I have been debating with Bijoy- my room mate in Trivandrum- about the human nature, morality, God, and about teh role of evolution. Being a orthodox christian (Pentecost), he wont agree to the theory of evolution. He's has been brought up like that. He has been taught that God made the human being from his spine. Everyday during food, we argue a lot. May be mostly its me who start and end the debates. Rajesh Pulincunnoo and Appu may also join me. Its tiem we study the evolutionary process scientifically.
Evolution is a necessary one in all fields. Language, morality, culture, love, teh way we communicate, genes, fashion etc., always evolve. Without evolution nothing can survive. Yesterdays immorality becomes today's morality.
I was listening to a newscast the other day that mentioned fertility drugs, and that got me to thinking - and that can be pretty dangerous in itself.
There's proof all around us that life adapts. Just look at all the stories about new drug-resistant strains of bacteria. You treat a bacterial infection with cypro or some other drug, and you kill 99.99% of all the bacteria causing that infection. The remaining 0.01% survive and pass on their genes to the next generation. Then perhaps only 99% are killed the next time you treat them, then 90%. Clearly the resistant bacteria pass on their genes. You do it long enough and you end up with population that's 100% resistant to the drug. Now, in this case, since bacteria reproduce asexually, you don't get the mixing of genes that you do with sexual reproduction.
Creationists will argue - what's your point? You clearly don't have a new species of bacteria here. And what does that have to do with fertility drugs? I'll get to the point.
Look at dogs. Interbreeding with wolves resulting in fertile offspring proves they're the same species. DNA and gene analysis show that the modern dog was split off from the wolf, by man about 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. It seems there just hasn't been enough time for the species to split into two distinct species. After all, that's only been 12,000 generations or so.
Now, I'm no biologist, but I was thinking that perhaps the reason that fertility drugs are required for certain human couples to get pregnant is that they're not exactly biologically compatible. I know that in the vast number of infertility cases, it's either the male or the female that is infertile for some reason. But could there be cases where it's just that they're not compatible and that we're seeing what could be the very beginnings of speciation in humans? A very controversial topic for sure.
Comparing humans to the dog/wolf - well if you look at 12,000 generations of humans you're talking about a timeframe of 216,000 to 300,000 years, assuming a generation spans 18-25 years (It's only in the last few thousand years at most that a generation tends anything beyond 25 or so). And recent genetic studies point to modern man (homo sapiens sapiens) having only been around 80-100,000 years or so.
Have there been any genetic studies of infertile couples, or am I just all wet here? Is there a true genetic definition of speciation? Since humans and chimpanzees share more genes between themselves than mice do with rats, is there a definition other than the inability to produce fertile offspring?
There is no ceiling to evolution known. & if human go into space, which is vast beyond our ken, then effectively human evolution becomes unlimitted, which is as near to infinity as we can get.
It's possible that the human race could stabilize. The horeshoe crab, Limulus, the Coelocanth & the sequoias have been around for tens of millions if not 100's of millions of years, without much change.
But those are more the exception by 1 million fold compared to other tens of millions of living and extinct species.
The recent evolution of human intelligence has been traced to the presence of the microcephaly gene which has shown that within the last several thousand years, humans are still evolving, very likely.
The frequency of the dyslexias are also decreasing as reading becomes more and more important. So there is yet another reason for it ongoing.
The increasing heights and speeds of pro basketball players, & the weights and power of football players also show microevolution occuring. The same is true as athletic records fall with each new Olympics.
As long as the technologies continue to change, then humans will change, as well, as those technologies are part of the environment around us.
As energy release continues to increase on the planet, then that will 'Stir things up' as well. As the US has the greatest energy production, then things are going to be stirred up here, the most.
IN quiet, low energy, poor societies, change does not come very fast. IN agro societies, this is the case. IN industrializing nations energy release is NOT only due to the sun stored energy of food being burned, but in the release of energy from coal, petrols and nuclear power, among others.
So, nope, human evolution has NOT slowed down. In most advanced nations in the last 50 years, there has been more change than in the previous 500-1000 years. Given the advances of genetics & genetical engineering, then the processes of evolution will indeed speed up, by quite some many fold times.
IN the medical fields, which are very sci/tech intensive, there have been more changes in the last 20 years, than in the previous 1200. The amount of medical information doubles about every 5 years. That is breakneck change!
IN combinatorial chemistry, a 15 years old method to create new drugs, the speed of new drug development, when it maxes out with the human genome project & computer simulations, will be at least 1 MILLION times faster than in 1990.
IN very real terms that means within 10 years, 1 MILLION years of new drug development will take place wthin a single year, compared to 1990. That is little short of astonishing. Even 5 years ago a properly equipped pharmaceutical lab could create more new drugs in a single afternoon than the entire world did in 1995. (!!!)
That results not only in safer drugs, but those which are far, far more effective and better. Because there are more drugs by 1000's fold to pick from and test.
As humans go out into space, the needs for resistance to radiation, muscle & heart breakdown and calcium losses in bones, PLUS eliminating any kind of mental illness which can damage or destroy a habitat, will also result in far, far greater evolution of humans than those who stay to live on the earth. Compared to those who live in space permanently, raise children & grow & build a space faring civilization.
Given the very real need for a very cheap, abundant energy source to get us into space, just creating that alone will increase the speed of human evolution, because more energy release increases the rate of reshuffling.
100 years ago it was unusual for a person in the US to Ever travel faster than 20 mph, if at all. Now some travel 100's of times faster than that. & the average rate of travel of the usual American, In his car, must be substantially greater as well, compared to walking which was the huge majority of travel 100 years ago.
So, rather than humans being at a point where evolution of our species is slowing down, in fact, for MANY reasons, it's going into higher speed than ever before. and God only knows where that will end up in 10,000 years or so. Which is the usual time in which speciation takes place.
One suspects in 10K years, that space faring humans will be a different species than the parent H. sapiens race on earth. & some of them might even have speciated among themselves, as well.
Larry Niven in his interesting sci fi book, Mote in God's Eyehas speculated upon future human evolution.
But, for obvious reasons, some people do NOT like change...
Without artificial enhancements, with a more natural approach, using nothing but the untapped innate potential of the nervous system, the human race may evolve to higher states of consciousness. By making fuller use of the brain and activating seldom used areas through meditation techniques, people of the year 2525 may look on us, as we may look on the Cro Magnon man. The Vedas, some of the oldest writings of man, are beginning to be understood, not as poetic symbolism, but as the instruction manual of the human nervous system and how to actualize its full potential through Sidhis, or special abilities. Currently a large group of Sidhis practioners in Iowa is working to hasten human evolution.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Democracy- A Critque.
One of the biggest problems with democracy in my own estimation is that the term is entirely too open to interpretation. It can mean something different to every man who thinks about it.
Ostensibly, it means the individuals right to self determination but that presupposes a consensus within a group about what is acceptable and what is not within a society. If there is no consensus then what you have is anarchy and anarchy hardly can be a guarantor of individual rights.
The Greeks tried to create a pure democracy and the results were disasterous. The Athenians basically undermined the government organized under Heracles and set the stage for their own defeat and conquest in so doing. I can see the same process taking shape here in America and quite frankly it frightens me.
I think the real problem is that many (or most) people think that America is a democracy when it isn't. America is a democraticaly elected republic based upon law and the constitution. That's a far cry from a democracy.
In any society there has to be some power structure. This is so even in the most basic of social elements, the family. It is the nature of the power structure to limit the right of the individual to express him or her self to those behaviors (and to some lesser extent those thoughts and attitudes) which the general consensus agrees are acceptable. Thus it must perforce limit freedom.
Thus, the idea of democracy immediately presents us with a paradox. How can you have freedom and be restricted at the same time? Personally, I do not believe in the idea of democracy. I believe in responsibility and priveledge based upon the acceptance of responsibility. If I carry a certain burden of responsibility within the society then I'm entitled to a certain degree of priveledge as a consequence. As I see it, priveledge and responsibility go hand in hand. If I fail or abdicate in my attendance upon my responsibilities then my attendant priveledges are forfeit as a result. This seems to me to be only reasonable. Why should I be granted something I did not earn any more than anyone else?
Prehaps I might have an advantage in being a member of a certain social class but that does not excuse my from my responsibilities. In any event, the higher my social status the greater my responsibilities within the society as a whole.
And this brings another question to mind. It seems to me that the idea of democracy assumes an absolute equality between all individuals. Such a situation is a natural impossibility. Though it might be possible to guarantee an equal representation of all individuals before the law it cannot guarantee an absolute equality of outcomes in all situations. Social rank and priveledge run contrary to the idea of democracy. I know of no society where social rank and priveledge are not determining factors in outcomes of events in any case.
Ostensibly, it means the individuals right to self determination but that presupposes a consensus within a group about what is acceptable and what is not within a society. If there is no consensus then what you have is anarchy and anarchy hardly can be a guarantor of individual rights.
The Greeks tried to create a pure democracy and the results were disasterous. The Athenians basically undermined the government organized under Heracles and set the stage for their own defeat and conquest in so doing. I can see the same process taking shape here in America and quite frankly it frightens me.
I think the real problem is that many (or most) people think that America is a democracy when it isn't. America is a democraticaly elected republic based upon law and the constitution. That's a far cry from a democracy.
In any society there has to be some power structure. This is so even in the most basic of social elements, the family. It is the nature of the power structure to limit the right of the individual to express him or her self to those behaviors (and to some lesser extent those thoughts and attitudes) which the general consensus agrees are acceptable. Thus it must perforce limit freedom.
Thus, the idea of democracy immediately presents us with a paradox. How can you have freedom and be restricted at the same time? Personally, I do not believe in the idea of democracy. I believe in responsibility and priveledge based upon the acceptance of responsibility. If I carry a certain burden of responsibility within the society then I'm entitled to a certain degree of priveledge as a consequence. As I see it, priveledge and responsibility go hand in hand. If I fail or abdicate in my attendance upon my responsibilities then my attendant priveledges are forfeit as a result. This seems to me to be only reasonable. Why should I be granted something I did not earn any more than anyone else?
Prehaps I might have an advantage in being a member of a certain social class but that does not excuse my from my responsibilities. In any event, the higher my social status the greater my responsibilities within the society as a whole.
And this brings another question to mind. It seems to me that the idea of democracy assumes an absolute equality between all individuals. Such a situation is a natural impossibility. Though it might be possible to guarantee an equal representation of all individuals before the law it cannot guarantee an absolute equality of outcomes in all situations. Social rank and priveledge run contrary to the idea of democracy. I know of no society where social rank and priveledge are not determining factors in outcomes of events in any case.
Yoga Sutras- A Critique.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali- An Introduction
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are divided into four chapters, the first of which is called Samadhipada. In it, Patanjali gives his definition of yoga, and discusses various problems one might confront on the path to yoga.
1.1 "atha yoganusasanam"
The first word, atha, is a kind of prayer, for both an auspicious beginning, and a successful conclusion of the work. This sutra can be translated as, "Here begins the authoritative instruction on yoga." Patanjali has not made any claims as to being the founder of yoga. He has studied under his own master, and is passing on the wisdom of the tradition.
1.2 "yogasgcittavrttinirodhah"
Here is one of many beautiful definitions of yoga. "Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction with no distraction." What is meant by this aphorism? It means the state of one-pointedness. My teacher used to tell us, "We spend our whole lives with our minds going in a thousand direction, and our bodies going in one. In Hatha Yoga, we strive to make the body go in a thousand directions, and the mind go in one." I love this analogy. It applies to all yogas; hatha, kundalini, bhakti, laya, all are differing paths to the same oneness.
What exactly is the direction we should be directing our minds? Towards highest truth, noble understanding, absolute bliss, pure compassion. All are one. Yoga brings the fragmented and fluctuating mind into pure truth.
