kanakapura

fVN10-copy/onassignment/GG, originally uploaded by Vivek M.

On a trail of mystery and enchantment

First light on the watchtower, originally uploaded by Vivek M.

darkness screams
with a thousand bolts
the forest lights up
in an eerie glow

The muted thunders beyond the silhouette of the mountains kept the dark grey skies in a ceaseless flicker. The rain was imminent, it was easy to say. The moon was small and high but bright enough to light up the track that had just brought us here. It was the same beautiful feeling of letting one’s thoughts roam as we perched on the stairs of the watchtower. One of us was soon quizzing the rest about astronomy, another was reminiscing about the day’s adventure and I was trying hard at capturing the lightning on a digital camera. Our conversation was soon reduced to a trickle and we were all beginning to enjoy the silence that prevailed. We were simply in love with time.

We, five of the city mortals, were recent victims of the forest department’s latest venture of promoting eco-tourism in the much dreaded forests in the Chamarajanagar area (thanks to Veerappan), and we weren’t complaining one bit. We had trekked up to Jodigere from Bedaguli that evening passing through deciduous jungles that were just taking on the brown and yellow hues of the approaching summer. At Jodigere a picturesque watchtower in the middle of the wildlife-infested forests, that serenely fitted the picture of a utopian forest dwelling that I had had, awaited us. We were only glad that we had to spend the night here even though it didn’t promise us a good night’s sleep.

We left the stairs and gathered around an oil lamp inside the watchtower. Words resumed once again, tales of the forest from our guide kept us engrossed. The rains followed soon, lasted for an hour, and finally left behind the winds to howl in the dark. After some divine sambar and rice, courtesy our cook Dasappa, we were soon in slumber land.

The morning was bright and still. The sun warmed our skin and spirits and we were soon off tracking wild gaur. At nine we said goodbye to the watchtower and headed east for a long day’s trek. We passed by the twins lakes that gave Jodigere its name, walked through a beautiful stretch of shola forest and approached a mountain pass. The views just after we crossed the pass were simply inspiring. Mountains lay in layers of grey and blue, some looked real, some ethereal. The rest of our route was evident from here. We were to trek for quite a distance on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border before we turned left to head for Bylore, the trek’s end.

The forest was beautiful. Some trees were almost barren and shedding leaves while some had the peppered leaves still on. Some seemed rebels, still green in the March heat. A wild gooseberry tree stood right on our path and we frantically picked up each piece of the fruit that had fallen on the ground. A wild jasmine shrub made us stop for a whiff of the seductive flowers. After a brief stop at a stream where the waters almost seemed stagnant, the trek got tougher and the path inclined upwards. After a few sweaty hours we finally hit the road out of the thickets. Our trek was over at Bylore.

Bylore is an innocent’s dream of a perfect village - a few tiled homes on an elevated earth, tall coconut palms on the fringes and verdant paddy fields on terraces, dark blue mountains in the horizon and a little lake to complete the picture! We really didn’t mind spending a couple of hours under the shade of a tree at Bylore before a local bus picked us up back to civilization. The journey has to end, but this time we were carrying home more than memories – the tingling after taste of the wild gooseberries and the scent of the jasmines from the jungle.

Memories

I stay back on a summer day
Passing time and space
In another’s land

Time stays afloat
For more than a few moments
And I see more than other’s do

Stagnant water with a myriad hue
A little frog passing through
A mouse, a sapling and a heap of dried leaves

I lie down to smell the ground
That immaculate and fresh feeling
Can’t I be that small and nice?

woods. gkvk.