Trip to Araku

Its an epic trip. An Impulsive road trip with bunch of acquaintances, it involved GrayHound cops , unbearable heat, exceeding expenditures, ad hoc planning, adventure and tribal hunters.


It all started with a lie

Uday and Sridhar ran away on Sreekanth's pulsar. We have decided to chase them and catch them. I just came to hyderabad on saturday after one week of ordeal in east and west godavari districts.

Uday called me on friday night when i was at vijayawada bus station and asked me if i am interested to join them for a road trip. If i was ok, then they would pick me at vijayawada. Without second thoughts , i declined the offer. First they want to me roam in the same region i was escaping. Second reason is, these people are car-people.

On sunday i started getting calls again for the trip. News was, uday and sridhar started off their trip on saturday night, reached vijayawada and washing clothes at a local park, It was decided that a rescue team must start from hyderabad, i got invitation to participate.They have lured me by saying  "on bikes". Thats the keyword, bike, after couple of thoughts i said yes.

Later, uday called me in the evening, and convinced me that car is economical than bike. I really didn't understand his explanation. But i know that he is a long driver .. I felt honored to get invitation. And , there is already a bike there, except srikanth all of them are small, i can muscle them out and take the bike if needed, i think i can beat srikanth too.  But would not i be cheating my bike?

It become 7PM , YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was arrested, telugu channels started terrorising by saying NH9 is blocked. Nobody was sure if the trip is on or not. But i really want to see the polished, always-formal-dressing, a-man-with-style, who-hates-country , Uday, washing clothes in a park!! Thats something hard to imagine. Finally, the boys arrived, we have so much of luggage which can support a family with kids. We loaded up water at home, adjusted the luggage and set our journey. I was little skeptical on how much longer we can go before we hit traffic jam, but there was none. Clearly, telugu news media cant be trusted. First stop was Green Bawarchi.. After our stomachs and petrol tank are full, then become the phone calls one more time. This time, to all the other guys. I suppose they are convincing their girls on this trip. But i have my phone, my new phone , with shiny black finishing. With 1GHz processor its running smooth, and GPS gets locked in less than 5 seconds.

NH 9  was still under construction then. They are turning the single lane into six lane. Its been a long time, i got myself on it. Last time, when i was on it, i was almost got hit by two lorries and one scorpio. I was really scared of that highway. Its Manohar who is driving. I trust his driving, no sudden turns, no loud music, no aggressiveness and no racing. Our vehicle is Maruthi Wagon R. I dont know much about cars, but this car is not for me. I dont even fit in that. Except that complaint, its a decent car i guess.

I was checking my phone, listening to music and lost in thoughts then dozed off. I woke up with some sounds. It took me a while, to understand that, those are made by manohar , to warn srikanth not to check sms while driving. Cant blame srikanth, he is newly engaged, but made a mental note, not to sleep while srikanth is behind the wheel. In vijayawada we made a wrong turn, i was busy tweeting about my new phone. Aravind was calling the whole night. He was not part of the trip, but Uday and Sridhar are on the way to rajahmundry. Aravind was in rajahmundry then and made arrangements for us in rajahmundry. I have added sridhar on google latitude and checking their locations.

Circling Rajahmundry central jail

Our black car and sun rised in rajamandry almost at the same time. Rajamandry, on the banks of river godavari, athis holy place is a large steam bathtub in summer. Step out of AC and fog accumulates on the glasses. Kerchiefs get wet, shirts get wet , the whole body leaks sweat and there is no way to quench the thirst. Its so irritating and i could not forgive myself for coming into the steam bath with in two days. But, i got my new phone. . I was busy removing sweat off my nose and taking pictures with 5MP camera.

We made halt at Dhavaleswaram bridge. River Godavari runs through the yellow sands. I guess, the heat damaged our brains or else why would we jump the fence to go to the river bank in that heat. I was trying to

remember songs on Godavari, but due to heat, its the railway announcement for Godavari Express that came to mind, that too in all three languages.After a long photo session on the banks, we started off. From here onwards , , wherever i mention photo session, i am praising the photography of the satish

. Manohar could not stand the heat anymore , even with car air conditioner. He removed his shirt and driving. Thanks to his manners , he stopped with shirt. I have checked the last location of sridhar, it was near rajahmundry central jail. Called him and uday, no response. We started curcumfencing the central jail for lodges where these guys might have checked in. Meanwhile we started having breakfast. The hotel was a large hut , where customers are allowed pour sambar as much as they like from a big bowl. I liked the concept, it would have been  great if they had extended the same offer to tea.

After an hour or so, sridhar called us and gave the address, we went to the lodge, adjusted the whole luggage in the car. Still i have no clue on how manohar was able to fit a luggage weighing mountain in that car. And there is bike parked in front of the lodge, getting it for my self was not so hard then. Everybody wants to get in car except me and uday. Now we are six members, uday, sridhar, srikanth, manohar , satish and me. Sridhar and satish are friends but they are two opposite poles of talking. Satish wont start and sridhar wont stop.

Our next destination is medical college on highway, where aravind was arguing with the clerk to get his certificates. We met him, had a smoke and few soft drinks, then resumed the journey again. Next destination is araku.

