With TAG INDIA
Pics:
“Satisfaction is not restricted only to achievements”
Water is one of the basic elem ents, nature offers to all living beings. Organized by TAG INDIA, B3G group took off for a two day water experience, to learn lessons water has to offer. Kudala Teertha waterfalls amidst Aagumbe Rain Forest and Kappe Chippu Dweepa (Sea Shell Island) were the places we wanted to
use for our experience. Aagumbe Rain forest is situated in the Western Ghat s of Karnataka and is reputed for receiving 2nd highest rainfall next to Chirapunji. Kappe Chippu Dweepa is an island on the Arabian Sea off Malpe Coast. It gets its name for the verity of sea shells that are spread on the island.
We started this learning trip on 6th evening. Bangalore traffic once again was successful in delaying our start by close to 90 minutes. Bus reached ITPL around 8.45 pm and we started from ITPL by 9. Vaishnavi and Swami would never complain about that as they were busy checking in their code for the Italy project till the last minute. Supporters of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) got some time to watch Chris Gayle’s merciless hitting against Kings XI Punjab. Karthik, Satish, Jaheer and Satya had come directly from their team outing and were waiting in Yeshwanthpur for almost two hours. I, Mamatha, Shreyas, joined them at
Yeshwanthpur and we boarded the bus around 10 pm. This was the last pick up point and once everyone was in, the mood was upbeat and Satya took off with his dance steps for “Sheela ki Jawani”. Whole bus got into a party mood. Nisha, Mamatha new to B3G were shoc
ked to see the so called corporate culture suddenly change in the matter of 10 minutes.
Welcome party went on for couple of hours and people caught up on sleep gradually. Seats were exchanged between front and back rows midway in the journey much to the relief of people sitting in the last seats. We reached SITA River camp around 7 am in the morning.
One of the first things some of us did was to walk up to the river. The feel of being on the shore of an early morning calm river is an experience by itself. We had time to freshen up and gathered for an introduction as many people were new to B3G.
Subodh came up with the idea of creative introductions and the group was divided into 5 smaller groups. Body shake by Jaheer as his introduction was the one that caught many people wondering!! We had breakfast and Tea at the nature camp and were all set to go to Kudala Teertha.
We headed to Kudala Teertha by about 10 am. The drive to this place was through narrow lines of Aagumbe rain forest and with some off roads as well. We crossed Sita River stream in the bus and some of us really felt we should have had our foot wet there. Finally we reached a place where the bus could no longer take us and we had to walk. The trek was not strenuous but for first timers it was an achievement by itself. It was a 40 minutes trek in the
Rain forest amidst Rocks to get to this waterfall. We could hear the roar of water from a few meters and our curiousness to see waterfall had no bounds. When we did get to see the fall, we were blown by its natural beauty and the height from which it falls. It took us less than 5 minutes to get into the water. Once in water the rocks were slippery and we had to walk gently to get under the waterfall.
We were under the waterfall for almost two hours . The height from which it falls accompanied by the sprinkling effect induced by the rocks gave us the much needed aqua treatment to our body. We were back in camp by 3 pm. Lunch was waiting for us and it took us no time to get to the queue. We were so hungry that once we had lunch we were tired. We slept wherever possible, some on the floor, some on the banks of the river, some on stone benches on the river basin. 30 minutes of sleep is all that was allowed and we were greeted with “hot chai”. Chai resembled more of hot water. We all missed Roopa’s “Masala Chai”. By then it was time to pack up and we did exactly that. We left Nature camp by around 4.30 pm to go to Kaup Beach.
The drive to the beach was about couple of hours. Lost our way on the drive and finally managed to reach Kaup beach around 7 pm. Just right for a beach walk! Journey was fun filled with Mafia game and no marks for guessing that I was thrown out the game every single time as a matter of safety both for the villagers and for the Mafia.
We walked on the coast for an hour. There was silence on one side and the roar of water on the other. That roar actually reminded us the power of nature (Water in particular) and also the fact that it does not overflow beyond its limit. Reflections on how elements of nature with such enormous power just obey the mandate of the almighty. We left KAUP beach around 9 p
m for the fear of hotels in Udupi closing “for dinner”!! And our fears did not go wrong. Roopa and Subodh struggled hard to find a hotel which served us vegetarian meals. Jaheer was hungry right from evening and as luck would play a role he was denied lunch at the hotel. Finally he managed to get something to eat and we were all set to go and crash. Lodging was arranged in Udupi on a 3 per room basis. Day 1 of this eventful Nature trip ended with an announcement to start at 6 am the next day for Beach exercises.