1.3 tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam
(then the ability to understand the object fully and correctly is apparent)
Yoga opens our minds. There are so many influences on the way we percieve: our memory may cause us to project ideas based on past experience and limit our current understanding. We become jaded, saddened by life's hardships, and eventually we come to expect a certain suffering.
As children, we didn't know that touching the stove would burn, that vanilla extract doesn't taste the way it smells, that staying out in the rain could make us catch cold. In our innocence, we opened to new experiences. Our perception of the world and all within it changed minute by minute, HAD to change, to include the new information recieved. We had experiences and ways of percieving then that could not be explained in the language we knew at that time. Slowly we forgot how to be in that space where there is nothing but NOW! Everything is unfolding and blossoming NOW, and we are experiencing it for the first time, even if our eyes have seen it a thousand times.
We never lose innocence. Only people who know everything have no innocence. Yoga takes us into the unknown, and there we are innocent children, discovering, playing, exploring, watching.
1.4. vrttisarupyamitaratra
(In the absence of the state of mind called yoga, the ability to understand the object is simply replaced by the mind's conception of that object or by a total lack of comprehension.)
Not many of us are in the state of mind called yoga! So according to Patanjali, the majority of us are experiencing the world through the veil of our limited understanding. When I was younger, I tried to read from my grandfather's big collection of Alice Baily books. Of course, they bored me to tears, although at that I age I was probably more capable of grasping their meaning! Now that I am grown, I can understand and contemplate those deeply metaphysical works, yet I only understand on the level of the mind.
We can all say, "I am not the body, I am the atman (soul)." But if someone hits you, you will say, "You hurt me!" And there you are, totally identified with the body. The atman would only say, "The body has been hit, and is sending messages to the brain through the nerves."
So these two sutras are telling us that our perception of reality is obscured. We cannot view the Absolute Truth through the same eyes with which we look upon the rush hour traffic and the tomatoes at the store. Yoga helps us gain understanding and correct perception.
1.5 VRTTAYAH PANCATAYYAH KLISTAKLISTAH
"There are five activities of the mind. Each have both beneficial and problematic potentials."
1.6 PRAMANAVIPARYAYAVIKAKALPANIDRASMRTAYAH
"The five activities of the mind are: comprehension, misapprehension, imagination, deep sleep, and memory."
In the following five sutras, Patanjali describes each of the above, allowing us to reflect on the mind with objectivity. I don't want to overwhelm you guys, because the real good stuff comes a bit later. For now lets just look at the next sutra:
1.7 PRATYAKSANUMANAGAMAH PRAMANANI
"Comprehension is based on direct observation of the object, inference, and reference to reliable authorities."
In other words, for the mind to understand, we must have an experience of that which we are trying to grasp. "Direct observation" is sensory experience. "Inference" is the mind at work when a sensory experience is unavailable. It could be logic, or memory. "Reference to reliable authorities" would be trusting a teacher, a text, a close friend, to give accurate information.
By any of these means we might comprehend something. But comprehension in yoga is to truly understand the nature of something. In yoga, we strive to not only percieve, but to KNOW the inherant truth in all things, and FIRST to know the inherant truth of ourselves. We cannot "comprehend" the Most Authentic Self with the mind's usual faculties, so we must chose a reliable authority (i.e. a teacher, book, guru, religion) to refer to. Yoga could be seen as a reliable authority through which we can comprehend the Self.
1.8 Viparyayo mithyajnanamatadrupapratistham
"Misapprehension is that comprehension that is taken to be correct until more favorable conditions reveal the actual nature of the object."
How familiar is this story? We percieve a something to be one way, and then later discover it is entirely differant. How often to we project our preconcieved notions onto present surroundings/people? Another goal of yoga is to help us learn to properly percieve things as they actually are.
1.9 sabdajnananupati vastusunyo vikalpah
"Imagination is the comprehension of an object based only on words and expressions, even though the object is sbsent."
Now this is the definition given by Krishnamacharya and Desikachar. I think imagination is more than this. It is perhaps one of the most powerful of the mind's faculties! It can be used to create change in one's life, as in creative visualization. It is the essential ingredient in all art and scientific endeavors. It acts through our dreams, feelings and emotions. This function of the mind seems to be at it's greatest in childhood. A child can imagine that the ground is hot lava, the air is filled with peanut butter and will behave accordingly, without guile.
1.10 abhavapratyayalambana tamovrttirnidra
"Deep sleep is when the mind is overcome with heaviness and no other activities are present."
Sleep. We all need it. Our busy minds and fragile bodies cannot function without rest. Our minds work in the same cyclical fashion that all of the universe works in, a constant circling from one state to it's oppostite.
In deep sleep we can experience a deeper communion with the Absolute. Astral projection, powerful dreams which reveal the innermost reaches of our psyches. It is necessary, a part of the soul's journey back to oneness. It is also the opportunity for stillness in the body. In our waking life, we are constantly reminded of the body, through hunger, fatigue, back pain, heat or cold, cravings, tension. Our minds are constantly focused on the body. But in deep sleep we let go and journey deep within ourselves.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali are divided into four chapters, the first of which is called Samadhipada. In it, Patanjali gives his definition of yoga, and discusses various problems one might confront on the path to yoga.
1.1 "atha yoganusasanam"
The first word, atha, is a kind of prayer, for both an auspicious beginning, and a successful conclusion of the work. This sutra can be translated as, "Here begins the authoritative instruction on yoga." Patanjali has not made any claims as to being the founder of yoga. He has studied under his own master, and is passing on the wisdom of the tradition.
1.2 "yogasgcittavrttinirodhah"
Here is one of many beautiful definitions of yoga. "Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction with no distraction." What is meant by this aphorism? It means the state of one-pointedness. My teacher used to tell us, "We spend our whole lives with our minds going in a thousand direction, and our bodies going in one. In Hatha Yoga, we strive to make the body go in a thousand directions, and the mind go in one." I love this analogy. It applies to all yogas; hatha, kundalini, bhakti, laya, all are differing paths to the same oneness.
What exactly is the direction we should be directing our minds? Towards highest truth, noble understanding, absolute bliss, pure compassion. All are one. Yoga brings the fragmented and fluctuating mind into pure truth.
1.3 tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam
(then the ability to understand the object fully and correctly is apparent)
Yoga opens our minds. There are so many influences on the way we percieve: our memory may cause us to project ideas based on past experience and limit our current understanding. We become jaded, saddened by life's hardships, and eventually we come to expect a certain suffering.
As children, we didn't know that touching the stove would burn, that vanilla extract doesn't taste the way it smells, that staying out in the rain could make us catch cold. In our innocence, we opened to new experiences. Our perception of the world and all within it changed minute by minute, HAD to change, to include the new information recieved. We had experiences and ways of percieving then that could not be explained in the language we knew at that time. Slowly we forgot how to be in that space where there is nothing but NOW! Everything is unfolding and blossoming NOW, and we are experiencing it for the first time, even if our eyes have seen it a thousand times.
We never lose innocence. Only people who know everything have no innocence. Yoga takes us into the unknown, and there we are innocent children, discovering, playing, exploring, watching.
1.4. vrttisarupyamitaratra
(In the absence of the state of mind called yoga, the ability to understand the object is simply replaced by the mind's conception of that object or by a total lack of comprehension.)
Not many of us are in the state of mind called yoga! So according to Patanjali, the majority of us are experiencing the world through the veil of our limited understanding. When I was younger, I tried to read from my grandfather's big collection of Alice Baily books. Of course, they bored me to tears, although at that I age I was probably more capable of grasping their meaning! Now that I am grown, I can understand and contemplate those deeply metaphysical works, yet I only understand on the level of the mind.
We can all say, "I am not the body, I am the atman (soul)." But if someone hits you, you will say, "You hurt me!" And there you are, totally identified with the body. The atman would only say, "The body has been hit, and is sending messages to the brain through the nerves."
So these two sutras are telling us that our perception of reality is obscured. We cannot view the Absolute Truth through the same eyes with which we look upon the rush hour traffic and the tomatoes at the store. Yoga helps us gain understanding and correct perception.
1.5 VRTTAYAH PANCATAYYAH KLISTAKLISTAH
"There are five activities of the mind. Each have both beneficial and problematic potentials."
1.6 PRAMANAVIPARYAYAVIKAKALPANIDRASMRTAYAH
"The five activities of the mind are: comprehension, misapprehension, imagination, deep sleep, and memory."
In the following five sutras, Patanjali describes each of the above, allowing us to reflect on the mind with objectivity. I don't want to overwhelm you guys, because the real good stuff comes a bit later. For now lets just look at the next sutra:
1.7 PRATYAKSANUMANAGAMAH PRAMANANI
"Comprehension is based on direct observation of the object, inference, and reference to reliable authorities."
In other words, for the mind to understand, we must have an experience of that which we are trying to grasp. "Direct observation" is sensory experience. "Inference" is the mind at work when a sensory experience is unavailable. It could be logic, or memory. "Reference to reliable authorities" would be trusting a teacher, a text, a close friend, to give accurate information.
By any of these means we might comprehend something. But comprehension in yoga is to truly understand the nature of something. In yoga, we strive to not only percieve, but to KNOW the inherant truth in all things, and FIRST to know the inherant truth of ourselves. We cannot "comprehend" the Most Authentic Self with the mind's usual faculties, so we must chose a reliable authority (i.e. a teacher, book, guru, religion) to refer to. Yoga could be seen as a reliable authority through which we can comprehend the Self.
1.8 Viparyayo mithyajnanamatadrupapratistham
"Misapprehension is that comprehension that is taken to be correct until more favorable conditions reveal the actual nature of the object."
How familiar is this story? We percieve a something to be one way, and then later discover it is entirely differant. How often to we project our preconcieved notions onto present surroundings/people? Another goal of yoga is to help us learn to properly percieve things as they actually are.
1.9 sabdajnananupati vastusunyo vikalpah
"Imagination is the comprehension of an object based only on words and expressions, even though the object is sbsent."
Now this is the definition given by Krishnamacharya and Desikachar. I think imagination is more than this. It is perhaps one of the most powerful of the mind's faculties! It can be used to create change in one's life, as in creative visualization. It is the essential ingredient in all art and scientific endeavors. It acts through our dreams, feelings and emotions. This function of the mind seems to be at it's greatest in childhood. A child can imagine that the ground is hot lava, the air is filled with peanut butter and will behave accordingly, without guile.
1.10 abhavapratyayalambana tamovrttirnidra
"Deep sleep is when the mind is overcome with heaviness and no other activities are present."
Sleep. We all need it. Our busy minds and fragile bodies cannot function without rest. Our minds work in the same cyclical fashion that all of the universe works in, a constant circling from one state to it's oppostite.
In deep sleep we can experience a deeper communion with the Absolute. Astral projection, powerful dreams which reveal the innermost reaches of our psyches. It is necessary, a part of the soul's journey back to oneness. It is also the opportunity for stillness in the body. In our waking life, we are constantly reminded of the body, through hunger, fatigue, back pain, heat or cold, cravings, tension. Our minds are constantly focused on the body. But in deep sleep we let go and journey deep within ourselves.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Science of Attraction.
Ever wondered why you're inexplicably drawn to someone? Beyond what someone looks like, what they say, and sometimes despite these things, you're attracted to a person in a way you can't quite understand.
If you've ever tried to explain an attraction by uttering the phrase "I don't know… there's just something about him/her" you might be operating under the influence of pheromones.
Basically, pheromones are a chemical or mixture of chemicals that animals secrete from their glands in order to convey messages to other members of the same species.
Pheromones can transmit messages of fear, anger, territorial boundaries, and yes… sex. They can actually make some animals stop dead in their tracks and be unable to move.
Our understanding of human pheromones is at a very early stage. Back in 1986, Dr. Winifred Cutler, a biologist and behavioral endocrinologist, co-discovered pheromones in the armpits of humans. Hmm… is the armpit-licking fetish starting to make sense?