On the way to araku, beside the road, we came across a big statue of swami vivekananda. Well, it got to be him ,

nobody used that posture and that color. Uday said ok , so we made a detour to the statue. Its on a small hill, and the statue is about 30 feet height. We exchanged our bookish knowledge for sometime then came down. The road is wide, air is humid and sun is trying to burn us, there is no cloud to give us some protection. Somehow , i drive fast in humid regions, to escape the sweat or because i feel unleashed whenever i am on a trip, i cant say but, i was going fast. First time, i got good impression on pulsar, i touched 90 KMPH but the bike was going smooth. after some time came down to my normal speed.We reached a village called "Murari", which is the name of a movie in Tollywood.

===NH5====

I have never traveled on that road before. Its a wide road, guarded by eastern ghats. The mountains are still green, while me and uday, coming slowly stopping wherever we feel like, the car-boys were impatiently waiting near annavaram toll-gate , in a mango garden. I was learned htat, sridhar had convinced the owner that no fruit will be plucked. And we kept his promise.

The teams have changed from here, manohar and sridhar took the bike and rest in the car. But their luck was bad. Within 10 min , there is a heavy rain and wind is blowing people out of road. Everybody stopped where they were. There were change in plans due to heavy rains, we went to the nearby village to have Mirchi. After that , we started again, the aim was to reach araku before night falls. But it was already 4 PM then.  We have added each other on Google latitude, so there are no more where-are-you-i-am-here calls.

I was enjoying the drive except for music. There guys really have a crappy taste when it comes to music. And they find my music-taste boring. But no worries, i have my phone. I was busy tweeting, taking pics and browsing. When it became night, we were not even close to vizag and no idea how long it will take to reach Araku.

We had to make another halt at pendurthi, a small junction before reaching visakhapatnam. We were all hungry, as cigarettes does nothing to hunger. Manohar went for shaving. There we had shopping.

The road is wet, bumpy and its night. Precisely, the right combination I dislike. But can't refuse the offer to bike-riding. After all, that's my thing. This time, Sridhar is accompanying me. He was a radio jockey at his home town. Considering his talkative nature, he must be a successful RJ. I proposed a singing competition, not that I am good at singing but to I want to let the villagers acknowledge our presence with raised eyebrows.

It was like driving in graveyard.  The trees guarding the border line between fields and road. Rain must have heavily poured there a couple of hours before. With hills watching over us as we zoom in, the movie " Hills have eyes" flashed in mind. I told myself that govt of India never conducted nuclear tests in that area. And the knowledge of anthropology assured me that tribals in that area are not cannibals. But still civilization is miles away, that thought never comforted me.

The fallen branch which blocked sixty percent of the road added fuel my thoughts. I have slowed down for the car to catch us. Everybody in the car fell asleep except uday. After we crossed the obstacle, uday told me that he would use the handbreak to stop the car and we should jump in it leaving the bike, if something happens. Well, he too must have felt the eyes of hills too.

"Why did he say so?" , sridhar asked me from behind. What can i say? I could have told him about the cannibals but I chose to gave a more realistic and less scary answer, "in case somebody attacks to rob us", gladly I didnt get the question, " who might do that?"

We woke up the watchman at a small toll-gate then took a smoke-break. The pitch dark    

blanket of clouds covered the sky, devouring us any kind of natural light. We chose to kill the artificial lights of vehicles to match with darkness of nature and started searching for matchbox to light cigarettes. When the knuckle cracking, yawning and chatter ended, we realized that we are on a small road-bridge and water is flowing underneath. We listened to it for a while and started chatting again on how beautiful everything around is. Is it beauty, or we are just talking something to keep away the graveyard silence? Cant tell.

Soon we reached a village, where shops are about to be closed. While having little chat with the shopkeeper who served us badam milk, he asked " How could a bunch of guys enjoy Araku without lady-companionship?" It looks as if he could arrange that if only we asked him. Luckily, none of us asked him.

                                              A roof over the head 

No rooms available at Tyda APTDC hotel, the manager or watchman who ever he was assured us that rooms will be available at the next place. Driving on a ghat road at night is more trickier than at day. Light beam from other vehicles will warn us about the opposite vehicles but unlike in day , its hard to estimate the surroundings.

There in only one room available at Anantagirihills APTDC hotel but they checkout is 8 AM and the room rent is Rs 1800. We decided to test our luck at Araku which is 25KM away.This time me and manohar took the bike. It became hard for him to ride on ghat with a heavy man in the back. I guess for the first time, my weight helped me.

It was a non-stop journey till Araku. Its past midnight by the time we reached araku. All the boys except for me , uday and manohar were sleeping. Me and manohar went to a lodge to enquire, returned disappointed, and started searching for another lodge. But the car is not with us, we went back to check what happened, . We found the car with lights and engine on and everybody including uday were asleep. I woke him up and made him sit on bike while manohar took the wheel.

Finally got in to a cheap lodge, the room is little dirty , and can accommodate only two people. Nobody was in a mood to complain, we checked in, plugged in mobile chargers, decided to wake up at 8AM and started snoring.

To my shock, others in lodge are already playing cards with alcohol early in the morning. While we are having breakfast at the small hotel, uday and srikanth went to the APTDC hotel opposite to our lodge. For one hour rest of us were eating whatever is available to eat and these two didn't show up. We were losing time and I was losing patience and prepared a search team as there is no cellphone signal n that area.

