Sumit Bharati

It was the second day of our Bangalore-Mangalore-Udupi trip. Next thing in our list was Saint Mary’s Island. With excitement we started from Udupi to Malpe beach (from where ferry takes us to the Island). But a km before the beach, all the excitement went down when we heard that Saint Mary’s Island is closed from our auto driver. Further he told that it was because of monsoon and visitors to the island would be allowed from October. Remaining auto travel was without any conversation. We reached Malpe beach and dispirited got down from the auto. On this trip to Mangalore and Udupi, my colleague Anoop was with me. Anoop is a very decent Kannadiga guy and a good company to have. Time was around 2:00PM and even sun didn’t seem to be in our favor. Under scorching sun we walked toward the coconut trees to get some relief from sun burn. With Saint Mary’s island out of scope, we were without any option. After some time we walked towards sea and saw people confronting the waves and enjoyi

After long time returned from office when Sun was just setting. Looking at the view from behind a tall building went into old memory lane and come up with few lines. आज फिर से डूबते सूरज को देखने की ललक जागी थी, उड़ते परिंदों को नीड़ का रुख करते देखने की आस जागी थी। यूँ तो शहर की ऊँची इमारतों ने सूरज का पर्दा कर रखा था, पर छलकती लालिमा से मन तृप्त करना कहा मना था। बिल्डिंग के पीछे क्रिकेट खेलते बच्चों ने बचपन की यादें ताजा कर दी थीं, शायद इस समय हमारे अंतिम मैच की दूसरी पारी शुरू हुआ करती थी। परिंदों का झुण्ड ऊपर गुजरता देख उन्हें हाथ दिखाने की याद आयी थी, उनके निलयन की मधुर-कर्कश ध्वनि सुनने की उत्कंठा फिर से जागी थी। शायद मैं बचपन और अपने छोटे कस्बे को बहुत मिस करता हूँ, शहरी कहीं के- आज कोई ऐसा ना बोल दे, बहुत डरता हूँ। (26/08/2014, 6:13 PM)

"Ardha kilometer seedha hogi…"- Words of a septuagenarian fell into my ears as I left my seat to get down from the bus. I just swayed my right hand and thanked him. What I could understand from his Kannada words was - the village is at half a kilometer in the straight direction. After getting down, I looked around and had a feel of the weather. It was a pleasant cloudy Sunday morning with birds chirping around. Time was 7:20am. I saw the word Lokadalalu vaguely inscribed on a dilapidated cement slate standing beside the road connecting Holalkere to Hosadurga. Holalkere is a taluka in Karnataka, around 35kms from Chitradurga.   I looked ahead on the road leading to the village and my excitement went high. My sight went through a slightly curvy and empty road and ended at misty hills. May be the end point was the Doddahotrangappa Hills, having this thought I started walking ahead. The fresh and clean village air pumped my lungs and with doubled energy I progressed fast

Thinking about nature, what comes in our mind are flowing river bouncing over rocks, dense forest with myriads of trees, a series of hills and hillocks, chirping birds, grazing animals and many such things. And amidst all these, a temple-not so far, where bell doesn't ring so often, but gives internal peace and relieved feeling whenever it does so. If you could imagine such a place, probably you may find its name as Dabguli. Few days back on www.meetup.com I found a newly created group named Bangalore trexplorers . The organizer of this group claimed to take us to some of the less known and unexplored yet interesting places in and around Bangalore. Being an eternal nature lover and travel enthusiast I joined the group and found Dabguli as their first place to explore. In my office curiously I asked few of my Kannadiga colleagues about Dabguli but they turned up their unaware faces. And my curiosity went high. The trip was scheduled on Sunday, Dec 15, 2013 and 7 people includ