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  • Modeling Supply and Demand – A discussion series

    When I generally go to shop, I search for a particular item ‘A’ and have a mentally fixed price I intend to pay (assume we don’t have a price tag here). Then I find another item ‘B’ with all the features of ‘A’ (exclude brand and similar intangibles for the moment); given my expectation both these would have to be of the same price. I then ask their price to the sales person there – he say ‘A’ cost ₨ 25/- and ‘B’ costs ₨20/-. Now I would definitely opt for the item ‘B’. This mentality is pretty common amongst people and is summarised by the Law of Demand – “if all other factors remain equal, the higher the price of a good, the less people will demand that good.” i.e – the higher the price, the lower the quantity demanded. We represent this with the Demand Curve.
    Now assume, I am a vegetable vendor who has his own farm which has innumerable cucumbers. I take some cucumbers to the market and try selling it at ₨10/- each. One of my customers comes to me and asks if I am interested in partnering with him – and he says he would provide ₨15/- per cucumber for as many as I give. I have an incentive to tie up with him since I would be getting a higher price than the earlier price I used to get. This is pretty common – the more some one is ready to pay for something, the more we produce to cater to it. This is summarized by the Law of Supply. This is generally represented by the Supply Curve.
    We shall explore more about these in the coming blogs. The idea of these blogs is to understand the decision making process better.

  • ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶ

    ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆಗೆ ಬೇಕಾಗುವ ಪದಾರ್ಥಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಸೇವೆಗಳನ್ನೆಲ್ಲ ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶವೆಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತೇವೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾಥಮಿಕವದವುಗಳು – ನೆಲ, ಮಾನವ ಶ್ರಮ, ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡವಾಳ ಆಧಾರಿತ ಸರುಕು ಸಾಮಗ್ರಿಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಯಂತ್ರಗಳು.
    ನೆಲವೆಂದರೆ ಕೇವಲ ಭೂಮಿಮಾತ್ರವಲ್ಲ, ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ ಬರುವ ನೈಸರ್ಗಿಕ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲಗಳು ಸೇರಿರುತ್ತವೆ – ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರತಿಯಾಗಿ ನಾವು ಸರಿಯಾದ ಗುತ್ತಿಗೆ ನೀಡಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ, ಅಂತೆಯೇ ಮಾನವ ಶ್ರಮಕ್ಕೆ ಸಂಬಳ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡವಾಳಕ್ಕೆ ಬಡ್ಡಿಯನ್ನು ನೀಡಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ವ್ಯವಹಾರದ ಆಧಾರವಾಗಿರುವ ಇವುಗಳು, ಕೇವಲ ಪೂರಕವಾಗಿದ್ದು, ತಾವೇ, ಯಾವುದೇ ಕಾರಣಕ್ಕೂ ಪರಿವರ್ತನೆ ಹೊಂದುವುದಿಲ್ಲ – ಆದ್ದರಿಂದಲೇ ಇವುಗಳನ್ನು ಪ್ರಾಥಮಿಕ ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶ ಎನ್ನುತ್ತೇವೆ.
    ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲದ ಉಪಯೋಗ ಸ್ಥೂಲವಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ , ಆದರೆ ಮಾನವ ಶ್ರಮ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡವಾಳ ಸಕ್ರಿಯವಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ, ಮಾನವರನ್ನು ಮತ್ತು ಯಂತ್ರಗಳು ಮುಂತಾದವನ್ನು ಒಂದು ಸ್ಥಳದಿಂದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದೆಡೆಗೆ ಸಾಗಿಸ ಬಹುದು ಆದರೆ ನೆಲಕ್ಕೆ ಇಂತಹ ಸವಲತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ, ಆದ್ದರಿಂದಲೇ ಇದನ್ನು ಸ್ಥೂಲವೆಂದು ಪರಿಗಣಿಸುತ್ತೇವೆ.
    ಇಂತಹ ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶಗಳನ್ನು ಕುರಿತ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ದ್ವಂದ್ವವೊಂದಿದೆ – ಶ್ರಮ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡವಾಳ ಒಂದನ್ನು ಇನ್ನೊಂದಾಗಿ ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಬಹುದು – ಹೀಗಿರುವಾಗ, ದಕ್ಷವಾದ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡು, ಮುನ್ನಡೆಸಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಅಳತೆಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಪ್ರಮಾಣಳತೆ ಪ್ರತಿ ಕಾರ್ಮಿಕರ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೂಡುವ ಬಂಡವಾಳ. – ಇದರಂತೆ ಮಾನವ ಶ್ರಮ ಮತ್ತು ಬಂಡವಾಳ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಪ್ರಮಾಣದಲ್ಲಿರತಕ್ಕದ್ದು.

    ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಕಂಡಲ್ಲಿ ವ್ಯವಹಾರದ ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯ ಏರುಪೇರಾಗುವ ಸಾದ್ಯತೆ ಹೆಚ್ಚು. ಅಂತೆಯೇ ಸರಿಯಾದ ನಿರ್ಧಾರತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದುದು. ಇಂತಹ ನಿರ್ಧಾರವು ಯಾವುದೇ ಒಂದು ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾಂಶಕ್ಕೆ ಸೀಮಿತಗೊಳಿಸದೆ, ಸರಕಾರ, ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ, ಪರಿಸರ, ಮುಂತಾದವನ್ನು ಲೆಕ್ಕಿಸಿ ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಬೇಕು.
    ಇಂದಿನ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಅಂಕಣ:http://somanagement.blogspot.com/2011/02/factors-of-production.html

  • Factors of Production

    Factors of Production are any commodity or service used in the production of another goods and service. The primary amongst the factors of production are – Land, Labor and Capital Goods.

    Land refers to the natural resources used in the creation of the product, and an economic rent is paid for it, these are generally reproducible. Labor refers to the human effort needed to produce; this is generally compensated in wages. Capital goods are the human-made goods or means of production (including machinery, building and so forth) used in the production of other goods, paid in interest.

    These primary factors are ones that do not get transformed by the production process nor do they become a part of the final product, they merely facilitate the process – this could help decide whether one is a primary factor or a secondary one.

    Of these primary resources, Capital goods and labor are active factors, while land is a passive one – this distinction is based on the boundary and mobility.

    One important decision dilemma that comes across in these primary active factors it the substitution of one for another – Given that Labor operates Capital goods to produce, the manager needs to decide how much labor would be operating on the capital, or how much capital would substitute the labor. This could be expressed in through a ratio – that of labor per unit capital.

    Neither too much of labor per unit capital, nor too much capital per unit labor is acceptable. Both could be detrimental to the business, the key lies in the decision making process. This is a real trade off – and would be a decision taking into the long term strategy, government regulation, Unions etc – in short all the factors that might influence the operations of the business. There are no clear answers for this balance; whatever the decision, it has to be with the best interest of the company and all the stakeholders in mind.

    Read in kannada: http://somanagement.blogspot.com/2011/02/blog-post_14.html

  • ವ್ಯವಹಾರಂಗಗಳು

    ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ವಿವಿಧ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ನಡೆಸುವ ವ್ಯವಹಾರದ ವಿಭಾಗಗಳಿಗೆ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಂಗವೆನ್ನುವರು,
    ಯಾವುವೆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯನ್ನು ಗಮನಿಸಿದಾಗ ಅವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಡ್ಡಾಯವಾಗಿ ಕೆಳಗಂಡ ಅಂಗಗಳಿವೆಯೆಂದು ಅರಿವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ.
    • ವಿಕ್ರಯ ಹಾಗು ಸೇವೆ [Sales and Service]: ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಅತೀ ಸಾಮಿಪ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿರುವ ವಿಭಾಗ. ಇದು ಪ್ರತಿ ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಚಾಲನೆಗೆ ಬಹುಮುಖ್ಯವಾದುದು.
    • ಮಾರಟಗಾರಿಕೆ [Marketing]: ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ಹಾಗು ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಉತ್ಪತ್ತಿಯನ್ನು ಗ್ರಾಹಕರಿಗೆ ಮನದಟ್ಟು ಮಾಡುವುದು ಇದರ ಪ್ರಮುಖ ಧ್ಯೇಯ.
    • ಮಾನವ ಸಂಪನ್ಮೂಲ ಹಾಗು ಕಾರ್ಯಭಾರ[Human Resource & Admin]: ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ನಿಜಸ್ವತ್ತು ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡುವ ಉದ್ಯೋಗಿಗಳು; ದಿನನಿತ್ಯದ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳ ವಹಿವಾಟುಗಳನ್ನೂ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು..
    • ಅನ್ವೇಷಣೆ ಹಾಗು ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ[Research & Development]: ಬದಲಾಗುತ್ತಿರುವ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಉತ್ಪನ್ನಗಳನ್ನು ನಿರಂತರ ಸುಧಾರಣೆ, ಅವಿಷ್ಕಾರ ಮತ್ತು ಅಭಿವೃದ್ಧಿ ಬಹುಮುಖ್ಯವಾದುದು. ಗ್ರಾಹಕರನ್ನು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ಅರ್ಥಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕಂತೆ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಹಿಸುವುದು ಈ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಕಾರ್ಯ.
    • ಕ್ರಿಯಾಶಸ್ತ್ರ ಹಾಗು ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆ[Operation & Production]: ಉತ್ಪಾನ್ನಗಳ ತಯಾರಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಸುಲಲಿತವಾಗಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕುಶಲತೆಯಿಂದ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಸಮಯಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಈ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ. ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಉತ್ಪಾದನೆಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಪ್ರಮುಖವಾದ ವಿಭಾಗ.
    • ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ[Information Technology]: ಕೈಗಾರಿಕೆ ಅಥವಾ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜರುಗುವ ಎಲ್ಲ ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳ ಮೇಲ್ವಿಚಾರಣೆ ಮತ್ತು ತ್ವರಿತ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಕ್ಕೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಣೆ ಹಾಗು ಅದರ ಪ್ರಬಂಧನೆ ಈ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆ.
    • ಹಣಕಾಸು ಮತ್ತು ಲೆಕ್ಕಾಚಾರ[Accounting and Finance]: ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಆರ್ಥಿಕ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಯನ್ನು ಸರಿಯಾಗಿ ನೋಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಮತ್ತು ಉತ್ಪನ್ನಗಳಿಗೆ ಸರಿಯಾದ ಹಣಕಾಸಿನ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಇದರ ಮೂಲ ಕಾರ್ಯ
    ಮೇಲ್ಕಂಡ ವ್ಯವಹಾರಂಗಗಳನ್ನು ಕೆಳಗಿನ ಚಿತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ತೋರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ.