Satish and sridhar went inside to "fetch" them, but they too disappeared. The hotel is too big with a swimming pool. I am sure, if I get in there, after sometime, everybody would be searching for everybody. So I stayed out. Srikanth and uday came out after finishing their photo session in different angles and poses at a same location. I felt irritated, because just before breakfast we have discussed the plan for that day and they have spoiled it. But, at that time, I gave all of them only " acquaintance" status, so could not display my irritation.

We threw everything back in the car. I have heard stories on how manohar packs for a trip, and all of them are true. We had, torch lights, many pillows, many blankets , one water can, multiple phone chargers, 6 spare cell phones, pens, books, stove ( they told me that sridhar would cook upma, but it didnt happen as there were no cookery) , cigarette lighters, air pillow , and many more . At Araku everybody wants to ride, I don't want to be the greedy one so I let others have the bike, so I was struck in the car with "things" around me.

Fake arrows

We headed towards "chaaparaayi" , a large granite rock with water flowing over it, and people can slide on it. Its just a big naturally formed slide and cant understand why everybody were excited about it.

Me and uday were on bike again. We stopped for cigarettes and car zoomed away. The way to chaaparayi is beautiful. We came a village called "jaipur". We took pictures of the Jaipur milestone ,joking on how everybody will be confused once the pic is uploaded to the Facebook. Little we know that the same night I would lose my phone saving Facebook friends from confusion.

I was sure that our car people didnt notice that milestone. I agree that its  safer in the car, but we would be missing lot of fun. A/C with closed windows and high music is as good as a home. And what's the point of going out if one confines self to indoors.

After Jaipur, the road gets divided. We took the left turn to go to Chaapaeaayi. Right turn leads to orissa.

Before jumping on the rock, we have ordered "Bongulo chicken ",  chicken prepared using a bamboo instead of a bowl.

I wore my new shorts which i bought a couple of hours before embarking on this trip. At once, i understood that, they are of cheap quality and wouldnot last long. So, i didnt got onto the sliding rock.  Eventually, i become the security manager for the phones and cameras. Luckily , satish also with me, so i pulled myself out of photography competition.

I started enjoying my-time. I was walking around the place, observing the people. Most of them are from nearby villages. Tall and bulky trees covered what is beyond the rock. Its hard not to see green color. Soon , an old man appeared near a tree, nailed a paper plate on it and spread out few arrows and a bow. Three arrows for Rs. 10. I tried, but none hit the paper plate which is the target. We had Bongulo-chicken, then everybody took turns to show their archery skills. None was better than me and none was hilarious than Manohar. The old-man started puffing the local made marijuana. According to him , marijuana is a local business, and police dont do much about it. Few years back, i have read that , Naxalites plant marijuana in green belt. Well, Araku is green and Araku is a naxalite area.

We started enquiring for a nice place to stay. In this context, nice means, cheap and big. And we got what we are searching for. Huts. Very large circular huts with attached toilet, built opposite to the petrol bunk at araku. They can accommodate at least 10 members and rent for one day is just Rs. 400.

                                   

                                            AK-47s

We bought alcohol, cigarettes, snacks , tea and went to a place which we found exotic on the way to araku from chaaparaayi. By the time we reached there it was around 9PM. Thanks to Manohar, we have torchlights to check our way to go down from the road to a lonely spot just to have drinks. 

 I sat facing the mountain. When i first saw Jurassic Park, i thought all mountains are hibernating dinosaurs which might wake up at anytime. As i was seeing the mountain, i thought the same for the zillianth time. The moon light was good, the silhouette of the mountain is attracting my eyes. Of course, one more thing is constantly demanding my attention, my new phone. The smooth black finishing was shining in the moon light. Everybody were taking alcohol and except me, i had chai. I expressed my wish to walk all the way down to Araku in the moon light, and sridhar hung up on that. He became adamant , Uday had to change his voice modulation, for him to abandon the idea of night walk.

We have decided to leave and started packing things. At that we heard a sound from a distance, everybody pointed torchlights in that direction, a man shouted at us to switch off the lights and about 10 people with AK - 47 guns surrounded us before we understand whats happening. The mighty assault rifiles made us to show respect for the people who are holding them. Thats a naxalite area, they could be naxalites, or police. One fellow said "Sir, they had drinks", the usage of the word sir assured me that, they are not bandits at least. They started questioning if we had any girls with us. Then they revealed that they are from greyhounds, a subdivision of AP police to tackle naxalites.

Luckily, the profession of Dr. Uday, created a good impression. The man leading them , was not rude to us but a little harsh. After few minutes, a police next to me started talking to me, in a non-threatening way. Suddenly, the SI become cool and started patronizing us. I was expecting that, they would ask bribe, but they left. We started resuming the packing but our brains still working to comprehend what had happened. Then i have realized that my phone is missing. I was holding it when Greyhounds came, but didnt thought about it since then. After painfully unpacking everything, we concluded that the phone is missing and Greyhounds might have nicked  it. I doubt the police who talked to me.

On the way back to hotel, we stopped at the railway gate and waiting for the train to go. The local Jeep fellows told us that, the greayhounds noted the car on the road with twigs on it and stopped at half a KM distance and tracked us. So, for sure they knew we are civilians.

