spots where you can just pull over and just have a look about. Spirit Mountain, Enger Park Tower, Two Ponds, Seven Bridges, Scenic overlooks, Lift Bridges, Split Rock Lighthouse and the count is endless.

The Enger Par tower has a wonderful view about it. On one side is beautiful landscape and on the other one can see the distant Lift Bridge and shoreline of Lake Superior.

Wish some day I go on hiking again.

What's on your mind? Is it really what you are posting?

Present day social media has empowered individuals sitting in remote drawing rooms with a medium to express themselves in public domains and be heard which they may not be able to do in first person. There is a huge mass that has reaped benefits out of it. However the boon has a flip side too. There is another set of people who have knowingly and unknowingly converted this boon to bane for themselves and for the rest of the society. Being on a social platform does not make everything uttered or shared as sane. There is a class of people with whom if you start holding a conversation on a contemporary issue, they cannot go beyond the first superficial layer of it, leave aside the reasoning, rationale and having a locus standi on it. However, the same class becomes active in the virtual space. They start posting some 300 words on a issue so entangled that even the country's most intellectual brains fail to analyze. Not only they put forth the issue, they put a judgement in the next line, emphatically claiming it to be the universal truth. However the language along with everything makes it evident that it is either copied from internet, or is mere rhetoric. Then starts a whole bunch of commenting that is completely antithetical to the post above. The comments start with exclaimatory remarks, goes on to become a conversation on something casual like a movie dialogue or some trip and finally ends with something identical to the persona of the author. Someone with a little common sense can easily makeout the reasoning behind the post. It is usually one of the following

- A showoff of pseudo intellect

- A complex - "Am I a lesser man/woman? I have a job, I have a good salary, I do all sorts of upmarket stuff, I can also make a statement, Let the people know that i have also grown brains now, Lets see how many people comment or like it."

- Others-are-doing-it-so-will-I thing

- I-dont-have-anything-to-post outcome

The person logs out from internet leaving behind a catalyst for a potentially dangerous phenomena. Such people dont even go by the reason or rationale behind the issue they vomit in their posts. Remember their reasons behind posting. Hence they are least bothered about the accuracy, authenticity of the statements they made. Same class of people now fall prey to the rhetoric uttered in the post and start building a superficial stand on particular issue, accepting it as a universal truth without verifying the authenticity. However since the stand is built on the edifice of non-verified statements it is as weak as the statement itself. But it results in another post by the new prey and further discussions without understanding the rationale behind the issue.

Now realise the outcome of this. Social media is so powerful a tool that it has orchestrated revolutions recently (where it was used responsibly). However if something similar gets built up on mere rhetoric and hooliganism, imagine where we will head to. A society is a gigantic machinery of which an individual or a group is just a small block which does not know what goes on in the entire machinery, however even if a small disturbance starts originating from couple of blocks the results can be catastrophic. Tampering with even a small screw may result in a situation uncalled for. Democracay is a boon and we should appreciate it. Remember some five,ten, fifty lakh or even one crore people do not represent the views of over a 120 crore people, forget about the miniscule population on social media.

In such times it becomes a duty of every individual firstly to stop taking things on their face value. Whatever comes in public domain may not always be right or may not always be wrong. One should check the authenticity, nullify the prejudices, subside the emotions and understand the rationale behind the issues. Once all these are established, a stand point would emerge which can be shared/discussed with others. If such an approach is taken we can be sure that whatever we are passing on to others is not a part of any propaganda, nor is it someone else's stand point, but it is what we are and what we stand for. And I am sure if we understand this responsibility we can freely exercise our power. And till the time we dont understand it, silence is the best statement.

Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Trail on Bike

"Lets just ride without a destination and go as far as we can on a weekend." said Sunil on a Saturday evening after a cards game. That night we drove some 50 kms by car towards Mysore from Bangalore. It was time for testing the do-it spirit of my friends. I even threw the dice for driving upto Mysore that night but the answer was a unanimous no. We returned around 1 a.m. that night. Already down with few drinks, Sunil continued with the rant of going for 'Virgin Adventure' on bike for an unknown distance, not knowing that he was talking to a different set of creatures. The next day few mails got circulated. The rough plan was to ride or drive to the land's end, Kanyakumari, if we could reach it. Else return from a place where our energy meters start show red. But driving on a straight road without any challange, didnt seem interesting to me in particular. As the long awaited weekend of April 22-24 , 2011, drew close (thanks to the Easter which was falling on Friday), people and plan both fell apart. Kanyakumari was ruled out being 600 km and 4 of our friends opted out. Search for new destination was on and hopefully we still had 6 people. Rahul suggested Nagarhole National Park and Iruppu falls, sounded interesting but I had something else in my mind. Why just Nagarhole ? We have three days, let road be the destination, lets ride into the woods till the adrenaline stops flowing and the lungs get pumped out. So taking help from google map, I chalked out a bike trip through woods of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve which is comprised of . The plan was to cover as many National Parks and forest reserve as we can, but due to time limit we zeroed in on 4-5 National Parks/sanctuaries.