    ಪ್ರತೀ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಇಂತಹ ವ್ಯವಹರಂಗಳಿರುತ್ತವೆ , ಆದರೆ ಆ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯ ಪ್ರಮುಖವಾದ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ಷೇತ್ರದ ಮೇಲೆ, ಇವುಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದು ಮತ್ತೊಂದಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಮುಖ್ಯಯೆನ್ನುವುದು ನಿರ್ಧಾರವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ:

    “ಬ್ಯಾಂಕ್” ಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾರಟಗರಿಕೆಗಿಂತಲೂ ಹಣಕಾಸು ಮತ್ತು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ನ್ಯಾನ ಮುಖ್ಯ ಪಾತ್ರ ವಹಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

  • Business Functions

    The components necessary to get a business functional are called Business Functions.
    A look at any business and you would generally find the following components.
    • Sales and Service – these are customer facing function and for the driving edge of the company
    • Marketing – this is the showcase of your company & its products(is generally clubbed with sales)
    • Human Resource & Administration – the crucial internal people function to ensure satisfaction and get them excited about work
    • Research & Development – Product improvement and innovation is a key factor to sustain in the ever changing environment, also includes product design based on market research inputs.
    • Operations/Production – Involves the process of creation of the product including the procurement, and product development form the parts.
    • Information Technology – Essential aid to smooth operations ensures improving the internal functioning of business
    • Accounting and Finance – Ensures that the company’s financial records are maintained and products are funded aptly.
    Here is a pictorial depiction prepared by Parinathi Labs depicting the business functions
    Based on the business area and the model they choose to operate the companies would have a particular function larger than the others. Say in a HR services firm, would be specialize itself into the HR function, and the operations function would be less dominant, but the trend reverses in a manufacturing company, where the emphasis is higher on operations and production rather than on HR.
    Every company has all these functions, but the relative importance attached to each would vary.

  • ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್ಮೆಂಟ್ ನಿಜಾರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ಏನು?

    ಸರ್ವೇಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ “ಇದನ್ನ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್ ಮಾಡ್ಕೋ, ನಾನೀಗ ಬರ್ತೀನಿ” ಅಂತ ಹೇಳೋದನ್ನ ಕೇಳಿರ್ತಿವಿ; ನಿಜಾರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವು ಹೇಳೋದಾದರೂ ಏನು?
    ಕೂಲಂಕುಷವಾಗಿ ಗಮನಿಸಿದಾಗ ನಾವು ಹೇಳಲು ಇಚ್ಚಿಸ್ತಿರೋದು “ಸದ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ನೀನೇ ಸಂಧರ್ಭಾನುಸರ ಸೂಕ್ತವಾದ ವ್ಯವಸ್ತೆ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ನಿಭಾಯಿಸು ” ಎಂದು. ಆ ಅರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾನೆಜ್ಮೆಂಟನ್ನು ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ ನಿಭಾಯಿಸುವುದು ಎಂದು ಕರಿಬೋದು. ಇನ್ನು ಗಹನವಾಗಿ ಸುವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಗಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳೇ ನಿಜಾರ್ಥದಲ್ಲಿ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್ಮೆಂಟ್.
    ಹಾಗಾದ್ರೆ, ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳೋದು ಅಷ್ಟು ಕಷ್ಟನಾ?