Everybody become silent and uday asked if i get attached to my gadgets. It took all my willpower from not to laugh at his face. His intention is to console me a bit, and i have to respect it, i said no, and turned my face to window to exhale the smoke and laugh.

There were cement benches forming a circle before our hut, we sat there smoking and drinking for sometime, while everybody was trying to either console me or trying to create a hope to find the phone in the morning. Its hard to digest pity, when you dont feel hurt. I sat there patiently , listening to their kind-words, and thinking how to manage my credit card bill which went high and what mobile i should buy next. I took sridhar phone,
called home to let them know that i lost my phone and not to be scared as they cant reach me.Then i changed the Google password.

                           KATIKI FALLS

Next day, sridhar woke me up at 5:30 to search for the mobile in the fields. I slept anyway, and he went anyway. After he returned with a disappointed face, i said thanks to him. Meanwhile , manohar started putting things in bags, including mine. Uday was sleeping, and manohar, his little brother, took up the job of waking him up. When i was a kid, and trying to wake my cousin early in the morning, he kind of kicked in stomach. I was hoping for the same to happen here . But, it didn't happen. Initially manohar was saying "Brother, wake up, go to bathroom and get ready ", as the time is passing, number of words in the wakeup call are going down. After sometime it become " bother , bathroom " , it looked as if manohar was afraid of going to bathroom alone, so he wants his big brother to come along.

After breakfast, we headed towards Katiki Waterfalls. Now everybody is fighting to get the bike, so i settled in the car. The ghat road, the series of mountains , the coffee plantation , is it possible for nature to offer more green than this? After shuffling, its me and srikanth on bike. Its his bike, so he demanded the keys, i tried to explain him ,as i weigh more i should be driving in the ghat road, but he was confident. Its hard to conceive a business man. And now its my time for revenge, i started singing loudly. He was been switching on the car-stereo whenever i got into a good mood and singing. I took revenge , when he cant escape.

We found coffee stalls on the road side. Neatly packed , raw coffee powder and beans are for sale. I went and asked the guy the how much, he said Rs 5. When i shouted back, everybody wanted 20 packets each. Then the seller explained us that, the drinkable coffee is Rs 5, a packet of coffee powder is for Rs 30. We had a coffee besides that coffee plantation, bought few packets of coffee powder and beans.

It became afternoon by the time we reached Katiki. From there a worst road imaginable ahead of us where only Mahindra & Mahindra Jeeps can venture. We booked a jeep and driver was friendly with us, He even let manohar drive the Jeep before entering the ghat No vehicles can go to Katiki falls, we have to walk around two KM before trekking to the falls. As usual, the scenery was beautiful, the railway tracks added some more beauty to that. Thanks to movie directors like vamsi, who made us feel , though artificial , tracks are beautiful.

Just beside the track there is small shop where a man in his mid thirties is selling corn, and a little boy of not more than five years old was selling Indian palm tree fruits. He is blind. Seems both of them are from same village. The shy-kid was charging ten rupees for 13 fruits. When we give him a ten note, he measured the size of it to confirm its a ten note and then started counting the fruits . I got curious , why 13? Usually they sell in dozens. I thought he could count till 13 only. When i

asked him to tell the number after 13, it took some time for him to control his shyness, scratched his nose then said 14. My doubt was clarified. Sridhar offer Rs 100 for him. After some protest he accepted the money and told us that he is going to buy new clothes. The whole time, the man from the same village who allowed the kid to do business under his turf was observing us with a little smile.

Katiki trip made me realize that i hate trekking. Yes, i hate trekking, i am more of a rider than a trekker , for hours i can sit on a bike and ride, but trekking is a different ball game. I am not talking about mountain trekking with all those ropes and all, a simple climbing. I hate it, because my body hates it. After few steps i was panting. My lungs working with their full efficiency, and my heart is beating so heavily and so fast, i can hear it, infact after few more steps, i was able to hear only the heart beating. Its begging me to take rest for a while, you know, you always have to listen to your heart, i did the same. I was taking rest, i was left behind, thats not a problem, sridhar chosen to be with me, that was the problem. He kept nagging, nagging and nagging. He wanted us to catch up with others, i said , go, but , its sridhar,

he is enjoying nagging. I cant even hear his words properly, the only beat is my heartbeat, and his talk is just noise for me. I was completely exhausted, and gathered all my will power to not to get up in a quick motion and push him off the cliff. When i finally caught my breath, we started climbing. The steps are well built but in the end, they are too close to the edge, and they have built a wooden fence for support. Finally there is this water fall. Its a waterfall, water falling from above, what is so spectacular about it? Nothing. Its not a great scene to watch, as water is not falling from much height for the water to appear in white, and its summer , so less water is falling. If people love water falling from above, why cant drop a bucket of water at the first floor and watch the water falling from the ground floor.

