Chronicles of Nikhil Baliga

Swami Gulagulaananda quoted Abraham Lincoln: " Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe " Europe is a dream destination for many travel enthusiasts. Having read about the intricate work of Michaelangelo, the grandeur of the Vatican, the glorious Roman empire as well as of relatively modern periods of the Nazi era, I thought that a visit to Europe may be a great idea. I am not a travel expert, but I will try to walk through some of the things that I did in order to make my entire trip hassle-free. Spend time to prepare well and the trip will go through smoothly. There are a couple of ways to plan your trip. One, is through package tours with a travel agency like Kesari Travels, Thomas Cook, etc. and the other is to plan your entire trip yourself. Booking through travel agencies has several advantages. You don't have many headaches. The agency takes care of everything, including stay, food and point to po...

Swami Nikhilaananda said: " And then when I saw the leeches, blood drained from my face... " A cool breeze blew past me, reminding me to prepare myself for the obstacles ahead. I looked up at the sky and felt like a giant, for the clouds seemed to be within my reach. In the epic Mahabharata, in the Mahaprasthanika Parva , the Pandavas and Draupadi begin their journey up the Himalayas to reach heaven. And then a dog accompanied them... I knew I was about to embark upon a similar journey; I sensed I was very close to heaven, for nowhere else can beauty of this magnitude exist - the lush leaves of plants and trees all around me painted in various hues and shades of green, the soft gurgle of the stream, the eternal croaks of frogs and chirps of mysterious birds that refused to show themselves... The entire area seemed to be the epitome of vibrant life, for even the fallen trees were teeming with life, with  mosses and colourful mushrooms growing side by side, a perfect exampl...

Swami Nikhilaananda said: " I am in shape... round is a shape " Desperately wanting to break out of monotony and also the need to give exercise to other parts of the body since ordinarily we are commited to exercising only our fingers (and occasionally our brains) drove us to go out for some physical activities. Kabbaldurga was a random choice. We picked it after doing a very brief search on the internet. But there are a couple of factors that we took into account. Since we were climbing in summer we thought it should be a night trek - Climbing in the heat is really tiresome for those who are not used to. And we found some other reviews that said that they had climbed this hill at night. The night was a full moon one and this is very favourable for night treks for obvious reasons. The place is located around 80 kms from Bangalore. You can find it on the map here . View Larger Map We hired a cab to the place. The reviews said that the hill was relatively easy. But i...

Swami Nikhilaananda said: " Bad luck always comes in wholesale, but the sun always rises after the dark night " We had planned to have a trip somewhere close by. It started off with only a handful of people. But as the planning progressed, we had more and more people joining in. Finally, after some confusion about who was coming and who was not, we had a group of 17 people. We had booked a Swaraj Mazda - a 21 seater mini bus. We met up at two of our friends' houses, and the vehicle picked us all up, and by around one, we were hurtling towards Skandagiri. The bus journey was a regular one, with friends catching up and frequent jokes being made about one another. We had crossed the airport by then... Some time later, there seemed to be a small commotion, and we found that one of our friends had a severe stomach ache. She started crying and asked for the vehicle to be turned back. If we had done that, then by the time we would reach the hill after returning to the city, it w...

[Read http://lifeasiknowit-nik.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-gods-own-country-3.html first before this] The next day was really nice. We woke up early morning to play in the waters of the river next to the resort. And this time, I made my mind not to enter the water, because I felt it would worsen my condition. Somehow, one of my friends foresaw and said - "Oh, just like you had told that you wouldn't enter the waters of Kovalam huh?" This time, especially after listening to his words, I had more resolve. While the rest of them were playing the water, I decided to slip on my shorts, and walk casually in the water. Then my friend and I had an idea, why not cross the river? The current seemed to be strong, but then the water was not really that deep, nor did it look too dangerous. So my friend and I decided to cross the river, and one more decided to join us. So, the three explorers decided to cross the river, and my friend was the first to fall into the water due to his inabili...

[Read http://lifeasiknowit-nik.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-gods-own-country-2.html first before this] After the visit to the wooden palace, we made our way to the beaches. The beaches are really beautiful, blue sea, white sand, and several foreigners was the sight at the beach. We just hung around a while at the first beach, and spent quite a lot of time at the other beach. I initially decided to only wet my feet. But the wave made my shirt a little wet. I thought, oh what the heck, and before I knew it, I was wet upto my head. I played along with my friends in water. It was after a long time that I was actually having so much fun. Crocin periodically was doing its job faithfully, and sporadic coughing sprees was the only thing I had to look out for. The only major problems in Kerala, like I have mentioned before, are langauge and food. In Karnataka, you can survive in any corner using Hindi or English if you don't follow the local Kannada. However, the same cannot be told about Tamil...

[Read http://lifeasiknowit-nik.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-gods-own-country-1.html first before this] From the top of the light house, one fourth of the 360 degree view was occupied by the blue sea... The Arabian sea. We could see some little ships at a distance, and also a barrage that was constructed to make fishing simpler. The rest of the view around the light house was primarily filled with an endless sea of coconut trees. Not a single patch was free of the tall tree. Every inch seemed to be covered by them. It also answered my question - why were there no coconut vendors in that place. Every house had atleast five trees in their backyard. After taking some customary snaps, we decided to walk down. Walking down was a lot easier. Then we walked into the barrage area. The gate was locked, and there was a small prohibition board there. But Oh what the heck was our attitude, as it was a small town, and we went through the gate. We walked around a lot there. The sun blazing in the noon sk...

I had been to Kerala for around 5 days with my friends from college. And it was definitely one of the best trips I have been on. Well, let me tell it to you in as interesting a way I can, so that you don't get bored. On the day I was supposed to leave, I had a really long walk with three other friends not connected with this trip. Now when I say really long, I mean really really long. At the end of the walk, we find ourselves to be lost. And then boarding a string of buses I make it home. I realise that the long walk had me exerted, since I was already a little "flu-ish". I was coughing a little here and there, and when I reach home, I am a little warm. My parents were a little apprehensive of their little boy going into a far off place when not feeling well. However they give me some medicines, and words of caution, and drop me at my friend's apartment. I had my dinner with two of my friends (both smart-asses) and I told them that I was a little tired with all the wa...