The plan was to take roads through National Parks on which two wheelers our allowed. Upon doing a little search the plan became something like this

Day 1 -

Hit the road at 4am drive through Bangalore-Mysore-Heggadadevanakote (HD Kote)-Kabini Reservoir-Nagarhole National Park & Bavali-KartiKulum-Kutta

Lunch at Kutta

Afternoon Safari at Nagarhole

Dinner & Stay at Kutta

Day 2 -

Start early morning

Drive through Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary-Sulthan Bathery-Bandipur National Park-Mudumalai National Park.

Evening Safari in Mudumalai

Stay at Mudumalai

Day 3

Hit the road early morning

Drive through Bandipur-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore

As it had to be, it rained all evening and night on Thursday. Two of our friends who stayed around 30 kms from our place could not make it to our place on thursday evening. At one point the whole plan went for a toss. Discussions on risk involved in going out on such trip at all followed. Even a call was made to a travel company to enquire about a cab to Bandipur so as to make sure that the weekend doesnt go idling all three days. But somehow I was convinced that we can still make it, rain will stop, even if it doesnt we can still ride. Yes I was scolded, counter argued, pitted against the most foolish people in the world, rubbished for being stubborn, yet I was ready for the trip with full conviction. But couple were not convinced and rightly. I tried to knock some motivation into them, "May be the weather is good outside Bangalore.., It wont rain continuously for three days..., the roads are good..., we can start a little late". We went to sleep hoping to see clear sky in morning. I was already ready when our friends staying far off came around 5 in the morning but it was still raining and didnt even look remotely motivational. But somehow I pulled others out of their cosy beds and gradually the mood changed from down under to the one of lets-take-a-chance. I had circulated a mail last evening for things to carry and we had them ready in our back packs.

It was still drizzling at quarter to eight when we set out shielding ourselves in windcheaters and our stuffs in polybags. We took the Nice road towards Mysore from Electronic City. Before we touched State Highway 17 to Mysore, it had stopped raining and we clicked first photographs of the trip. The road to Mysore is straight and passes through landscape full of coconut trees, banana growth. since it had rained the landscape was lush green. We stopped for tea on the way and moved to Mysore. We took a diversion after Srirangapatna towards Heggadevankote popularly known as HD Kote and bypassed the city. We passed HD Kote and reached Kabini around 2:30, there was a diversion on the road carrying signboards of Kabini reservoir at 10 kms towards left and Bavali towards right at 40 Kms. We took the left one and reached Kabini reservoir. The entry through main gate of the Kabini reservoir is restricted and one has to take the side lane which reaches a second gate around 1 km from the main one. Sun was perched high and it was hot. We could see the barrage doors and water flowing through them. There was a small temple too. A flight of stairs led to the reservoir bund. We had to jump the railing at the top. The view of the reservoir was beautiful, though it has become a little hot. We still clicked few photographs and came down.

We enquired for the way towards Nagarhole from the locals. It turned out that we need to go back 10 kms towards the diversion. At the diversion we met a few local boys who were digging by the side of the road and tried to understand the way to Nagarhole. Surprisingly we got different directions from different people. There were people passing who told us to go back some 20 kms and then go towards Hunsur and from there we can reach Nagarhole. However since I have already checked the route on internet, I was sure which way to take. Two wheelers were not allowed inside Nagarhole on the road through Hunsur. After some discussions we took the road that read Bavali which was 40 kms and passed through Nagarhole National Park. Two guys came on a Yamaha from HD Kote and enquired about the rout to Kabini Reservoir, we pointed them to the left diversion. Another couple of kms and we were at a gate. It read 'Welcome to Rajiv Gandhi National Park'. Nagarhole is also known as Rajiv Gandhi National Park.

The road, State Highway 33 is single lane and passes through villages and is broken at many places after first few kilometers. It was around 5 pm when we reached a diversion which carried a sign board of Kabini River lodge with few shops. We were apprehensive of reaching inside the main entry for Nagarhole as it closes at 6 pm. There was some confusion on the exit time as well. However all speculation was set to rest by an employee of some resort indicating that there was not exit time from the National Park and the entry gate was just 2 kms from there. My odometer was showing 263.6 kms. At exact 265.6 kms we were standing in front of the Nagarhole National Park main entry gate.