Despite where we secrete pheromones from, they are odourless and undetectable by our five senses. This has led some people to believe that we actually possess a sixth sense that allows us to pick up on pheromone secretions.
"They don't work directly, but can modulate how we feel and influence our moods," says bio-psychologist Martha K. McClintock. "We're talking about things that can be sensed but not recognized or verbalized. It's all subliminal."
So perhaps we have something more tangible to talk about, rather than the 'chemistry' we all seek with a partner. Maybe we've just got to scratch and sniff around a little more in order to find that special someone.
In an article for CNN.com, Dr. Deb Levine says, "If you're looking for the man or woman of your dreams, unsuspecting pheromones in your body scent are most likely playing a large and very clever role in mate attraction."
McClintock adds that "We know, for example, that different kinds of odours change people's moods. But this is different."
So, can we all stop showering and just let our pheromones send out the right message to the right person? Well… sure if you really want to, but before you do, you might want to know that while almost all scientists believe that we secrete pheromones, some believe that we lack the ability to sense them. Again, others say that we just haven't located the receptor area for pheromones. Geez… come on scientists! Stop getting hung up on empirical evidence and tell me if I should just strut around with my pits in the air next time I walk into a room full of women.
Of course, when it comes to convincing people there might be an easy way to find love or sex, we humans are very adept at hitting the right receptor cells. There's been a huge rush recently in the development and sales of pheromone perfumes. Noted scientist and (ahem) bioneurosextapeologist, Paris Hilton, has jumped on the pheromone bandwagon. One can only assume that this particular bandwagon is "hot."
You may also have come across some spam emails promising you pheromone-based sprays that will instantly attract lovers. While most of these examples are just snake-oil salespeople trying to make a buck with the latest Love Potion #9, again, the science community is split.
Dr. Deb Levine tells us that in a recent test of a pheromone called athena, 74 per cent of the people involved in the study had "an increase in hugging, kissing and sexual intercourse."
But Dr. Charles J. Wysocki, of the Monell Chemical Senses Center at the University of Pennsylvania says, "Since we don't know a lot about the science, there is always the opportunity for individuals to stake claims. Until we learn more, it's basically a discussion based on belief rather than data."
Sure but when it comes to sexual confidence, belief rules. The added poise you might feel when wearing a pheromone perfume could be just enough to take you off the sidelines and into the game…so, no harm no foul.
In the end, I wonder if it matters which scientific camp is right. Until they discover a pheromone that can make us fall in love, or control our minds, or make us work a full eight-hour day, or ensure that we're completely honest when it comes to filing our taxes, we're going to have to operate under the same rules as always and keep embracing the mystery that surrounds who attracts us and who doesn't.
If you've ever tried to explain an attraction by uttering the phrase "I don't know… there's just something about him/her" you might be operating under the influence of pheromones.
Basically, pheromones are a chemical or mixture of chemicals that animals secrete from their glands in order to convey messages to other members of the same species.
Pheromones can transmit messages of fear, anger, territorial boundaries, and yes… sex. They can actually make some animals stop dead in their tracks and be unable to move.
Our understanding of human pheromones is at a very early stage. Back in 1986, Dr. Winifred Cutler, a biologist and behavioral endocrinologist, co-discovered pheromones in the armpits of humans. Hmm… is the armpit-licking fetish starting to make sense?
Despite where we secrete pheromones from, they are odourless and undetectable by our five senses. This has led some people to believe that we actually possess a sixth sense that allows us to pick up on pheromone secretions.
"They don't work directly, but can modulate how we feel and influence our moods," says bio-psychologist Martha K. McClintock. "We're talking about things that can be sensed but not recognized or verbalized. It's all subliminal."
So perhaps we have something more tangible to talk about, rather than the 'chemistry' we all seek with a partner. Maybe we've just got to scratch and sniff around a little more in order to find that special someone.
In an article for CNN.com, Dr. Deb Levine says, "If you're looking for the man or woman of your dreams, unsuspecting pheromones in your body scent are most likely playing a large and very clever role in mate attraction."
McClintock adds that "We know, for example, that different kinds of odours change people's moods. But this is different."
So, can we all stop showering and just let our pheromones send out the right message to the right person? Well… sure if you really want to, but before you do, you might want to know that while almost all scientists believe that we secrete pheromones, some believe that we lack the ability to sense them. Again, others say that we just haven't located the receptor area for pheromones. Geez… come on scientists! Stop getting hung up on empirical evidence and tell me if I should just strut around with my pits in the air next time I walk into a room full of women.
Of course, when it comes to convincing people there might be an easy way to find love or sex, we humans are very adept at hitting the right receptor cells. There's been a huge rush recently in the development and sales of pheromone perfumes. Noted scientist and (ahem) bioneurosextapeologist, Paris Hilton, has jumped on the pheromone bandwagon. One can only assume that this particular bandwagon is "hot."
You may also have come across some spam emails promising you pheromone-based sprays that will instantly attract lovers. While most of these examples are just snake-oil salespeople trying to make a buck with the latest Love Potion #9, again, the science community is split.
Dr. Deb Levine tells us that in a recent test of a pheromone called athena, 74 per cent of the people involved in the study had "an increase in hugging, kissing and sexual intercourse."
But Dr. Charles J. Wysocki, of the Monell Chemical Senses Center at the University of Pennsylvania says, "Since we don't know a lot about the science, there is always the opportunity for individuals to stake claims. Until we learn more, it's basically a discussion based on belief rather than data."
Sure but when it comes to sexual confidence, belief rules. The added poise you might feel when wearing a pheromone perfume could be just enough to take you off the sidelines and into the game…so, no harm no foul.
In the end, I wonder if it matters which scientific camp is right. Until they discover a pheromone that can make us fall in love, or control our minds, or make us work a full eight-hour day, or ensure that we're completely honest when it comes to filing our taxes, we're going to have to operate under the same rules as always and keep embracing the mystery that surrounds who attracts us and who doesn't.
Advances in Keyhole Surgery
Before minimally invasive surgery was widely available, major surgery usually meant large skin incisions and prolonged recovery times. Over the past 10 years, technology has evolved to the point that many major surgeries can now be done with the assistance of minimally invasive techniques. Smaller incisions now mean less time in the hospital after surgery and fewer days away from normal activities. Minimally invasive and computer-aided surgery is rapidly growing because of the obvious advantages for both the patient and the physician. These new advanced technologies have been referred to as "laser surgery", "keyhole surgery", or "laparoscopic surgery." Many different types of physicians, such as general surgeons, urologists, heart surgeons, gynecologic surgeons, and orthopedic surgeons, all use minimally invasive techniques to treat their patients.
How does minimally invasive surgery work? The major advance occurred about the same time that video cameras began to spring up in consumer use. A thin instrument with a camera on the end is used to peer inside the human body without using large incisions. The camera gives the surgeon a clear picture of the area needing surgery. Then under this view, surgeons use miniaturized graspers and scissors to perform standard surgeries without large scars. In the 10 years since this technology has been applied widely in the US, much has changed. The ability to suture (place stitches) inside the abdomen, remove diseased segments of bowel then connect bowel back together with metal clips, and stop bleeding by coagulating or "melting" blood vessels, are just some of the new technologies. Surgeons can now remove diseased gallbladders, spleens, kidneys, adrenal glands, ovaries, sew bowel together and repair hernias all through incisions no bigger around than a pencil eraser. Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) and removal of donor kidneys for transplant can also be assisted using minimally invasive techniques. Patients now can go home hours after having these procedures and return to work in just a few days.
Even more exciting is the new robotic surgical technology that allows the surgeon to sit at a console and guide a surgical robot through minimally invasive surgical procedures. The robotic arms, as well as the special video camera, are all controlled from a remote console thus allowing the surgeon greater ease and precision during complex surgical tasks. Current uses for the robotic-assisted minimally invasive techniques include heart surgery, weight reduction surgery, and anti-reflux (heartburn) procedures. The daVinci Robot is currently being used here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as several other centers around the country, for both patient care and research applications. At UNMC a number of surgeons are using the above described skills in order to better treat their patients. Whether it is abdominal, orthopedic, gynecologic, urologic, or transplant surgery, patients can be assured that locally trained specialists can apply these new technologies today.
WHICH would you prefer: a surgical procedure that left you in pain, incapacitated and scarred, or one that was virtually painless, involved no recovery time and left no visible scar at all? It may sound too good to be true, but a radical improvement in surgery is the promise held out by a new technique, called “natural-orifice translumenal endosurgery”, or NOTES. Rather than operating on the abdomen by making incisions in the skin, it involves passing flexible instruments through the body's orifices and entering the abdomen from the inside.
One of the most widely studied approaches is “transgastric” surgery, in which the instruments are passed through the mouth and into the stomach. From there, the surgeon cuts a hole in the stomach wall to enter the abdominal cavity and perform the operation. Once it is complete the instruments, along with any removed tissue, are drawn back out through the stomach and mouth and the access incision is stitched up. Similar approaches involve entering through the rectum, the vagina and even the penis.
It may sound somewhat drastic, but the rationale for doing this goes well beyond the desire to avoid leaving a scar. NOTES could have many medical benefits over conventional surgery, and even over laparoscopic or “keyhole” surgery, in which the operation is performed via a small number of external incisions. NOTES could reduce the risk of post-operative infections. It does not require a general anaesthetic, making it an attractive option for the elderly or infirm.
Post-operative convalescence normally involves recovering from the access incisions made in the abdomen. NOTES should mean shorter recovery periods, since the stomach wall has relatively few pain receptors, says Paul Swain, an endosurgeon at Imperial College London who is one of the British pioneers of the technique. “Patients theoretically would be able to go back to work the next day, rather than taking a week or two off,” says Lee Swanstrom, director of minimally invasive surgery at the Oregon Clinic in Portland, Oregon.
Beyond the keyhole
In recent months several surgical groups have reported early successes using NOTES to carry out procedures such as gall-bladder and cancer-tumour removals, and diagnoses of pancreatic cancer. In animals even more complex procedures have been demonstrated, such as fallopian-tube resections, organ-bypass procedures, reconstructive stomach-reduction procedures and even the draining of coronary arteries. Yet for NOTES to become as widespread and successful as traditional laparoscopic surgery, an arsenal of new surgical instruments will be needed. Answering this call, physicians and medical-device companies are falling over themselves to develop innovative new tools. “There's an explosion in patent filing in this area,” says Dr Swain. “This is one of the great periods of medical innovation.”
What makes NOTES so difficult is having to carry out surgery via a single and very narrow point of access. Open surgery doesn't have this problem, because the abdomen is laid bare to the surgeon, and even laparoscopic surgery involves placing at least three (and sometimes as many as five) separate instruments into the abdomen from different directions, through different incisions. This makes it possible to triangulate when cutting, sewing or manipulating tissue, says Eugene Chen, the boss of USGI Medical, a surgical-instruments firm based in San Clemente, California. “We have to create instruments that allow us to do the same thing,” he says.
With NOTES, however, all the instruments have to be fed in parallel through a single orifice, and then through a single internal incision. This makes manipulating tissue much more difficult and also limits the surgeon's viewpoint. With existing instruments designed for gastro-intestinal procedures, the camera is attached to the same instrument tip as the grasping and cutting tools, which creates problems. “As soon as you have to move your instrument to grasp something, it changes your view,” says Per-Ola Park, another pioneer of NOTES who is based at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Furthermore, surgical tools for NOTES need to be able to manipulate, cut and repair kinds of tissue that are very different from those normally found in the gastro-intestinal tract, says Kurt Bally of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, another surgical-tools firm, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. So Ethicon, USGI and other firms are developing entirely new instruments.
