Monday, December 24, 2007

A weekend in paradise..

The story of ISB preparation started for me in June. GMAT, essays and interviews. One evening in ISB with my college time friend triggered the desire to be an alum of this magnificient abode of intelligence and learning. I started from zero and worked my way up. Crazy as i am, i have been eating, drinking and sleeping ISB for last 6 months now. So, once the results were out and i knew i was there, it was time for me to get back to life and fun.
Me and a group of friends decided to travel to Bandipur wildlife sanctury near Bangalore. We started at 11 PM and reached this real Junglee track around 2 AM at night. Unplanned and uncalled for visits always attracted us. No bookings, no set destination and no limits. We reached Bandipur around 3:30 AM, as expected we found that we had no place to sleep and rest as all resorts around were booked. We saw a small road side tapri and sat infront of it, waiting for clock to strike 6 AM and start our search again. At 6 AM we reached forest office enquring about the jungle trek, only to discover that treks have been banned, so we decided to move to madhumalai and further where we could actually go for a jungle trail.
We moved 40 kms further into tamil nadu border which lay in way to ooty. This was a small village located amidst mountains. We went 8 kms inside a thin lane to reach to a paradise. There were four beautiful huts right amidst mountains. We reserved the huts and headed for a trek in jungle with a guide. There were foot prints of animals, rabbits, dears, ponds and water falls. We were heading towards a beautiful range of nilgiris and i felt like singing out loud, ye kaha aa gae hum, when guide said hussssshhhhh, what if tiger or elephant comes. WOW!! Can one come here? :). We all hid behind bushes near a water body waiting for tiger to come, but it did not. So, we decided to go in search of tiger in a night safari. Big open jeep and rocky terrains, everything was dark and silent. In the front light of jeep, we saw rabbits, dear, wild boars, but Mr. Tiger gave us no appointment, still i cant explain in words, the thrill to wait for a tiger in deep jungles. We came back for a camp fire near our hut amidst mountains.
When i woke up in morning and saw outside window, the shades of sky, the shadow of mountains, i knew that if there was a paradise on earth, it would have looked like the one i am in. I saw elephants grazing. I went near one and said hello, but it was having its breakfast, so no response. I knew in few moments for now, we would be heading for Bangalore, i sat in one corner trying to capture the beauty of nature till my eyes could visualize it.
The day had come to an end. I told myself, for one year it is ISB, once its done, you can come back and start all these crazy trails again. So, with a decision to live life to its fullest before digging deep into books and getting adjusted to a 20 hours day routine, i came back. ISB, i love you because you have been my focus for over 6 months now, but i dread too much of study and work, they can only be my temporary passions which dont last long, so please dont help me end up getting into a job which has 20 hours day routine as well. I am back in office and back to work, figuring out the 18 lakhs puzzle, but trust me in paradise no one bothers about money and education, every is educated to live and survive.

2 comments:

Nirav Rawell said...

Nice one.. It entices me to pack my bag and head off to Bandipur!!

Garima Ganeriwala said...

Head for a small village called Masungudi near madhumalai. Bandipur does not allow treks anymore, so you might want to kill me if you reach there to find nothing. :)