..of the Game I love so much..

It was an unusual start to that Sunday, when I got a call from Vaibhav (my friend and foe) asking me to watch a India vs Australia match with him. Initially I was retrospect about the thought, since he had only one ticket and I wanted 2 of them (one for my friend Arjun). Unusually we both (me and Arjun) woke up early that morning and we for a moment thought about going for the match.. and we never looked back from then.
We hurried to the ground and to our dismay, we gotto know that the tickets were sold out, so we had to get them in black paying 100 bucks extra per ticket.

And now that we had the tickets to the match, i was all excited and upbeat about the fact of watching a match live, a game which I love so much, the players who I thought existed only in Televisions, I was there to watch them all play. What a feeling it was.. Quintessential !!

At 12:30pm the Gate C opened and as I entered the stadium, I was mellowed by the sound of willow hitting the ball. The moment I turned to my left to see from where the sound was coming, I was awestruck by the sight of Sachin Tendulkar, the great Sachin Tendulkar practicing in the nets. I was living the moment of my life. Wow what a way to begin your first match in a stadium. With all the adrenaline rushing through my body and mind, "Saachinnnnnn" shout came out of me, and I kept on shouting, like a child till one of the organizers had to pull me away. I was indeed fortunate in my lifetime to see "THE GOD" playing what he does the best.

While I was still lost in the thoughts of seeing Sachin, my friend & foe Vaibhav popped up on the seat next to me and my friend. Vaibhav deserves a mention here, since he's my friend and my foe, as he is a big fan of Ponting and Oz's, and the time we spend together discussing about cricket makes it more enjoyable to watch.

And there he was, beside me, for an India vs Australia World Cup practice match, it could not get bigger for our small rivalry. As the match begun, the Indian team was received to thunderous roar which set the tone for the match. To make the things more exciting, we were in company of Oz's supporters. For every Indian wicket they cheered, and we did the same when they batted. The match had its moments: Ashwin and Nehra's cameo, Sreesanth's bouncer to Ponting were the highlights. The only disappointment was not to see Sachin bat in the middle, but indeed I was lucky to spot him as the first best thing when I entered the stadium. India won the match and we danced and jumped with joy for that reason.
My God !! it was just a practise game of the World Cup 2011, but for us it had already begun, with a win and we were priding ourselves of it. What an unusual start to the day and unexpected end.

Feb 13th 2011 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

 India vs Australia World Cup 2011 Practise Match

Cheers !!

Conquering Kodachadri

After scrapping innumerous weekend getaway plans finally we hit upon gold with 7 friends, Ram(me) urf Raamya, Chetan urf Chetya, Siddlingesh urf Siddya, Abhin urf Abhin !, Sandesh urf Sandy, Santosh urf Santya, Aditya alias Adya with a trip to Kodachadri, Shimoga. There was a sense of excitement and anxiousness amongst we friends. Chetya had messaged me just hours before we left to confirm whether the trip was still on or not, as we were still unsure of our plans :-(

Shivappa Naik's Fort, Nagara

The vehicle came around 10:30pm on Friday night as planned and by the time we left Bangalore it was 12.am. There was much to say and hear amongst us, since many of us were seeing eachother after several months. And the main plan was yet to be decided. What to do in Kodachadri ? Till then no one had an idea where to stay or how to spend the weekend ahead as most of us were frustrated with the routine in Bangalore which life welcomed us with, we just wanted to getaway from the mundane lives we led.

After dinner at Hotel Highway at 1:30am, we continued our journey. The road ahead was a bumpy one, and most of us(Except Adya and Sandy) did not sleep the whole night, not realizing what surprise waited ahead of us the following day. The stop over at Shimoga ensured we were well fed atleast !! The visit to Shivappa Naik's Fort was noteworthy, as the landscapes it provided were beautiful. Kodachadri was to be the scenic beauty as it seemed  from the net, and indeed it was. After we hired a local guide (Ramappa)we began our trail through the flat land which the hills had in offer. The trek which began was never expected to be this tough as we invaded the steep forest which had its own sense of beauty to offer. The trek to the Hidlumane falls was demanding as the road ahead got steeper than before. Hidlumane falls was a wonderful sight in the offing with its ice cold water and scenic beauty it presented. There were some minor slip ups by me and Santya at the falls, but they were luckily not fatal.

Hidlumane Falls

The next stage of our trek was the steepest ever and dangerous at some points as we climbed the waterfalls parallely and any minor slip up would surely cause fatal injuries, we had to be vigilant and careful. As we reached a point from where we thought, our downward journey will begin than the climb to the next hill was calling us. All except me and Siddya went ahead of us as we struggled to get pass the hill. Gasps of breath and some more chocolates were needed to boost our energy levels. Meanwhile, as we climbed this treacherous hill. mesmerizing view of the Western Ghats was to be seen. Never to be forgotten those small breaks which helped everyone gather energy which would help stretch everyone's limits. Adya,Santya and Sandesh were amongst the first ones to reach the place where we had our lunch. We had hiked 9 kms in 3 and half hours accross 4 hills to which our guide Ramappa appreciated and also gave a compliment (just being boastful) that very few beginners complete by this time, and mind you not many of us had slept the prev. night so it was indeed a proud moment for all of us.

Sunset point

The hike of 3-4 kms to Sarvajna peetha did not matter much as we were grilled to dust by the previous trek. The sunset view was a rare beauty which we failed to notice day in and day out, busy with the mechanical life we led, so this sunset was particularly special as we noticed very ordinary things in a different view. There was an inexplicable calmness that the sunset had to offer soothing the pain we bore in our legs since morning. The night out at Ramappa's house was a blast as we sat around the fire to warm ourselves from the chilling wind, remembering the good ol college days. It was a weekend which will be hard to forget anytime soon.  Cheers to Kodachadri and Cheers to my friends !!