First I thought the construction project happening in the next building has gone too wild and its time they stop their road leveling machine. Not even a mini break for an IT mam who works so hard is it!!!

Until my hubby called and confirmed about the earth quake.

Now all the mobile networks are going crazy I am not able to call anyone. My mom and children are living quite close to the sea shore @ Triplicane. There is a Tsunami warning in Indian ocean issued.

Truth is I am not worried so much… All Izz Well.

Confession:
Ugly truth is I was the only one sitting in the office tweeting and bloggin about the happening, my whole office were already standing on the roads. Myself and a few others to quote “Exactly 6 members remained in the office 5 gals: 1 boy.
I was trying to wake my brother up who owns and runs this office. He has been into deep rest. Since he works around the clock 24 hours with mini breaks… he is very particular about not wanting to be awakened during his rest time. So when awakened he chastises badly so I accompanied two office boys along and went and banged the door until I explained him the quake and that the whole office is downstairs.

He said, “I thought I was dreaming of someone shaking my floor bed until now!”.

As mentioned in my earlier email to the group “Water is a silent killer” – the pictures on Facebook are so tempting, the streams look so scenic, the falls are so beautiful, my friends jumping in those awesome pools is irresistible, …

Deceiving nature… dangerous beauty when you dont know them well. Always respect nature and its guidelines.

14 students went in search of ‘heaven’, experienced hell

My questions to you -

* Forget about losing your life. Do you have any idea of the magnitude of pain caused to a parent due to loss of a child?
Lara: I know the magnitude of pain caused to a parent due to the loss of a child… especially in accidents. I have seen mothers where the whole life tumbles down in a jiffy. Its not one life lost… its one loss and several lives taken away making their living a hell. My best friend Kathir committed suicide for a nonsensical reason. He was too young to make a sensible decision. He died at the age of 18 just a week after his birthday. It took eons to come out of it and it still hurts.

* Do you have any idea of the magnitude of pain caused to a parent when the child dies due to its own incautious behavior?
Yes, there is no comfort that can equal a loss.

* Is it safe to go out with a group of inexperienced students or friends to the wilderness?
I never advice this nor would try it. It is wilderness for heaven sake, even the most experienced face challenges each time they go. What will a bunch of inexperienced do?

* Is it safe to go out with a with CTC or any other trekking group to the wilderness?
The first and the only trek that I have taken so far assures its safe. Its not lead by one Member of the group. But everyone are ready to help. So it makes it easy to go on.

* Do more people die due to hostile wildlife (snakes, elephants…) or peaceful water on treks?
I read that in the past experiences there has been only one tragedy… I am not sure of the exact statistics.

* From where do those huge boulders (weighing several tons) in those peaceful mountain streams come from?
I absolutely have no clue. Is it rock avalanche… Very poor in Geography.

* Do you think CTC treks are safe for non-swimmers?
Any trek is safe as far as the person is self-conscious about what they are doing and know their limits.

* Do you think non-swimmers should jump into deep water pools and bet their life on the presence of a good swimmer?
I don’t jump into deep pools, but I saw other with the use of their life jackets and swim tubes jumping into deep pools. It definitely looked good in photos. But I don’t have the heart to try it. May be when I am confident about my swimming, I will try too.

* 1 (and only 1) person died on a CTC trek 2 years ago. Any guess why the non-swimmer who drowned could not be rescued by one of our best swimmers?
I absolutely have no clue. But I have heard some times water is so deceiving even the best swimmers struggle. Never understood how the water current works. My brother’s main hobby is fishing, so he does a lot of diving and have said about his underwater experiences.

* Is your life worth more then a 65Rs swimming tube?
Of-course no. To be frank I did not get my swimming tube for my first and only trek. Because I registered in the last minute and never trusted that I would get selected.

* Do you think CTC organizers and regular members behave responsibly in front of freshers in terms of safety?
I am a little in-experienced to answer this question. I haven’t been to enough treks to judge this.

* What do you think is the purpose of the non-disclaimer you sign at the start of a CTC trek?
I am responsible for my actions.

Please do not reply (we can’t flood our group with emails) – let’s have an open discussion on this in our Facebook group -

http://www.facebook.com/groups/chennaitrekkingclub/

Let’s hear out the opinions of those interested to share them and see if any/what action needs to be taken by self and our group….

As Robert Frost quotes poetically pooled with philosophy.

The woods are lovely dark and deep
but I have promises to keep
and miles to go!
And miles to go before I sleep!

One question that we always had in general during this year of academics was “What is the real meaning of using “Miles to go” twice. One is the actual distance that a traveler had to cover to reach his garage while admiring the beauty. And the other distance is the responsibilities that he has to complete before he dies (reaches his grave).

