My best friend's blog

Ascii

Ashok Narayan Veeraraghavan, one of my best friends and someone I always turn back to when in bliss or in mess.

He is the reason I started blogging. And I’m absolutely glad I started it. Thanks Ascii!

Visit his blog at http://vashok.blogspot.com

On a small trail.

Down the road, a gurgling stream protected bedind the fence.


















A scenic view of the Mulshi dam.


















We went into the forest on a small trail. This is the view of the Mulshi dam from up there.


















The view of the meadows on the trail.

















Observing the nature on the trail.

















After a short trail through the forest we took this road beside the Mulshi dam.

















On the trail we saw this particular plant used in ayurvedic treatments. When the juice of these leaves were applied on the gums, they go numb. Hence facilitates in tooth extraction without pain.

















Fish tail Palm that we saw, called so because the leaves of the palm appear to be like the tail of a fish. The flowers of this tree looked like a hanging chandelier. Jyanthi explained that when this flower was completely bloom, there would be a narrow hole in the center, and often Bats roost in the central pith of this flower. And during the nights one could notice them flying out of the center of the flower in search of food.


















We spotted this Beehive on the Way to the waterfall.

Waterfall Rappeling

At the top of the Waterfall

















And beginning to Rappel.

















Spiderman spiderman
friendly neighborhood spiderman
spins the web anytime
catch the thief just in time.

Look up... there goes the spiderman!
















Half way down the waterfall.

On the Way to Mulshi Dam

This tree house was near a motel, where we had stopped for breakfast.

















Consecutinve waterfalls on the way.

The Wild in Me.

It was six in the morning when i woke up and realized I had to be at Chandini Chowk in an hour’s time. The guys who were supposed to come along dropped out.
So I took a public transport bus to a place called Deccan. From where I took an autorikshaw to Chandni Chowk.My adventure group members were waiting. I boarded a bus at 7.15 and by 8.30 we were at a small motel. We had breakfast and chai. From there I rode on the bike with Devdutta Mullay to the waterfalls. There were several falls on the way.

A scenic beauty of the misty mountains draped with pasture and trickling stream here and there. The view of the Mulshi Dam from different angles as we took a small trail through the forest was serene.

The Forest trail: We were a group of 25, split in two groups. As one group went of the mountain to start the waterfall rappelling. The other group including me went for a forest trail. We saw a very old tree supporting itself with buttress.
Saw a small Bamboo thicket. There is a superstition that when bamboos bloom it is considered a bad omen. Because after the bamboo blooms, the village near by is generally affected by famine or plaque. Wonder why?

The seeds that are produced during the flowering of bamboos attract rats and rodents. When the rodent population increases they invade the grains in the store house. Hence causing famine due to loss of grains. Most rats carry infectious germs on their body which could cause plague.

In many forests, the plant and ecology are being conserved through a system called "Devarai".
A sacred stone is identified and is treated heavenly. People living in the nearby village pray to the Devarai God. No ecosystem around the Devarai is affected as it is considered to be part of God. But these days, people are encouraging the Devarai to be brought into mainstream religion. Thereby a lot of crowd is attracted to the places where Devarai’s are instilled, causing damages to the ecosystem and ultimately the concept of Devarai's too.

Mrs.Jyanthi Krishnamurthy and Devdutta Mullay from the organizing committee were equally excited as the group; they noticed everything on the trail and explained the significance to the minute detail.
Like the Fish tail Palm that we saw, called so because the leaves of the palm appear to be like the tail of a fish. The flowers of this tree looked like a hanging chandelier. Jyanthi explained that when this flower was completely bloom, there would be a narrow hole in the center, and often Bats roost in the central pith of this flower. And during the nights one could notice them flying out of the center of the flower in search of food.

Another interesting thing I noticed on the way was a particular variety of plant. I'm yet to get the botanical name. It was earlier used in Ayuredic treatments for dental problems. When the juice from these leaves was applied on the gums, they go numb for over 2 days. Hence for tooth extraction these leaves were extensively used. On the lighter side when campers unknowing used the stem of this plant to stir their food their gums went numb too.

When we came back it was time for lunch. The group shared whatever food they had brought. After a good meal, we set out to walk up the mountain to watch the pervious group rappel down the waterfall.

Most of them had a pleasant rappel. As they were slow or really slow like most amateurs. The problem with others was, after a couple of minutes, they just wanted to come down quickly. This would have been possible if not for the extra safety rope reef knotted around their waist and let down only at a constant pace. Anyway it was thrilling in every sense to just watch them come down with the rhythmic force of the waterfall. Nature so obviously powerful! I could not wait to go up there.

