Enchanting Sinhagad

The plan was to go together. All four members of the team on my short term assignment in Pune. As the assignment drew to close and I started winding up, I asked my team members for trekking to Sinhagad on my last weekend at Pune. Eventually there were only two of us left. We decided to go for trekking on Sunday, November 28, 2010.

At 0545 hrs  I called up Rahul Prabhune to wake him up. He picked me from the Swar Gate in his Santro around 0700 hrs. We  drove to Sinhagad base, halting on the way at Khadakwasla. We reached the base around 0745 hrs parked the car there. The climb began at around 0800 hrs. The trek starts with gradual stony path and is easier for initial part. It gets steeper and rocky as one moves up. We had to do some rock climbing in some creeks.

On the way there were a couple of small shops selling lime water, mineral water, cucumbers and Indian goose berries.  The trek is mostly rocky and green. We stopped at places to see the view about us and breathe some fresh air. 

At around 0930 hrs we were at the stairs of the fort. We climbed the top of the gate and gazed at the view around us. It was a feeling of a conquerer.

After taking few pictures we further dwelled on the mountain. The remnants of the fort are just few walls, gates and a chamber. Though much bigger than Purandar it is more like a table land. 

There are around 3-4 small desi style food joints (dont know what else to call them). I liked the arrangements for the customers. They had mats laid under the shade of low bushes where one can sit, lie down and relax and have the local marathi food. We had bhajji or onion pakodas (fried nuggets of onion and gram flour paste)  and then curd in small mud pots for the starters. 

After lying down for a while we had the 'Jhunka Bhakri' comprising of Pithla(local dish made from gram flour) and Bhakri(Jowar chapati). A cup of tea and then we got up to explore rest of the place.

A little further on the table land we saw that some people were doing rappling across the valley. I hurried myself to find out. It turned out that I was right. We quickly paid 100 bucks to the guys operating the sport. I quickly got into rappling gears, a harness and within minutes I was hanging from the rope through a harness and moving to the other end of the valley. It was an amazing experience. 

We started the descent around 12 and reached the base around 1. We drove off to the city chatting about the wonderful experience that I had. As for Rahul, he was a regular to Sinhagad during his childhood. For me, Sinhagad would remain one of the best experiences in the Maratha land. 

In the wilderness of Purandar

It was the afternoon of Sunday, November 21, 2010. I dragged myself out of slumber and lethargy somehow and convinced myself to visit Sinhagad fort before I leave Pune in another 10 days. I was having my lunch and browsing net on my phone to get directions to Sinhagad, when a link to a blog about a trip to Purandar caught my eye. By the time I finished my lunch I had decided to spend rest of the day trekking at Purandar fort. A quick look at the directions to the Purandar indicated that I need to take PMPML bus from Hadapsar bus station to Saswad, from there I need to go to Narayanpur and take a diversion towards left to Purandar fort and then trek/climb my way up to the Purandar fort.

Purandar is 40 km south east of pune at a height of 1398 metres above sea level and stands on a huge mountain. Oldest mention of Purandar fort dates back to somewhere around 13th century. In 14th century , Bahamani sultans built few structures comprising of bastions and walls. For over a hundred years, right till the late 16th century it remained under Nizamshahi rulers. The fort was given as Jagir to Maloji Bhosale, grandfather of Shivaji around 1596 AD. In 1665, Mughal forces under Jai Singh and Dilir Khan captured it and Shivaji surrendered it along with 23 other forts. Shivaji recaptured it in 1670 AD. Later in 1818 AD, British captured it. During the Second World War, the German war prisoners were kept here.

As I boarded the state transport bus from Hadapsar bus station, It started drizzling as predicted by the weather software on my phone. Technology these days does not walk, it leaps. But that's another story. The road to Saswad meanders through neatly cut roads through the western ghats. This stretch is called Dive ghat. A major part of the road has hills running parallel to it. It was sunny and rain has stopped now. I got down at Saswad around 3:00 pm.

