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Tag: #thoughts

  • The Entrepreneur’s GPS: Finding Your Place on the Science-to-Market Continuum

    The Entrepreneur’s GPS: Finding Your Place on the Science-to-Market Continuum

    Remember that healthcare session where we were discussing different types of ventures (if not check out with NSRCEL)? You asked me for a source on the framework I explained, and since I couldn’t point you to one, here’s the version I wrote up for you. Think of it as your GPS for understanding where your venture sits—and more importantly, what approach might actually work for you.

    The Big Idea: It’s All About How You Create Value

    Not all businesses are created equal. Some live in labs, others thrive in markets. Most lie somewhere in between. The key is understanding where you are on what I call the Science-to-Market Continuum—because the strategies that work for a biotech startup will likely crash and burn for a neighbourhood retailer.


    The Five Stops on Our Continuum

    Let me walk you through each type, because knowing where you fit changes everything about how you should build your venture.

    1. Science Businesses: The Lab Heroes

    These are the folks creating breakthrough scientific innovations that could change entire industries. Think of a team developing a revolutionary crystal structure that makes drilling equipment stronger, lighter, and more durable than anything we’ve seen. The same crystal may be used in another industry for a different use!

    The Reality Check: You’re not just building a product—you’re proving that science works in the real world. Your biggest headache? Getting from lab bench to factory floor. And here’s the kicker—you often need a whole ecosystem of partners to make your innovation valuable to end customers.

    1. Technology Businesses: The System Builders

    These ventures develop specific technologies that can plug into existing processes and multiply outcomes. You’re essentially creating the engine that makes other businesses run faster or better.

    Smart Move: Many license their technology early (remember how Google’s founders licensed their search tech to Yahoo! before going solo?). This generates cash, proves the technology works, and gets investor attention for the bigger play ahead.

    1. Technology-Based Businesses: The Use-Case Champions

    Here’s where you bet big on a specific application of existing technology. You see the potential in something generic and decide to build a focused solution around it. Oracle turning database technology into enterprise gold? Classic example.

    Watch Out: If you’re not crystal clear on your use case, you’ll need to navigate the narrowing process carefully. Grab a copy of “Crossing the Chasm“—it’s your playbook here.

    1. Technology-Enabled Businesses: The Problem Solvers

    You start with a market frustration and then assemble existing technologies to solve it. The Taxi4Sure story fits perfectly—founders frustrated with unreliable airport taxis built their solution using available tech, inspired by Uber but adapted for Indian realities.

    Key Insight: Inspiration doesn’t equal imitation. Just because something works elsewhere doesn’t mean you can copy-paste it to your market.

    1. Pure Market Businesses: The Access Providers

    These businesses thrive on making things available when and where customers want them. Your neighbourhood store? Perfect example. Technology is nice-to-have, not must-have. The business survives on market understanding, not tech wizardry.

    Why This Framework Changes Your Game

    Here’s the thing that tripped up several participants in our session: using the wrong playbook for your venture type is like bringing a knife to a gunfight.

    Try running lean startup methodology on a science business? You’ll go crazy waiting for those long research cycles. Use a science approach for a market business? You’ll over-engineer solutions for problems that don’t need complex fixes.

    The Plot Twist: Nothing Stays Static

    Companies don’t stay put on this continuum. They move left (toward science) or right (toward market) as they evolve. Amazon started as a pure market play (online bookstore) and now has AWS (technology) and Alexa (science-heavy AI). Understanding these shifts helps you plan your next moves.

    Your Action Plan

    1. Identify where you are on the continuum right now
    2. Choose strategies that match your position
    3. Prepare for movement—know which direction makes sense for your growth
    4. Build the right team for your stage (scientists vs. marketers vs. hybrid skills)

    The healthcare ventures I meet often struggle because they’re stuck between science and market—trying to prove efficacy while building commercial traction. Recognising this helps you sequence your efforts better.

    What’s Your Take?

    I’d love to hear which part of this continuum your venture calls home—and whether you’ve felt the pain of using mismatched strategies. Drop a comment below and let’s discuss your specific situation.

    Want me to dive deeper into how ventures move along this continuum? Many of you asked about this during our session. If there’s enough interest, I’ll write up those dynamics in my next post. Just let me know in the comments!

    Found this framework helpful? Share it with your entrepreneur friends who might be struggling to find their strategic footing. Sometimes the best gift is clarity.

    ! Disclaimer: the draft above was created based on the full length draft I wrote up explaining each of the concepts using claude 4.0. If you want to read the orginal. Do reach out.

  • The First Mile – Scott D. Anthony

    Starting a new venture always feels exciting, but the real test happens in what Scott D. Anthony calls “the first mile”—that leap from idea to reality. Reading this book was especially useful for students and aspiring entrepreneurs, since the first mile is where mistakes (and big learning) often happen.

    What Makes the First Mile So Important?