There were two or three families enjoying the water falls. . How it is any different than getting drenched under a shower at the comfort of home. Its a custom to stand under the waterfall, let the water drop straight on the head, and feel that its the best massage. After a full-bodyy massage, , we let other families to enjoy the falls. There is an egg-shaped rock right in front of the waterfalls. Uday, srikanth and manohar climbed it with their little notebooks. I didnt notice that they stuffed notebooks in my backpack. They must be preserving the memory of katiki falls, then they are

Katiki Falls

giving the more importance to saving the moment than enjoying it. That's bad. Or they must have some revelation when water hit their heads hard and jolting it down, How big revelations a person could get which requires more than an hour to write. I can't say. Or it must be sri-rama-koti. Anyway, they are not even looking at the nature around them, which is unacceptable. The katiki trip is manohar's plan, if he is not going to enjoy it, then why did I drag myself there.I went up and sat on a rock which is easy to climb and started smoking. Soon, sridhar came along, I was hoping that he wont nag again to go up further. But he had a book and a pen too. He went beyond me and started writing.. I looked for satish but he is nowhere to be seen, may be he is talking over phone, that's better than writing. Srikanth was taking a nap on top of the rock, that's even better.And did i enjoy the nature? No, i was judging others for enjoying it.

"Sanjeev garu, sanjeev garu " , sridhar was shouting from below, I thought somebody pushed him

down for me, but he didn't seem hurt and started explaining that he had fear of heights, so to conquer the fear he got down all by himself, and started writing. What the frock !!!! , what's with this writing?And what I was doing? I was looking at people enjoying the water falls. There was a couple, probably in their early twenties, they are in love and its visible. I dont mean to say, they are publicly displaying affection or foreplaying. They just enjoyed each others company under the falls, then asked somebody to take a snap of them and left.

Hunger makes people move, thats what happened to us. But sridhar was missing, later we realized that he went down further now struggling to come up. Soon, he joined the trekking party. We had few snaps and many cigarettes on the train tracks , called David, the Jeep driver, and left the place.

I had a small talk with the owner of pan-dabba where we got out of Jeep. She told me that, after mining projects inaugurated in that area, the company sent all the boys of the village who finished SSC to Chennai for two years training there and employed them. Never understand why stories like these ever get published in the media. She was not complaining of mining projects, she was glad that it came to their village. 

Satish and manohar could not find a room at APTDC borra caves and we have decided to go to Visakhapatnam to watch Sun set there, start early in the morning for Hyderabad.

On the way, at a distance, among the hills , there is a railway track and luckily there was a train coming. Me and uday rushed out of car to take a snap of it. It had an electric engine, not steam engine, however it still looked beautiful. Again thanks to our movie directors to make us believe that the ugly beast is beautiful.

We reached Tyda APTDC. There was nothing to eat except bajjis that too with sauce not Chutney. We were discussing our itinerary , I was kept motivating everybody to push our limits further and travel to Hyderabad in one go. Suddenly, uday gave us the bitter truth. Visakhapatnam is towards east and so watching sunset is not possible.We laughed at our foolishness  and decided contribute another 500 so that we can stay and explore vizag. The bill for 11 plates of bajjis is Rs.600, thats the costliest food we had in the trip. 

This time uday , srikanth and manohar went to the cottages to have a photoshoot. I have to agree, those cottages deserves a photoshoot. We started off to Vizag, with me and sridhar on bike. When sridhar started riding, a dead bat,  blown away from electricity wires hit him on the shoulder. So i got the handlebar again. The statement " If you have a dream, whole world conspires to acheive it " must be true. 

                                                                      Vizag 

On the outskirts of Vizag, we stopped for snacks and i put on the helmet because i have many relatives in that city. We reached Ramakrishna beach in the late evening. The ocean, it welcomed us from a quarter mile distance with its smell and with its rythamic background music. The view of unending ocean always makes me thoughtless. Its like all my thoughts were flushed by the sea. May be its because of the beauty it posses. But Paulo cohelo says its because of the fear. In Alchemist he explains that, the vast ocean or a  desert subdues us. Makes us realize how little we are at subconscious level. 

We had " Munta kinda pappu" , a local snack and now we need a roof. But we wanted a hotel near to the sea, we called up every hotel listed on yellopages and but budget didnt allow us checkin in any of them. Finally , we found a hotel , two streets away from beach and sridhar settled the price. After that he left us to join his parents for papikondalu trip. He must be a trip-hopper. 

We went to beach at night again, we dont know if people are allowed in the beach at midnight. After Grayhounds fiasco, none of us want another encounter with police of any kind  An ice cream vendor told us ,as long as we dont have alcohol with us, we are safe. 

 We didnt really miss Sridhar at that time, he is like the shore, always jumping and talking. Or may be shore is like him, cant sit quitely. Except me, everybody else is busy with phone, well, i dont have a phone. Satish went to drop sridhar at busstop. Manohar was on phone, uday was staring at sea, he made a face as if ocean is a big black board and he was trying to understand whats written on it. And srikanth, the cool guy, was kicking and chasing waves. He always enjoyes the moment, but dont get immersed in it, he thinks about the next task too. On the next day, he bought toothpaste, shampoos when everybody else were sleeping. There should be a responsible person like him in every trip. or we all had to use beer instead of shampoo. 

We started off to yarada beach the next day. I never visited that beach. Its the odd beach of all the vizag beaches. First, its a paid beach, second, its on the other side of lighthouse, third, its not on the beach road and fourth it is neat.  We cut through vizag industrial area and Navy officers colony to go there. First time in the trip, i was wearing those cheap shorts which i bought in hyderabad, its a million dollar question on how long the shorts will sustain.  