During my solitary adventures through varied geographies in India, auto rickshaw has played the role of a life boat. I have scaled heights and traversed cities with this poor man's cow. So again, here I was planning to take an auto rickshaw to Purandar base and then start climbing. After failing to strike a deal with couple of auto rickshaw drivers, I decided that its better to take a shared transit to Narayanpur from rickshaw stand a little over 1 km from bus stop. I wallked to the place and got into a shared auto rickshaw. Suddenly it started raining heavily and I witnessed another indigenous invention, 'jugad'. There were two canvas flaps tied in front of our seat in the rickshaw. The driver pulled them out and attached them on both sides of the rickshaw virtually like doors to a cab. I was dumbstruck.

Through the blog that I read earlier in afternoon, I knew that the diversion to Purandar bears a signboard with Shivaji's image on it. When we passed it I asked the driver about the way to the fort and about the signboard but he insisted that the way was on the right. A few metres ahead we got stuck in a traffic jam. I got down and started walkin another 200 metres and I was standing at Narayanpur bus stand. After some enquiry it turned that I need to go back to the diversion again and go in the direction indicated by the signboard. I cursed the auto rickshaw driver as it was getting late it was almost 4:00 pm.

I came back to diversion and tried to get some transport to the foot of the mountain. I tried hitchhiking but no use as there were very few people going that way. As a last resort I stopped another auto rickshaw. The driver told me that its no use going to the foot of the hill and start climbing now as it will get dark and the gates to the fort / cantonment will be closed. There is a battalion stationed at the top that closes the gates after dusk. He can take me up and bring me back to Saswad, if I pay him a little extra. After debating his motives of earning a little extra from a non-local, in my head, I reluctantly agreed to the deal, but told him that I will take as much time as I wish.

The climb began via tar road till I reached the gates. Beyond the gates the road is just mud and stones. I passed two abandoned structures of churches which looked beautiful set in the lush green and hilly backdrop. I stopped to take few pictures and moved on. There is a gate to the left of the road a little lower from it. It is usually referred as Dilli darwaza. I kept treading the muddy path passed another abandoned structre which probably used to be an eating joint. There is house next to that structure, one with burnt clay tiles roofing, popularly known as 'khaprail'. I was overjoyed to find that there was a small tea shop in that house. I made a mental not of having tea there on my descent.

There were steps beside the house that led to a temple. Instead of taking the usual path to the top I went to the back of the courtyard of the temple and started climbing through the muddy creeks. It was slipper as it has rained but could not deter me from moving ahead. It is not that tough a trek. I passed the normal path and people on that a couple of time during my ascent. I had to bend down to find my way through the thick bushes at some places. In less than one hour I was at the steps of the fort.

I gazed around and felt the scenery about me for a while. The ruins of the fort just have one solid structure with wall, a round structure and two gates. Rest of it is just ruined walls. So, not much of a fort though but a good place to trek, sit back and relax. At the top there two ridges run to Vajragarh fort and a temple respectively. Since it was getting dark, I sat there for another half an hour and then started descending.

At some point I felt I have lost my way as I was taking the creeks again. By the time I reached temple courtyard it was dark. I had some tea at the tea shop. While returning, I met two armymen. They were going to close the gates. With some interesting conversation with them, I moved to my auto rickshaw which was waiting at the gates. It took me to Saswad from where I boarded the bus to Pune. On the way it rained heavily. And as I got down in Pune, I had a reason to come back again to Purandar. Visit the Vajragarh and do the entire trek. Well, haven't I thought same about places that I havent visited second time in my life.

One day trip to Nagarjuna Sagar

It was 4:15 am when Kiran knocked at the door. I was already awake in anticipation of a call from the cab which was expected at 4:30 am. I quickly took a shower and packed a pair of Tees and shorts in a small backpack. The cab was waiting just on the mouth of our street. Within no time we were in the Toyota Qualis booked from a local travel agency for a one day trip to Nagarjuna Sagar dam and Ethipottala waterfalls. The plan to visit Nagarjuna sagar was instantenous and and was brought to the table just a day in advance with a quick call to the travel agency. We set out at around 5:00 am. We had a quick breakfast of

fresh idlis and plain dosas along with a cup of tea at the outskirts of Hyderabad. It was already 6:30 am by that time

Nagarjuna sagar is located 150 km south east of Hyderabad, a 3-3.5 hour drive along the National

Highway 9 and State Highway. It is a reservoir considered to be one of the largest man-made lakes of the world.There are three important destinations to visit in its vicinity, Nagarjuna Sagar Dam, Nagarjuna Konda, Ethipottala

waterfalls. As per wiki, "Nagarjuna Sagar dam is the world's largest masonry dam built across Krishna river in Nagarjuna Sagar, Guntur District, Andhra Pradesh, India."

