The Prisoner

The heavy door groaned. The loud shriek of metal rubbing stone followed. The armored guard stepped inside. He bent and placed the tray on the floor. The loud shriek of metal rubbing the floor again. The heavy door clanged shut.

A bowl of soup. Half a loaf of bread. Another day. Another meal.

He came from the corner of the room. He drank a little soup. He ate some bread. Reserved the rest of the food for later. Unconsciously. Mostly by force of habit.

He stood up. He looked around. The cell was large. The cell was dark and empty. A small window high on the wall was the only source of light. A small carpet in the corner where he slept. Bare stone walls. Cold stone floor. The heavy door. Un-oiled hinges. This was his world.

He tried to think back. The memories were blurred. The events were so long ago. He remembered the court vaguely. The charges against him were petty. The verdict was harsh. He remembered that part. All other memories had faded.

He'd had these thoughts before. Today was different. Today, he felt enraged. The charges were very petty. He’d decided that he had been in this place enough. He was breaking out tomorrow. It was years in this place now and he was prepared to do anything.

He thought of a plan. He would break the bowl. He would use the sharpest piece as his weapon. He would stand behind the door. He would kill the guard. Stab him from behind. Then he could leave this place. He wouldn’t think of the repercussions just now.

He didn’t sleep well that night. He tossed and turned on his threadbare carpet, in the corner of the cell. Tomorrow dawned at last.

He broke the bowl as planned. He held the shard tightly in his hand. He walked towards the door. It was about time now. He inhaled deeply. He steeled himself for the task that had to be done. There was no going back now.

The heavy door was within his reach. Time was moving even slower for him now. The only sound was his heavy breathing. He was sure that his heart had never beat that loudly before.

Suddenly, on an impulse, he pulled the handle of the door. The heavy door groaned. The loud shriek of metal rubbing stone inevitably followed. He looked outside. There was no one within view. He stepped outside from the cell. He passed two guards on his way out of the gates. They glanced at him once. They glanced away almost immediately.

He walked away.

The Bicycle Diaries

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, 1952 (The Motorcycle Diaries)

"This is not the tale of impressive deeds. This is the life of two (eight) people taken in a moment, when they were cruising together along a given path, with the same identity of aspirations and dreams"

The Plan: To travel around 60 kms in one day
The Method: Improvisation… by cycling
Objective: Explore the Dakshina Kannada area… that we only know by names and spoken words
Equipment: Eight, borrowed, broken, battered, backstabbing bicycles
The Pilots: Som, Sagar, KK, Suze, YShanta, Kalman, Pras and Dha(Me)
The Pilots’ Dream: To trek places that haven’t been visited before
Departure Time: 4:15 AM, March 16, 2008
The Route:
From 8^th Block, NITK Hostels, Surathkal – Haleangade – Pakshikere – Kinnigoli - Kateel – Neerkudi – Nalli Thirtha – Bhatlekere - Permude – MRPL –8^th Block, NITK Hostels, Surathkal
The Trek:
And it begins:
Surathkal Hostels, 0 Km, 4:15 AM
Kalman with his cam (not in the pic)…First Rays:
Pakshikere, 8 km, 5:30 AM
Supernova in the sky :-)

Pit Stop 1:
Kinnigoli, 11 km, 6:30 AM
Sated with idlis, sambar and the promised excitement

Temple 1:
Kateel, 15 km, 7:10 AM
The view inside

Temple 2:
Nalli thirtha: 35 km, 11:15 AM
8 guys.. . 8 bikes

The Eye Of Sauron:
Near MRPL, 50 km , 4:30 PM
Right out of LOTR

Mission Accomplished:
Surathkal, 60 km , 5:45 PM
Bliss.. Rain never felt better

Unforgettables:

• Suze’s method of pumping the cycle tires

• The ‘stretches’ – the terrifying one after Nalli Tirtha, the one which generated enough momentum to reach the peak of the next road, the one near MRPL, and the amazing finishing one – MRPL – Surathkal - race against rain (6 kms in under 20 minutes)

• The idea of bathing in a clear, wide pool for hours, shattered at first sight – Nalli Thirtha

