Fancy these foxy, full-bodied foursomes?

Call it a fancy or a fixation….but I’ve always wanted to fill up my flute with a fine five-star fermentation and fulp it…..sorry…gulp it! Yup you heard it right.

This is a classic case of fostering a fetish whose facets you know nothing of!

No….I’m not fumbling but consciously stating my super long cherished dream of putting to lip – 4 sips….in the RAW.

A sippa Tea.

A sippa Coffee.

A sippa Saffron.

A sippa Wine.

The first two were relatively easier to find. Tea in Darjeeling and Coffee in Coorg - on my summer vacations to these geographies. But I want the balance two to be more than just a chance happening. I’m going fishing for them to the father (mother doesn’t rhyme here) of all places in which they are available. Pampore for Saffron. And Nashik for Wine.

So why all the fuss over these frinks…sorry drinks…. you ask?

Well….first off…

All four exotically-bitter tasting and liqueurs (minus the alcohol) are among the world’s top ten most expensive productions:

a. It takes 1,75,000 Saffron flowers to make 1 kilogram of consumable saffron and costs about Rs. 75, 000 per kilo.

b. It takes 22, 000 Tea shoots to make 1 kilogram of consumable tea.

c. It takes 800 grapes to make 1 bottle of wine.

d. 100 kilos of coffee beans will produce about 15 kilos of export-ready coffee.

Why? Because I’m worth it. Plus, each of them have health benefits. And last but not the least....I just love all the glamour, pomp and the paraphernalia that comes with the territory of stylishly sipping these ‘raws’ in crystal twist stem glasses.

And one word of advice to the spirited – if it’s one for the road – have coffee! Hic!

All pine for the Alpine….

My love-affair with mountain ranges and all things alpine started recently and seems to be growing more passionate and diverse by the day. First, I used to browse the blog-sites and view lots of personal videos of true-travelers’ lowdown on high altitudes. Then I remember driving up in the rain to a book store and buying books on mountains of India and the seven summits of the world….just to be able to read about mountains in bed endlessly which is difficult with a laptop. Then came a phase when I started painting, art-journaling and paper-collaging with a central theme of the mountains. By this time….mountain ranges started getting so etched in my mind that I became a virtual curious-tourist so I took a nose-dive into mountaineering and started researching technology that aided humans in discovering and exploring the mountains and their terrain. That’s when I discovered that there is a formal course that teaches the knack of climbing mountains plus all the mountain’s moods which basically decides whether or not one would return from them in one single piece….or…..not at all!

The fact that you’re reading this topic speaks of your ‘inclination’ towards the snowy-slopes. Don’t know which milestone you’re at but maybe you need to lap-up some knowledge and know-how before you sign-up or fizzle-out. Did you know that the Himalayan Institute of Mountaineering in Darjeeling offers month-long and on-field training in Mountaineering and costs less than Rs. 5000??? This should put to rest your delusions that mountaineering is for James Bonds and Yash Chopras. Anybody who has a fetish for adventure of treading lesser traveled angular roads running in his veins, has the grit to take on a risky challenge of climbing unpredictable powder slopes, longs for the adrenalin rush that comes with uncertainty of the mood of the mountains and someone who wants to stand closest to the sky….qualifies!

If you’re that someone or you want to know if you’re that someone….there is one good way to find out. Do what I’m going to do. Enroll for mountaineering training.

My inspiration? Jordan Romero, 13 – world’s youngest climber to summit Mount Everest at 29,035 feet altitude.

Source of my confidence? The 4000+ successful climbers who made it to the top of Mount Everest.

My preparation? Relentless training, gaining 360-degree awareness and focus.

They say the best way to focus on a goal is to visualize your goal frequently by forming mental images of your goal in your brain and by recalling them often in a day.

My method? Come to the Tiger Hill Watch-tower. 4 AM. And see for yourself…..

Out of thin air….

How did they invent a method called the ‘radio carbon dating’ that precisely gauges the age of an object upto 62,000 years???????

How did man dig up tunnels right through Rocky Mountains without them collapsing??????

How did they invent an ‘Avalanche Beacon’ that helps track people who are buried under tons of snow in an avalanche???????

How did people navigate the earth on seas with a mere compass??????

Well, I guess….the same way we zoom into our homes ….the stars…. which are thousands of light-years away!

Science…..Engineering….. Technology…. Gut Feel….and of course…. God’s good humour has made them all possible!

But my personal favourite invention that I look forward to indulging in is The Personal Jet Pack – meant for a single user to fly by strapping a rocket on the back of the user which currently can fly for 9 minutes, doing 18 kilometres provided the max pilot weight is 81 kgs. No more traffic jams, or low-life car-driving or toll-taxes for me!

Annnnd…. the two things that I really really wanna try and I really really hope they speed up tweaking are the Time Travel Machine and Teleportation and I’d never have to get into those confined and nauseating air-proof, water-proof, LIFE-proof LIFTS again!

And the time-travel machine could help me go back in time and tie-up a few loose-ends, give closure and retrieve money that someone owes me. Orrrrr…. I just wait a lil longer till they invent a device that tracks people who just disappear into thin air and leave no skid-marks behind!

