Monday, September 2, 2013

Freedom With Choice - it's rather Confusing :)!!

Well after a mentally draining period, I write to pen my thoughts here. Of Course, I could not be chilling out dreaming of the $$$ I would be getting. It was indeed a test of my preparedness, commitment and resolve. At one point, I was spoilt with multiple choices. All of a sudden the grass on the other side started to look exceptionally greener and tempting :). It later dawned to me that human brains indeed require freedom of thought, but multiple choice spoils it rather. This reminds me of our CET exams where you are presented with multiple choice questions and each choice looks appropriate ; however, a wrong choice would earn you negative points! Grrrr!!

Moral: You need to work through the answers rather than guess them. The same holds true with career decisions as well.

At one time, I thought of re-exploring my career choices (Pursue Higher studies, Start my own business, etc.), however I was quick to realise that with the amount of preparedness I am having, there is nothing more rewarding than to pursue what I am currently doing :). I am still at splits over my decision; Also, to substantiate my stand, I started reasoning out that I arrived at this based on social cum peer pressures, loss of stable flow of income and also that this is the conventional choice to take, etc. However, I have to admit that I am just trying to hide my own insecurities :P. "Fear of failure" is evil and requires a lot of grit and preparedness to overcome it. Remember the story of "Fox and the grapes"; If the grapes can't be reached, then ahem!! the grapes indeed are sour(sic)!!

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Photography Tour To Tyarekoppa Lion Safari, Jog Falls, Yana and Unchalli Falls - Shimoga, Sirsi

With all the buzz around monsoons and pictures of Jog Falls breaking its previous records, it appeared to be a more tempting preposition for me to plan up a trip. The mere imagination of lush greenery around western Ghats, the cool breeze, the fresh  smell with the first droplets of rain and lonely winding roads made me crave for this trip. When I shared this very idea to my friends, they were more than ready to join. So, the itinerary was laid out. A mere google search about the accommodation lead us to zero in a homestay Stay At Matthuga. Luckily, we got the accomodation in this otherwise housefull homestay. A visit to the website gave us an idea about the nearby locations.

Matthuga Home Stay is about 375KM from Bangalore and Jog Falls is about 8KM from this place. Also, we planned to visit some of the nearby places such as Unchalli Falls, Tyarakoppa Lion Sanctuary, Yana, Gudavi. Check their website for more details on the nearby places. Some of the other interesting places which can be planned are Honnemaradu, Gudavi Bird Sanctuary and Kathle Kannu apart from some temples such as Keladi, etc.


Route

     
       Day 1: (400 KM)
       
        Nice Road -> Dabbaspet -> Kyathsandra (Breakfast Stop, Recommended is 'Pavithra Idli Hotel' for Tatte Idli) -> Tumkur -> Gubbi -> Tiptur -> Arasikere ->  Bhadravathi -> Shimoga(Lunch) -> Sagar -> Tyarakoppa Lion Sanctuary -> Jog Falls -> Matthuga Home Stay(Dinner)

       Day 2: (200 KM)
       
       Matthuga Home Stay (Breakfast) -> Siddapura -> Harikutta -> Galimukki -> Unchalli Falls -> Sirsi(Khanavali Lunch) -> Sonda -> Devanahalli -> Mattigattu -> Yana -> Mattigattu -> Devanahalli -> Sondu -> Sirsi -> Siddapura -> Matthuga Home Stay(Dinner)

       Day 3: (400 KM)
      
       Matthuga Home Stay(Breakfast) -> Sagar -> Shimoga (Lunch) -> Bhadravathi -> Arasikere -> Tiptur -> Gubbi -> Nice Road -> Return to Bangalore

Photographs


Jog Falls




Musical Light and Fountain Show @ Jog Falls

Musical Light and Fountain Show @ Jog











Night Sky en-route from Jog Falls to Matthuga Home Stay

Breathtaking Unchalli Falls


Unchalli Falls (A Closer Look)

Some Macro Photography














Matthuga Home Stay

Lioness @ Tyrakoppa Lion Sanctuary

Guess who am I :)