    Anthony shows that ideas aren’t the problem—it’s the process that trips most people up. The first mile is where hopes are high but risks are hidden, and getting through it needs more than optimism—it needs a plan and discipline.

    The DEFT Framework (Made Simple)

    The book’s DEFT approach is a handy guide to taking an idea and nurturing it safely:

    • Document: Write out the details—what makes your idea unique and what needs to go right.
    • Evaluate: Question your assumptions and get real about what’s uncertain.
    • Focus: Prioritize the biggest risks and pick the few issues that really matter.
    • Test: Use small, fast experiments to turn guesses into facts before investing too much.

    The Four First Mile Challenges

    Anthony warns that there are four classic mistakes innovators make in the early stage, and he gives advice on how to dodge each one:

    1. Making a Wrong Turn
      This challenge is about heading down the wrong path—maybe due to weak research or wishful thinking. To avoid this, founders should run tests early and use honest feedback to adjust their direction. Quick experiments save time and prevent costly detours .
    2. Running Out of Fuel
      This means burning through resources (like cash, energy, or team focus) before getting traction. Anthony urges entrepreneurs to be disciplined: spend only on clear proof points and review progress regularly so you don’t run dry before reaching your first real wins.
    3. Picking the Wrong Driver
      Having the wrong people in charge—or a mismatched leadership team—can make a strong idea stumble. It’s critical to match the project’s needs with the team’s strengths, and, if necessary, adjust roles or bring in new talent as the project evolves.
    4. Premature Scaling
      Trying to grow too soon, before validating key assumptions, is deadly. Anthony explains that scaling should only happen when the essentials (like product fit, market demand, and a repeatable process) are in place. Scale comes after proof, not before.

    Some Practical Tips

    • Use maps and scorecards to rank risks and decide what to tackle next.
    • Try different types of experiments (like quick interviews or small pilots) so mistakes are cheap and lessons are quick.
    • Keep learning as your core metric—progress isn’t just sales, but how much uncertainty you’ve reduced each week.

    Why This Matters for Students and New Founders

    This book is not full of fancy jargon but gives step-by-step ways to turn confusion and risk into clarity. If you read just one chapter—or remember a single habit—make it about picking one critical risk at a time and testing it quickly. That’s how you’ll make every mile count.

    If you want the journey through your first mile to be smoother, Anthony’s honest advice (and the DEFT method) is a good starting point. It’ll help you travel farther without falling into these common traps. It is a good complement to the Lean Startup appraoch.

  • Shaolin – Bernhard Moestl

    “Shaolin – How to Win Without Fighting” by Bernhard Moestl is the first book I read in 2025. Translated from German by Anya Malhotra, it offers insightful reflections to help readers absorb Bernhard’s key lessons.
    I enjoy Kungfu movies and their philosophy. This book sparked this interest of mine, so I would have rated it highly anyways. However, this book will not disappoint anyone serious about self-improvement and negotiations.

    Bernhard has spent considerable time with the monks and has compiled several of their teachings into a concise book. The reflective exercises included in the chapters have been highly beneficial for me. He presents 13 principles he has learned from the Shaolin monks and articulates why and how these could be exceptionally valuable for anyone. The principles are as follows:

    • The Principle of the Present
    • The Principle of Mindfulness
    • The Principle of Resoluteness
    • The Principle of Detachment
    • The Principle of Calmness
    • The Principle of Slowness
    • The Principle of Imitation
    • The Principle of Opportunity
    • The Principle of Yielding
    • The Principle of Superiority
    • The Principle of Letting Go
    • The Principle of Self-knowledge
    • The Principle of Community

    He articulates these 13 principles effectively, encouraging the reader to understand and appreciate their various facets.

    My appreciation for this book may stem from my passion for strategy and my background as a student in the field. However, this book is also highly recommended for individuals looking to enhance their personal and professional lives. It should be noted that this work stands out in the genre of personal development literature.

  • Back to Bharat – Naga Prakasam

    Image of the Book - Back to Bharat

    I have known Nagaraja Prakasam (Naga) since 2014, when he became the resident mentor at NSRCEL. He used to regularly sit at the “Naga Tree” close to IIMB and mentor startups who came to see him. Over the years he has invested in several of startups, and a recent post of his where he mentioned his debut book won the GLF-WWF Green Honours award suggested the count stood at 18. The book focuses on building how Naga is helping build a sustainable future through his work with entrepreneurs and several ecosystem enablers.

    I had not purchased the book and had been postponing that, but Naga was keen on developing a course on social entrepreneurship and sought some assistance. When I mentioned I had not yet read his book, he got it couriered right away. I finished reading the book—actually, the book is a breeze to read—and written in simple language. 

    I believe the book is inspired by “My Experiments with Truth” (MET by Mahatma Gandhi). Naga does mention the impact this book had on him, but in here I feel the style also seems to mostly match. MET shares several experiments that Gandhiji had conducted in his pursuit of truth; in here, Naga shares a lot of these interactions with social entrepreneurs, enterprises, and life-altering conversations. As a reader you will know Naga more closely—the thoughts that motivate him and the perspective he carries. 