 Apparently, Yarada beach belongs to Agrigold company and they are building a all-stone-temple like in ancient times worth 400 crores. First time in the trip, we had a proper-no-hurry lunch there. 

Yarada is an aggressive beach. Waves are so powerful, that manohar was thrown out on the rocks. And the wind is blowing with so much force that we had to arrange the mat in a cylindrical shape around uday to lit a cigarette. Its a good place, but we went in the wrong time i.e summer so could not have the full enjoyment it offers. 

We returned to the room in evening and made plans to cover rest of the beaches and head towards hyderabad early in the morning. We have covered two beaches, and two more to go. Me and uday started on bike and rest are following us on car. I got confused between Bheemili and Rishikonda beach , though manohar persisted that i could be wrong, i argued him with that i was right. And none of us thought of checking google maps to settle the issue. 

Rishikonda beach has this artificial structure which protrudes in to the sea. Sitting there and letting the waves drench you is one experience i cherish. Me and Uday sat there till rest of the boys come to that beach with wine bottles. We sat on the sand beach eating snacks for a while. i developed an urge to be alone. Its been long time , i was alone. I needed sometime where i dont have to listen or talk or even expected to make an expression. 

So i walked on the beach for half an hour or so. The music of waves can have magical affect on men. It subdues all the thoughts and demand our attention to it. But some thoughts are too powerful to be subdues, so , for me, its the right way to filter the things which are highly affecting me and which are not. Its not only for the people who are sitting at the beach, even the acknowledgement to the presence of such a vast ocean can have its affects. Somewhere i read that, the general behavior of people in port city is dependent how aggressive the waves are at the beach. I cant completely agree to that, but the people of vizag are calm and mild when compared to hyderabad. In hyderabad, everybody seems to be hurrying for something or the other. Of course, i could be wrong, i dont live there to know the pulse of the people.

We were disappointed to the fact that its hard to find sea food in vizag though its a port city. The restaurant fellow offered us hyderbadi biryani, but we are from hyderabad. Finally, we got hold of fish .


                                                  Took the road less travelled

There are two routes to reach hyderabad. One, the NH5-NH9 route, second is the bhadrachalam route.. Manohar proposed the second route. I seconded him, because in a blog i read that the route is exotic. 

Me and uday started off early, and car followed us after filling the gas. At Tallapalem where we left NH5, we had breakfast. Till now the bike was working great, but at the village, its selfstart stopped workin. Apparently, uday and sridhar had hurried the mechanic to service the bike in two hours and he didnt have to time charge the battery. The engine was starting with the first kick, but srikanth and uday took it to a mechanic in that village. He said its the battery problem, so we started riding, hoping that the battery gets charged after a long drive. 

To go to Bhadrachalam, we need to travel thought Alluri sitarama raju forest. We can say its amazon forest of andhra pradesh. The more we enter into it, the more thicker the forest gets. After travelling for couple hours, we found a village  where they are selling taddy milk out of pots. I still regret for not tasting it. 

The road is narrow, but its not as worst as i have anticipated. After driving for half an hour or so, we reached an area where pine trees covered most of the land. Uday wanted to halt there, but car overtook us and went ahead. Well, thats the problem with car, you shut the windows, switch on the a.c and play the music, creating your own little comfort zone and you dont want to see whats around you. But with bike, its different. Unlike car , bike wont isolate you from the surroundings, letting you actually enjoy whats around you. Of course, car is safer than bike, but where is the joy in car. 

We chased the car, stopped them, and went back to pine trees. I blame the car, for none of them travelled in it admired the beauty around them. So, we made a halt. I badly wanted a tea, but its not available. If i had known that i would not be having tea till midnight , i would have taken two more cups in the morning. Any way we parked both the vehicles in the woods , and used car-cover as mat. Uday sat next to me and took the little book from his

pocket. I was perplexed. When i just want to explore the area or sit there imagining a Ghost is watching me like in the movie Raaz, everybody discussing the list of items to be packed for the next trip. Except a bed, fridge , tv and sofa, the list covered all the items in the household. Again , we are not enjoying the surrounding thinking about making it further comfort in the next trip. 

There is a difference between being happy and being comfortable. People often take them for synonyms. Home offers comfort, the ride offers happiness. Because, everybody gets bored with the comfortness of home and go and search a place which is not home but feels like home. Few people find that in temples, few in cafes and bars and few in parks. May be the man, who can feel home anywhere is the happiest man, for that one must not see things in terms of good or bad, but must judge them based on experience. One must start to learn to segregate things in terms of "i knew it", "i dont know it" , and must possess the zeal to try new things., instead good and bad. 

So i was sitting in that exotic and spooky place, helping others make a list which we always make but never go to shop with it. After finalizing the list, we started again. 

Since the beginning of this trip, we were drinking water and Fanta like crazy. Now as we were in middle of a formidable forest, we lack those. Luckily , we came across a water plant in the forest. It was maintained by the local church to supply drinking water to the nearby tribal villages. Me, uday and manohar filled up all the bottles and cans we had, while rest of the guys were in sleeping the car. I asked the manager of the plant if there is a church nearby. His eyes got little bigger, and his smile widened from ear to ear. Yes, he said, and i asked if i am a christian. I said yes, thought i am not. He asked if i go to church regularly, i said, whenever my parents drag me . I was afraid that, he might ask if i was a catholic or a protestant, at that time i could not recall, the majority of christians in south india are catholics or protestants  As i have indirectly told him that i am not much into god stuff, he was a bit disappointed but still smiling at me.