Meanwhile….let me light my E-cigarette!!

New Year 2012 at waynad

I study Law at Christ University in Bangalore and my sister is studying Engineering at Kanchi in Tamil Nadu.  It is such a clash of concepts that she gets vacation for all the Hindu festivals and I get a single day off and we never get to see each other.  Most of the times, my sister leaves for her college the day I get home at Hyderabad.  So, I decided that this New Year we have to celebrate together come what may.  Incidentally as it is her final year of degree even her group of friends had plans to welcome the New Year 2012 together at a nice destination.  I pushed my way through the group and all her friends very sweetly agreed to squeeze me in their plans.

So there we were on our way to Waynad in Kerala to welcome the New Year a wild way.  As I was already located at Bangalore the group of Engineers joined me on 30^th evening at my college on Hosur Road, Bangalore.  I already knew most of them on fb and had met few of them personally as well, so I took charge as I am the localite in Karnataka.  We got in to the Toyota Innova which was prebooked for the tour and were on our  way to Waynad.  It took us 6 hrs to reach the destination and it was almost midnight by the time we checked into a home stay we had booked on line.  The place was a beautiful old house which was run by a couple who are very friendly and hospitable.  We were nine, 5 guys and 4 girls a noisy group at that calm and serene location.  It was fun for once not to worry about the crowds that bother.  Home stay uncle woke us logs up by 5am the next morning, and I was wild as to what was the hurry by the way to arise and awaken so early on the last day of the year, after all it was the last sleep of the year you see!!! Before I could shout up we received the news of the day the wildlife park is open only between 6am to 11 am. 

So we rushed and dressed to get on our way to the park.  Our driver, Joseph is very knowledgeable of this region and took us in the best route where we could sight as much wild life as possible. It was so beautiful and out of the world moving across the green zone with the Sun rays giving the most needed warmth on a chilly morning of 31 December 2011. Waynad Wildlife Sanctuary, Muthanga is a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and is also a Project Elephant site.  I was all exited with the camera in my hand and took the most advantage of being the youngest of the group.  For once, I enjoyed being the youngest which otherwise is a constant crib of my life.

Well, note the pic to the left keenly as I would like to point out the cute baby elephant besides the big one.  I found it so cute that I got out of the vehicle and was on my foot taking a close up shot of the baby.  Suddenly I found it was getting bigger and closer in my camera lens and I could hear every one shouting from the car ‘hey come back’. Then I jerked and realized that it was the mother who was coming towards me, I turned back started running towards my car and the animal instinct made even the big elephant run behind me.

 I just managed to get inside the car before the driver sped it in a bypass road to get us quickly out of the animal’s way.  At once everyone started shouting at me, for a little while we were lost and went about here and there and came across this cozy piece of land where we stopped by to have our breakfast packed by the home stay couple.  It was already 10 and we were supposed to get out before 11 am so we quickly packed and got out.  Though it was a short time spent in the wild life park and very little explored, we all had fun and kept laughing about the elephant episode throughout the day. 

Next we proceeded towards the Meenmutty waterfalls located at a height of 300 meters.  We were all excited about the fun we would have at the water gateway.  But soon we were alerted by the driver that it is going to be an athletic and trekking trip there.  Fortunately all of us were having comfy footwear like floaters and sports shoes.  These are the largest falls of Waynad with fantastic view. 

We had some company there and we followed the instructions and climbed down a tiny valley with the help of ropes set by the local administration.  It took us close to an hour to reach the waterfalls and we were breathless and sweating by the time we reached.  We all had fun, played in the water, got drenched despite the cold weather and it was 3pm and time to leave.  We never realized as to how the time went by.  There we were, on our way back through that ropey way, this time it was climbing up and so tough and God, we were so hungry…… Joseph kept motivating us telling about the restaurant where we could have yummy food.  Once we reached the vehicle and fainted inside, Joseph took us all to the Katar Café where we came to senses immediately with the smell of the food.  It was the best meal of the year we had that day.  We freaked out on veg, non-veg and bakery products available there.  After that we were in no shape to go anywhere and went straight back to the home stay, and slept off.

We were up by 9pm and were all ready to welcome the New Year 2012.  Joseph told us about the tree houses in nearby Resorts and took us up to the tree house for a view.  We all piled on to get a chance to and it was so much fun.  We could see people going up in those lift like baskets up to the tree house.  After spending a couple of hours there again we went back to our place to celebrate with a camp fire accompanied with drinks, food and music.  We helped the home stay couple in organizing all these for the party and invited them also to join us; however they spent few minutes and went off.  So we were left on our own to make a lot of noise and dance and party.  But we were all so tired that we just waited till the break of the New Year 2012 to wish each other, called our parents and hit the beds. 

It was a nice long sleep and I kept dreaming of the beautful and green meadows, the mother elephant chasing me, the ropes of the fall and the tree house. I woke up on my own without anyone asking me to and found every one waiting, ready to leave. They all wished me a New Year again and told that they din't want to disturb my first sleep of the year and hence allowed me to sleep till 11am. OMG, aren’t they sweet….well so that was how I invited this year and wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year 2012.