    ಹೌದು, ದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಡುವಂತೆ ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣ ಮಾಹಿತಿ, ನಿಜ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಲ್ಲ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳು ಲಭ್ಯವಿರದು ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟದ ಕಾರ್ಯವೇ ಸರಿ. ನಿರ್ಧಾರ ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವವರಿಗೆ ಸಾಮಾನ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಎರಡಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅವಕಾಶಗಳಿರುತ್ತವೆ / ಆಯ್ಕೆಗಳಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ಪ್ರತೀ ಆಯ್ಕೆಯಲ್ಲೂ ಒಂದು ಪಕ್ಷವನ್ನು ಮೇಲೇರಿಸಿದರೆ ಮತ್ತೊಂದನ್ನು ಕೆಳಗಿಳಿಸಬೇಕಾಗುತ್ತದೆ; ಒಂದೇ ವ್ಯವಸ್ತೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ ಇಬ್ಬರುನ್ನು ಸಮ ಮಟ್ಟಕ್ಕೆ ತರುವುದು ಕಷ್ಟಸಾಧ್ಯವಾದ ಕಾರ್ಯ – ಇದನ್ನು ಪೆರೋಟೋಸ್ ಪ್ರಿನ್ಸಿಪಲ್ ಅಥವಾ ಟ್ರೆಡ್-ಆಫ್ ಅನ್ನುತ್ತಾರೆ. ನಾವಿದನ್ನು ದ್ವಂದ್ವ ಅಂತ ಕರೆಯಬಹುದು.
    ಇಂತಹ ದ್ವಂದ್ವಗಳ ನಿವಾರಣೆಯೇ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಾಪ್ರಬಂಧಕನ ಆಧ್ಯ ಕೆಲಸ. ಸೂಕ್ತವಾದ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಕಂಪನಿಗಳು ಹಾಗು ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಗಳೆನ್ನುವ ಹಡಗನ್ನು ನಿಭಾಯಿಸುವುದೇ ಮ್ಯಾನೇಜ್ಮೆಂಟಿನ ಅಂತರಾಳ. ಯಶಸ್ವೀ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಾಪಕ ಪ್ರಭಂಧಕನಾಗ ಬೇಕೆಂದಿರುವವರು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸುವ ಕಲೆಯನ್ನು ಕರಗತ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಬಹು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾದುದು.

  • What is Management about?

    Very often we hear someone shout ‘just manage it!’ – Manage what? In fact, many of us use such similar terms without as a practice, but a quick re-look at this gives us the gist of management.

    What do we mean, when we ask someone to mange it! – Essentially asking his/her to make choices and deciding. With this understanding let’s look at this process of decision making.
    Why is making choices equated to management? Choices made by executives or workers are decision in the context of companies; and these decisions in many cases have a phenomenal impact on the present and the future of the company. Therefore, making right decision is the secret of successful management.
    Decision making being an important success factor, needs to deal with innumerable “trade-offs” – Be it people or process, people or money, now or later and so on. We deal with Trade-offs in another post in detail, but handling these trade-offs and making these decisions is the core of effective management.
    Institutional courses on management generally work at breaking this rather complex “trade-off decision” couplet to increase simplicity and understanding at the cost of complexity and macro view of the problem. Hence such course though give a theoretical understanding would rely heavily on the aptitude of the “manager” (the one making the decision in the given situation).
    Any management decision made is only complete in the context of the situation and the complete understanding of the problem. This is one of the reason why case-study and role-plays from an effective tool for teaching such management (in short, effective decision making).
    To improve as a manager – focus on your decision making skills and work at comprehensively tackling these trade-off that you so often encounter.

  • I stood the autumn

    I stood the autumn

    I flew with the wind, not knowing where I would go…

    Left I went and sometimes to the right,

    As the winds settled, I landed down,

    Not knowing where I was, what I was to do…


    As the soil fell on me, I felt I was done for good.