We gave him Rs 10 for the water and enquired about the lunch. For the two days i was not having my gastric tablets to my tummy already bloated. If i dont eat now to neutralize the stomach acids, i might bloat up further and  then my stomach could be a hot air balloon lifting me upwards. The guy told us that there is a mess in chintapalli, which is just one KM away. We asked manohar to stop at chintapalli for lunch. Me and uday went there, found a mess a then waiting for the boys to come.

Half an hour passed, but the car has not arrived. With no cellphone signals , we decided go back to check if the car was broken down at the waterplant. The car was not there, so they have left, without stopping at chintapalli. 

                                                              Search and destroy

Now the roles of bike and car got reversed. Now bike is the searching for car. We started this trip as search and rescue operation. Now its a search and destroy operation. We were chasing the car, but to no avail. I want to go little slow to enjoy the nature more, but we had to find the car. And i was riding with barefoot. Little i know that car will leave us in the middle of the formidable forest. 

Finally we started enquiring the vehicles coming in the opposite direction about black wagonR , everybody said they have seen a black a car 15 minutes ago. Soon the 15 min become twenty minutes. So the guys are speeding up. 

We have reached Gudem. Chintapally , gudem names appear in the movie Alluri seetaramaraju. And we were travelling in Alluri Seetaramaraju forest. The surroundings were so beautiful but we had to rush to the car, where ever it is now. Both of us getting irritated to the point that, why they are speeding up, they should be slowing down for us to catch up. We had no answer for that then. And thats the problem, no answer, so as human beings we started speculating the worst answers our minds could come up with. Uday started looking into the valleys fearing that car must fallen in them. 

We came across another batch of greyhounds  I have nothing to fear, i dont have a mobile, those non-telugu greyhounds told us that a black car passed by before half an hour. I don't under understand why they are hurrying, i remembered all those silly hollywood movies , where friends go on a trip, some of them conspires to kill a person. But i was just their acquaintance, we didn't have clashes, may be the target is uday, may be i was suppose to drive him to the death. It cant be, because manohar was in the car, he is brother of uday. May be the target was srikanth. May be he already got killed and conspirers don't want an innocent man like me to get involved. 

                                                              Bows and arrows

There is board with a picture of bear. May be there are bears in that area. The whole afternoon who rode without a break. On the road there was a tribal hunter peeking into the trees with his bow and arrow. well, archery just not a game, its still in use . 

 The rode is bumpy all the way, uday could not sit in the back and started expressing pain. I gave him the air-pillow i found in the tank-pouch . 

The road split into two  with no sign boards or mile -stones. This was one of the situation, i dont like. i.e getting lost, with no visible civilization and no vehicle approaching. We took up the roles of sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson and deduced that the road to the left must be right one. After few kilometers an old man in a murky white shirt and loincloth appeared, and confirmed that we were right indeed. 

After a kilometer or so, we came across a bunch of college kids on bikes. They confirmed the same. Its around 4:30 and still we are in the forest. We took a sharp turn and there are bunch of tribals with bows and arrows. I stopped the bike and started asking them how long it will take to reach seeleru. When i looked back, the adjective unbelievableness was all over udays face. I could not understand why ? Either he could not believe that we actually saw tribals with bows and arrows or he could not believe that i stopped the bike at the sight of them. 

Those tribals, wearing lungis and shirts , talked jovially with us. They were returning from an unfruitful hunt. They let Uday hold the bow and arrow, but denied when he wants to shoot an arrow, as, if the arrow hits a rock or something the arrowhead will lose its sharpness. They have told us that, usually the game would be bear, rabbit and cheetah.

We bid adieu to them , then a reached a village the-name-i-forgot for softdrinks. We were hungry and i need a tea. Well, tea was not available there we bought "Five up", which must be a parody brand to " Seven up" .

Uday took the bike and started listening to few item songs which are in his phone.  Its not that i despise item songs. In fact , songs of seetharama sh we just listen lyrics and catch up few stanzas from the song. The music and voice of the singer force us to ignore the lyrics. But what is a song without lyrics? There are many forms of songs without archestra, example work songs, folk songs and so on. I made a note to myself to have collection of folk songs in the next trip. 

                                Following my Shadow

Bike and my thoughts were stopped by police అత checkpost. The constable was waving at us to come in. I thought it could be for a signature ,or if its to check driving license , i will be damned. . But he was shouting at phone, then to told us that the call was from seeleru reservoir, and our friends are waiting there. At last, we found them, or they let us find them.

We were on the way to dam, the car is coming in the opposite direction. When asked, srikanth told us, he got scared to stop in the forest, so he kept on going. Well, cant make that its his fault, fear is never a fault, in fact, city grown-ups should feel scared in thick forest, srikanth was right in his actions, its just that , my excitement killed the fear. It didnt mean, i was brave then, it means i was careless and got carried away.