Jyanthi and I were the last to go up the mountain to the spot where the rappelling starts. The trail was scary, the mountain was steep and the rocks were not aiding easily under our feet, some slippery and some just not at a comfortable distance from others. Finally we did it. After coming up that trail, no one would want to go back down the same way. Everyone would decide to just rappel down come what may. So you can understand how bad the trail up was!

It was cold up there, with the waterfall around and the chill breeze. 10 minutes later it started to rain, by the time I was belted with the harness and locked with the figure of eight I was ssshiiiverrrring. Within minutes I was on my own hanging on ropes.

I was rappelling, oh boy! and suddenly I felt the urge to come back up, I didn't want to do it. But I could hear my instructor screaming "Come on chennai u can do it" Yeah I was the only chennaite out there. He clicked my snap :D

Rappelling - one wrong step you lose your limb or your life.
Well that suits only for "Waterfall" rappelling. Man! every step is a wrong step. The rocks have been underwater for quite a few weeks now and it was bloody slippery. And you don't get a proper view because the water is showering overhead. It was thrilling, I was gritting my teeth. The simple rule was to maintain oneself perpendicular to the mountain.
I've done rock climbing and rappelling before but never under a waterfall. Half way through, there was a long broad cave like structure on the rocks; my left leg had gone through it. And wow! I noticed a small nest damn! Wish I had a waterproof camera attached to my helmet.

Finally after say 50 feet, one has to come down vertically, that's were the trick starts, an amateur would do it damn slowly but an experienced would know how to let more rope through and slide down quickly. But things worked out better for amateurs. As I had written earlier about the safety rope which is released only at a particular speed, I should have tried not to release my rope quickly and held it until I felt the safety rope was long enough to come down. Well I did get strangled in between and screamed my throat out. But all this is part of adventure!

If your blood is wild,
And limbs ready to be tried.Never miss adventure like this. Thrills every nerve in the body!

Trip to Bhimashankar

Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary


















Gurgling streams


















Our lunch spot - beside a smooth stream

















Forest Trail

















Bhimshankar temple gopuram

















Spot the world's biggest squirrel - Indian Giant squirrel
Clicked this picture while on another trail behind the temple.

Walk in the clouds

Bhimashankar wildlife sanctuary, home of the world’s biggest squirrel (The Indian Giant Squirrel). It was a sight to remember during the second half of the trail, around the bhimashanker temple. These squirrels looked almost like cats, with a orange shaded body and a cashmere shaded tail. This forest is spread over an area of 125sq. km. The forest type here is basically semi-evergreen with patches of primary evergreen forest at some places. Perched at an height of 3296 feet on the northern end of the western ghats, Bhimshankar, is one of the most thickly forested regions of the state.

On the Shayadris, we found lots of karvy plants. Karvy is a septennial plant which flowers once n seven years. These flowers are the most attractive and hence most of the insects and birds feed on the honey of these flowers at the same time increasing the rate of pollination. Due to the same reason, the year Karvys bloom, the rest of the plants on the shyadris suffer a week rate of growth. But recover in the next seven years. Thus the ecosystem remains balanced.
The trail we took was like a walk in the clouds. With innumerable thundering cascades and gurgling streams. On the way we found lots of slow moving snails, crabs, jewel bugs, beetles and also the cobra lily it gets its name from the fact that one of its petals looks like the hood of the cobra.

Luminous fungi grow on the trees that lay on the banks of the river Bhima. These glow during the dark. A natural light system during the nights. We heard a pleasant whistle. It was the whistling bird or the school boy. Because the same bird whistle that sounds like a scratch of a chalk on the slate during the evenings.

Bhimshankar temple is situated in Ambegaon taluka , District - Pune on the Sahayadri, by the banks of the river Bhima. Built in 'Hemadpanti' style of architecture is one of the 12 Jyotirling temples of Lord Shiva. The lingam was very small, just about 5 inches tall. The day we went to the temple was a pradhosam. We got a spectacular sight of the milk abhishekam using the cornshell. Otherwise nothing much around the temple was visible due to the mist laden chilly atmosphere.

All’s well that ends well. Not really! After hours of walking up, down and through the streams, I’ve caught cold. Well it was my first forest trail and this cold is in no way going to stop me from the second and many more.

Findings for the day.

A friend of mine from Chennai, Vasanth, had sent me this link.
Its a Tamil FM radio website.

Hope some Tamil folks enjoy this.
http://www.wtruk.com/radio2.html

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