    Water moved on me, wetting me, dirtying me.

    I felt this was the end of me…

    Seasoned passed, I grew –

    From dust and dirt to see the sun;

    Sky’s the limit I felt, all but to know there were taller people than I.

    Seasons changed – summer to winter, heat to cold;

    When the sun was hot, there was no shade – I wanted to run but couldn’t

    When the rain drenched, there was no cover – I wanted to run but couldn’t

    When the winter froze, there was no blanket – I wanted to run but couldn’t

    I lost my precious breath – I was hopeless what was next

    My hands folded – nowhere to move, fighting for each breadth I stood

    I just stood just believing I needed to stand, I had nothing but to stand

    Stood I, as the birds flew, stood I as the heat increased, Stood I

    I believed I would stand the autumn,

    As my Breadth returned!

    I knew, I stood, I knew, I stood the autumn.

    – Chi

    —————————————————————-

    I have used a metaphor of a tree to indicate the state of mind of an individual, right from the birth to growth. It signifies the importance of strength of mind in surviving hard times. This is my interpretation but is open to various other interpretations too.


  • Kudremukh Trek – 1

    Kudremukh Trek

    Treks are a very lively and living experience. If you dream of a trek for quite some time, and it is realized after a long wait, the feeling is just ethereal. Kudremukh trek for me has been a dream since I began my trekking. I would see it from my hometown in udupi and wish I get to its peak – today the dream is a reality. I have climbed the Kudremukh peak.

    This trek and hence my dream wouldn’t have been possible if my friends – Niranjan and Bipin weren’t getting married (Jan 24th one at Udupi and the other at Dharwad) during this period. I dedicate this blog to their indirect assistance in helping me realize this dream.

    When I realize that the 24th Jan was a Monday, I was wondering if I could get some company over the weekend and we could climb the Kudremukh. I shared this Idea with Naveen G S, who was Niranjan’s ex-colleague. His office members were planning to hire a tempo traveler and make this trip, however as it would be, there were last minute walk outs from the plan and the field was left open. There were only 6 members all boys and enthusiastic to trek. Naveen put across the idea and it was accepted. We decided to leave Bangalore on 22nd Jan Night. Naveen booked the tickets and the team was right there at the KSRTC bus stand game for this adventure.

    The bus was an Airavata to Kundapura, and we got down at Karkala. Just before we boarded the bus I called up another old pal who had recently been to the trek – Nagendra Mayya and asked for any contacts. He sent the contact of Satish Mullodi who promised to make the necessary arrangements. He suggested we reach there by 1030 am and it should be an easy trek. He also suggested it was an easier getting to the place if we reach Kalasa – however this route was out of question.

    We boarded the bus and got down at Karkala – at 5:00AM. A call to Satish and he told there was a bus at 745 AM and that would take us to Balgal at 9:45AM. He would later arrange the jeep to his place. We were wondering what we could do in the mean time in the bus stand. We freshened up at the bus stand and were still wondering.

    One of our fellow trekkers – Madhu was a resident of Naravi, a small town just 30 minutes away from Karkala. After some discussion we decided to use the service and booked a Force Tufaan which would take the 8 of us to Balgal. We had time till this vehicle would come down to Karkala. We decided to have breakfast in the mean time. There was one hotel that had just opened up and was giving “avalakki” and “uppit”. We got in and hogged as much as we felt. By the time we were done it was 6:30 am. We were still waiting for the vehicle, we called up Satish and got the information updated – he suggested we come in the vehicle as far as possible on the mud road from where he would assist us get to his home.

    At 7:00 am the vehicle was there at the bus stand and we were ready to get into – a few kilometers away from Karkala and we had the first part of the adventure – the vehicle had a puncture. Driver Santosh cursing his bad luck quickly changed the tyre but suggested we get the wheel repaired and left, the nearest place for this was Hosamar. Given that the it was a Sunday many of the puncture shops for such vehicles were shut. We all agreed and we reached Hosamar at 8:00 am and the repair work began.

    With such a long break, we had time to discuss on a wide variety of topics ranging from politics to science to politics. It took around 40 minutes to complete the repair. We got back into the Toofan and we began our journey. We were already an hour and half behind the plan and my mind was busy calculating the possibilities. I didn’t want to miss this chance of realizing my dream!