Come 6 AM the next day, 14 out of 23 were in the bus at 6 AM and we started to the beach leaving others behind. B3G time policy mandates “Never punish people on time for people coming late”. Others joined us late at the beach. They had to wait till the bus returned. People argued they were just 5 minutes late; hopefully they learnt the importance of those 5 minutes. It was refresh
ing to do some warm up exercises and jog on the beach. Jog in the final stages resulted in splashing beach water on others and that was real fun. Shreyas wanted to keep himself clean and was obviously a center of attraction. Vaishnavi, Satish, myself along with others dressed him in Mud finally!
People were busy posing to photos while others were busy in exercises
Breakfast was arranged in a nearby hotel. Hotel was small but offered true value for money. Roopa had by then organized a private ferry that would take us to Kappe chippu Dweepa. It was a ferry ride of 40 minutes. The journey was full of shouts and for some people it was their first ferry ride. They were ready for the worst by wearing life jackets. Pradheep, Swami, Senthil, Satya, Vaishnavi and Himasri kept the group active and alive.
We reached the Sea shell island around 10.30 am. It is a small piece of land midst a huge ocean probably measured in meters. People were into water in a flash. The island coast had a nice play area where the water was chest high and the intensity of waves was low. It was a natural swimming pool with Ocean water. Team got into playing simple water games and quenching their thirst of swimming in Ocean. Vijay Nagaiah conducted Mafia in Water. It was amazing, balancing ourselves sitting inside water, in an ocean, playing this game. We spent a good 6 hours in the island with a light lunch (Sandwiches) around 2 pm. We reluctantly left the island around 4 pm.n
With all sweet memories we headed back to Malpe by around 5 pm.
In there entire day on a beach, one thing that we did not do was Wave Jumping. I, Satya, Jaheer and Satish quenched our thirst with that as well on the Maple coast while some others went on a water bike and camel rides.
Everybody left the beach contented as this was a rare occasion, where we had spent the entire day on a beach. We headed to our lodging facility for a quick freshen up and for some snacks. Jaheer finally got his much awaited dosa!! It was Jaheer’s Birthday as well and if my memory does not fail me, this was the first birthday celebration by anyone on any of our treks so far. Guess what, he had 325 missed calls and he had forgotten it was his birthday!! (So involved with happenings did not realize the date).
We headed back to Bangalore around 6.30 PM form Malpe. Though everybody was exhausted our enthusiasm kept us going. We play
ed dumb charades in the bus. Great acting by everyone! Shreyas with his “Jeene Nahi Doongi” was a highlight!
Senthil, Dileep and Pradheep trying to act Hindi movies without understanding the language were AMAZING!! We had our dinner on the way and had our usual lessons learnt session. It went on till late night and we reached Bangalore by 6 AM.
A great experience once again and I must admit I was a little worried during the planning phases on this trip with TAG INDIA as it did not have any signature activities that we would generally target for. I was proven wrong. The amount of lessons we have taken back is very unique in its own way and I am sure everyone in the B3G team have their own introspections that they will take forward for the rest of their life.
Yet another very successful trip with TAG INDIA.
For B3G Team
Anantha Krishna T
Please turn to Next Page for Comments from B3G Group!!
What do our dear folks say?
Sundar Nayak, Satya
It was an excellent trip which nicely exposed the Almighty’s beautiful creations. I was very fortunate to get a chance to be part of the trip. It was great opportunity to know each other very well as well we got some good friends. It gives opportunity to explore / prove you in front of others. The games we played were really amazing and best one is “Mafia in Beach”. Lifetime memorable thing is the time spent at waterfall. Hope we will go for longer duration trip next time. Thanks to all for the wonderful trip.
Nagaiah, Vijay
The Kudala Teertha is really a Teertha for those you made it for the trip. Enjoyed to the full extent, had good head massage. The trip had the highlight when we entered the sea shell Island where everyone enjoyed in sea water and biking least bothering about the hot sun. On the whole, it was a wonderful trip to be reminded for all the years to come.
Parameshwar Hegde, Gautam
B3G has always been doing treks which emphasize more on getting close to nature without any creature comforts. The Kudala Teertha trip was different in the sense that there was no hard climb involved. It was more of a pleasure trip but nonetheless it was as much fun as any other B3G trek. Night walk on the pristine Kaup beach, Morning yoga on the Malpe beach and lounging in the water on Sea Shell Island, I had never played with water so much in my life. All in all it was great fun.