Stephen JeffreyOne device developed by USGI, called the ShapeLock TransPort, consists of a flexible “access platform” through which other devices can be fed. Other flexible gastro-endo-surgical devices have existed for some time, but what is novel about this latest device is that once in place it allows its shape to be locked. This has huge benefits because normally if you try pushing a tool or lifting some tissue, the entire instrument will move, says Dr Park. But by “rigidising” the device and fixing its position the surgeon can operate from a stable platform that is almost like being inside the abdomen itself. The ShapeLock device was recently used with great success in America's first transgastric procedures on humans.
Having gained access to the abdomen, surgeons need to be able to cut, grasp and suture tissue. To this end Dr Swain has developed a novel form of suturing that involves poking folded T-shaped fasteners through the tissue on either side of a tear or incision, each connected to thread. The fasteners act like anchors so that when the two threads are drawn together the incision or tear closes up. The threads are then fixed together using a small clasp, rather than being tied, and the loose thread is cut. This remarkably simple technique allows suturing to be carried out very effectively with access from only a single flexible scope. USGI has developed a similar approach which uses umbrella-like fasteners, and Olympus Medical Systems, another firm working in the field, has devised a system based on curved hooks.
Hooks and graspers are also being used to manipulate tissue. When passed through flexible scopes, pairs of them can move independently of the tip, so that they can oppose one another, making triangulation possible. This concept has been further elaborated upon by Dmitry Oleynikov at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, in Omaha. His approach involves the insertion of self-assembling, remote-controlled surgical robots into the body. During insertion these devices are cylindrical in shape, but they then unfurl two opposable arms for grasping and cauterising, and two cameras to give the surgeon stereoscopic vision.
The tiny devices, which are called natural-orifice miniature robots, are tethered to allow the surgeon to control them and to provide power (though Dr Oleynikov has developed wireless versions, too). Dr Oleynikov has already used his robots to carry out a number of operations on pigs, including gall-bladder removals, liver biopsies and the ablation of tumours. He believes it should be possible to place two robots into a patient at the same time. “We have filed a number of patents for devices which are inserted in the mouth and through the stomach,” says Dr Oleynikov. The technology is now being commercialised by Dr Oleynikov's spin-out company, Nebraska Surgical Solutions, which has filed applications with American regulators for experimental use in humans.
Dr Park warns that there is a danger of over-engineering these surgical instruments. Robots can be expensive, he says, and if these new tools are to be successful they will have to be cost-effective. One way to keep costs down but to enable triangulation could simply be to insert devices through more than one natural orifice, he says. “You could have one coming in from the stomach and one coming in from the rectum or vagina,” he suggests. Put perhaps the biggest challenge is to develop better cutting tools, says Dr Park. Ultrasonic scalpels are popular tools in keyhole surgery, but they are rigid—so finding ways to make them flexible enough to insert transgastrically would be a big step forward.
A surgical gold rush
Someone will probably work out how to do it soon enough. “I can't believe things are accelerating as fast as they are,” says Mr Chen. There are now half a dozen billion-dollar companies developing new instruments for NOTES, he says. The number of patents filed by Ethicon Endo-Surgery has quadrupled over the past ten years, with a particular surge in the past couple of years. This is largely due to NOTES, says Mr Bally.
Needless to say, the needs of the surgeon are not the only reason for this. It has become a “gold rush”, says Dr Park. When laparoscopic surgery was first developed there was a surge in the development of new surgical instruments. This time round everyone is keen not to be left behind. But unlike the free-for-all in laparoscopy, in which many surgeons insisted on using their own proprietary devices, doctors and device-makers today appear to be working together to make tools that will be commercially feasible.
Some companies are canvassing doctors for such partnerships. In October the Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research, a joint effort of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, offered $1m for NOTES-related research proposals. The money will be provided by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, which is part of Johnson and Johnson.
Amid the hype the fact remains that the medical benefits of NOTES remain unproven, so there is an undercurrent of caution. “It's not a revolution, it's an evolution,” says W. Scott Melvin, the surgeon who carried out the first transgastric procedures in America, and who is also the director of the Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Ohio State University Medical Centre, in Columbus. NOTES is really just the next step beyond laparoscopy, in other words. But, he says, adoption has been slow “because of a lack of adequate instruments”. That now seems to be changing fast.
How does minimally invasive surgery work? The major advance occurred about the same time that video cameras began to spring up in consumer use. A thin instrument with a camera on the end is used to peer inside the human body without using large incisions. The camera gives the surgeon a clear picture of the area needing surgery. Then under this view, surgeons use miniaturized graspers and scissors to perform standard surgeries without large scars. In the 10 years since this technology has been applied widely in the US, much has changed. The ability to suture (place stitches) inside the abdomen, remove diseased segments of bowel then connect bowel back together with metal clips, and stop bleeding by coagulating or "melting" blood vessels, are just some of the new technologies. Surgeons can now remove diseased gallbladders, spleens, kidneys, adrenal glands, ovaries, sew bowel together and repair hernias all through incisions no bigger around than a pencil eraser. Hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) and removal of donor kidneys for transplant can also be assisted using minimally invasive techniques. Patients now can go home hours after having these procedures and return to work in just a few days.
Even more exciting is the new robotic surgical technology that allows the surgeon to sit at a console and guide a surgical robot through minimally invasive surgical procedures. The robotic arms, as well as the special video camera, are all controlled from a remote console thus allowing the surgeon greater ease and precision during complex surgical tasks. Current uses for the robotic-assisted minimally invasive techniques include heart surgery, weight reduction surgery, and anti-reflux (heartburn) procedures. The daVinci Robot is currently being used here at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, as well as several other centers around the country, for both patient care and research applications. At UNMC a number of surgeons are using the above described skills in order to better treat their patients. Whether it is abdominal, orthopedic, gynecologic, urologic, or transplant surgery, patients can be assured that locally trained specialists can apply these new technologies today.
WHICH would you prefer: a surgical procedure that left you in pain, incapacitated and scarred, or one that was virtually painless, involved no recovery time and left no visible scar at all? It may sound too good to be true, but a radical improvement in surgery is the promise held out by a new technique, called “natural-orifice translumenal endosurgery”, or NOTES. Rather than operating on the abdomen by making incisions in the skin, it involves passing flexible instruments through the body's orifices and entering the abdomen from the inside.
One of the most widely studied approaches is “transgastric” surgery, in which the instruments are passed through the mouth and into the stomach. From there, the surgeon cuts a hole in the stomach wall to enter the abdominal cavity and perform the operation. Once it is complete the instruments, along with any removed tissue, are drawn back out through the stomach and mouth and the access incision is stitched up. Similar approaches involve entering through the rectum, the vagina and even the penis.
It may sound somewhat drastic, but the rationale for doing this goes well beyond the desire to avoid leaving a scar. NOTES could have many medical benefits over conventional surgery, and even over laparoscopic or “keyhole” surgery, in which the operation is performed via a small number of external incisions. NOTES could reduce the risk of post-operative infections. It does not require a general anaesthetic, making it an attractive option for the elderly or infirm.
Post-operative convalescence normally involves recovering from the access incisions made in the abdomen. NOTES should mean shorter recovery periods, since the stomach wall has relatively few pain receptors, says Paul Swain, an endosurgeon at Imperial College London who is one of the British pioneers of the technique. “Patients theoretically would be able to go back to work the next day, rather than taking a week or two off,” says Lee Swanstrom, director of minimally invasive surgery at the Oregon Clinic in Portland, Oregon.
Beyond the keyhole
In recent months several surgical groups have reported early successes using NOTES to carry out procedures such as gall-bladder and cancer-tumour removals, and diagnoses of pancreatic cancer. In animals even more complex procedures have been demonstrated, such as fallopian-tube resections, organ-bypass procedures, reconstructive stomach-reduction procedures and even the draining of coronary arteries. Yet for NOTES to become as widespread and successful as traditional laparoscopic surgery, an arsenal of new surgical instruments will be needed. Answering this call, physicians and medical-device companies are falling over themselves to develop innovative new tools. “There's an explosion in patent filing in this area,” says Dr Swain. “This is one of the great periods of medical innovation.”
What makes NOTES so difficult is having to carry out surgery via a single and very narrow point of access. Open surgery doesn't have this problem, because the abdomen is laid bare to the surgeon, and even laparoscopic surgery involves placing at least three (and sometimes as many as five) separate instruments into the abdomen from different directions, through different incisions. This makes it possible to triangulate when cutting, sewing or manipulating tissue, says Eugene Chen, the boss of USGI Medical, a surgical-instruments firm based in San Clemente, California. “We have to create instruments that allow us to do the same thing,” he says.
With NOTES, however, all the instruments have to be fed in parallel through a single orifice, and then through a single internal incision. This makes manipulating tissue much more difficult and also limits the surgeon's viewpoint. With existing instruments designed for gastro-intestinal procedures, the camera is attached to the same instrument tip as the grasping and cutting tools, which creates problems. “As soon as you have to move your instrument to grasp something, it changes your view,” says Per-Ola Park, another pioneer of NOTES who is based at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Furthermore, surgical tools for NOTES need to be able to manipulate, cut and repair kinds of tissue that are very different from those normally found in the gastro-intestinal tract, says Kurt Bally of Ethicon Endo-Surgery, another surgical-tools firm, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. So Ethicon, USGI and other firms are developing entirely new instruments.
Stephen JeffreyOne device developed by USGI, called the ShapeLock TransPort, consists of a flexible “access platform” through which other devices can be fed. Other flexible gastro-endo-surgical devices have existed for some time, but what is novel about this latest device is that once in place it allows its shape to be locked. This has huge benefits because normally if you try pushing a tool or lifting some tissue, the entire instrument will move, says Dr Park. But by “rigidising” the device and fixing its position the surgeon can operate from a stable platform that is almost like being inside the abdomen itself. The ShapeLock device was recently used with great success in America's first transgastric procedures on humans.
Having gained access to the abdomen, surgeons need to be able to cut, grasp and suture tissue. To this end Dr Swain has developed a novel form of suturing that involves poking folded T-shaped fasteners through the tissue on either side of a tear or incision, each connected to thread. The fasteners act like anchors so that when the two threads are drawn together the incision or tear closes up. The threads are then fixed together using a small clasp, rather than being tied, and the loose thread is cut. This remarkably simple technique allows suturing to be carried out very effectively with access from only a single flexible scope. USGI has developed a similar approach which uses umbrella-like fasteners, and Olympus Medical Systems, another firm working in the field, has devised a system based on curved hooks.
Hooks and graspers are also being used to manipulate tissue. When passed through flexible scopes, pairs of them can move independently of the tip, so that they can oppose one another, making triangulation possible. This concept has been further elaborated upon by Dmitry Oleynikov at the University of Nebraska Medical Centre, in Omaha. His approach involves the insertion of self-assembling, remote-controlled surgical robots into the body. During insertion these devices are cylindrical in shape, but they then unfurl two opposable arms for grasping and cauterising, and two cameras to give the surgeon stereoscopic vision.
The tiny devices, which are called natural-orifice miniature robots, are tethered to allow the surgeon to control them and to provide power (though Dr Oleynikov has developed wireless versions, too). Dr Oleynikov has already used his robots to carry out a number of operations on pigs, including gall-bladder removals, liver biopsies and the ablation of tumours. He believes it should be possible to place two robots into a patient at the same time. “We have filed a number of patents for devices which are inserted in the mouth and through the stomach,” says Dr Oleynikov. The technology is now being commercialised by Dr Oleynikov's spin-out company, Nebraska Surgical Solutions, which has filed applications with American regulators for experimental use in humans.
Dr Park warns that there is a danger of over-engineering these surgical instruments. Robots can be expensive, he says, and if these new tools are to be successful they will have to be cost-effective. One way to keep costs down but to enable triangulation could simply be to insert devices through more than one natural orifice, he says. “You could have one coming in from the stomach and one coming in from the rectum or vagina,” he suggests. Put perhaps the biggest challenge is to develop better cutting tools, says Dr Park. Ultrasonic scalpels are popular tools in keyhole surgery, but they are rigid—so finding ways to make them flexible enough to insert transgastrically would be a big step forward.