    We traveled to Bajagoli then S.K (South Kannada) Border and then Kudremukh Township towards Kalasa. We passed the check post, the place where we need to alight is named – “Balgal”, this is around 2 km from the check post towards Kalasa. There is a mud road which moves over a small stream, this is the route that one needs to take. Generally there are jeeps which are arranged to take you till Satish Mullodi’s home and they generally charge Rs 500/- for a trip. Since we had our vehicle, we moved ahead with the same as far as we could. We probably covered around 4 km out of the 7 km stretch to our Base camp – Satish Mullodi’s home.

    Having covered the 4km through the vehicle, we parked it by the side of a small falls and continue the remaining part of the journey by foot. The scenery around was a treat to the eyes. At this point our team had split into 2 groups – one which was full enthu and the other which was occupied with clicking pictures and moving slowly to Satish’s house. A bit over a kilometer into the journey, we spotted a green snake on the path – the group that went front skipped this and had moved ahead. We took our time understanding is it was in an attacking mood or not and clicked snaps of the snake.

    We moved ahead into the journey after this photo session and finally reached Satish’s home just moments before 12 noon! We were almost 2 hrs behind schedule.

    As discussed over the phone, Satish and his family had prepared our breakfast! (Ya it was almost lunchtime!) – Idilies prepared of boiled rice. We also had tea before we began our trek. Satish had prepared Puliogare as our lunch. He packed them up in separate cover and handed them over to us. After a 30 minutes break, refilled cans and tummy we resumed our trek at 12:30 pm. He has also arranged a guide at Rs 350/-.

    Our guide was a 9th Standard student – Rakesh. He probably knew the terrain and had guided hundreds of teams by this time. It was really exciting to have him along in our team. Our team was now 9 members and it was absolutely scorching sun at this point of the day that proved to be our biggest challenge.

    We began moving upwards taking the jeep track beside Satish’s home. We could hear the stream below the edge of the hill where his house was make a lot of sound. There was a small falls that this stream was making which created this sound. We continue our trek along the route, which now had slowly grown narrower and uphill. We could spot Kudremukh peak at a distance. We continue along this route till we found a lone tree – the base of the tree had a nice shade and a seating place in case some trekkers were tiered already.

    The next part of the trek is taking a left at this tree, the path is along the side of the mountain and, you can savor the beauty of the Western Ghats and its streams along the side. This narrow path then takes us into a small shoal forest where we need to cross a small stream. These streams are rain fed and generally dry up in the hot summer; however we can surely see a shoal forest flanking any such water stream banks.

    The terrain is pretty much the same for the first one third of the journey – you move along the side of a narrow path on the hill surface, them crossing over to the adjacent hill via a stream. We pass through two such streams and then the surface opened up to a beautiful hill
    beside the Kudremukh.

    We could spot a way to the peak of this falls, this too like Kudremukh was open to the sea side, and am sure would give a very beautiful view of the costal district. We didn’t take detour there and continued our trek along the Kudremukh route.


    We passed through another forest cover before we opened up into an area which probably was used for cultivation some years back. This is where we get to spot two old houses – also called the Lobo houses. One of these is a bit off the main trekking route while we need to pass beside the other. The house that is farther from the route is in a better state compared to the one that is closer to the route. The closer one has almost collapsed. The area in front of these was probably the farms of the residents of these houses. The route this far since the first climb beside Satish’s home was pretty plain and almost negligible elevation what followed was a quick increase in the altitude.

    We moved through the small forest beside lobo house and we found ourselves open up to the vast grassland lying on the slope of the hill. We could see the Kudremukh peak very distinctly from this point. It was getting closer! How close we didn’t know. It had take us an hour and three fourth to reach lobo house and it was all through the plains, now it was climb to the peak.

    I had been carrying the heavy bag on my back; it had begun straining my shoulders and my back. I decided to shift my bag to some other team member and continued the journey. I continued clicking the snaps of the beauty that was at offer. We continued the climb, the edge of the hill, the ridges, the green slopes, the far off townships; etc all offered beautiful scenery. It was a treat on offer for me! I enjoyed every click here.

    We continue along the side of the hill, and then into a small forest area. We had a small falls; the source of this was the peak of the Kudremukh. The stream had almost dried up but there was trickling water. We were just below the falls, but there was a challenge still at hand, climbing the last mile.

    We moved out of the forest and continued the climb which finally opened up along the steep slope of the Kudremukh peak. We found a group of forest department return along the path here. While were resting along the small stone protrusion, we realized it was almost just a few minutes away from the high spirit of having reached the peak. This excitement got us moving along the surface, we moved slowly yet surely as a team.