Every moment of my life is surrounded with such philosophy. I cant get involved with one particular beauty. I have two children who are so much fun to be with. They are very addictive… but I have a job to get going. I love watching movies… but I need to sleep to go on with the following day.

Expectations = disappointments = always = life sucks

My top few picks are here:

Ohh I know the story is a repeat, the myth is a repeat, but still I will watch it why?

It brings back the Green Mythology back in front of my eyes. The Greek Gods, Devils, Monsters, Antiques, Places. If you are a lover of Greek mythology there is a lot of visual treat as well as things to learn. Starting from the early pottery to the Giant Monsters.

You have the pegasus, the medusa, Athena, Lord Zeus and much more.

I am not an expertise in Greece archaeology, but I play “Hercules – the game”. Most of the story line is outlined in the game. The movie is no less than it.

Watch it and have fun.

I did want to see this movie because it did seem like a few of my favorites, like Event Horizon, Triangle and few other outer space zombie movies. But after watching it, I did feel it was more like Decent, Avatar… and after reading a few reviews it was also like Eden Log.

In the end eventual ly I liked the movie, because it had a sci-fi horrific reason for people mutating into self hunting zombies. A different location, a different reason to kill and a different motive of the movie made me wanting to watch it.
I did miss the first few scenes. It was supposed to be the time that was meant to be spent with my daughter, but I bunked a few hours of office, cheated her with some toys and was watching the movie. Ben Foster and Jon Foster have a memory loss and are not sure what happened to the entire crew or the ship. But Corporal Bower( Ben) assumes that he is awakened automatically by the on board computer to fix the dying central reactor. Without which the ship is lost.

With Payton (Jon) guiding him via radio he explores the space craft. He hears strange sounds and encounters savage humanoid fast moving creatures. After escaping from one such creature he meets other survivors Nadia and Manh who aids to the location of the reactor.
But at first Nadia is very reluctant about it and quotes “No one has ever returned from that place, because the creature’s main dwelling place is underneath the reactor”. But Bower insists on continuing his mission from saving the ship to lose all its energy.
They confront a creature and huge gruesome fighting sequence launches between the three and the strong creature that is killed at the end of the fight. Eventually they escape and reach a chamber where they meet another survivor who is keen on not having direct contact to the other three survivors suspecting them as mutating creatures. He explains everything about what happened, from whatever he saw and how the residents of the ship Elysium have now turned deadly and hunt their own kind.
He briefs the story has “one of the three bridge crew members went berserk. Killing his crewmates, he awakened most of the remaining crew to torture and manipulates them. Those who did not participate with the flight member’s orders were banished to the hold of the ship, forced to scavenge for survival.”

At the end of the story as animatedly narrated by Leland, the three survivors find themselves tied up side down. After regaining consciousness they realize that they were tricked and gassed by Leland to become his meal. But Bower persuades Leland that all of us could only survive if he can fix the central reactor, or there is no point in Leland killing the only man who could possibly save the ship. Leland is convinced and the four proceed to the reactor.
They do encounter several creatures en route but escape each time and reach the central reactor. The following scenes are very dramatic as Bower tries to reach the reactor he falls amidst the dwelling place of mutants. He disguises himself and crawl among the half sleeping mutants to climb the reactor.
On the other end, Payton finds out that the surviving crewmate is Corporal Gallo. He meets Payton as a mutant victim at the radio transmission room and torments him psychologically in making him believe the pandorum and it is important for survival to scavenge other surviving people onboard. Payton manages most of the time by keeping him conscious and not to be taken over by the mind of Corporal Gallo, but at the end eventually loses himself to Gallo by injecting himself with a powerful shot that seems to be like a fight between corporal Gallo and Payton. But in truth Payton is corporal Gallo who has lost all his memory about his crimes during the hyper sleep.
Leland first reaches the radio transmission room only to be killed by Payton. Bower and Nadia confront Payton, where Payton concedes his true identity. Payton then retracts an inner Bunker to reveal a deep sea environment. Bower and Nadia realize that they have already crash landed in Tanis and is now at the bottom of the ocean.
Bower attacks Payton and breaks a window which cause
s a hull breach that floods the ship. Bower and Nadia escape to the ocean’s surface in a hypersleep pod. The damage to the ship triggers an emergency evacuation, ejecting 1211 other hibernating, healthy colonists onto the surface of a beautiful, sunlit alien world. And we can presume the other surviving mutants and Payton are killed along with the ship.