We reached Nagarjuna sagar dam at around 10:00 am. The sun was already up in the sky capsizing all our hopes of nice weather literally. The sky was clear blue, parched with clouds here and there.We stopped on a bridge facing the gates of the dam and clicked few pictures. There is a launch station at the reservoir from where we boarded a diesel engine driven boat to the Nagarjuna Konda island. It is half an hour ride to the island.

Nagarjuna Konda is a historical buddhist town and was the capital of Ikshvaku dynasty (somewhere around 3 A.D.). The island was formed when a hill was submerged in the waters of the Nagarjuna sagar dam. The Buddhist archealogical sites were also submerged and later dug up and are now placed in an Archaealogical museum on the resulting island. Some sites of the stupas and viharas of the ancient town of Nagarjuna Konda are also reconstructed outside the museum. The museum showcases the excavates ranging from old Stone age to the Megalithic age and the works and inscriptions of Ikshvaku period. It was really a treat to the minds.

We got back to the launch station at around 3:00 pm where we had our lunch. The lunch here is mostly rice and curries. Another 15 mins drive and we were at the Ethipottala waterfalls. There is small park which is at the same height as the waterfall. One can have a clear view of the falls from there. We descended through the stairs which were supposed to lead us to the base of the waterfall but unfortunately we could not reach it as it is not open for public any more being a crocodile reserve now with over 300 crocodiles as per heresay. We came back to the park at the top and clicked few photographs. We started for Hyderabad at around 7:30 pm and reached at 11:00 pm. All in all a good one day trip. Since it is just 150 kms, one can choose biking to the destination as well. Consider October- February for the trip, we had tough time with August sun in the afternoon.

Two days of romance with nature at Papi Kondalu

Saer kar duniya ki, ghafil zindagani phir kahan,
Zindagani gar rahi to nau jawani phir kahan

After 3 months of constant cafeteria discussions, breakout area plans, googling all possible places in and around State of Andhra Pradesh, we came close to a decision on Surya Lanka beach to be the destination for a trip for few colleagues and me. I was given the responsibility to find out the accomodation and travel details from AP tourism department kiosk which I vaguely gave some tries but not to much extent. Eventually it was on a Sunday evening that I happened to have a glance at few pictures of a recent trip of my friend Deepak, to Papikondalu. And I knew this is what we want. We had already spilled some cranial beans on the thought of Papikondalu as a destination but it was rejected on the grounds of some criteria (which we assumed) for hiring a boat. I finally got the details of the travel, place and other basic things and presented the same to my colleagues. This was around June 7th, 2010. We finally decided June 18th to be the travel date as we had some work to finish on June 14th. Papi kondalu is derived from 'Papidi Kondalu' or 'Papidi' Hills. In Telugu 'Papidi' means partition. The Papi hill range splits river Godavari and hence the term. Some people refer it to the resemblence of the range to the partition of a typical Indian Woman's hair. To reach Papikondalu from Hyderabad the journey comprises of overnight travel to Rajamundry which is 390 kms from Hyderabad and then a hitch hike to Pattiseema/Polavaram. From there one needs to take a ferry to Papikondalu which is 65 km by water. Our destination was a small bamboo hut conclave in wild and solitude in the Godavari river basin, surrounded by Papi Hills on all sides.

Next week was to be spent doing the due diligence. I got the number for the travel agent from Deepak. It turned out that one of his colleague knew the guy. Since local language can help you get a better deal I asked Venkat, one of our friend and colleague to call the travel agent as he knew the Rajamundry Telugu dialect. We got a decent deal. In no time train tickets were booked, to and from Rajmundry. Once in Rajamundry everything was to be taken care of by the travel agency. All was set for the trip. I also managed to convince two of my friends and house mates, Karan and Varun to join us. The only fear that we had was the weather. Some people including Deepak, suggested that this was not the right time to go. We have also heard that it is one of the hottest place in India during summers. I betted on one single thought, that by June 15th Monsoon will arrive in full strength and that could definitely spell a charm for us. But the fun of travel lies in unpredictibility.