    With a 10 minute climb, we reached the relatively plain surface atop the peak; it was very easy move from here. I was involved in clicking snaps of the trek all along; the high spirited members ran to the edge of the peak and dropped down there for some fun filled moments. One of our team members – Nikhil had completely cramped himself, and I spent most of my time just around him to ensure that he is not the only person left behind; this also gave me a lot of time to click the snaps, and reduced my strain of climbing in a hurry.



    We finally reached the peak at 4:00 pm. The sun which was above our head, now shown on the west side, but atop the peak there was no shelter.


    We took the much essential break at the peak. We had our lunch – the packed puliogare here. We also emptied some bread and bun that we had carried along. This recharge was a really necessary one. Post the lunch we had a small photo session and then we begun our journey back.

    In our effort to climb to the peak in a hurry, we had ignored the church at the peak, I am sure we wouldn’t have noticed it if Rakesh our guide hadn’t mentioned about it. As we moved along he showed us the remains of this old church. It is covered by weeds all over, there is no roof and is in complete ruins.


    We continue the trek back, the sun now was preparing to set, and the shadows of the large mountains were growing pretty quickly. We moved quickly with longer paces and covered up the distance quickly, we reached the lobo house pretty quickly. We rested a small while before we continued on the trek.

    We had covered around 4 kms to Lobo house from the peak, but the remaining 6 km to Satish’s home had to be done quickly, I was still in mood of clicking picture this far, I decided to do away with it as far as possible.

    Another 45 minutes of trekking through the plains and the streams and we finally reached Satish’s home at around 6:50 pm. As I thought back about the initial thought while I began climbing, we had performed better than expected. We climbed the peak in 3 and half hours and got back to the base camp in 2 and half hours. It was a great record for the team.

    We had a cup of tea and returned to the vehicle where we had parked. We reached the vehicle and begun our journey. As we reached the entrance to the check post, we decided to have small Tiffin. There was the commentary running of the final India-South Africa match on the Radio. We enjoyed the crackers that Yusuf Pathan was providing with Zaheer Khan.

    We got back into the vehicle and continued our journey back home. Exhausted most of us were asleep in the cab except for the driver. We reached Naaravi, where our host Madhu and his family had prepared a grand hospitality for us. We thank them for all the support they provided us with.

    This trek would remain in my memory for a very long time, I shall definitely return to this place; coz there is so much I haven’t explored here. I will get to them soon.

    I think many people don’t have the contact of the people to get to the peak; here is the contact numbers of 2 pretty helpful people here.