    I, however, felt the number of experiences he shares was a bit too many to my liking. As someone who has been used to thinking and working with and towards some framework, I felt this section has been missing from the book. I wish several of the thoughts could be structured to create a pathway for others to refer to. But that is also possibly not Naga’s fault. It is me as an academician looking for generalization— as a reader, you may be perfectly fine with the rich stories he shares. 

    Get your copy from here: https://amzn.in/d/4v44fKr

    Happy Reading!

  • The trek/bike-ride to Kundadri

    It had been a long wait for a trek/trip! I just couldn’t wait to take a break before my Fellowship Program scheduled to begin on the 16th June 2014. It was less that 5 days away and I thought it had to be now! 

    It did take some serious coaxing for me to get Pangala on board for this bike trip combined with the trek. He had taken a trek along with a few friends a week earlier to Kodachadri and he was evaluating this one! I am so happy he agreed for this one. 

    I reached Udupi in the morning around 5:30 AM and freshened up, I could see the rain clouds threatening to spoil the whole fun. The sketch for the trek wasn’t really firmed – we were evaluating Kundadri as one of the options. I had heard a bit about the place from one of my cousins – he told it was steep climb to the top and there was a well at there. I didnt collect much information beyond this – I had spotted the board by the side of the road during my earlier trip to Shringeri.

    Pangala and me decided to start off the trip on the Pulsar 125 cc bike that was available around 10:30 AM. We decided to take our own time to travel the whole distance – the clouds had just showered and the weather looked great for the drive.

    Pangala hadn’t taken the bike on a long drive for over two years and he wondered if there could be any issues that might come along. Letting the worry rest only in our minds, we decided to move on. The journey was something that allowed us to think and discuss a lot about many of things we saw in the distance – the lush green fields, the dense forests, occasional vehicle trying to overtake us, the stream flowing by the side of the road and much more…. It was peaceful enough for us to let our minds just absorb and let out our thoughts, impressions, experience and much more… In fact this is something that look forward in every trek – letting my mind experience the serenity!

    We took a couple of breaks on the route to Agumbe. We reached Agumbe around 12:00 noon and thought about the next plan as we sipped the tea in the cool breeze. If we moved towards Kundadri, we possibly would have to skip lunch given that we have no surity of hotels on the route. We instead decided to go to the Shringeri temple were we could have our lunch at the temple before we decided to cover Kundadri on the way back.

    An interesting experience; was the struggle that the bike had every time we tried pushing its limits – the climb atop the Agumbe did exhaust the bike and we possibly began relying on the capacity of the bike. May be its how we build our teams all through – we begin with the point of distrust and steadily build the confidence with performance! But, we possibly should learn to trust but expect that there exist a limit for the capacity and we prepare for this.

    We reached Shringeri at 1 PM and went right to have our lunch – It was a special lunch (I still recollect the first special dinner at NITK)! Yes – some terminologies picked up early in life doesn’t change right! The new “Gopura” of the temple had been inaugurated a day earlier and it seemed like an optune time for me for us to get the  “special” lunch!

    We spent another half an hour sitting in the corridor of the temple. The temple dedicated to the Goddess of knowledge – Sharadambe and has a long history. The part I rever about the temple is the constant chants that are so much a part of the ecosystem there. I just can’t describe the peace I feel when in the sanctum of the temple – it is something I would love to just stay with.

    We moved back towards Kundadri at 2:30 PM – We could spot the clouds from the west getting denser. These clouds had possibly crossed the tall mountains of the Agumbe range and now looked at getting the remainder of mountains behind the first line drenched. Kundari was in the second line of the hills, and we sensed that the trek to the top would definitely be a climb in the rain.
    Traveling 16 Km from Shringeri towards  Agumbe we find a board (around 10 Km before Agumbe) indicating that a right turn there would take us to Kundadri. We took the right turn and drove 7 Km along the road to find a right turn. Around 500 meter from this point, we take a left which takes us to the road that could lead us to the top of the hill.

    Having already strained our bike, we thought it would be apt to just give it the needed rest at the base of the road leading to the top and begin walking to the top. We still could see some sun when we began the trek upwards – but it wasn’t very long before all that would disappear and we would only have clouds!

    The route to the top was possibly 3 Km but our body which was so much out of exercise was indicating that it wasn’t yet ready to take the steep climb. We pushed ourselves steadily before we reached the top – there are many scenic spots we could take detour to and watch the villages and the streams at a distance all around the hill. The chilling wind, the clouds that touched us through, the occasional sun peeps, slight drizzle all made the trek along the road too look extremely exciting. 

    After a 45 minute climb along the road, we reached the top, were there is a parking space and steps that take us to the Jain temple at the top. The temple is an old one and definitely has some very interesting architecture (Though I dont know much about architecture – it wasnt one of the traiditional styles I had seen of the temples around the area). 