June 18th, 2010, 5:00 pm, we all left office to get our bags and reach Railway station. The final group comprised of 8 people each having his own superpower which was to be revealed in due course. Here are the names Partha Pratim Mandal, Himakiran Singu, Abhijit Das, Swapnil Sahoo, Karan Arora, Varun Sharma, Praveen Agrawal and me. Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam Special Express leaves at 8:00 pm from Secunderabad Railway station. We all met at Platform No. 3, clicked few photos, and guess what. We got our first omen. It started raining heavily. The splutter on the windows, water oozing out from the windows, cool wind bringing drizzles with it. The night was spent playing bluff and getting some sermon on art of living from Saint Swapnil Sahoo. Rain not only saw us off but accompanied us on the way making the journey more romantic.

Hyderabad-Vishakhapatnam Special Express' scheduled arrival at Rajamundry is at 4:45 am, however due to some delay we reached around 6:00 am. We were welcome by the drizzle and a cloudy weather. After lingering on the thought of freshening up at Railway waiting rooms or booking a lodge, finally a call to the travel agent and then two rooms at a lodge got us ready by 8:00 am. Due to heavy rain the first ferry was to leave around 10:00 am from Polavaram. We got our stuff and boarded the Tata Sumo sent by the travel agent.

On the way we caught the first glimpse of Godavari river. Gigantic in width it appears to stretch to eternity. On both the sides we saw two huge bridges which represent the confluence of technology with nature. Another one hour of ride through country side would take us to Polavaram. We passed through few south indian villages not much different from villages in any other part of India. Houses here mostly have red roofing tiles made of fired clay. I also noticed a church, a mosque, a temple and a petrol bunk. I believe fuel these days hold a lot importance. Not many Sikhs live in this part of India hence I didnt see any Gurudwara. Two statues of leaders stood at the start of a village. We passed a herd of goats which according to Partha was mutton on move. We also saw tangdi kababs on the move. It was then that great Swapnil Sahoo presented the idea of dividing 360 degrees by 8 to distribute one single buscuit among 8 people. However we survived these deadly thoughts and reached Polavaram. It was a small farm on the shore of Godavari where our cab dropped us. Mostly banana trees and a local fruit called 'Tatimunjulu' grew in this farm. It also had a temple and a waiting shelter. At 10:00 am we boarded Bhagirathi.

Bhagirathi was the name of our boat. We boarded it through a wooden plank extended on to the shore from the port side of the boar. It was a two storeyed cabin cruiser with an air conditioned lower deck. Towards the figurehead in the lower deck was a small cockpit which had a wooden steering wheel, a wireless system, music system and a mic. Further in the middle a long seating section with 3x3 arrangement which stretched towards the stern. Towards the stern there was a kitchen, lavatory, a wash basin and two stair cases one on the starboard side and the other on port side. The stair cases lead to the upper deck which was partially covered only on the top. There were chairs for passengers and towards the figurehead was slightly elevated to form a small stage. We kept our luggage in the lower deck. Our friends requested the crew to hide the forbidden elixir somewhere on the boat as there is some police check on the way.

The boat started from polavaram and the person on the mic welcomed us on board. It turned out that the announcer on the mic is going to entertain us throughout our journey. The only problem was the language. Out of 8 people in our group only Himakiran(we call him Kiran) knew Telugu. He knows 3 other languages, Oriya, Hindi and Bengali. So we turned to Kiran for his linguistic superpower which spelled a doom to poor fellow because from now he was our official unpaid interpretor. From Polavaram it is a 65 km journey to Papi Hills. It had stopped raining though but the weather was still cloudy. We were served breakfast of idli, vada and tea as the boat starting moving. Announcer informed us that after 8 kms we will be out of all mobile phones network coverage areas. I almost shouted with joy. 2 days without cell phone, isnt it great?

