Not all those who wander are lost!!

When Tolkein wrote these words, little did he know that it would be prove true in the case of the journey of seven 'trekkers' to Tada waterfalls. The falls, also known as Ubbalamadugu Falls, is located roughly about 90 kilometers from Chennai and an ideal place for amateur trekkers. This place of natural beauty keeps its promise of a 2 hour trek with crystal clear water at the end of it.

A mildly hot Saturday morning saw our group of seven head toward Tada. The trip, starting from Guindy took us 3 hours which included a stop for breakfast. The journey went off in either catching up on lost sleep or pulling other people's legs. After leaving the car in the parking lot, we headed towards the falls.

Initially, the path was a rocky one and had no shade from the sweltering sun.

But soon it became criss-crossed by a lot of small streams, teeming with fish. An hour's walk took us to a mango tree with a ladder and a platform around it where we dutifully did our part in proving that the theory of evolution is indeed correct. After getting some directions from a forest guard, we reached the Shiva Temple.

It was a small brick one which housed a Shiv Lingam, and was on the bank of a pool with cool water. There were a few families here frolicking in the water. We made our way across this pool and continued along the flow of water.

On the way, we came across a rocky face with a ledge that was about fifteen feet from the ground. Now, this was to our side and not blocking our path. But then the primate in us took over and we started climbing this. On reaching the top, we realized that climbing down might not be that easy. That is when we remembered we had some rope with us and used this to slide down.

After this mini detour we kept along the path which kept getting rockier.

Fortunately, at this point the trees provided enough cover from the sun and the walk was pretty much comfortable except for the occasional places that were slippery. In an hour we reached the waterfall. There was not much water in the falls but the pools at the foot of the falls were full. There was also one small waterfall beneath which one can sit and got a nice massage. After lunch, we jumped into the inviting water where the fishes thought we were lunch. Soon, realizing that we are no way as good as fish-food, they left us alone. However, one of us was getting 'poked' by the fish in all the wrong places :P

Panaroma view of Tada:

Time flew as we soaked in the water with the warm sun overhead. After spending two hours at the pool we made our way back. Surprisingly, it took us only half the time to get back to the Shiva temple and we realized that we had taken a roundabout way the first time. The weather gods took mercy on us and the clouds hid the sun as we crossed the terrain without much shade. There was also a gentle drizzle that kissed us good-bye as we started our return journey to Chennai.

Three hours and a small car accident later, we were back in Chennai. The car dropped me about a few hundred meters from home and I walked back, this time trying to avoid(without much success) the muddy pools of water that has been left on the road by the rain. After a warm supper, I was ready to hit the sack on a day when we had connected to nature.

Shark a.k.a Sura

Sometimes you tell yourself that you will not go and watch a particular movie but end up doing so. Well, this movie was one in that list. Would not have gone for it had it not been for a friend who described the introduction scene.

---Intro------------

A deluge hits the coastal region...People standing on the coast, waiting for the result of coast guards rescue operation. Ships come in..All ppl are safe...except one...THE ONE.

"He is our saviour"

"Without him, our hamlet is nothing" etc.. are the lines thrown around by the locals.

The collector does not know what to do and suggests dropping the matter because,

"One who has won the hearts of millions can only be rescued by God"

The people look towards the sea...and there rising from the waters akin to a dolphin is...is....is...well, who else, THE MAN. He splashes out of the water and plunges back in and thus reaches the shore amidst huge fanfare.

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Well, this scene got me into splits and I decided to go ahead and watch the movie.

Thank God, I did. There were a lot of lessons in that movie which I have cataloged here for the sake of my fellow ignorant people.

1) The depth of the ocean near the shore is more than 20 feet. However, this is only true when you take a dip inside the water with the heroine. When you are standing it is still 2 feet only. Please take care next time you go to the beach :)

---Scene-----------

Our heroine, having suffered the gr8 tragedy of losing a dog realizes that there is not point to life now. So she chooses a watery grave and decides to end her life in the sea. She keeps walking into the sea. Our hero, who is incidentally there, after much coaxing from his sidekick goes to rescue her. He catches her and they take a fall into the sea, quite close to the shore. But then, they go about 5 feet into the sea which has magically transformed from 2 feet to 20 feet just so that they take a proper dip.

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2) People are still bothered about how they look even when they decide to die

---Scene-----------

Heroine just before walking into the sea to end her life, applies generous make-up. This is because she wants to look good when her photograph comes in the papers. What a noble thought - 'Let me not distress the people even after death by appearing without make-up' !!

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3) Apparation is a thing not only found in Harry Potter. It can be done and that too even without trying.

---Scene-----------

It is festival season and a procession is in progress. Amidst all the the noise, hero gets hit on the head (quite shamelessly from behind), locked in a house and the baddies burn the house. After the whole locality is ablaze, the magic man rises from underneath the statue of God which is in a completely different location and foils the plan of the bad guys.

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4) Rocket launchers are not that difficult to make. All you need it is a metal tube (something, from your local scrap store will do) and some diwali firecrackers.

---Scene-----------

Hero takes a metal tube, points it at the bad guys, fits in a diwali rocket and sets it the on fire. The bad guys immediately scream 'Hey, he s got a rocket launcher' and scamper away. Dont they have a selection process for the baddies. Somebody needs to review the kind of aptitude tests they are given :P

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5) You can become filthy rich by hijacking just one shipment of smuggled goods

---Scene-----------

Poor homeless hero decides to rob the smuggler-politician-bad guy of his cargo shipment. This is done as revenge for burning down the houses. Also he knows how to make 'rocket-launchers'. Once he takes over the ship, using his sharp sense of acumen, he takes it to Mumbai (instead of the expected Chennai) and sells the wares. Then he return to his community in style...in an Audi(just to add a dash of...err...subtlety). Also he now has tons of cash to build homes for all families in his locality. Hurray!!

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Hence, the people now have much better homes, the hero tons of mullah and also a prospective bride.

I hope these pearls of knowledge will benefit you guys as much as it did me.

So long till the next post.

The first time!!

The first time is always the hardest...or so i have heard (from my friend when he was explaining why he wasn't going to the gym program he had signed up for...). But again, there are times when this impulse hits you and u take up something new. Well, it hit me today and here i am with this first post.

Wat s the blog about?

Just a way to share some of the thoughts that goes through my brain (ok, i only have some thoughts going in my head...big deal,u guessed it right...). Going to be putting up the kind of stuff that amuses us from time to time. A few movie reviews, some takes on people, bits of fiction and hopefully, loads of fun(Don't we really abuse this word??).

And here goes the usual disclaimer:

This blog does not intend in the any way to hurt anyone's feelings. It is just a light-hearted view of things...If you find anything offensive or have alternate view points, feel free to post it across.