    At one point in time, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts were major Jain centers and these temple might have played a huge role in the cultural history of the community in the state. The temple has a large well just beside it (I guess this is what my cousin had refereed to earlier). 

    The Jain temple has 2 idols of possibly the 8th and the 17th Tirthankara outside and Parshwanath Tirthankara inside. The priest of the temple gave us a good brief of the various historic attacks and the excavations of the idols that were thrown into to the well just beside. He says there could be more such idols inside the well – but an excavation of that scale would take a long time. 

    The hill given its historical significance for the Jains is maintained by the Matha that it is associated to – and so there is a lot of agency issues when it comes to getting to maintaining the road in rainy season when trees fall on the track and the routine route to the top gets disturbed. 

    We thanked the priest for the detailed explanation and began our trek back to the bike. We were lucky that the drizzle had stopped and we didn’t have much issues till we reached a place called Shivapura – a few kilometers after Hebri.

    It as if the rain God had decided it was time to unleash his fury – I don’t remember a single minute when the rains stopped all along our drive from Shivapura to Udupi. We finally reached Udupi around 7 PM – drenched to the core, but still refreshed.

    The Kundadri trek would keep me charged for the next few months for sure…

  • Anadka Falls – 3 (KadamaGundi Falls)


    God has his own plans…. Man is just an instrument to his game… 

    What began with just an over enthusiastic attempt to go on a trek; turned out to be full of surprises. 
    I had not been on a trek for over an year now – I was craving for one since the last trek to kudremukh around Sept 2011, the one to Chuchi falls was less of a trek and more of a family trip. This time I was determined to climb up the “Ettinabhuja”, which we missed the last time after our team had climbed the Amedikal. 
    After a few calls and facebook chats, our team of 5 – Vasudendra, Arun, Shweta and Sahana was ready to get to Ettinabhuja. Though the team was formed more than a month ago, my repeated attempts to reach our guide turned futile – our first attempt to get the guide wasnt successful due to some personal problems, the second guide wasnt reachable given that the landline connections near Shishila are unreliable.  
    After a brief consultation with the team – a couple of days before the trek, it was decided that we would go ahead with the trek and take our chance once we reach Shishila. The tickets to Dharmastala were booked – the plan was to freshen up here, and then possibly take a jeep drive from here to Shishila directly. 
    It was around 5:45 AM when we reached Dharmastala, and we wasted no time in getting freshened up in the bus-stand. We then moved to the Hotel there to finish our breakfast and got our food packed for the trek. We next ventured on to find our vehicle to reach the base-camp of Shishila. 

    The first plan was to hire a jeep/auto from Dharmastala to Shishila – this would be a bit costly and would be around Rs 600 /- We then decided to go to Kokkada and take a jeep from there (this we thought at least, would be a bit more affordable) We hired a service jeep for around Rs 350/- to Shishila. 
    When we reached our guide’s home, we were in for a rude shock! The trekking from Shishila to Ettinabhuja was closed for over an year! There was a naxal problem and the forest guards were very reluctant to let anyone to climb from here. There was no way we would be allowed to reach the peak from here. 
    We got into a deliberation immediately to decide on the next trek point, none of us wanted to return without a trek. After some time we decided to quickly move on to reaching Dedupe and go to the Hanadka Falls. We did ask some of the localites at Shishila if they had information about the feasibility of getting to Dedupe and likelihood of being permitted to go to the falls. We were able to get an affirmative on the permission and decided to move on towards the Dedupe.

    Though I did think philosophically that – “Man Proposes, God Disposes”,
    there is really nothing that we realize what God has actually disposed
    until we try the next option. This means, one has to apply oneself to the situation and think about what to do next – what is the next best situation that I could go in for?

    I was going to Dedupe the third time and so to some extent I wasn’t very willing to go on this, but I knew it would be the first for the others excepting Arun. I decide it would be nice to see the falls again and if time permits be able to explore anything new.

    We returned in the same jeep (just that we had some more people along this time) to Kokkada, and were luck enough to quickly get the bus to Dharmastala. This was like reaching back to square one and a couple of hours spent without any real use. A short wait at Dharmastala and we got our bus to Ujire.

    At Ujire, we checked with the ticket counter to see if we would be able get any bus immediately, being a day earlier to the elections we werent very convinced of having a bus to our destination (it is relatively remote here). We stood waiting on the road towards Kotigehara – where we could climb the bus to Dedupe. Seeing a jeeps about there, we thought of trying the option of reaching Dedupe via the jeep. We found one in no time we found one that had initially planned to have its last stop as Kajoor; however having seen five of us in the team he decided to move ahead to Dedupe.We were lucky here and went along.

    I spoke with the driver on the way and he also mentioned about the Ermayee falls close by – I was immediately enthused by the possibility of exploring another falls and so let Arun know about it. We decided to first finish Dedupe and then if time permits (which I felt we would definitely be able to manage) we would return to visit Ermayee.