The road through the Nagarhole National Park is smooth, clean, tarred the surroundings are scenic. The signboards indicating wildlife related symbols and quotes are plenty. All around, the vegetation is thick and the trees are tall. As the dusk was drawing to close, our engines roared past the quite forest. Truly we were invaders here. We passed a truck carrying an elephant with huge teeth. A group of tourists on safari passed us in a jeep. There was still some traffic flowing inside the forest. No soon did we started getting lost into this heavenly abode of wildlife, we felt the first drops of rain since morning. In no time it started pouring heavily. Our windcheaters could not shield us. The visibility through our helmets reduced drastically. Gradually the foe turned into friend and we started enjoying the rain. We started dancing on our bikes. But we had some more adventure in store for us.

Varun was first to notice the deflated tire on Rahul's bike. Guess what, we had a flat tire. Wow! Karan was riding pillion, he got off and got on to the bike on which Prashant and Sachin were riding, while Rahul rode on the deflated tyre with whatever air was left in it. Luckily we chanced upon a tea shop and guess what there was a tyre mending shop next to it. Boy! our lucky day. The joy was doubled. It turned out that the tube needs to be changed. The mechanic changed the tube while we sipped the local variant of black tea called kattan. Meanwhile we got some time to make changes to the original plan as the safari in Nagarhole was not possible today. We were to enter Kerala in next 5-6 kms through the bordering district of Wayanad. Rahul wished to see Waynad. Sachin has already seen a lot of Kerala but said that it may be far off from here and we may miss the Mudumalai/Bandipur National Parks. So the change of plans still stayed undecided. However one change was decided. We chucked the plan to stay at Kutta and instead it was decided to stay in Mananthvady which was some 25 odd kms from the place we were standing. The detour from the route has begun. It was still drizzling when we got on the road. The guys on Yamaha whom we directed at Kabini also joined us from here. It turned out that their clutch wire broke near Kabini but forunately they got it repaired. It was dark when we reached the exit gate of Nagarhole. We passed Bavali and Kattikulum and reached Mananthvady, a small town in Waynad, Kerala. The rains were unforgiving, windcheaters have given up long back, roads were flooded and we were drenched completely. There was another natural need which we all have forgotten to fulfill in our hurry to reach Nagarhole, Hunger. We had skipped the lunch! We were hungry and to our dismay all the hotels and lodges were occupied. Luckily one of the attendants at a lodge agreed to arrange for a home stay. A little apprehensive about the arrangement, we agreed to wait for the house owner to show us the house. But to our relief the house was cozy and the owner was providing food for us. We were now 8 people including the two guys on Yamaha, Anunay and Shwetank. We took them for IT guys, but it turned out they were in fashion designing. They carried D90s with them and came all the way from Bangalore on a similar trip.

Accomodation was on first floor with 3 bedrooms, a living room and 3 bathrooms with hot water. The owner was gracious enough to arrange for tea the moment we stepped into the house. The dinner was Vegetable Kurma and Chapati with cucumber salad and bananas. Delicious! Post dinner we enquired about the nearby spots to visit in Wayanad. Soochipura waterfall seemed the most probable. Tired, Washed and yet excited we fell into our beds at around 11:30pm. Next morning the we got up around 7, the Yamaha guys were ready and they departed paying their share of the money for the stay. We got ready around 8:30 and after tea, we started for Soochipara waterfalls. The route was Mananthvady-Kalpetta-Maippadi-Soochipara and then to go towards Bandipur we had to come back to Maippadi. The weather was still cloudy and the ride was through the country side. We passed children going to schools, mosques, churches, temples. Soochipara was 43 kms from Manantvady. We stopped at Maippadi to have our breakfast at Udupi restaurant and ensured that we gave good start for the day to Udupi's business by hogging few couple of dosas, another few couple of poori sabzis and some 20 odd vadas with some 10 idlis. Boy! what a breakfast. We cleared all their vadas.

As we got back on the road a beautiful scene of hills unfolded in front of us from no where. Just a little high above the hustle of the town, right in front of us, we could see three hill tops peeping through clouds in a distance. What a view. We could just imagine what is in store for us. A right turn towards Soochipara bears the signboard indicating the distance to be 14 kms. We turned our bikes on to that road. After initial rows of houses with burnt clay roof, the nature started unfolding itself as if a magician pulling out different things from his sleeves. We were riding through hills. We were riding through huge tea gardens. There were tea estates all over. We clicked photos like maniacs. The slopes, the valleys, the creeks, the ascents, the descents all bore tea, tea and tea. And the road was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. We were riding through heaven. We reached Soochipara waterfall around 10 am. After parking our bikes we walked another 1.5 km to reach the base of the fall. It was crowded. We quickly changed and went directly under the fall. It was fun all over. Yamaha guys have joined us on the way after Maippadi, and one of them, Shwetank, kept clicking our pictures from his D90. We came out around 12 and started towards Maippadi.