As the boat moved the Godavari basin unfolded the panoramic view of nature in front of us. Beautiful wide river, distant hills covered with cloud blankets, tribal villages in the feet of the hills overwhelmed us. Every now and then a fisherman's boat passed us. An elevated sand platform ran along the middle of the river for a kilometer or so.
The river meanders through the hills in its course. The boat halted twice at temples on the river banks where devotees paid there tributes to Lords. By then we were almost cut off from the modern world. We were in a place where there are no roads, no phones, only modern gadget working were our cameras.

At 1:00 pm we were served lunch. It was local Andhra cuisine comprising of rice, pulses, sambhar, potato curry, friams, fried veg and curd. It tasted good. After lunch the announcer performed some dance and also choregraphed few couples, kids etc. in audience on some catchy Telugu and Hindi numbers. He even had four old men dance, not to mention that they outdid every one. One thing that I like about South Indians is that they are sport. Every single person enjoyed what the announcer was making them do. He even called few of us and we had a ball with him on stage.
It took us about five hours to catch the first glimpse of Papi hills. The enterance to Papi hills is marked by a distant view of table like hills. One can see a straight horizontal tangent to the top of the hills shrouded in teh clouds. The river meanders into the hills and suddenly one gets surrounded by hills on all sides. The weather was still good. It was cloudy and we were now face to face with beautiful 'Papidi Kondalu'.Another half an hour and we saw the bamboo huts in distance on the face of Kolluru sands. We got down from the boat and stood there for a moment to have look around.

Godavari takes a sharp left turn in front of Bamboo hut conclave where it is joined by another turbulent, more shallow tributary named Sabari. Standing on the sands one can see Godavari traversing its course through hills. On the right is the Sabari and on left is the passage our boat came from. We took few welcome photographs and rested our bags in the huts. It was about 4:00 pm and an attendant informed us that tea and snacks will be served in a while. After some tea and pakoda we decided to do some trekking along Sabari river as it is shallow though turbulent. We played with the river, did some rock jumping and clicked few pictures. I even found a bamboo raft which we tried to float with Karan, Varun and me aboard. But since it could handle only one, Karan and Varun got down. We came back to our huts around 7:00 pm.

A little uphill from the bamboo huts was a small guest house with bamboo roofing. More snacks were served with booze and thereafter dinner. We asked the attendent to lay our beds in the open in front of the hats rather than inside the earth. The campfire could not happen since the logs were wet. We tried all means to make it happen. Partha suggested to burn a hut. I suggested to use some alcohol, but that was declined with strong public upheaval. Kiran, according to many attained the highest level of generosity when he gave away more than a pint to a worker who promised to make the campfire at the any cost if we offered him another pint which he was given, though reluctantly now. Two pints showed their effect. This guy piled wood for next 15 minutes, borrowed the matchbox and didnt come back after that. We lost all hope of having campfire and assumed that he must have fallen asleep with two pints down his throat now. But Partha kept up the mood, suggesting that he would put himself on fire. We were now lying in the lap of the nature below the starry sky, surrounded by hills and rivers on all side, what more does one need. It was a wonderful experience. We were all enchanted. Partha and I vowed not to let others sleep. It was real fun. At around 12:00 am we were having some discussion, suddenly Swapnil got up and started playing football. We all started laughing and rolling on all our beds holding our stomachs. People were talking nonsense, but this is what we were there for. Just fun and relaxation away from the chaos of our lives that we spend in modern , civilized, technologically advanced woods. At around 1:00 pm Abhijit dragged Partha to bed and I also lied down. It was complete dark except for a battery powered fluorscent lamp glowing in distance. We all fell asleep in nature's lap.