    A 45 minutes journey with the Jeep, we reached Dedupe from where we had to begin our trek to Anadka Falls. At Dedupe, there is also a Panchayat Office, besides which there is a board that points to the direction of “Kadamagundi Falls”. This is the other name for Anadka Falls. We checked with the Panchayat office about the permission to reach the falls. One of the person in the Panchayat office was kind enough to call the person (Mr Raju) in charge of collecting the names etc of the trekkers who go to visit the falls – he wasn’t in the Forest Guard office and so asked us to write down the names at a small shop on the route to the falls. 



    Thanking the individual for the help, we decided to move ahead and register our names at the shop. The shop owner is Mr Vasantha with whom we wrote down the names and deposited the entry fees before moving further. He also asked us to call the Forest officer(whose number he gave) to ensure that he know we have actually got the permission. He asked us to return before 6 PM in the evening. Thanking him, we continued our journey head.


    The hot sun and the humid climate was making it tough for us to get going smoothly. The dusty Jeep Track only made me feel worse. The perspiration levels were pretty high – I feel the sweat drip from my cheek and my T-shirt completely wet, and with the sun right above our heads our energy was draining pretty quickly. I remember having seen a bit more forest on my earlier treks to the falls – this time I could see few plantations coming up. The forest department too was looking to get its area fenced. 

    After trekking for a little more than an hour we reached the house of Mrs Savitri Marathe. On my earlier trek, Thyagraja Marathe had got me here – so with a brief introduction she allowed us to move through her plantations to the falls. Another 15 minutes trek, we spotted the falls – this enthused the team and we quickly reached the base of the falls. 

    Arun and Vasu were quick to get to having a bath at the falls. I in my usual style decided to rest on one of the rocks and take a short nap. Sahana and Shweta too were busy trying to enjoy the shallow pond that the falls had created. 


    In the earlier trek, my team and I had explored a couple of cascades of the falls above the visible one, this time I wasn’t very enthused about trying it again an so just waited for the others to return to the stone for lunch. In my minds window, I waded through the memories of earlier trek and was comparing it. I had visited the falls three times and at all different points of the day – the first one was very early, while the second one was late in the evening – this time it was mid noon. The falls looked so different each time – the kind of birds that sun varies so did the intensity of leaf colors! Nature – you are just a beautiful director, painter composer – simply an all-rounder. 


    After spending over an hour and half at the falls and having our lunch, decided to trek back. We filled in our water bottles and some how Sahana wasn’t convinced that the water was good enough so she put the water back. We decided to fill the water bottles at the Marathe Home. 

    The local community of around 10 houses uses the water from this falls for their drinking and irrigation purpose. They have pipe that detours some water a bit drown-stream from the falls to their home. This is the primary source of drinking and most of other water requirements of this community.


    As we resumed the journey back, Sahana who was leading the trek was very happy to move through the plantations and would have almost lead us to another home if not for some route correction. We returned to the Marathe home – spoke with Mrs Savithir, filled water in our bottles and after a break of 30 minutes decided to trek to Dedupe.


    By this time, I could sense that the team had lost most of the steam and asking for a trek to Ermayee might be futile. We just walked our way back towards Dedupe – the hot sun had just gotten hotter. We reached Mr Vasanth’s store after an hour of trek and when we did come there he was off for lunch. A bit further from there was some shade and a bridge where we all sat down drinking some water. We knew for sure that some soda would have helped and so patiently waited till he returned. 


    Around 10 minutes of waiting and we found him walk back into the store, we ran in to check if there was something that could quench our thirst – we gobbled up a few Mango juices and felt a bit relieved as his stock of Soda was all over. We thanked him and continued our journey to the main street where we could catch the bus from. 


    We could see a public bus that carried the election duty officials to the village school for the election duty the next day. The Chief Election Officer (CEO) was extremely active this year and we had not just read about crores of Rupees being caught at various check posts – a week earlier when we were driving back from our hometown of Udupi to Bangalore we had multiple points where checking was in progress. The CEO seems to have really done a good work this year.


    Once we reached the main street, we found another shop that was opened and we asked if we could get some soda/soft drink that could make us feel better. The hot sun had almost dehydrated us completely. We were lucky to find the soft drinks and were more than pleased to gulp them. We then asked about the next bus to Ujire. This was to be at around 4PM. We still had an hour of time to spend sitting – we looked around and found a bus-stand and also another shop which was closed. We decided to rest in the verandah of the shop while Vasu decided to sleep peacefully in the Bus-stop. Around 3:40 we found the bus coming into Dedupe and thats when we decided to get up and get ready for return.We had a few glasses of packed Brinda Juice which was just too good for us and also helped satisfy the thirst.