I just have one question; if I do a write-up for 1000+ words will CTC sue me…

I had a max of 1 hour sleep before the night of the trek. I had to put my baby to sleep at my mothe’s home before the trek. She slept @ 1:30 and I had to get up at 2:40, got ready and go to my house to wake my hubby get him ready and reach Tidel @ 3:45

Roller coaster ride DROP #1

I banged, horned, called a hundred times to wake my hubby from his sound snoring sleep, it took me almost 20 minutes to wake him up… Middle of the night standing outside a house and banging like that was awesome… finally I was at the verge of breaking the bedroom windows which faces the street. I started banging it with my car keys… frustrated I couldn’t ever reach it to bang it.

All the time only thought that was haunting me was

Finally the magic words ringed in my ears. “Yes ma I am coming” … wow finally he was awake. He got ready in 10 mins and we were hurrying back to my mom’s place to drop the car. By that time Hari our Tidel park coordinator, was at the verge of leaving us… at least our delay should have motivated him so much to do so because I had 8 missed calls by then. When I got in the bike we realized we had only one back pack. I told my hubby “OMG what if we are sued if we are not carrying individual back packs” because I read in the prep mail each should carry their backpack. So we hurried back home to get another back pack but landed up with some outstation baggage and hurried to Tidel (thinking lets manage).

J Hari and the Tidel team were waiting for the two new late comers (that’s us). My hubby couldn’t find a parking place so one of the CTC members suggested that we have plenty of parking available in Koyambedu… so the bus will start and please tag along to Koyambedu. We have reached Koyambedu but my hubby has not arrived… I fished for my mobile and found it had 12 missed calls…

Uff Uff Uff it was from Mr. Ajith Kumar… at his heights of frustration. His vehicle was out of gas and all the money was with me. But for the love he still has deeply buried inside his heart… with tons of anger he still caught an auto and arrived at Koyambedu… by that time we were thoroughly tagged the “Late comers”.

Never mind now we are into the bus and Biju cannot chuck us out at this point now.

Roller coaster ride DROP #2

It was a whole bunch of youngsters, and I was like the odd man out. Especially when I reached Tidel, the kind of look one guy gave me, I was about to guess… what was running on his mind. Let me guess “Hello madam this is a trekking trip bus and not the local transport that goes to Gummudipoondi” J

Ha ha ha… never mind as if I usually do.
My first inspiration was Mr. Minak who took the initiative and spoke a few words of encouragement. Infact whatever he spoke was very encouraging starting from a “Hi”. He welcomed us… and wished us good luck. I wish Biju had asked me whom you like the most in this Trek during the Intro session… I would have said Minak sir… because after seeing the young crowd I thought of jumping out of the bus and running back to home if not for a welcome note from Minak @ Tidel Park.

Roller coaster ride DROP #3

Finally @ Koyambedu… my hubby arrived in auto… with all the other people loaded into the bus we were all set to go.  The organizer was talking to a few others at that I time I guessed he should be Mr. Biju was having a heads up with other eager CTC seniors on how this Trek is going to be…

He was telling “I don’t know, it depends on the speed of the group… I may divide the group into 4 may be two… the fastest I can take them to the fourth pool and if time permits I will take them to the peak”. The rest can stay near the second or the first pool… L I feared I will be the only person who would be left behind, what If I don’t reach even the first pool. Do I have to sleep in the bus because I couldn’t make it… Too many fears my mind started creating and it was like the walls were closing in on me. By the time I could regroup my thoughts I was into deep sleep… I woke up at the Poondi reservoir we stopped to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the dam… Took some group snaps. And left to Nagala… I was sitting near the Bus driver and could hear his yammers… Where are we going? And one person said “Athu oru kadu anna dam thandi irukku”.

We got down the bus… snacks and lunch was distributed, and we started packin. Instructions were given. We walked walked and walked no sight of streams… I could hear Varun(our youngest member questioning his mother from behind, “When will the wter come ma?”, rather that was the same question running on my head. I guess we would have walked around 3 km. I was exhausted; I thought I am going to give up… so soon. But my hubby kept motivating me… stood by my side and we lost the trails several times but someone kept coming along and we tagged along. As and when we moved in deeper I was able to keep up the pace. I started enjoying after taking a dip into the stream a new found energy. From then on nothing stopped me…

Roller coaster ride DROP #4

As we got deeper, it no more looked like an initial terrain… as Rakesh mentioned we lost trail at a point of time. Before reaching the second pool, we were at a no where point… Every place seemed dense… The last two seeded volunteers started on different sides to find a trail… Finally we found one and moved along just a few paces ahead we saw the rest of the group waiting for us. I couldn’t remember exactly where was that one steep climb was it before or after the second pool. But definitely the most thrilling for a fresher like me. I did make it too… I could see Biju from the top helping people one by one and asked me “Will you make it?”. All I could answer was “I don’t know”. I was murmuring “Enna koduma Saravanan ithu” and Saravanan was right beside me and he said “I too don’t know” Coincidence

We reached the third pool, I was completely exhausted. Saw the climbing path to the fourth pool felt contented happy with whatever I got and sat down for a great sightseeing with a bunch of bravoes jump into the mega pool from various heights. And few brave souls visiting and returning from the fourth pool. Next time I will be one of the bravos.

