The call of the wild…

(2010 could easily qualify as “the year of the travelogues” for me…have made so many trips this year - and no, I am not complaining!)

This weekend it was the call of the wild –a safari adventure to the lush greens of Mudumalai (in Tamil Nadu) and around.

A lot of firsts this time around too…And here they are…

Tree Houses!

Yep, we actually got to stay in a tree house – a bamboo structure on stilts on top of a tree – a little rickety but the highlight was the visit by a monkey through the window. No amount of shrieking and shooing could deter it from keeping away!

Here’s the tree house we stayed in…

Zip-Lining

We crossed a river stream on a cable while being attached to a free moving pulley. I felt a little scared in the beginning – the moment when you have to just let go – that primal fear of not having any support to cling on – but after all the cajoling and cheering from everybody I did let go, and lo behold – suspended mid-air is so much fun!

Managed posing “up in the air”…

Jumaring

Jumaring is a basic rock climbing technique wherein you use ascenders on a rope to climb. At our resort, a rope was suspended from a tree and we had to climb to the top. This activity required immense physical exertion. I realized that pulling your body up is the most difficult thing ever. My fore-arms and shoulders have been aching for days together since then. The free-fall after reaching the top was as thrilling as any roller-coaster ride.

We also did the wild life safari but it wasn’t too great. We got to see:

• Peacocks…

• Langurs…(check out the dude’s expressive eyes)

• Monkeys…(cute yet dangerous)

• A lone wild tusker (elephant)…

• Bisons (from really far off)…

• An immensely adorable tree squirrel…

• And of course the spotted beauties (deer)…

P.S. No tigers (Mudumalai has a count of 86 tigers) and no huge herds of elephants :(.

Far from the madding crowd (and any signs of civilization) - Siruseri

Yes, Siruseri - a place in the remote districts of Tamil Nadu, India and a few light years away from Chennai (that's around 40-45 kms) is my new work place. Our office recently moved to this to-be-swanky place to create it's largest IT technopark, which basically spells doom for city residents like me.
I don't care if the IT park is an architecture wonder in the making or has the famous Saravana Bhavan (a fantastic brand for yummy south indian delicacies - i love south indian food) or symbolizes the future of IT infrastructure in India and Asia - my personal problems are way too many for any of the listed reasons to compensate the inconvenience caused to many of us who travel to this place at all god forsaken hours.

Day 1 spelled the first letter of the word Disaster. Vish and I had perspired enough from 9:30 AM to 10 waiting for the company bus to arrive our stop at 9:45 (you see, we had dutifully found the routes, timings etc. but no preparation is enough to face life). Finally, when the familiar white and blue monster did show up at 10:15, the driver didn't let us in, saying in a very dismissive tone, "seat illa", tamil for "no seats". We saw another bus and decided to chase it...in true filmy ishtyle we rushed into an auto and asked the driver to follow the bus. After having chased the bus half way round the city and having caught up with it, we got the now-familiar response "seat illa". After this we went to another office to catch a shuttle at 12:30; beaten and half-dead we reached office at 2:30. The bumpiest, dustiest and the hottest ride of my life.

I must admit that even after all that we had gone thru, the sheer size of the facility amazed us; the cool and well designed interiors of the office were a delight but like I said the road to the goal did not seem worth it!

The subsequent days have been more organized with only initial settling down hiccups but the 3-4 hour travel every day, the running after buses, the tension of missing "the" bus even after standing for 30-45 minutes at a stop, the odd work hours to choose from (6:30-3:30, 2:30-10, 8-5, 11:30-8:30 and what not), the unavailability of PCs in a shift that suits you and the unavailability of buses in the time window that you have a PC make work life way too complicated.

As of now, I am in a project that provides me with the opportunity to do value-adding work, is professionally executed, has a fantastic client and an approachable management...all this does make me forget during the office hours the tryst to get to work and then get back home , but the holistic picture of life is left wanting for some more, a little here and a little there...and I hope for the best!