    We got into the bus to Ujire and before we could realize all of us were fast asleep. We woke up just in time for the Ujire Stop and got down. A short discussion about what next and we decided to go to Kottegehara for the famous “Neerdose”. We waited for around 15 minutes when we got a bus to Bellary – an hour and half of journey we reached Kottigehara. 


    Vasu and Arun were in a great hurry to rush to the hotel and before we knew what was happening – they were making their choice of hotel. We went into Hotel Anil and ordered Neerdose – I am not sure how many plates of these did we really eat, but it was worth a memory :).

    An enquirer on the bus timing got us to know that there was a bus at 10:30 PM from Moodigere, it was just around 6:30 PM now and we had to keep ourselves occupied till such time.


    Vasu being a well known author in Kannada had fans all over the state – we asked him what we could do next. He knew Mrs Rajeshwari Tejaswi – wife of Late Poorna Chandra Tejaswi (He is son of the renowned Kannada literate KuVemPu), and suggested we could have a visit to their home. We all were gun-go with the plan and immediately jumped it to move on.


    We caught the next bus to Moodigere and after a short walk in the completely dark roads of Moodigere with a single torch! we reached the home of Mr Tejaswi. The next hour and half that we spent at the home was amazing – Mrs Tejaswi detailed out her experiences, the time at Moodigere, we saw the various prizes conferred on Mr Tejaswi and to top it some of the amazing collection of flora that was there in their garden.


    We thanked Mrs Tejaswi for the hospitality and decided to walk back to the handpost. The bus-stand was around couple of Kilometers from the hand post and we hired an auto to the town. After a wait of around an hour discussing various issues from politics to literature to cricket to music and many more, we were extremely happy to see the bus arrive in time. 


    We quickly jumped into the bus, blocked our seat and silently waited for the return journey to begin to Bangalore. As I closed my eyes, the days happenings unfolded in my minds eye. The amazing change of plans, the almost serendipity of getting to visit a great author’s home, but with one sadness of not having been able to check on the new falls I got to know off. 


    It was an awesome trek, and I loved the company of my mates – Arun, Vasu, Sahana and Shweta for this trek – thank you all for making it so wonderful.

  • Chunchi Falls

    It had been over a month and half since I had been to Kudremukh along with a few of my relatives, this time I was looking for something closer, something that could be done within a day.

    I had been to Mekedatu and Sangama while at school, and while searching for some places to visit around Bangalore, in addition to these I found this place – Chunchi Falls.
    Chunchi Falls is lacated around 75 km from Bangalore. This falls is formed by the river Arkavathy which has its origin at Nandi Hills. With the rapid urbanization of Bangalore, the catchment area of the river is seriously affected.
    This river joins the River Kaveri at Sangama and later flow through rapid stone gorge called Mekedatu. We shall discuss this in some other blog on travel and trek. Today’s blog is about our journey to Chunchi Falls and the experience there in. 
    It had been long since I had spent time with my family and so decided to get going on a trip with family. The location choice was mine – Chunchi Falls. I had heard about the falls a few times when I was planning some treks, trips over the last few years but had never made the move to reach the place. 
    From the blogs I had read, I had gotten to know that the falls would be around 75 Km from Bangalore and one had to cross Kanakapura Town and move in the direction of Sangama. 
    We set out on 24th December around 11 AM from our home towards the falls. It was car drive and together with me on the trip were my parent, my spouce Sahana and my cute niece – Pratiksha. We drove pretty steadily through the traffic in bangalore before we hit Kanakapura road. 
    It was probably the first time my parents had driven out in our car on the Kanakapura road. We moved past the Metro, before the traffic began to subside. The rest of te drive was pretty peaceful. You move in front of the Art of Living campus, then beside the campus of APS College of Engineering etc before we reach Harohalli. 
    Another 20 minutes drive from Harohalli we reach Kanakapura. Just as we enter the town of Kanakapura, we cross a bridge across the River Arkavathy. All along the journey this far, we find hills which appear to recemble various creatures – depending on your imagination!

    We reached Kanakapura a few minutes after 12:00 noon. We moves through the town’ main road and then came to the road taking us to Sangama. We move for quite some time on this road till, we find an arch (not in the general sense of the word – but more to indicate an entrance). This is where we need to take a left turn and drive down the narrow road till we reach the parking lot. (The roads are bit narrow and its good to keep an eye for the vehicles coming from the other side).