Walking back was not difficult in fact my pace increased or maybe that’s the way it is. I forgot to get some snaps… was dealing a lot with fatigue and recovery and enjoying the lost trails. I would love to share a few self-answered questions that I learn t during this trek.

Self learning

Will I be sued for not carrying my own backpack? Should everyone carry an individual backpack?
No I was not sued. No if you have your better half in the trek… he can carry the load. J One backpack will do.

Will I be able to do a trek?
Yes with the right attitude and constant motivation I reached the third pool. Thanks to Biju’s initial words even before I paid my advance “It’s all a matter of Mind over Body”.

Can you come late to your pickup point?
No. We still consider we are the luckiest.

Should I listen to the Organizers?
Yes, organizing a trek with 81 people is not so easy. Biju sir was really a great “Thala”. Being in management and when fresher’s do not follow the instructions, I really could say what it is like? To accept Biju as a leader by a bunch of freshers is possible only if you are true leader.

Why do some people take pickle during the trek?
You may get cramps… which are mainly caused by dehydration or simply the loss of salt from your body. Pickle is an immediate booster pack replacer for avoiding cramps.
Note: Answered by Saravanan. I just over heard. Check the facts with him

should I change my dress often? I mean like after every dip?
Not required, I enjoyed walking soaked especially with the scorching sun… it was a pleasant experience

Should I need a pair of extra sandals to walk along the water?
I didn’t need it, but apparently my Rbk shoes were completely torn @ the end of the day. It gave the best, as one member pointed “Your shoes speak your trek walk”.

Thanks to Hema (our HR) who introduced me to CTC. Thanks to Biju for short listing me and giving me an opportunity and being a motivation throughout the trek. Thanks to every single hand who lent me to move along the trek and reach the third pool. Thanks to Minak for welcoming us to the Trek. Thanks to my hubby for his continuous support through my life and this trek. Thanks to Lavanya and Saravanan for adding me to their FB. I would love to join all the easy treks / coastal clean ups / cycle rides / social treks in future. Thanks to all of you for making last Sunday the best till date. Easily I could have become a burden… carrying a heavy body against the forces of gravity… hats off to me, and the wonderful support by the volunteers. Especially the motivation from Biju Sir, Minak Sir, Rakesh, Saravanan and few other great souls whom I couldn’t remember the names but were too great to help me out.

I may not be a great socializer… but I am a great company to spend time with… After pregnancy and post pregnancy complications I added a lot of extra pounds to my build. Life became a tremendous pressure with Office and baby care.  She is one super dooper hypero hyper kid.

CTC’s Nagala trek was as stress buster and was truly an inspiration. I loved the energy in the crowd. Everyone was willing to do everything within their limitations.  A million thanks to CTC’s magnificent efforts.

Last year I couldnt attend the Rangoli competitions for various personal reasons. This time I didnt miss the fun.

Susan Raye – the following lines are dedicated to all the dreamy gals.
When I was a young girl I used to dream of a lover
To be my shining knight of strength one day
He’d cary me to a castle in the heavens and battle all my dragons on the way
And he’d ride down on a great white horse he’d bring me love I was longing for
He’d bring me joy and lasting peace on a great white horse he’d ride away with me
Singing dum-di-de-dum-dum-dum-di-de-dum

Buck Owens – the following lines are dedicated to all the dreamy boys.
When I was a young man I used to dream of a maiden
With long soft hair flowing in the wind
Her laughing eyes and loving arms would follow
When I’d sail around the world and back again
And I’d ride down on a great white horse I’d bring the love she was longing for
I’d bring her laughter and sunny days
And on a great white horse I’d carry her away
Singing dum-di-de-dum-dum-dum-di-de-dum

SR: The time has flown I find there are no dragons
BO: and I don’t wanna sail the seven seas
SR:Anywhere we are becomes my castle
BO: and the only world I want is here with me
SR and BO: And we both ride on a great white horse we found the love we were longing for
SR: You’re my sunshine on a rainy day
BO: you’re my April you’re my May

Singing dum-di-de-dum-dum-dum-di-de-dum
Singing dum-di-de-dum-dum-dum-di-de-dum
Singing dum-di-de-dum-dum-dum-di-de-dum