Chinnathambi, Senthil Kumaran
Under a water fall (Kudala Teertha), silver drops on me… I just melted like an Antarctica Ice cube….
Awesome!! First time landed in an island sea shell island….
Went for Water Bike Ride… It was an amazing experience …..
Learnt basics of swimming…..
So when can we plan for our next trek or nature trip?
Iraj, Satish
I consider myself fortunate that I got to know about the trip @ the last moment, that to by chance when I was just passing in cafeteria and Anantha talking to Himasri, as the B3G trip were always a memory for life time. This time the best part of the trip was the water fall in Hebri. Man that’s so chilling water and with so much force it was falling, Standing bellow that fall was awesome. The next day morning Yoga and the jogging on Malpe beach, chasing Shreyas (God he runs) in the early morning was a great experience.
Well there are lots of other moments, going to Sea Shell Island in a ship, playing Mafia in sea shore, and swimming in sea. Wow! And for me personally was a great experience of taking photos of everyone in group. Asking them to pose and clicking pictures of them. He he he …. But yeah all the pictures came nice and I was overwhelmed when I see those pictures uploaded on FB.
Last but not the least was playing Dumb-Charades event of movies. Funny part was Shreyas struggling to act for the movie “Jeene Nahin Doongi” and we all fighting for time over.
And last one was leaving some of the people in hotel since they did not come @ 6am exactly. I was lucky that the cab couldn’t start and saw guys pushing it get it started. I just got it on time. Ha Ha….
Venkata Subramanian, Vaishnavi
Kudala Teertha
The gushing waters gave a perfect massage, detoxifying the soaring back completely rejuvenating me. Ah! Those moments were so well spent that I did not want to come back. The beautiful sound of water still reverberates in my ears. Those moments change solitude to bliss.
Sea Shell Island
A plunge into Sea Shell island, my first brush with waters in Arabian sea, those pebbles nibbling my feet, those lessons to dive, spotting plethora of oysters and being treated to various hues and shades of shell completely transported me to a colorful world. Nature’s perfect way of saying the world is colorful. Look beyond the black and white, take a pick from the palette and paint the canvas.
Kannusamy, Swaminathan
The Trip to Kudala Teertha / Sea Shell Island is one of the most unforgettable trips, I have been.
Kudala Teertha
A beautiful waterfall located deep in the jungles of Western Ghats. This is a beautiful water fall in any standards and the throbbing water from about 300ft, gave a relaxing massage to our body and mind.
Night Walk on the Kaup Beach
Another blissful moment was the night walk on the KAPU beach, which really relaxed and soothed my mind.
Sea Shell Island
The visit to the Sea Shell Island was really awesome. The pranks, the photo sessions, the MAFIA game and the aimless swimming lessons making everyone hooked to water brings a clear memory to me. Not to forget, my first stint with jet skiing was memorable indeed.
Sunkara, Raghu
It was awesome trip for me. Night beach was the wonderful and unique experience I never seen before.
Pogala, Himasri
I had good experiences in this trip
1. Nature cures any kind of diseases/tensions in human being
2. There is a saying that “ Money Cannot buy everything” ,its true in case of relief/Happiness which you get when you have time with nature
3. Got chance to taste a new food item for the first time Udupi Bun, Loved it
4. For the first time I went to Island and specialty of that place is one side sand and another side complete shells, waah!!! hats off to god creation
Thanks Anantha once again for reminding me all those funny, adventures and nice time I had in trip
Narasappa, Shreyas
Finding a waterfall deep inside the forest is an exhausting experience but to enjoy the water of the falls is refreshing and one such waterfall is Kudala Teertha. The water massage at the falls was amazing and the cool water took away the tiredness both from mind and body.
Sea Shell Island at Malpe is a fine place to soak in the sun and the salt waters of Arabian Sea. I was clean as anything on the beach, but not for very long…first Satish chased me and later others joined him
Finally I got dirty but for the good. I thoroughly enjoyed the sea waves and the Mafia game in the water.
Sweet and fresh at Kudala Teertha ……hot and salty at Malpe
Yogaprakash, Dileep
These are my Reflections regarding the B3G (Kudala Teertha / Sea Shell Island Water)
Helped me get many friends (Gives the opportunity to meet lot of people whom I don’t know and by the end of the trip they are all my friends.)
Thought me to keep environment clean (I didn’t put wasted things like plastic bags on public place instead I gave it to some person who collects the Garbage in B3G Trip.)