    The falls is supposedly best between early winter and early summer. One has to keep in mind that the falls is no perennial, and it is the rain-fed river which forms Chunchi falls. We reached the parking lot, just on the banks of River Arkavathy, when we found a localite run towards us with a receipt book – the parking fees for a car is Rs 30/-
    Just as we move towards the river, we first encounter a channel with water. This channel takes water from the small dam upstream to the power-station a short distance ahead. 
    We crossed the channel and began defending towards the river – The river flows along rocky bed of Arkavathy. At various points you would find small deviations from the trek route that take you down to the river. Any point would take you to the big heart shaped pool that the river creates before it decided to take a leap downstream. 
    One can reach to the top of the point where the falls finally makes it leap! The only precaution one would need to take is the smooth surface of the rocks. While the smooth surface is just one of the issues to take note of, the other challenge is that of  broken bottle pieces which the weekend parties of the bangalore crowd leave behind. 
    I still wonder, why we literate people do not understand that they have to be socially more responsible. The various waste that we produced as part of our joy is also our responsibility to dispose them without creating trouble for the others who too visit the place for enjoyment. 
    I some how wasn’t very happy with having visited the top of the falls, I could still see faint strains of another falls close by and being the fall lover I am, I would love to get a view of the other one too. I spotted a view point on the opposite side of the falls. I quickly realized that would give me a view of both these falls.
    We got back onto the return ascent to the channel and then took the jeep track to the view point. Its around a kilometer from the channel, and is relatively undisturbed. 
    The view of the 2nd falls from the view point was something that gave me a good satisfaction. The falls had 2 cascades and had a lot more water flowing when compared to the mail stream flowing.
    We reached the view point, munched the junk food we carried and had some snaps clicked before we decided to return back.  The view point however is not well maintained and if I could say is almost neglected. 
    This place too like many of the other places in Karnataka, has enormous potential but doesn’t get the required attention and dedication towards ensuring that the potential is expiated and also gets little maintenance.
    With these thoughts in the mind we began the return journey, when I woke up to the reality at hand. We had skipped lunch, so we had to get back to a good hotel to have some food that was to get us going back home. 
    We reached Kanakapura, had our lunch at a Udupi hotel that was at the entrance of Kanakapura just after having crossed over the bridge across the River Arakavathy when coming from Bangalore. My parents purchased some vegetables on the way back and we resumed the drive back home.
    The journey was pretty simple till we reached Metro, the rest was a drive through the city traffic and we finally reached home at 7:00 PM. 
    After many days it was a time well spent with family, and I wouldn’t be surprised if I would repeat this and get it to be a routine.

