Hogenakkal ahoy...

Life is a sine curve. All the highs are preceded by lows. A week ago, most of us had reached a point of saturation at work. Conversations seldom featured anything bright and we were all busy proving ourselves to be the biggest sufferer of the lot. When I asked if anyone was interested in going to Hogennakal falls, I had more or less expected to get response from a few. After all, the excuses are not all that silly now: people do have better things to take care of at work and home. To my surprise, when the time of congregation was finalized; the number was staggering. All of us were going and the hot Accent Tornado, the RE Thunderbird, the Volt (Vikram's Avenger) and the two Pulsar 200's were going to serve us today!

We met at Silk board at around 7:10, a full hour behind schedule. After some name calling and delay blames we started towards Hosur on the NH-7. The expressway to Electronic City had been inaugurated just two days back and the speed starved demons of Bangalore immediately opened throttle to settle at 3 digit speeds. We got to Hosur in no time and got off the highway in search for a place for breakfast. We found a decent place and sought directions while we ate. We decided to keep off the NH-7 and take the road less travelled. This route was just what we love: small villages, twists, turns and yet awesome tarmac. The rural lands with fields extending to eternity are a treat for the eyes. We did mess up in between when we collided amongst ourselves. A tyre burst, a scraped exhaust, a broken swing-arm, a tail lamp had shaken us all a bit but in the end the spirit prevailed and we continued our journey.

After the Hogenikkal toll gate, the hills were majestic and we stopped for a few pictures. Monkey threat did not deter the brave Vanchi from mounting his camera on the tripod and capturing the majestic view with all of us. One creature also tried his hand at Sid-C's thunderbird.

He abandoned his antics in a while and was content looking at his beautiful self in the mirror. Bugga & I covered the downhill journey of around 2 Kms without starting the engine and reached Hogennakal at around 11.We parked and Mr.Vanchi put his Tamil speaking skills to good use. After haggling with the boatman for a while, we struck a deal for 200 per head- this included a coracle ride to the falls, one hour stay at an island beyond the TN-Karnataka border. This might not be the best deal but we were short on time. However, we did end up spending a lot of time at the island- and in the end it was totally worth it.

We went below the waterfall and everyone was in a frenzy to put away their cameras in a packet. We cruised through the river cutting through majestic rock formations. A number of movies: Roja, Bobby, NTR's have been shot here- or so we were told by our boatman. Reddy requested the boatman to let him row the coracle for a while and to my surprise, the amiable fellow handed the oar as well as our lives in Reddy's capable hands.

And yes, Reddy did a fantastic job, the boatman even told him to leave everything and become a boatman here. Praddy also gave it a try and while we ordered fish, Bugga too took gyaan from Reddy. We packed the fresh fish at island#1 and rowed on to reach a more spectacular and secluded bank at island#2. We gobbled up the fish which was pretty decent and absolutely fresh. While Vanchi, Bugga and Reddy headed for a massage (our boatmen doubled as masseurs), the rest of us took a dip in the water. The flow was decent and the water was chilly despite the scorching sun. We lazed around in the water while the three finished their massage.

An hour later, Vanchi claimed that the massage was totally awesome. Maybe it was. Maybe it was because they had parted with some money (in addition to part of their dignity), or maybe the onslaught of punches had had an effect on their heads. However, I still recommend people to try this out. For 200 bucks, you get a really regal treatment.

We headed back in the boat and by the time we changed and reached our vehicles, it was already 4pm.

Then started the race with the setting sun. Since time was crucial, we travelled upto Dhramapuri and took the NH-7. Since Bugga seemed a bit groggy, we made a stop to move to the car. Vanchi chose a superb spot for the stop and despite the rush we had to take a couple of pictures. The fields were lush green and further beautified by the setting sun. When my request to Anjlin & Rohonesh to enact a DDLJ scene was denied vehemently, the rest of us ran down for pictures.

Poor Gogo who had 'lent' his footwear to Vanchi couldn't step out though thanks to the dearth of the same. Again, we sped off and continued our race with the setting sun. The idea was to cover as much distance as possible in sunlight. But alas, my hopes of reaching Hosur before sunset seemed to have been shattered when I could hardly see and had to switch on my lights. However, an instant later something struck me and I removed my sunglasses. The road lit up once again and I thanked God for the light and questioned if my brain was in fact the silliest of them all?

We reached Hosur just as night arrived and continued the journey to Bangalore at a moderate pace. It was almost 8 by the time we reached NGV and started fighting for the biggest sofa to lie down on.

I won't bother summarizing: Pictures say it all!