It was around 3:30 am, I was dreaming of the beautiful place I was in. Slowly two drops drafted on my cheeks and in seconds I realized that they were for real. I grabbed my pillow and took my bed inside one of the huts. I covered my self with a sheet hoping that this was just a temporary drizzle. Slowly the voices outside started growing louder. Sighs converted into shrieks and suddenly all of us were in the same hut. The downpour had become heavier. I covered my self completely in the sheet but since the huts were not meant to be completely shielded from the top, water started pouring in. Fifteen minutes later suddenly our hut's gate got blocked by something big. Well it was Kiran, covered with mud. It turned out that He and Swapnil have ran uphill to reach the small guest house there. While Swapnil probably went up, Kiran fell down on a slippery ascend. We all had a mighty laugh. Kiran finally gave up the hope of going up and started circling the open space. For sometime none of us knew what to do next. We were stranded in the middle of the night, in a place like that and were now completely wet. Rain started getting heavier and heavier. It seemed that we will have to stay like that till dawn.

Varun had a backup Nokia phone with a torch. When rain grew heavier we all decided that this is not going to end unless we do something. We all got our bags from the huts. I also got my clothes on one hand that I had left to dry in the huts. We started moving towards the guest house. Some of us covered our heads with inverted plastic chairs. Varun showed us the path with whatever light was coming from his phone. Then started our adventure of climbing the hill in one of the most slippery ascend. Half way up, I decided to drop my chair lest I fell down. Out of nowhere somebody started showing some light from the top which guided Varun's way and in turn ours. In next 15 minutes we were up. By now it was clear that we took a path which was not at all a path. After all the adventure we were at the guest house verandah completely wet, water dripping from everywhere at 4:45 pm. We quickly changed to whatever dry was left in our bags. Some of us were lucky enough to get chair to sit, rest kept standing.

At 5:00 am, we witnessed the most beautiful view of our lives till date. Slowly the night started giving away to dawn and amidst the clouds and drizzle we saw the bamboo huts, sand, river, hills, sky all materializing one by one first the silhouettes and then the complete landscape . We were standing in front of God's one-of-the-most beautiful creation. We were all spellbound, bewitched, enchanted. Our ordeal, if it all it was, had born fruit. We just delved into the serenity of the view that enveloped us. I thanked the Almighty for giving us eyes - so that we can see this, feet - so that we could reach here and everything else that some on this earth dont have. Thank you God.


It continued to rain. At around 8:30 am, after having morning tea and snacks. We decided to do some trekking. Kiran decided to stay back, Abhijit and Swapnil said they'll join later. So Partha, Praveen, Karan, Varun and I went down. In distance, I saw a good rock shore. I decided to reach there by trekking the periphery of Godavary. It was a rocky and slippery terrain, but something got into me. I almost ran my way and in no time was sitting on one of the rocks. While Partha gave up at the start only and decided to sit and watch rather, I waited for others to catch up. On the way back we paid a fisherman to take us back on his boat. We requested him to fish for us, which he happily obliged and caught few fish in his net. We did another trip on boat, this time with Partha, while Abhijit and Swapnil have hired another boat. For a second time we went to the Sabari river and had some fun there. At around 1:00 pm we went uphill where the lunch was served. It was rice and curry again with chicken and fish. After lunch we clicked some more photographs and also shot some beautiful videos. Our boat came to pick us up at around 2:30 pm. I slept most of the way back in the lower deck. We reached polavaram at around 6:00 pm. By then all our mobile phones started working again. A little gloom with a lot of new energy spread on all of us. Gloom of leaving such a place and energy that this trip filled us with. Our travel agent has already arranged the pickup to drop us at the Railway station. We had our dinner at a small dhaba at railway station and boarded the CCT-SC express at 10:09 pm to Secunderabad. We got down from the train at Secunderabad at 10:00 am IST(Infinitely Stretchable Time). Still in the mood none of us wanted to leave. We had a quick tea together and left for our respective places.

A trip together to such a place can mean a lot. Better bonding, fresh relationships, new friends, wonderful time to remember, an oppurtunity to thank God, know knew places and new people, new energy and lot more. Papi Kondalu will mean all of this.



Some anecdotes from our friends on the trip :

"Only one biscuit left, eh, yar divide 360 degrees by 8(number of people in our group)"

To me when I had something stuck in my throat, " You should take some water. I dont have it. I was just triggering the thought".

"Train driver!! stop!!"