• The Jabali cave – distance: 100+ meters, average height: about 3 feet, visibility: zero, method of travel: jumps inspired by Gollum, discovered: place where Jabali’s supposed to have performed penance, the River Ganga rising from the ground of the cave, a tunnel which is supposed to lead all the way to Kashi, A large, wet, paste producing, perfume smelling rock which is supposed to cure afflictions of the skin

• KK’s (borrowed) bicycle… stuff that gave way (in order)… chain.. chain guard.. the back wheel itself.. both the breaks – front and back.. two punctures in the rear wheel.. and chain again about fifteen times in between…

• The Hiccup (Yshant) and The Slightly Bigger Booboo (Som ) along the way

Snippets:
---[The Only Hotel Open At 6 AM, Kinnigoli]
[me] : Swami, yentu plate idli
[a pause.. which you normally describe as ‘pregnant’]
[dude] : naavu illi chai ge anta bandirodu
[LOL]

---[Pushing the cycles up a devilish slope, more than half way through the journey...]
“Christ had less trouble carrying his cross up the hill”
“This is just like life. Even life has ups and downs.” “Yea, I know. But why are there more ups in the afternoons?”

---[Sign put up in the entrance of the cave in Nalli Thirtha]
“Please do not insult any snakes or other (poisonous) creatures that you might find in the cave”

---[Reclining on the street in the shade]
[query]: Nalli Thithakee hinge hogoda?
[woman]: haudu.. ide daari
[query]: illinda yeshtu duura? One km? yerudu? Muuru?
[blank stare] [she walks away]
[pras]: she chose Option D…None of the above

---[After having fixed KK’s cycle’s chain for the nth time]
[Discussing the best method to travel from kanyakumari to kashmir]
[suze]: … go to the top of Himalayas, start rolling down and the momentum will carry you till Madhya Pradesh
[yshanta]: the vindhyas are in the way...
[som]: yea.. u have simple harmonic motion then… from vindhyas to himalayas
[pras]: but because of the momentum gained, after a few oscillations, you can take off, and land right at kanyakumari…

---[Sagar and Me, at a shop around a corner, near Parmude]
[sagar]: Swami, Zaffa yeshtu?
[swami]: muuru vare [3.5 /-]
[sagar]: yeradu kodi
[the rest of the guys show up then]
[kk]: inna 5 ade kodi
[kalman]: yeshtu idakke?
[swami]: nak rupaee [4 /-]

Hearty Thanks To:

1. All the dudes from whom we borrowed the cycles
   
2. Suresh (Pakshikere) … a silver merchant…saved the trek very early in the day , by fixing KK’s back tyre at 5:20 AM in the morning
3. Cycle tatha (Permude)… saved the ending of the trek… fixed two punctures, the loose chain, and both breaks…on KK’s cycle
4. Bhatta (Nalli Thirtha) … cave escort … for not letting any of the creatures in the cave get ‘insulted’ [:-P]
5. All the people along the way who gave directions, with distances in their own individually defined systems of measurement... unfortunately with units borrowed from the SI system
6. LBNTL [Last but not the least], Kudos to all the dudes who made up the group – “A Band Apart – Tour de Dakshina Kannada”. Twas a great goddamn trek.

The group:
[clockwise from top]... KK, Suze, Yshant,Som, IPK, Sagar, Kalman, Me

Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, 1952 (The Motorcycle Diaries)

“This is not the tale of impressive deeds. This is a piece of two (eight) lives taken in a moment when they were cruising together along a given path with identity of aspirations and a conjunction of dreams. Was our vision too narrow, too partial, too rushed? Were our conclusions too rigid? Maybe…but that aimless roaming through our enormous America (Dakshina Kannada) has changed me more than I thought…I am not myself anymore. At least, I’m not the same inside”

Thought for the day

Joey (Joseph Francis Tribbiani, Jr):

“… I figured I'd have, like, time alone with my thoughts, but… ya know, it turns out... I don't have as many thoughts as you'd think”

[Friends, Season 2, Episode 17, “The One Where Eddie Moves In”]

Quotable Quotes

disclaimer:
the following is a result of about fifteen minutes of mental groping …and comprises of the first few random utterances to pop up … thus the list, is by no means complete, nor it does any justice to most other (better?) lines by the same/ other people…

• "i can see through everything" - som

• "no, i'm shedding" - bhavay in reply to "dude, did u have a haircut?"