  • Trek to Kuduremukh 2

    It had been quite a long time since I had been on a trek. The last trek I had been in 2011 was some time in March. This was also to be my first trek after marriage. This time I decided to make it a closed group for the trek, including my wife – Sahana, uncle – Manju, sister – Shwetha, and my cousin -Ramya. Shana, Shwetha were to leave from Bangalore, while Manju Uncle and Ramya were to join from Udupi in the morning. 
    Our initial idea was to reach BalGal via Kalasa, however dude to prior booking of seats we had to get back to using the route we chose the last time via – Karkala. We were to travel from Bangalore to Karkala and then take the local service buses to reach Balgal. 
    We had booked a bus to Karkala, starting from the KSRTC Majestic Bus-stand at around 9:15 PM. We reached Kakala inspire of the pathetic ghat roads around 6 AM in the morning. Manju uncle and Ramya had just reached the Bus-stand a few minutes before we reached there. 
    We got down and enquired about the first bus that was scheduled to reach Kalasa via Kudremukh. The first such bus leave from the Karkala bus-stand around 7:30 AM. We still had nearly an hour and half to wait for the bus. 
    This was my second trek to Kudremukh, so I suggested we get to the hotel close by and have some “avalakki” and some other breakfast before we being the journey.  We sat back for the breakfast and enjoyed it before we got back to the bus-stand. 
    The bus that was to take us to Kudremukh was a bit delayed and reached the bus-stand at 7:45 AM. A short while after the bus left the station, we reached “KinnigoLi” where the bus halted for breakfast. The bus stood here for around 10 minutes before it began the journey, the next major stop was at Kudremukh township. Another half an hour’s journey from the township, we reached the point where we had to get down – Balgal. The time was around 10:15 AM.
    Before we had left from bangalore, we had reached out to Arun who runs a home stay (I had taken his contact the last time I had come down here). He had organized a jeep to pick us up from Balgal. The jeep however wasn’t there when we reached there! We checked with the localities and got to know that driver had just gone to the closest major town – Samse to pick up some of the daily grocery that was ordered by some of this relatives. 
    The driver was back in around half an hour, and we left towards our home stay at around 11:00 AM. The road towards the home stay was all wet and slippery, thanks to the rains. Yes, it had rained pretty heavily the last few days (unlike the last time I came here when it was in the hot summer) – this means there would be leeches for company through the journey 🙂 It wouldn’t be new for many of us, but for the first few times it would definitely keep any one paranoid! All this was to just the right build up for the adventurous trek we were to have. 
    The Jeep journey was just the beginning of the adventure – road was completely slippery and it requires great skill to drive on these narrow track.  What made the journey even more challenging was that the sides of the road were dug up for some pipes laying. These pipes were built to store water for the proposed horticulture project. The construction of the storage tank was pretty bad, and the water would leak as if from a sprinkler! All along the track we had coffee estates and provided a very memorable scenery. After this long journey, we reached the home-stay at around 12:00 noon. 
    We were already late, so dumped our luggage and had a quick brunch before we began our trek to the peak. Arun decided to company us to the peak. The last time we had been on the trek, we began the trek at 1 PM and retuned by 6:30 PM, so I definitely believed it would be possible. 
    The climate this far was pretty good, with the sun shining. It looked like the ideal weather for the trek. I was pretty sure we would have a good trek to the peak. The only thought I had at the back of my mind was being able to really get the ladies in the team constantly moving and keeping their stamina ready.
    We began the trek at around 12:15 PM, and steadily moved through the track. The initial track was pretty good, not too slippery. There were very few leeches at these initial parts of the trek. The first break that we took was around 20 minutes into the trek just below a tree – we called it “Bodhi Tree”.
    A 5 minutes break and we continued our trek to the beak, we resumed the trek. The next phase has many streams and – this time the streams were flowing with lot more force. We moved on to the lobo-house. I could feel the steam in the team slowly receding, we just took a short break before we continued the trek.
    From the last trek, I remembered the next phase was going to be pretty challenging. – It required us to climb a steep slope. The team slowly geared up for the climb but it took longer than expected. We reached a camping point which had manifested itself to a leech removing venue for most of the trekkers. We had our lunch at this spot before we resumed the trek. 
    The next phase of the trek was the actual climb of the Kudremukh peak. The Camp-spot is just at the base of the peak and generally involved a pretty steep climb to the peak. When I looked at the watch, I realized we were slower than the last time and we would have a challenge at hand if we wanted to make it back by 6:30 PM like the last time. 
    Ramya and Shwetha were already completely drained of energy, so we were pretty slow in our progress.  We began the last stretch around 3:30 PM and after consistent pushing and coaxing, we reached the plateau at the peak around 4:15 PM. The walk to the peak from the point we reach the top is around 10 minutes – one could find a ruined church on the right. 
    We reached the edge of the peak from where we could see the plains of the west coast. We spotted a few notable landscapes, completed another set of snacks we had carried along. and by 5 PM we decided to resume our return trek. The joy of having reached the peak had in fact completely gotten us to forget the strain we had put to get to the peak.
    Just as we began the decent from the plateau at the peak, we could see the clouds forming pretty quickly. We had to rush through the remaining trek if we intended to reach pretty quickly – Just a few steps into the trek and we had a quick shower which got us completely wet. The initial drizzle just got heavier and we found it just hard to see the route more than 3 meters ahead of us!
    The heavy rains of the slope, got the complete slope flowing with water. We found it hard to even lift our foot and put it to the next one. This was just the beginning of the adventure at hand! The light faded away very quickly. We could also spot lightning ahead. With the state of the team at hand, leeches, water, lightning, and many more we were here for something memorable for a life-time! It was pretty common knowledge that the heavy rains at the peak would generally flood the stream on the return path – that is the last one we would expect!
    The steep decent, combined with the rains was just making the complete journey a hard task at hand. A Slip and a fall was something that had become an common seen on the way back. The umbrella, raincoat and jerkins we wore were no protection form the rain. The rain would subside for 4-5 minutes but it wasn’t enough to hold the ground against the wind. The wet dress only made it chiller than usual. We had 3 torches with us and we were completely at their mercy. 
    Our Guide Arun, was pretty patient and helped keep the pace constant. He was the last person till we got down to the Lobo house, and then took to being the first in the line. The route was pretty clear till we reached Lobo house but then it was hard to find the remaining route in the tall grass and to add to it, it was the possibility of wild animals. 
    We steadily made progress and kept moving towards the home-stay. In the dark, we found  a few rabbits, some bats and some others which we couldn’t identify in the dark. This journey in the dark on the boundary of the National park, is definitely something that was to stay with us for long time in memory.
    Ramya and Shwetha were pretty tiered and only when the reached the homestead did they realize that they had really done it. The strain of the travel, trekking, darkness in the forest and the fear of leech had gotten the better of us all. We reached the home stay at 9:30 PM. 
    The next 30 to 45 minutes were spent to finding the leeches that had climbed all over us. We then freshen up and finally had dinner at around 10:30 PM. 
    We took a sound rest before we had we woke up for the next day’s return journey. We had asked the jeep to come down at around 7:30 AM so that we catch the bus at around 8:45 PM. 
    We reached Bajagoli at round 10:30 AM, had our breakfast. Manju uncle and Ramya returned to Udupi; Shwetha, Sahana and I returned to Beltangadi before catching the next bus to Dharmasthala.
    We reached Dharmasthala and booked our tickets to Bangalore. We reached Bangalore at around 9:00 PM. 
    This was a memorable trek, thanks to the nature’s forces. It always reminds me of one thing – Man only proposes and it is God who disposes. The Nature – a form of God has a lot of lessons to teach the student who is ready to learn. The absolute bliss is felt when you surrender to it, live through the experience.

  • 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!