We had the worst  noodles  there. I was actually tired but hoping that others wont compete with me for the bike. I thought Uday would come in the car and i get a new pillion rider. However , the teams did not change. Uday had a Tramadol and gave me one. Its a pain killer and as it is opium based drug, it lifts the mood too. I was energetic again.

It become dark when we started from seeleru, me and uday started earlier, and the car was behind. After travelling for more than half an hour, then it happened again. The car was missing. We were going back to search for them. The whole trip we were searching for people, cars, hotels and lost phones. When met, they told us that they took wrong turn.  After seeleru, ithere will be a "Y" junction, right goes badhrachalam, and left goes to the place -i -never -bothered.

Luckily, the way from seeleru to Badhrachalam is not Ghat. With scattered Thandas ( Tribal settlements ) , the route is not that safe. The forest is thick, but we could not see surroundings, and that scared me more than anything.

Srikanth and Manohar took the bike for sometime. We stopped at a village, name i forgot, for tea. Its a small village, but surprisingly there is big govt quarters beside the road. As there are no cellphone signals and as google didnt offer offlline maps facility at that time, we had to stop at the sight of every homosapien and ask for directions. After an hour or so, i was on bike again, this time with satish. As i have told before, satish doesn't talk much, i was not in a chatting mood either, as the driving on the route requires more concentration. The powerful headlights of car were responsible for casting our shadow on the trees. And that shadow was confusing the path. Its dark, the road is black, surrounded by trees which shine in light gray color when light falls on them. Our black shadow on the trees confusing us with the road. I could not understand the phenomenon initially. Later i have realized that, the road will be at an obtuse angle to the shadow. It was easy to trace the shadow as the car was just behind us. Thats how i followed my shadow !!

We have been crossing small villages, with few huts and one or two concrete houses. But, interestingly, almost at every village, there is a small church or a temple. 

                                                     Civilization again

At midnight we reached Bhadrachalam. Finally, we saw electrical lights, traffic and Dhabas. Then i realized how much i missed civilization all these hours.  We all had a "Goli soda" and everyone opened their own goli soda. Then we had dinner. lots of chapathis. 

I was tired and i was sure i can push myself a bit more. Srikanth or Manohar offered to drive, then suddenly i felt too sleepy. I slept for three hours. When i was awake, srikanth was driving the car and uday was on bike alone. I started riding the bike. At khammam, car went ahead towards hyderabad leaving us behind. Unlike in the forest, this time we were informed. I was able to drive till the sun rise , after that i noticed that, every vehicle on the road had a replica to its right side. At this point, asked uday to drive. He rode for half an hour and started dozing. We made a halt at a Petrol bunk. Uday took the air pillow, a blanket and slept on the septic tank beside petrol bunk.

                                                      Facing heat and insults

When he woke up, we travelled for some time and stopped at a hotel to have breakfast. Then we discovered another tragedy. We dont have cash in hand, except loose change in a fruit shaped box which belongs to manohar. Luckily, we have lot of loose change.  We stopped for a while at paleru dam took pics and started again.

If anybody requires an example on the global warming and pollution, they should go on a drive like us. Last day , we were saved by the forest from the heat. Now, sun became too happy to see us, and threw a sadistic laugh in our way. Energy and thoughts were dried because of heat. We halted at "seven restaurant" at suryapet. Still i dont understand why would somebody name the place "seven" when it is on highway number nine.

Drew money from ATM and felt safe again. With money in pocket, we entered cafe coffee day. I have ordered a double shot espresso, i was hoping that the pure coffee will activate my mind. And it worked, mind is active, but body needs energy, so we had two red bulls each.

With couple of blue notes left in the pocket, we set out to hyderabad. The highway was still under construction.  The road is switching between single way and double way repeatedly. Sleep was slowly creeping up. I dont think i can ride for a long time, i dont think uday can drive either, at least i got 3 hours sleep, he slept only for one hour or so.

We halted at the outskirts of Narketpally. Uday proposed to take a room and sleep till evening. But the room rent was too high, so we decided rest for sometime. After sometime, i was pushing him to resume the journey, but he wanted to sleep. There was a park-bench, and an iron bed before the hotel. We rested the backs and sleep attacked us like tsunami. After sometime, the hotel owner , woke us up and asked us to leave, as the people sleeping before the hotel will bring him bad luck. Insult !! We bought couple of water bottles , poured the whole water on our heads, then started off.

We were shouting, we were shaking the bike, we were commenting on others, we were singing loud.... all these things to keep sleep at a bay. Still, i get chills when i think of this part of the journey. I think we were arrogant and stingy. We should have slept somewhere , at a dhaba or on the grass at least.


                                               The end

I dropped uday at his uncles house, then i went home to sleep. It was 1PM when i went to sleep. Its 31 hours drive from vizag to hyderabad. Unforgettable journey!

I woke up after sunset. I called uday but he didnt pick up. Next day, he told that he slept 18 hrs. That must be end of his insomnia days. That day, we had a success party.

The whole journey was unexpected and unplanned. Luckily, nobody got sick and no vehicle gave a major trouble. The problem with the trip is, it raised a bench mark for the future trips. On whole, the return trip had his affects. It was a beautiful journey, but not a safe journey. It must be remembered but repeated. Every event become a memory and every acquaintance become a friend.