A surgical gold rush
Someone will probably work out how to do it soon enough. “I can't believe things are accelerating as fast as they are,” says Mr Chen. There are now half a dozen billion-dollar companies developing new instruments for NOTES, he says. The number of patents filed by Ethicon Endo-Surgery has quadrupled over the past ten years, with a particular surge in the past couple of years. This is largely due to NOTES, says Mr Bally.
Needless to say, the needs of the surgeon are not the only reason for this. It has become a “gold rush”, says Dr Park. When laparoscopic surgery was first developed there was a surge in the development of new surgical instruments. This time round everyone is keen not to be left behind. But unlike the free-for-all in laparoscopy, in which many surgeons insisted on using their own proprietary devices, doctors and device-makers today appear to be working together to make tools that will be commercially feasible.
Some companies are canvassing doctors for such partnerships. In October the Natural Orifice Surgery Consortium for Assessment and Research, a joint effort of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, offered $1m for NOTES-related research proposals. The money will be provided by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, which is part of Johnson and Johnson.
Amid the hype the fact remains that the medical benefits of NOTES remain unproven, so there is an undercurrent of caution. “It's not a revolution, it's an evolution,” says W. Scott Melvin, the surgeon who carried out the first transgastric procedures in America, and who is also the director of the Centre for Minimally Invasive Surgery at Ohio State University Medical Centre, in Columbus. NOTES is really just the next step beyond laparoscopy, in other words. But, he says, adoption has been slow “because of a lack of adequate instruments”. That now seems to be changing fast.
Should We Love?
What's life without love?
Love is in the air. Well, it's supposed to be on this special holiday. The thought of celebrating Valentine's Day may make some rejoice and others want to crawl into a black hole.
Whatever the case may be, research findings are showing love can be healthy.
"People who feel loved, or when it's reciprocated, research says they live longer, happier, have better health and make more money," said Glen Jenson, Utah State University Family and Human Development professor and extension specialist.
Not only do people who feel loved have a better life expectancy, but when people experience relationships with other people, they are often experiencing a healthy lifestyle.
"I think we learn lessons by making relationships with other people. It's good and healthy to be in relationships with other people because you get a lot of good feedback, Jenson said.
"To have someone who cares for you and loves you, you feel more encouraged," Jenson said.
In the other aspect, people who do not experience that encouragement or love in their life from others may be more prone for depression or loneliness.
For people who don't have people to love them, there tends to be more depression, loneliness and they don't function near as well in society, Jenson said.
If loneliness is not what is being searched for, then how can one seek love?
The social settings provide many opportunity to meet other people. The more we get to know people, we appreciate them and love them more, Jenson said.
Most importantly, you need to learn to love yourself and then find one you can share that with, Jenson said.
There are different types of love -- Love for money, body size or shape, if they meet your needs, and the list goes on, Jenson said.
True love is almost all of those things. Just because one is rich may not be enough, Jenson said.
Aside from emotional health, love can be a benefit to physical health.
Studies have linked love and intimacy to good cardiovascular health.
Yale scientists surveyed 119 men and 40 women before they submitted to angiography tests.
Those who reported feeling loved and supported were found to have less blockage in their arteries, according to the Smart Marriages Web site, the coalition for marriage, family and couples education.
Dean Ornish has done several studies in his book, "Love and Survival," which is famous for his low-fat diet for reversing heart disease.
"The diet can play a significant role, Ornish said, "but nothing is more powerful than love and intimacy."
Awareness of loneliness or social isolation is the first step in healing, Ornish said.
"We don't have actual databases, but my opinion is at least as many people die from social isolation as smoking and maybe twice as much as deaths caused by dietary choices," said Redford Williams, director of behavioral medicine at Duke University in Durham.
In a biological perspective, there is also a hormone of love called oxytocin.
Scientists who work for the research center at the University of California, San Francisco, have been doing studies on oxytocin.
Oxytocin was shown to be associated with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people, according to a July 1999 UCSF news release.
"This is one of the first looks into biological basis for human attachment and bonding. Our study indicates that oxytocin may be mediating emotional experiences in close relationships," said Rebecca Turner, UCSF adjunct assitant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study.
Whether looking at it from a psychological, physiological or biological perspective, it holds true that love can benefit health.
Love is in the air. Well, it's supposed to be on this special holiday. The thought of celebrating Valentine's Day may make some rejoice and others want to crawl into a black hole.
Whatever the case may be, research findings are showing love can be healthy.
"People who feel loved, or when it's reciprocated, research says they live longer, happier, have better health and make more money," said Glen Jenson, Utah State University Family and Human Development professor and extension specialist.
Not only do people who feel loved have a better life expectancy, but when people experience relationships with other people, they are often experiencing a healthy lifestyle.
"I think we learn lessons by making relationships with other people. It's good and healthy to be in relationships with other people because you get a lot of good feedback, Jenson said.
"To have someone who cares for you and loves you, you feel more encouraged," Jenson said.
In the other aspect, people who do not experience that encouragement or love in their life from others may be more prone for depression or loneliness.
For people who don't have people to love them, there tends to be more depression, loneliness and they don't function near as well in society, Jenson said.
If loneliness is not what is being searched for, then how can one seek love?
The social settings provide many opportunity to meet other people. The more we get to know people, we appreciate them and love them more, Jenson said.
Most importantly, you need to learn to love yourself and then find one you can share that with, Jenson said.
There are different types of love -- Love for money, body size or shape, if they meet your needs, and the list goes on, Jenson said.
True love is almost all of those things. Just because one is rich may not be enough, Jenson said.
Aside from emotional health, love can be a benefit to physical health.
Studies have linked love and intimacy to good cardiovascular health.
Yale scientists surveyed 119 men and 40 women before they submitted to angiography tests.
Those who reported feeling loved and supported were found to have less blockage in their arteries, according to the Smart Marriages Web site, the coalition for marriage, family and couples education.
Dean Ornish has done several studies in his book, "Love and Survival," which is famous for his low-fat diet for reversing heart disease.
"The diet can play a significant role, Ornish said, "but nothing is more powerful than love and intimacy."
Awareness of loneliness or social isolation is the first step in healing, Ornish said.
"We don't have actual databases, but my opinion is at least as many people die from social isolation as smoking and maybe twice as much as deaths caused by dietary choices," said Redford Williams, director of behavioral medicine at Duke University in Durham.
In a biological perspective, there is also a hormone of love called oxytocin.
Scientists who work for the research center at the University of California, San Francisco, have been doing studies on oxytocin.
Oxytocin was shown to be associated with the ability to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships and healthy psychological boundaries with other people, according to a July 1999 UCSF news release.
"This is one of the first looks into biological basis for human attachment and bonding. Our study indicates that oxytocin may be mediating emotional experiences in close relationships," said Rebecca Turner, UCSF adjunct assitant professor of psychiatry and lead author of the study.
Whether looking at it from a psychological, physiological or biological perspective, it holds true that love can benefit health.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Arabic Alchemy.
A History of Muslim Pharmacy:
Arabic Alchemy and Toxicology in the Third/Ninth Century
Parallel with the development of pharmacy and pharmacology in Islam, there was also a similar development in alchemy and toxicology. Origins of these developments date back to the Greeks and Indians as well as the empiric knowledge of the indigenous population. Alchemy was commonly practiced during the third/ninth century and many works have been written on this art. Although alchemists failed achieve their goal in the transmutation of lesser metals into silver and gold, they succeeded to a degree in improving chemical techniques, equipment, and processes used, and built up their own methodology, symbolism, and style of communication.
One good example of an independent manual on toxicology is Kitab as-Sumum, in five treatises, attributed to Shanaq the Indian. It was translated into Arabic by al-'Abbas b. Sa'id al-Jawhari for caliph al-Ma'mun (reigned 197-217/813-833). It is a compilation from Greek and Indian sources of the third/ninth century. In the introduction, it is reported that the book was considered a secret of Indian sages and was consi-dered 'unique' and 'unequaled'. Kings kept it in their treasure cabinets, hidden from their children and bosom friends.
Poisons are discussed and how they can be detected by sight, touch, taste, or by the toxic symptoms which they cause. Descriptions are given of poisoned drinks, foods, clothes, carpets, beds, skin lotions, and eye salves, as well as narcotics and universal antidotes. A similar approach and information can be found in a later book on toxicology by Ibn Wahshiyyah during the early 300's/900's.
Another, equally important example, is the book on Poisons and their Antidotes by the famous Arab alchemist, Abu Musa Jabir b. Hayyan as-Sufi al-Kufi. In its six chapters, the author identifies poisons by their kinds and natural origins, their modes of action, dosages, methods of administration, choice of drugs, and the target organ which is attacked by each particular poison -a proposition that is modern in its chemo-therapeutic application. He also discussed general human anatomy, the four humors and how they are affected by purgatives and lethal drugs, warned against poisonous or poisoned matter, and prescribed anti-dotes. His discussion of body principles and subordinate organs and their function is similar to the previously mentioned Greek classification.
Significantly, the authenticity of Jabir and his writings have been controversial f for over one thousand years. In the fourth/tenth century, for example, many scholars and book dealers doubted even the very existence of a historical figure by the name of Jabir. The texts carrying his name were considered spurious and were thought to have been written by several -and possibly later -alchemists who hid their identity behind the famous and revered name of Jabir. Others speculated that even if such - a man existed, he could have written only Kitab ar-Rahmah (The Book of Mercy). On the other side of the controversy were scholars like Ibn an-Nadim who attributed numerous alchemical works to Jabir. To consider such a large number of writings to be the work of one man, no matter how prolific he was, seems doubtful or even impossible under the circumstances.
Just as the general origin and development of the art of alchemy is shrouded with mystery, so is the history of Arabic alchemy. In this chapter, however, al-chemy's beginnings in Islam will be discussed briefly, because of its relationship to the history of pharmacy and therapy.
The earliest figure associated with the development of Arabic alchemy was the Umayyah Prince, Khalid b. Yazid (d. 84/704). A grandson of caliph Mu'awiyyah, who founded the Umayyah Dynasty in 40/661, Khalid was the heir apparent to the throne. In 63/683, however, the throne was taken over by his second cousin, Marwan, with inheritance passing to his direct heirs. As a result of his disappointment and possibly personal inclination, Khalid turned his attention to the occult and hermetic sciences in order to fulfill an inner satisfaction and ambition. We are told that he summoned to Damascus the monk, Marianos, an alchemist hermit from Alexandria, Egypt, who taught him the secrets of the art. Later, Arab alchemists affected an intimate relationship between Khalid and the sixth Imam, ja'far as-sadiq (d. in 147/765) of al-Madinah who flourished after Prince Khalid. In this writer's estimation there is no basis for the ja'far alchemical legend which appears to be a fabrication. For there seems to be no relationship between him and Prince Khalid as a student on the one hand nor between him and jabir as a teacher on the other.
The first Arab alchemist who is known to have promote,d the practice of alchemy as a profession and a career, was the previously mentioned master, jabir b. Hayyan, who flourished about 183/800. Some information can be gathered from his epithets. He was a scion of the Arabian Azd tribe hence called al-Azdi. He resided in Kufah in southern Iraq hence al Kufi and had led the religious and ascetic life of a mystic: as-sufi. The few works many moderate historians attribute to him, such as the Book of Mercy, can only be considered as an early third/ninth century contribution. At this time, Greek, Indian, and the indigenous cultural activities in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt interacted harmoniously. Apparently, j abir compiled few treatises which incorporated various hermetical concepts, however, these attracted considerable attention and publicity. The complex society that existed in third/ninth century Iraq, together with the resultant political upheavals, paved the way toward popularization of secretive societies and underground organizations. These sects, such as the Mu'tazilah, were often politically motivated. The society of Ikhwan as-Safa (Brethren of Sincerity) is another example, who formed a part of a conspiracy against the state, and yet contributed to Islamic culture, a large encyclopedia of knowledge in 52 epistles on religion, politics, philosophy, and the sciences.