At Maippadi we enquired about the route, there was confusion again as there were people indicating two correct routes on exactly opposite direction. One of this route went through Sultan Bathery and reached Bandipur through Karnataka while the other went through Gudalur and reached Mudumalai National Park in Tamil Nadu and then further Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. Guess which route we took. Yes, damn right, the one through Gudalur. We started riding through hills again and passed a police check post and toll at Tamil Nadu border. The cop asked for our bike documents which we produced and then moved further after a small photo session. The road meandered through the tea plantations and ascended the hills. Gudalur is some 60 kms from Meppadi. The terrain is hilly but the road is smooth and clean. The spell cast on us by the hilly ride broke with the sudden downpour and we quickly got back into our windcheaters. But after couple of kilometers it became extremely difficult to ride in heavy rain. We stopped at a small shed and waited for the rain to subside. We got back on the road in another 15-20 minutes. It was still drizzling but we continued to ride and enjoy. We passed few villages, a small town on the way and reached Gudalur around 4 pm. Mudumalai National Park is around 15 kms from Gudalur.

We entered Mudumalai National Park and to our joy we saw couple of wild elephants in distance. We also passed couple of deers on the way. A chimp was hanging from a branch somewhere too. Near the diversion leading to Masinagudi we some tourists. It was a forest office and couple of jeeps were parked there. Our hopes rose in the anticipation of a safari in jeep however after enquiring about the safari and stay, we figured out that both safari and accomodation aren't available and we need to rush to Bandipur National Park which was another 15-20 Km in order to catch the last safari which starts at 6 pm. We rode towards Bandipur National Park. On the way we passed the thick forests with bamboo groves. It was still drizzling when we stopped at the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border for a brief halt and then continued towards Bandipur National Park. Upon reaching Bandipur National Park forest office we were informed that the last safari has been canceled due to less animal sightings and next safari would be next day morning at 6:30 am. As per the plan we had decided to stay in Bandipur/Mudumalai. We tried our luck in the resorts in Bandipur but all were efforts became futile as there was no accomodation available. A vendor told us that we can find accomodation at 5 kms from that place just outside the Bandipur National Park. We got back on our bikes and crossed the exit of Bandipur National Park. After trying our luck we settled for a small lodge. There was a restaurant in it where we had our lunch. It was sumptuous and satiating. We lied down around midnight.

At 5:30 all of us were up and ready to go back to Bandipur for the safari. We reached the forest office, got our tickets and boarded mini buses, yes mini buses ! Anyways our trip was more about our rides and not safaris. So we went inside the jungle with least hope of sighting some big thing as it has rained for last three days. We spotted few animals, liks Sambar, wild buffalos, cheetals. Yes yes not so rare but that's what we spotted. We came back to the Forest office in another 45 minutes and then rode back to our stay. After a breakfast of idlis and dosas we caught a quick nap and then got ready one by one to cover the next and final lap of our wonderful bike ride, the road back to Bangalore.

We started riding towards Gundlupet which was some 15-20 kms and then towards Mysore, 75 km from Bandipur. This time we didnt bypass the city we went right through the Mysore passing by the Mysore palace and the towards Srirangapatna. The sun was playing hide and seek and we had fun flowing all around, on the road, near the coconut water stall, near the banyan tree where we clicked pictures, at the 'Nandhan Panjabi Dhaba' (yes they spelt it panjabi) where we had our lunch. Bangalore was 28 km when it started raining again. We found a small shelter somewhere and then moved again but guess what we were not spared on the third consecutive evening of rain and we were wet again when we stopped on the Nice road to click few pictures before we entered the garden city.

There were two factors which made the trip unforgettable, the company and the bike. We did all, we did it together. We rode in the scorching sun, we rode in thick forests, we rode in rain amidst wild animals,we rode in deep woods, we rode in rain in towns, we rode in rain on hills, we rode through the tea estates. We rode on the road as if there is no looking back and that made it all the more fun. And yes the odometer read 726.6 Km when I parked the bike below my apartment.

The route that we eventually ended up taking was this

Day 1 -

Start riding in rain at quarter to 8 drive through Bangalore-Mysore Ring Road-HD Kote Road-Heggadadevanakote (HD Kote)-Kabini-Nagarhole National Park-Bavali-Out of Nagarohole-KartiKulum-Mananthvady

Dinner and Stay at Mananthavady

Day 2 -

Start early morning

Ride through Mananthvady-Kalpetta-Maippadi-Touching Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary-Soochipara Watarfalls-Meppadi-Gudalur-Mudumalai National Park-Bandipur National Park

Stay at Bandipur National Park

Day 3

Hit the road early morning

Safari at Bandipur

Drive through Bandipur-Gundlupet-Mysore-Bangalore