• “come next year” - the jedi warrior to shappa, in final year

• “i’ll wring his neck” - psb with gesticulations to show precisely how the promised action would be carried out

• “hahahahaha” - mom

• “hello frens” - soni

• “people don’t study in iran, people don’t work in calcutta” - one of several Takaalisms

• “neen sariyilaappa” - machonaka

• "yeno?" - .d

• "tHere is a cHarge is tHere" - d kannu

• "my room- mate will continue the course.... " - engg mech. dude

• "feel the figure" - amba s

• "if u want to play with me, i can also play with you"- sharanappa

• "yenchina saavu maraya!" - arbit mess dude
  

• question - “what is thin, long cylindrical and put into something hairy?"

rdp - “a probe”
[stumped]
question: “and the hairs??”
rdp – “virtual”

(a vicks inhaler: is what you are searching for :D )

• "life alli kushi important"TM

ps: never meant no harm to nobody.... peace!

Ads by Google

[wide grin]
[couldn't resist posting this one]

PS: please feel free to follow the links being advertised

nitkspottax

Choose tronix
Choose a great friend circle
Choose the very last bench in class
Choose the topper’s notes for every damn examination. Choose A1
Choose the exact last minute for starting to attempt anything with a deadline
Choose exactly 15 credits each of in the final semesters
Choose robotics, gis, math, or any course with a majority of M-Techs
Choose wikipedia as the single source of the accumulated wisdom and knowledge
Choose looking forward to getting screwed in every examination
Choose eighth block and the king size beds
Choose raucous, bawdy conversations during blackouts
Choose to learn playing a guitar
Choose interning at damn significant places. Choose avuncular profs
Choose to buy any computer with windows 95+, or with any form of Linux. Choose goddamn loud speakers. Choose APC UPS
Choose never to switch off the comp
Choose coming up with arbit T-shirts saying ‘choose not to care’
Choose nitk lingax
Choose bare-back trekking, beach walking and arbit trips. Choose nature
Choose nocturnal behavior. Choose rising after sunset
Choose Bangalore every time you need a haircut
Choose dumb charades, pot pourrie, crossies, trivia, and random quizzes
Choose engineer. Choose incident
Choose either to boycott all committees, lie back and watch the weather change or choose masterminding and executing the entire show
Choose Sam-D for breakfast, Neha Food Court for lunch, Basheer for dinner, FnH for coffee, and Amul for everything else
Choose Mangalore hotels for all kinds of treats. Choose Bittu sometimes, for no reason at all
Choose to avoid drinking. Choose Baba instead
Choose DC++. Choose the weirdest nick. Choose the main chat window for every random thought
Choose watching any movie that you can lay your hands on
Choose psychedelic rock, grunge rock, alternative music, death metal. Choose Tool
Choose House MD, Friends, Lost, Prison Break, Heroes, 2.5 men, Coupling, HIMYM, Scrubs… in that order
Choose anime when all of the above has been exhausted
Choose Russel Peters, Chris Rock, Pablo Francisco, George Carlin, Robin Williams and all other stand up comedians
Choose Quake, DOTA, Counter Strike, Age of Empires, World of Warcraft or atleast Tetris
Choose playing TT overnight
Choose playing badminton with anything that comes close to a cock
Choose four stumps and tennis ball cricket. Choose PG ground
Choose attending men’s football and women’s basketball
Choose chatting with arbit people who are, say, friends of an acquaintance’s room-mate’s sister. Choose gtalk
Choose digg.com as the source of news all over the world.
Choose ultrasurf. Choose to screw ironport
Choose a great job/ top ranked universities/ IIM A, B, C/ IISc whichever makes you happy, for the times to come. Choose a future
Choose sobriety. Choose not to smoke. Choose to get high on random information, music, coffee and other non-lethal stuff
Choose vegetarianism, theism coz they never hurt anyone
Choose staying single before even thinking of trying to choose anything else
Choose (as long as you are still in your wide- eyed formative years) attempting for every damn club, attending every damn class, participating in everything the posters on the wall hint about; choose every movie aired in SAC, choose dancing in all kinds of musical nights, choose CCC; but, later choose to grow up, choose final year, choose the rest of the list

Choose nitk

Choose life

And the reasons? There are no reasons…