We had 6 tickets in one coach and 2 in a different. We told our friend that we will try to pursue two passengers in our compartment to exchange seat with you, pat came the reply,
"Or I will try to convince 6 others in my compartment to exchange seats with you guys"

"I am just trying to enlighten the mood"

"Madhapur petrol pump zindabad"

"Main to bas pyar karna janta hu" (Famous SRK dialogue meaning "Loving is the only thing I know")

Travel Plan

Friday :
Secunderabad-Rajamundry - HYD-VSK SPL Express(0748) 2000 HRS-0445HRS
Saturday :
Rajamundry-Polavaram - by Cab (1 hour)
Polavaram-Papikondalu(Kolluru) - by Boat (4 to 5 hours)
Sunday :
Papikondalu(Kolluru)-Polavaram - by Boat (3 to 4 hours)
Polavaram-Rajamundry - by Cab (1 hour)
Rajamundry-Secunderabad - CCT-SC SPL Express (2209 HRS-0800 HRS)

Travel Package - Rajamundry-Polavaram-PapiKondalu-Polavaram-Rajamundry through a travel agency - Rs 1700 per Head(good if you can negotiate more), includes cab travel, boat travel, bamboo huts, breakfast and lunch on boat, evening snacks, dinner, breakfast and lunch at Kollur, evening snacks on return journey on boat.

A H Zaidi

T20 | Media Faux Pas

The minute Kapugedera hit that six there at St Lucia, West Indies, all hell broke loose for the Indian Team back home. Electronic media crucified MS Dhoni and conjectured the reasons of failure as fatigue and parties of Indian Premier League. The screens started blazing with the images of Indian cricket team members missing it on the field juxtaposed with the images from the parties that they have been to during last Indian Premier League season punctuated with loud background scores. Once again one of the most amateur media of the world started playing fowl.

As fans, yes, we all are dissappointed. We would have all loved to see Dhoni and team playing in the finals and also winning it once again. But its a game - you win, you lose.If you win - you celebrate and get on to next big challenge. If you lose - you retrospect, gather everything again and bounce back with fresh energies and get on to next big challenge. So you win or you lose you always get on to next big challange because it does not end with this one game where you may win or lose. What matters is with what ferocity you bounce back and get on to next big challange. And Dhoni and his boys have proved it time and again that they have great bouncing back ability. And I am convinced that they will surely bounce back. Give them time. Comfort them. Dont destroy the magnanimous spirit of these boys. They are the ones who toil from dawn to dusk in the field to get that smile on millions of faces. They are the ones who give reasons for celebration to millions of cricket fans. Now you can't even stand them smiling. Picking up words out of context, framing them into sentences and serving them to public is highly irresponsible, sad and exposes the paranoia of electronic media.

As for Indian Premier League factor, it is not only played by Indian players but also foreign players, Sri Lanka, England, Australia all did well despite of playing not only IPL but also International series just before IPL. If there needs to be a reason for the losses it has to be bouncy tracks, for which Indian cricket team needs to practice. I dont think that any one of the player that steps out onto that field puts franchise over country and gives anything less but more than what he gives in club cricket. They have done it in past. They will do it in future. All this criticism is born out of the desperation to fill in the vaccum of 24 hour broadcast bandwidth when there is no other sensational "news" or others are doing it why not us.

It was the same media which was singing odes to Dhoni's captaincy and teams credibility just a week back. But now they are being court martialled by the guests on various shows on prime time. Videos and images from parties and events in past being played on the screens in split screens while the guests and host pronouncing their sentences. I was apalled by the coverage of a brawl that took place in a pub in West Indies between Indian cricket team members and some nuts who claimed to be fans of Indian cricket team. What outraged me more was the language used by the so-called national news channel with highest viewerships. A real fan celebrates with the team and comforts them in their loss. And dont they deserve to live a life of their own. when does going into a pub and lightening the mood during stress became a crime so big that it engulfed the space on national news broadcast. We all have chilled out and loosened up when we flunked our exams. Does that ever mean that we loved flunking.

In trying times least we could have done was to comfort the players, reminded them of the times that they have done us proud which would have filled them with new energies to bounce back. Instead we chose to lash out our own frustrations on them which would fetch nothing but the destruction of the sporting spirit. We all need to be mature and media more responsible. Its a game. Be a sport.