    Suresh Mullodi – 08263249595

    Arun – 9481578065

  • Skandagiri


    Skandhagiri Trek
    Treks are generally thought to be planned events, but I don’t agree with the view. Treks are greater fun when you learn to accept the uncertainty that comes along with the new location. It is this uncertainty and the associated feeling that keeps me looking for more in every trek.
    I had just returned from a long travel to Maharashtra, and was planning to rest when Rajat called me asking if I was game to a trek to Skandagiri. I had heard a lot about this from visitors to the place and the pictures that people had clicked. I was game but wanted some more people to join so that we had a larger company.
    Rajat got along with him Vishwanath; I could get in Naveen, Umesh and Uncle Manjunath. It was a nice team of 6 people. Changing our initial plant to go by bikes we switched to car for ease of travel. With the team in place, we decided to leave Bangalore at 1:30 am.
    I woke up at 1:00 am with Uncle along, and picked up Vishwa, Rajath and Naveen from Domlur. We got Umesh on board from Vidyranayapura. We fueled ourselves and finally left Bangalore at 2:45 am.
    The night drive along the Bellary highway was a great experience, we reached past the Airport deviation, went further. Our idea was to reach Chickballapur as early as possible and begin trek. On the way, we saw a car with a drunken driver, whom we couldn’t predict what the next move of his was.
    We reached Chickballapur and 3:30 am. We were scouting for direction late night, thanks God! We found a rickshaw driver and asked for direction. Vishwa tried getting some inputs from the commuters in Telugu.
    One you are in Chickballapur main road, go ahead till the Police Station, just before that there is turn take it. From there you have to continue till you find a Banyan tree (or rather move over 5 humps). Take a left there and you will find yourself navigating through the narrow lanes of some village.
    At the dead end you could expect a Constable and the Inspector waiting in the jeep. You would need to pay an entry fee and get the approval. Missing or skipping this means you would find some more constables further through the way.
    The next phase was through beside the lake (which is on the left) then through a village. The village road has a dead end, and just prior to that you would need to take a left turn. Keep driving and on the right hand side, you see torch light flashing.
    Pretty soon you would find being interrupted by self proclaimed guides. The rates of their guidance depend on your vulnerability. They try dissuading you from venturing out on your won saying you would get lost. If you have trekked earlier, finding the path isn’t really difficulty. The guide charges vary from Rs 200/- to Rs 3000/-. Ensure you bargain well – else you would be taken for ride. The only challenge in the complete process is the starting point of the trek. If you are able to spot the starting point, getting to the peak is very easy.
    Moving ahead without the guide, we had taken a chance here. We were new to the place, there was darkness all around. We weren’t familiar with the terrain to. Just beside the foot of the mountain, there is a small plantation of acacia trees, beside that there is a small stream – watch out for any water in this.
    One you cross the stream, you are at the foot of the mountain. There is only one way which is pretty clear, and if you have crossed over earlier than the actual one – you might need to do some scouting just the way we did. Be ready for it – this is where the fun is; the usual route is not a great fun.
    Ensure at each step you are looking out for the right route! Tough we began on the right route, we missed a small section of easy route and returned to the harder and then came back to the easier one at the fork. So, keep your senses open and watch out, even if you don’t, you will only be delayed to the summit, not denied of it.
    The total time to the peak is around 1hr 15 min to 1 hr 30 minutes. Our detour cost us another 15 minutes. We started off following a small group of torches; we thought they knew the way, and it was only after some time that we realized that they too were looking out for the right way. After grappling in the dark for around 10 min, we spotted the right route. We continue along this route, and were able to spot the exact path. At one of the points we took a left turn instead of a right. This is where many people who were climbing too had mistaken and we were no exception.
    This detour takes us to a steep rock phase where our confidence on our footing is tested. Most of the team members easily came up, but Vishwa, who hadn’t been on too many treks earlier, had some issues. He was looking his confidence, but made it up at this point after a struggle of 10 minutes.
    The next phase we joined the other route, which joins here. At this point, the route is
    a bit slippery given the early morning mist. There are some step marks on the stone surface and we could use this to climb.
    As we began climbing the trek, at the base we couldn’t see the peak, but as we continued the ascent the surface slowly unraveled itself and this was another challenge that our team had. Vishwa wasn’t expecting such a long trek to the peak given that this was his second trek.
    We realized that in order to make it to the peak as a group, we needed to move ahead quickly. I decided to accompany Vishwa and boost his confidence. This seemed to have worked the trick and we picked up the pace. In less than 20 minutes we navigated some dangerous curves and reached the top. We reached the peak at 5:50 am.
    Now was the time for the anxious wait – the wait to spot the Sun and the clouds if any that is so talked about of this place? We waited for nearly an hour and at around 6:45 Am we spotted the sun. All the while we had twilight, and the anticipation kept everything away from the mind. For many in the group, this was an early raise and probably the very few occasions when we had seen the sun come out from the horizon.
    At a distance, one can spot two hills and I guess these would be Mulabagilu (not sure) which is where the first sun-rise is seen in the State of Karnataka. I think I would get down there sometime and have a look at the sun rise. Once the sun shown itself, it begun raising rapidly and just 5 minutes since the sun-rise the whole of the surrounding was brightly lit.
    We spent the next hour clicking pictures and snaps of the surrounding. There are a couple of mantapas at the peak. One of these is the temple and the other probably was the guest house of the guard who would look out for enemy entering the vicinity. There is a fort which borders a very steep edge of the hill.
    People have littered the peak and hence we find dogs and monkey a plenty there. There are a lot of stores that give u a tea and some quick breakfast like sandwiches, omelets’, bread jam etc. We had carried our own food – thanks to Vishwa for the wonderful palav he had prepared and got along.

    We rested for a while and began our descent back to the base at 8 am. We had sufficient light and so the torches were all in the bag now. We moved slowly now that the whole day was there to make it to the base. With rests in between, we were having our tummy filled too.
    We finally reached the base of the hill, a few meters away from where we began. We looked back and recollected what we had done over the past 4 to 5 hours. The memory of the night would stay in our mind for ever. The excitement and fun clouded with the experience is here to stay with us.

    This was one awesome trip, as I drove back to Bangalore; we visited our role model – Sir M V’s home town – Mokshagundam. There are three monuments that are put up at this place. The house of his birth has been renovated. There is also the house that he used while he was the Diwan – part of this has been converted as a museum and the remaining houses the SBM – which he was instrumental in forming. His samadhi is just beside these houses and has a beautiful lawn surrounding it.
    We paid our tributes to the great engineer who inspires us and would inspire more engineers for the years to come. We prayed for his blessings and returned to Bangalore.

    We reached home by noon and had the remaining of the day to rest!