30 May 2012

Pudhe sarka!





















Sid and I were travelling to Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnatka over the long weekend. We had booked a tent at Anshi Nature Camp, which according to the internet, was not very far away. Ah! So sadly mistaken.

I sketched this doodle after our epic bus ride from the train station to Anshi Nature Camp in Dandeli, Karnataka. Since the big buses that go to Anshi had already left, we were advised by the conductors to hop onto one of the small local mini-bus. This mini-bus was called R.K. TRAVELS and the owner had taken a lot of pains to make it look horribly bling in every way that he could. There were Hollywood studded stars, which adorned the bus from the outside, and akhada (gym) advertisements, hand painted contact numbers and empty first aid kits which adorned it from the inside.

Two innocent un-suspecting souls (that's us) with our green backpack and camera bags, settled on the last sunken seats of the bus, only to realize we were travelling cattle class for more than three hours in a mini van which had more people than a local train compartment. The bus driver was stopping and stuffing more locals, pushing them and shouting 'sarkaaa' sarkaaa' (push) who didn't seem to mind and were having normal conversations about the weather. Not to mention the horrible music playing in the bus!

Initially it felt amusing and a little adventurous, since we had never travelled like this before, but after a while, we just wanted to get off the damn bus and breathe some air. There was no way of getting out of the bus. There was a big human wall in front of us, which was impossible to break. Neither of us have a clue as to how we got down, but when we did, we took fresh gulps of oxygen, stared at each other, skook our heads in amazement and laughed our hearts out!

R.K. Travels is a lifetime memory!


Wherever you go, the network follows

While we were at Anshi Nature Camp in Dandeli, we found that there were several hiking trails we could opt for, within the camping area. We started out on the nearest brid trail.Out of nowhere,two dogs(one black and one white- lets call them Moti and Kalu)startd follwing us first, and then, leading us to the trail. It felt like they were our local guides and showed us around. At one point, they stopped at a fallen tree which was blocking the road, indicating that we couldn't go any further. We traced our steps back and went to a near by pond to dip our feet and they followed us there too! It reminded me of the Vodafone dog- wherever you go, the network follows.