From the beginning of the third/ninth century, a progressive group of alchemists developed. After the 21415/830'5 this group constituted a well-defined and active cult which had a separate entity with different objectives from that of the practitioners of the healing arts.
That the aims pursued by alchemists to make silver and gold from lesser metals r were never achieved, encouraged members of these cults to write more and more anonymous books burdened with ambiguous symbolisms and abstracts. They sought to attract more converts and were not much concerned about gaining credit or
lacking it. They were outspoken in demanding that ignorant people and untrained disciples should not read or even hold these 'sacred' writings in their hands. The apparent fact, however, confirms the belief that they diligently sought more followers and vehemently defended their cause and claims by every possible means. One,
of course, was to attribute spurious writings to Imam ja'far and jabir for prestige and sanctity. With the same fervor, many Muslim opponents of alchemy, such as al-Kindi (d. ca. 260/874) attacked the claims of the alchemists and considered their works to be fakes and deceptive and called their members and propagators charlatans.
After Jabir, we know of such alchemists as Abu al-Fa'id Ohun-Nun (d. 246/ 861) of Egypt who wrote several alchemical treatises. Another prolific author was Ibn Wahshiyyah (flourished ca. 287/900) who wrote on a variety of topics including alchemy, toxicology, magic, and astrology. Rational alchemical activities, however, reached a climax in the works of ar-Razi, a contemporary of Ibn Wahshiyah, and a far more original writer. Ar-Razi's works are of much higher caliber both in their relevance to alchemy, as well as to pharmacy and medicine as we shall see shortly. Ar-Razi's works, no doubt, pioneered scientific alchemy and outlined a rational course for its development in Islam.
Hopefully, scholars who are interested in the history of chemistry, and Arabic alchemy in particular, might give us more details concerning the so-called Jabirean corpus in future studies. Here, I would like briefly to describe only a collection of some fourteen alchemical treatises ascribed to Jabir which are bound in one volume and housed at the National library of Medicine. They reflect the trend, approach, and type of information circulated in third/ninth-century Arabic alchemical manuals. Several of these treatises represent some of the best works in this field that were written in Arabic. In them, one senses a rational and experimental approach based on originality in interpretations and genuine interest in alchemical procedures. For example, the first series of four books or treatises on amalgums, al-Malaghim, bring new rational material on the subject based on experimentations. The author or compiler applied the names of planets to minerals, a system that continued to be used up to the twelfth/eighteenth century in Europe. For example, he symbolized mars for iron; the moon for silver; venus for Copper; mercury for live mercury, and Saturn and Jupiter for lead and tin, respectively. In the process of experimenting in the making of amalgamations and elixir several important mineral and chemical substances were used such as sal ammoniac, vitriols, sulphur, arsenic, common salt, quicklime, tutty, malachite, manganese, marcasite, natron, impure sodium borate,
and vinegar. Among the many simples of botanical origin, the compiler used fennel, saffron, pomegranate rinds, celery, leek, sesame, rocket, olives, mustard, and lichen. Important gums were used, such as frankincense and acacia. Of animal origin the following were included: hair, blood, egg white, milk and sour milk, honey, and dung. Among the equipment used were pots, pans, tuber, retorts, alembics, crucibles, and various distilling apparatus; covering platters, ceramic jars, tumblers, mortars and pestles (often made of glass or metals) ; and tripods, scales, and medicinal bottles. The range and scope of alchemical operations included: distillation, sublimation, evaporation, pulverization, washing, straining, cooking, calcination, and condensation (thickening of liquid compounds).
Another interesting part in this series of alchemical documents on amalgamation is that which is devoted to artificial dying of metal, such as silvering and gilding. The idea of using these mordents is to imitate the genuine substances with supposedly 'permanent' dyes to promote sales. The approach and reasoning seem objective and businesslike. There was apparently no intention tocheat the consumer, but rather to make use of advanced technology. This shows the commendable and practical part played by the early Arabic alchemists and jewelers.
Arabic Alchemy and Toxicology in the Third/Ninth Century
Parallel with the development of pharmacy and pharmacology in Islam, there was also a similar development in alchemy and toxicology. Origins of these developments date back to the Greeks and Indians as well as the empiric knowledge of the indigenous population. Alchemy was commonly practiced during the third/ninth century and many works have been written on this art. Although alchemists failed achieve their goal in the transmutation of lesser metals into silver and gold, they succeeded to a degree in improving chemical techniques, equipment, and processes used, and built up their own methodology, symbolism, and style of communication.
One good example of an independent manual on toxicology is Kitab as-Sumum, in five treatises, attributed to Shanaq the Indian. It was translated into Arabic by al-'Abbas b. Sa'id al-Jawhari for caliph al-Ma'mun (reigned 197-217/813-833). It is a compilation from Greek and Indian sources of the third/ninth century. In the introduction, it is reported that the book was considered a secret of Indian sages and was consi-dered 'unique' and 'unequaled'. Kings kept it in their treasure cabinets, hidden from their children and bosom friends.
Poisons are discussed and how they can be detected by sight, touch, taste, or by the toxic symptoms which they cause. Descriptions are given of poisoned drinks, foods, clothes, carpets, beds, skin lotions, and eye salves, as well as narcotics and universal antidotes. A similar approach and information can be found in a later book on toxicology by Ibn Wahshiyyah during the early 300's/900's.
Another, equally important example, is the book on Poisons and their Antidotes by the famous Arab alchemist, Abu Musa Jabir b. Hayyan as-Sufi al-Kufi. In its six chapters, the author identifies poisons by their kinds and natural origins, their modes of action, dosages, methods of administration, choice of drugs, and the target organ which is attacked by each particular poison -a proposition that is modern in its chemo-therapeutic application. He also discussed general human anatomy, the four humors and how they are affected by purgatives and lethal drugs, warned against poisonous or poisoned matter, and prescribed anti-dotes. His discussion of body principles and subordinate organs and their function is similar to the previously mentioned Greek classification.
Significantly, the authenticity of Jabir and his writings have been controversial f for over one thousand years. In the fourth/tenth century, for example, many scholars and book dealers doubted even the very existence of a historical figure by the name of Jabir. The texts carrying his name were considered spurious and were thought to have been written by several -and possibly later -alchemists who hid their identity behind the famous and revered name of Jabir. Others speculated that even if such - a man existed, he could have written only Kitab ar-Rahmah (The Book of Mercy). On the other side of the controversy were scholars like Ibn an-Nadim who attributed numerous alchemical works to Jabir. To consider such a large number of writings to be the work of one man, no matter how prolific he was, seems doubtful or even impossible under the circumstances.
Just as the general origin and development of the art of alchemy is shrouded with mystery, so is the history of Arabic alchemy. In this chapter, however, al-chemy's beginnings in Islam will be discussed briefly, because of its relationship to the history of pharmacy and therapy.
The earliest figure associated with the development of Arabic alchemy was the Umayyah Prince, Khalid b. Yazid (d. 84/704). A grandson of caliph Mu'awiyyah, who founded the Umayyah Dynasty in 40/661, Khalid was the heir apparent to the throne. In 63/683, however, the throne was taken over by his second cousin, Marwan, with inheritance passing to his direct heirs. As a result of his disappointment and possibly personal inclination, Khalid turned his attention to the occult and hermetic sciences in order to fulfill an inner satisfaction and ambition. We are told that he summoned to Damascus the monk, Marianos, an alchemist hermit from Alexandria, Egypt, who taught him the secrets of the art. Later, Arab alchemists affected an intimate relationship between Khalid and the sixth Imam, ja'far as-sadiq (d. in 147/765) of al-Madinah who flourished after Prince Khalid. In this writer's estimation there is no basis for the ja'far alchemical legend which appears to be a fabrication. For there seems to be no relationship between him and Prince Khalid as a student on the one hand nor between him and jabir as a teacher on the other.
The first Arab alchemist who is known to have promote,d the practice of alchemy as a profession and a career, was the previously mentioned master, jabir b. Hayyan, who flourished about 183/800. Some information can be gathered from his epithets. He was a scion of the Arabian Azd tribe hence called al-Azdi. He resided in Kufah in southern Iraq hence al Kufi and had led the religious and ascetic life of a mystic: as-sufi. The few works many moderate historians attribute to him, such as the Book of Mercy, can only be considered as an early third/ninth century contribution. At this time, Greek, Indian, and the indigenous cultural activities in Iraq, Syria, and Egypt interacted harmoniously. Apparently, j abir compiled few treatises which incorporated various hermetical concepts, however, these attracted considerable attention and publicity. The complex society that existed in third/ninth century Iraq, together with the resultant political upheavals, paved the way toward popularization of secretive societies and underground organizations. These sects, such as the Mu'tazilah, were often politically motivated. The society of Ikhwan as-Safa (Brethren of Sincerity) is another example, who formed a part of a conspiracy against the state, and yet contributed to Islamic culture, a large encyclopedia of knowledge in 52 epistles on religion, politics, philosophy, and the sciences.
From the beginning of the third/ninth century, a progressive group of alchemists developed. After the 21415/830'5 this group constituted a well-defined and active cult which had a separate entity with different objectives from that of the practitioners of the healing arts.
That the aims pursued by alchemists to make silver and gold from lesser metals r were never achieved, encouraged members of these cults to write more and more anonymous books burdened with ambiguous symbolisms and abstracts. They sought to attract more converts and were not much concerned about gaining credit or
lacking it. They were outspoken in demanding that ignorant people and untrained disciples should not read or even hold these 'sacred' writings in their hands. The apparent fact, however, confirms the belief that they diligently sought more followers and vehemently defended their cause and claims by every possible means. One,
of course, was to attribute spurious writings to Imam ja'far and jabir for prestige and sanctity. With the same fervor, many Muslim opponents of alchemy, such as al-Kindi (d. ca. 260/874) attacked the claims of the alchemists and considered their works to be fakes and deceptive and called their members and propagators charlatans.
After Jabir, we know of such alchemists as Abu al-Fa'id Ohun-Nun (d. 246/ 861) of Egypt who wrote several alchemical treatises. Another prolific author was Ibn Wahshiyyah (flourished ca. 287/900) who wrote on a variety of topics including alchemy, toxicology, magic, and astrology. Rational alchemical activities, however, reached a climax in the works of ar-Razi, a contemporary of Ibn Wahshiyah, and a far more original writer. Ar-Razi's works are of much higher caliber both in their relevance to alchemy, as well as to pharmacy and medicine as we shall see shortly. Ar-Razi's works, no doubt, pioneered scientific alchemy and outlined a rational course for its development in Islam.
Hopefully, scholars who are interested in the history of chemistry, and Arabic alchemy in particular, might give us more details concerning the so-called Jabirean corpus in future studies. Here, I would like briefly to describe only a collection of some fourteen alchemical treatises ascribed to Jabir which are bound in one volume and housed at the National library of Medicine. They reflect the trend, approach, and type of information circulated in third/ninth-century Arabic alchemical manuals. Several of these treatises represent some of the best works in this field that were written in Arabic. In them, one senses a rational and experimental approach based on originality in interpretations and genuine interest in alchemical procedures. For example, the first series of four books or treatises on amalgums, al-Malaghim, bring new rational material on the subject based on experimentations. The author or compiler applied the names of planets to minerals, a system that continued to be used up to the twelfth/eighteenth century in Europe. For example, he symbolized mars for iron; the moon for silver; venus for Copper; mercury for live mercury, and Saturn and Jupiter for lead and tin, respectively. In the process of experimenting in the making of amalgamations and elixir several important mineral and chemical substances were used such as sal ammoniac, vitriols, sulphur, arsenic, common salt, quicklime, tutty, malachite, manganese, marcasite, natron, impure sodium borate,
and vinegar. Among the many simples of botanical origin, the compiler used fennel, saffron, pomegranate rinds, celery, leek, sesame, rocket, olives, mustard, and lichen. Important gums were used, such as frankincense and acacia. Of animal origin the following were included: hair, blood, egg white, milk and sour milk, honey, and dung. Among the equipment used were pots, pans, tuber, retorts, alembics, crucibles, and various distilling apparatus; covering platters, ceramic jars, tumblers, mortars and pestles (often made of glass or metals) ; and tripods, scales, and medicinal bottles. The range and scope of alchemical operations included: distillation, sublimation, evaporation, pulverization, washing, straining, cooking, calcination, and condensation (thickening of liquid compounds).
