AMK_December 2010

A-M-K SAGA

This is it! Life’s happening!! Gawd, I’m a fortunate fool!!! Damn right I was to go on the treacherous Alang-Madan-Kulang trek in the Sahyadris that see-sawed between ‘terrible’ and ‘terrific’ at every undulating turn of the terrain. There was no thought, no logic to my adventure, just an overwhelming attraction of a gigantic heap of rock – straight up and flattened (Alang and Kulang) or rounded (Madan) on the top – greeted by an impressive gateway. The epic 4-day trek was a short-cut to the afterlife. We died a thousand deaths and were reborn the same number of times or even more to relish our hard-won moments of glory. And who wouldn’t after a cathartic seven-hour trek every single day trampling across forests pulling up the knees to waist length, traversing the sheer scarp that plunged to 4,000 ft for miles on end, rapelling into the dangerous depths below and climbing them all up hooooooooohing and haaaaaaaahing our lungs out. And how can I forget the trudging up of the dozens of st-ee-ee-ee-ee-ee-eep steps dangerously exposed to the valley. But once we reached the top it was Nirvana. And even if we didn’t we would have attained to Buddhahood. It was a win-win situation. Don’t believe me? Then get on the photo adventure before you go back to your monotonous multinational life.

P.S: If you are the kind who loves to curl up in your couch with a mug of coffee watching Katrina gyrating sensuously to Sheila ki jawani, this is a strict no-no for you. Kat’s curls and curves are a better bet. Any day. See, you haven’t missed anything! Only God-forsaken fools like us who are haunted by the emptiness of a working soul do. So let’s raise a toast to Sh…e…i…la….

Written BY: N Venugopal Rao