Another interesting part in this series of alchemical documents on amalgamation is that which is devoted to artificial dying of metal, such as silvering and gilding. The idea of using these mordents is to imitate the genuine substances with supposedly 'permanent' dyes to promote sales. The approach and reasoning seem objective and businesslike. There was apparently no intention tocheat the consumer, but rather to make use of advanced technology. This shows the commendable and practical part played by the early Arabic alchemists and jewelers.
Bogar-The great siddha.
Bogar was a legendary South Indian siddhar (a mystic, yogi). He was said to have miraculous powers. He is also said in some New Age circles to have been associated with Mahavatar Babaji. Bhogar was a South Indian by birth, belonging to the caste of goldsmiths, who became a siddhapurusha under the guidance of Kalangi Nathar. In Bogar's Saptakanda he reveals details of various medicinal preparations to his disciple Pullippani (so named as he is believed to have wandered in the forests atop a puli or tiger) and at every stage he quotes his guru as the authority. Also Pulippani must have been a young man then, as he is often referred to as a balaka.
It is said that as per the last wishes of his guru, Bhogar proceeded to China to spread the knowledge of siddha sciences and his journey is said to have been made with the aid of an aircraft; he demonstrated to the Chinese the details of the construction of the aircraft and later built for them a sea-going craft using a steam engine. The details of these and other experi- ments demonstrated by Bhogar in China are clearly documented in the Saptakanda.
Bogar's guru, Kalangi Nathar, is believed to be a Chinese who attained siddhi in South India and thus became included among the Eighteen Siddhars.
Lao Tse - the founder of Taoism (5th century B.C.) was the first Chinese to propound the theory of duality of matter -- the male Yang and female Yin -- which conforms to the Siddha concept of Shiva - Shakti or positive-negative forces. This very same concept was first revealed by the adi-siddhar Agasthya Rishi, whose period is as old as the Vedas, which have been conservatively dated at 3500 B.C. Also alchemy as a science was practised in China only after B.C. 135 and was practiced as an art until B.C. 175 when a royal decree was enacted banning alchemical preparation of precious metals by the Celestial Empire; these details are recounted in the two existing Chinese books of alchemy Shih Chi and Treatise of Elixir Refined in Nine Couldrons, both dated to the first century B.C.
The emergence of Lao Tse with his theory of duality of matter and the journey of Bhogar to China seem to have taken place about the same time and it is even possible that Bhogar himself went under the name of Lao Tse in China, like another Siddharishi Sriramadevar, who was known as Yacob in Arabia.
This seems likely considering that: before Lao Tse the concept of duality of matter finds no mention in any Chinese treatise; alchemy as a science emerged only after B.C. 135, i.e. four centuries after Lao Tse; there was a sudden spurt of alchemical practice aher the emergency of Lao Tse; and the duality of matter and alchemy have been mentioned in South Indian scriptures that antidate Lao Tse by centuries.
Bogar anticipating that in due course of period, human beings will suffer from large number of disease. As an expert in medicine he used 4448 rare herbs and made 9 poisonous medicine, mixing these 9 poisons into one needs great knowledege and skill, to make a Master Medicine ( One medicine to cure all disease ). Thirumoolar also discuss one such Master Medicine in his book Thirumandhiram. With the consultation of Agasthiar ( Father of Ayurvedic Medicine) and other siddhars Bogar mixed the 9 poisons ( Nava Bashanam ) and made the Master Medicine in the form of Lord Murugan which is currently worshiped at Palani Murugan temple. There is a place near Palani Hill called Thanasiappan Temple which is the place were Bogar mixed the Nava Bashanam and made the Murugan idol.
Bogar and others then decided that by using the milk and panchamirtham ( a sweet recipe ) poured on the idol, one can extract the medicine from the idol. The milk and panchamritham then becomes medicine to cure disease. After installing Lord Murugan Navabashana idol at the Palani Hill, Bogar used to worship it with milk abishegam ( pouring milk on the idol ) and panchamirtha abishegam ( pouring panchamirtham on the idol ).
His disciple Pulipani siddhar then took over the job of Lord Murugan pooja after Bogar went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi - the highest samadhi stage; where the Mind dissolves with Matter and Energy. Bogar Samadhi is inside Palani Murugan temple at Palani Hill. Actually Bogar himself constructed his samadhi exactly under the Lord Murugan Navabasha idol and went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi there. The entrance to his samadhi is a cave like structure, now also worship for this great siddhar is conducted at this entrance where he is last seen by his disciples which is at the Palani temple. The shrine at the top of the hill, though later than the Tiru Avinankudi temple, has overshadowed the older temple in the present century due to its popular appeal. Created by Bhogar, it was maintained after him by sage Pulippani and his descendants almost as their personal and private temple.
During the time of Tirumalai Nayak, his general Ramappayyan handed over the puja rights to newly brought Brahmin priests. The descendants of Pulippani were compensated for the loss of this right by being given: Certain duties of superintendence Right to some annual presents Right to shoot off, at the Dasara Festival, the arrow which symbolises Subramanya's victory over asuras. Right to be buried at the foot of the steps leading to the hill, if some of them so chose.
It is said that as per the last wishes of his guru, Bhogar proceeded to China to spread the knowledge of siddha sciences and his journey is said to have been made with the aid of an aircraft; he demonstrated to the Chinese the details of the construction of the aircraft and later built for them a sea-going craft using a steam engine. The details of these and other experi- ments demonstrated by Bhogar in China are clearly documented in the Saptakanda.
Bogar's guru, Kalangi Nathar, is believed to be a Chinese who attained siddhi in South India and thus became included among the Eighteen Siddhars.
Lao Tse - the founder of Taoism (5th century B.C.) was the first Chinese to propound the theory of duality of matter -- the male Yang and female Yin -- which conforms to the Siddha concept of Shiva - Shakti or positive-negative forces. This very same concept was first revealed by the adi-siddhar Agasthya Rishi, whose period is as old as the Vedas, which have been conservatively dated at 3500 B.C. Also alchemy as a science was practised in China only after B.C. 135 and was practiced as an art until B.C. 175 when a royal decree was enacted banning alchemical preparation of precious metals by the Celestial Empire; these details are recounted in the two existing Chinese books of alchemy Shih Chi and Treatise of Elixir Refined in Nine Couldrons, both dated to the first century B.C.
The emergence of Lao Tse with his theory of duality of matter and the journey of Bhogar to China seem to have taken place about the same time and it is even possible that Bhogar himself went under the name of Lao Tse in China, like another Siddharishi Sriramadevar, who was known as Yacob in Arabia.
This seems likely considering that: before Lao Tse the concept of duality of matter finds no mention in any Chinese treatise; alchemy as a science emerged only after B.C. 135, i.e. four centuries after Lao Tse; there was a sudden spurt of alchemical practice aher the emergency of Lao Tse; and the duality of matter and alchemy have been mentioned in South Indian scriptures that antidate Lao Tse by centuries.
Bogar anticipating that in due course of period, human beings will suffer from large number of disease. As an expert in medicine he used 4448 rare herbs and made 9 poisonous medicine, mixing these 9 poisons into one needs great knowledege and skill, to make a Master Medicine ( One medicine to cure all disease ). Thirumoolar also discuss one such Master Medicine in his book Thirumandhiram. With the consultation of Agasthiar ( Father of Ayurvedic Medicine) and other siddhars Bogar mixed the 9 poisons ( Nava Bashanam ) and made the Master Medicine in the form of Lord Murugan which is currently worshiped at Palani Murugan temple. There is a place near Palani Hill called Thanasiappan Temple which is the place were Bogar mixed the Nava Bashanam and made the Murugan idol.
Bogar and others then decided that by using the milk and panchamirtham ( a sweet recipe ) poured on the idol, one can extract the medicine from the idol. The milk and panchamritham then becomes medicine to cure disease. After installing Lord Murugan Navabashana idol at the Palani Hill, Bogar used to worship it with milk abishegam ( pouring milk on the idol ) and panchamirtha abishegam ( pouring panchamirtham on the idol ).
His disciple Pulipani siddhar then took over the job of Lord Murugan pooja after Bogar went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi - the highest samadhi stage; where the Mind dissolves with Matter and Energy. Bogar Samadhi is inside Palani Murugan temple at Palani Hill. Actually Bogar himself constructed his samadhi exactly under the Lord Murugan Navabasha idol and went into Nirvigalpa Samadhi there. The entrance to his samadhi is a cave like structure, now also worship for this great siddhar is conducted at this entrance where he is last seen by his disciples which is at the Palani temple. The shrine at the top of the hill, though later than the Tiru Avinankudi temple, has overshadowed the older temple in the present century due to its popular appeal. Created by Bhogar, it was maintained after him by sage Pulippani and his descendants almost as their personal and private temple.
During the time of Tirumalai Nayak, his general Ramappayyan handed over the puja rights to newly brought Brahmin priests. The descendants of Pulippani were compensated for the loss of this right by being given: Certain duties of superintendence Right to some annual presents Right to shoot off, at the Dasara Festival, the arrow which symbolises Subramanya's victory over asuras. Right to be buried at the foot of the steps leading to the hill, if some of them so chose.
The Siddhas...
Who are the Tamil Siddhas?
The term 'Tamil Siddhas' is used to refer to a special group of yogis who lived in the southernmost province of India known as Tamil Nadu. They were spiritual and social rebels and iconoclasts of the highest order. They built no organization, refused to adhere to religious and social norms of their day, and defied classification -- which, ironically, is what we are attempting here ! While they span several thousand years of history, they do exhibit certain common characteristics which enable us to study them as a group.
In doing so, however, we are faced with a number of problems. Indian spirituality has never bothered to keep accurate history because it has pointedly emphasized the message over the messenger. This is even truer of Tamil Siddhas, who were loners who roamed the forests and mountains of Tamil Nadu, unaffiliated, and unmindful of public recognition or rejection. If they had real names, no one knew them ! Many are known by their popular names, e.g., azukaNNi siddhar (one with ecstatic, weeping eyes), kaDuveLi siddhar ('severe void'), etc.
Even allowing for the generally murky nature of Indian history and the tendency of followers to embellish the exploits and exaggerate the ancience of their sages, the Tamil Siddhas present unique problems to a student. When historical 'facts' collide, e.g., when facts reveal the presence of a person in two places at the same time or in two different centuries, it can usually be considered an inconsistency. But traversing time and space are two of the essential 'powers' (siddhis) of a siddha and cannot be considered, ipso facto, inconsistencies !
Distinguishing Characteristics of Tamil Siddhas
There is a fair amount of confusion as to who is a Tamil Siddha and who is not. Every Tamil saint is not a Tamil Siddha. Traditionally, the Tamil Siddhas are thought to begin with tirumUlar in 5th or 6th century CE (although there have been many siddhas in southern India prior to tirumUlar, such as agastiyar and tiruvaLLuvar). From tirumUlar, two philosophical lineages developed: one was the official, establishment religion called Saiva siddhAnta. This consisted of a monastic order: you have an Adheenam, you have monks, you have a spiritual head, you have property, rituals, power, money, socio-political activities in addition to religious – in short, a part of the society. Although tirumUlar was a yogi with a primarily nondual philosophy, Saiva siddhAnta grew to become primarily bhakti-oriented, and from 11th century onwards (after meykanDAr), very dualistic.
In contrast, the Tamil Siddhas were the “unofficial” (and, according to some, “illegitimate”) descendants of tirumUlar’s wisdom. They were anti-establishment revolutionaries, living outside the society while helping the society in a number of ways. They formed no order, recognized no official lineage. They were true “socialists” (not the mere political kind) and took on the status quo. Fearlessly, they attacked the “empty” ritualism of the pUrvameemAmsakas (who were of the brahmin caste) as well as Saiva siddhantis (who were generally not brahmins).
The Tamil Siddhas were for the little guy, the common man and woman. They helped people not only in the latter's spiritual quest, but also in their daily lives with their unique medical knowledge. They believed in spiritual egalitarianism and said realization was available to every person, not just those who shaved their heads, worshipped personal gods, or were learned in scriptures. For this reason, they distilled the essence of their wisdom into songs in simple, easy, understandable Tamil. No wonder the religious establishment was mad at them and vilified them. In fact, about 120 years ago, the head of a major Adheenam sent his personal emissaries to scour the villages of Tamil Nadu, in a futile effort to locate every published copy of Sivavakkiyar’s songs, buy it from the owner, and burn it! But, due to the genius of the Tamil Siddhas who made their compositions rhythmic and tuneful, the songs did not need printed pages; they survived on the lips of housewives when they cooked, mothers when they sang lullabies, and young girls when they skipped and played pANDi in the streets!
Following are some of the distinguishing features of the Tamil Siddha philosophy:
1. They followed Kundalini Yogic path, not the Bhakti path.
Accordingly, they never wrote in praise of any personal god. (For them Siva was consciousness, Sakti, His consort, was energy – as per tirumUlar’s metaphysics. The names that they usually use to refer to the ultimate reality -- nAgainAthar, vAlaipeN, etc. -- are pointed references to Kundalini). Thus, they never went around from town to town, singing praise of the local version of Siva (which is what great Siva devotees such as the nAyanmArs of Tamil Nadu did. This is also the reason that most lists of Tamil Siddhas don’t include the great paTTinathAr, who used to sing in praise of local deities -- although he was a siddha in every other respect. Of course, the paTTinathAr issue is a little more complicated; there may have been three different paTTinathArs! The name simply means "the guy from the city!").
This does not mean that the Tamil Siddhas were unemotional, dry-as-dust, cerebral yogis -- as evidenced by the ecstatic overflow of azukaNNi siddhar, the sarcastic rage of Sivavakkiyar, the piteous wailing of bhadragiriyar, and the bouncy, joyous alliterations of kongaNa nAyanAr.
2. They were interested in achieving their goal of self-realization, not philosophizing! Thus, we don’t find extensive metaphysical treatment in their songs. Their approach is technical, namely, Kundalini yoga. But the philosophy underlying their approach is clearly advaitic, i.e., reality is nondual. tirumUlar’s tirumantiram is clearly advaitic, too. But, the Saiva siddhanta order was given a strong dual character in 11th and 12th centuries by aghOraSiva and meykaNDAr. In my personal opinion, the Tamil Siddhas felt that they were the true guardians of tirumUlar’s pure yogic vision, which is why they were so hard on the ritualists.
3. A unique feature of the Tamil Siddha philosophy is the immortality of the body, not just the spirit. Thus, to them, making the body immortal was a natural step in achieving the ultimate goal.
In experimenting with this aspect, they arrived at various powers (siddhis). In this quest, they used a lot of medicinal substances, too; a byproduct of their efforts in this respect is the Siddha medicine, which uses not only herbs but also oxides of metals, particularly mercury. While they used their medical knowledge to the benefit of the society, the real purpose of their alchemy was to transmute the mortal physical body into an immortal subtle body.
As a corollary, it is held that a siddha won’t die, he will simply sublimate into light. This is a pervasive belief in the religious thought of Tamil Nadu. Of course, many great saints who were not siddhas are said to have dissolved into light, too. (nandanAr, sambandhar, sundaramUrti nayanar). The most recent instance of such sublimation involves rAmalinga aDikaL in the nineteenth century. This case is interesting because the local British authorities (who then ruled India) investigated and verified his disappearance from within a locked room.
4. Another major characteristic of the Tamil Siddhas is their universalism – the belief that all religions lead to the same reality. This is an ancient Tamil tradition and the Tamil Siddhas are the rightful guardians of this view. Many examples exist, such as tiruvaLLuvar, tirumUlar, tAyumAnavar (who says “I have researched all religions of the world; they all end in the very same silence”), and most recently, vaLLalAr rAmalinga aDikaL.
Some Tamil Siddhas
The following are some of the better known and relatively influential Tamil Siddhas. It is, by no means, a complete list.
1. tirumUlar
2. bhOgar
3. SivavAkkiyar
4. kAkabhuSunDar
(also referred to as kAkapusunDar or kAgabujanDar)
5. paTTiNathAr
(some would not count him as a Tamil Siddha)
6. pAmbATTi siddhar
7. kaDuveLi siddhar
8. azukaNNi siddhar
9. kongaNa nAyanAr
10. bhadragiriyAr
11. kudambai siddhar
12. rAmalinga aDikaL
The inclusion of many other famous names can be argued for or against. We can obviously include agastiyar and tiruvaLLuvar. On the other hand, the famous nAyanmArs (appar, sundarar, mAnikkavAchagar, jnAnasambandhar) were primarily bhaktas, not yogis. The great tayumAnavar was (like ramaNa maharshi) primarily a jnani, not a yogi. Legitimate siddhas like sadaSiva brahmEndra, who lived in Tamil Nadu, are not categorized as Tamil Siddhas because they composed their works in Sanskrit, not Tamil. In any case, it is important to understand that we are classifying these individuals for the sake of convenience and clarity; such classification has only limited, local utility. To truly define these people would be like "trying to grab a beam of light !"
The term 'Tamil Siddhas' is used to refer to a special group of yogis who lived in the southernmost province of India known as Tamil Nadu. They were spiritual and social rebels and iconoclasts of the highest order. They built no organization, refused to adhere to religious and social norms of their day, and defied classification -- which, ironically, is what we are attempting here ! While they span several thousand years of history, they do exhibit certain common characteristics which enable us to study them as a group.
In doing so, however, we are faced with a number of problems. Indian spirituality has never bothered to keep accurate history because it has pointedly emphasized the message over the messenger. This is even truer of Tamil Siddhas, who were loners who roamed the forests and mountains of Tamil Nadu, unaffiliated, and unmindful of public recognition or rejection. If they had real names, no one knew them ! Many are known by their popular names, e.g., azukaNNi siddhar (one with ecstatic, weeping eyes), kaDuveLi siddhar ('severe void'), etc.
Even allowing for the generally murky nature of Indian history and the tendency of followers to embellish the exploits and exaggerate the ancience of their sages, the Tamil Siddhas present unique problems to a student. When historical 'facts' collide, e.g., when facts reveal the presence of a person in two places at the same time or in two different centuries, it can usually be considered an inconsistency. But traversing time and space are two of the essential 'powers' (siddhis) of a siddha and cannot be considered, ipso facto, inconsistencies !
Distinguishing Characteristics of Tamil Siddhas
There is a fair amount of confusion as to who is a Tamil Siddha and who is not. Every Tamil saint is not a Tamil Siddha. Traditionally, the Tamil Siddhas are thought to begin with tirumUlar in 5th or 6th century CE (although there have been many siddhas in southern India prior to tirumUlar, such as agastiyar and tiruvaLLuvar). From tirumUlar, two philosophical lineages developed: one was the official, establishment religion called Saiva siddhAnta. This consisted of a monastic order: you have an Adheenam, you have monks, you have a spiritual head, you have property, rituals, power, money, socio-political activities in addition to religious – in short, a part of the society. Although tirumUlar was a yogi with a primarily nondual philosophy, Saiva siddhAnta grew to become primarily bhakti-oriented, and from 11th century onwards (after meykanDAr), very dualistic.
In contrast, the Tamil Siddhas were the “unofficial” (and, according to some, “illegitimate”) descendants of tirumUlar’s wisdom. They were anti-establishment revolutionaries, living outside the society while helping the society in a number of ways. They formed no order, recognized no official lineage. They were true “socialists” (not the mere political kind) and took on the status quo. Fearlessly, they attacked the “empty” ritualism of the pUrvameemAmsakas (who were of the brahmin caste) as well as Saiva siddhantis (who were generally not brahmins).
The Tamil Siddhas were for the little guy, the common man and woman. They helped people not only in the latter's spiritual quest, but also in their daily lives with their unique medical knowledge. They believed in spiritual egalitarianism and said realization was available to every person, not just those who shaved their heads, worshipped personal gods, or were learned in scriptures. For this reason, they distilled the essence of their wisdom into songs in simple, easy, understandable Tamil. No wonder the religious establishment was mad at them and vilified them. In fact, about 120 years ago, the head of a major Adheenam sent his personal emissaries to scour the villages of Tamil Nadu, in a futile effort to locate every published copy of Sivavakkiyar’s songs, buy it from the owner, and burn it! But, due to the genius of the Tamil Siddhas who made their compositions rhythmic and tuneful, the songs did not need printed pages; they survived on the lips of housewives when they cooked, mothers when they sang lullabies, and young girls when they skipped and played pANDi in the streets!
Following are some of the distinguishing features of the Tamil Siddha philosophy:
1. They followed Kundalini Yogic path, not the Bhakti path.
Accordingly, they never wrote in praise of any personal god. (For them Siva was consciousness, Sakti, His consort, was energy – as per tirumUlar’s metaphysics. The names that they usually use to refer to the ultimate reality -- nAgainAthar, vAlaipeN, etc. -- are pointed references to Kundalini). Thus, they never went around from town to town, singing praise of the local version of Siva (which is what great Siva devotees such as the nAyanmArs of Tamil Nadu did. This is also the reason that most lists of Tamil Siddhas don’t include the great paTTinathAr, who used to sing in praise of local deities -- although he was a siddha in every other respect. Of course, the paTTinathAr issue is a little more complicated; there may have been three different paTTinathArs! The name simply means "the guy from the city!").
This does not mean that the Tamil Siddhas were unemotional, dry-as-dust, cerebral yogis -- as evidenced by the ecstatic overflow of azukaNNi siddhar, the sarcastic rage of Sivavakkiyar, the piteous wailing of bhadragiriyar, and the bouncy, joyous alliterations of kongaNa nAyanAr.
2. They were interested in achieving their goal of self-realization, not philosophizing! Thus, we don’t find extensive metaphysical treatment in their songs. Their approach is technical, namely, Kundalini yoga. But the philosophy underlying their approach is clearly advaitic, i.e., reality is nondual. tirumUlar’s tirumantiram is clearly advaitic, too. But, the Saiva siddhanta order was given a strong dual character in 11th and 12th centuries by aghOraSiva and meykaNDAr. In my personal opinion, the Tamil Siddhas felt that they were the true guardians of tirumUlar’s pure yogic vision, which is why they were so hard on the ritualists.
3. A unique feature of the Tamil Siddha philosophy is the immortality of the body, not just the spirit. Thus, to them, making the body immortal was a natural step in achieving the ultimate goal.
In experimenting with this aspect, they arrived at various powers (siddhis). In this quest, they used a lot of medicinal substances, too; a byproduct of their efforts in this respect is the Siddha medicine, which uses not only herbs but also oxides of metals, particularly mercury. While they used their medical knowledge to the benefit of the society, the real purpose of their alchemy was to transmute the mortal physical body into an immortal subtle body.
As a corollary, it is held that a siddha won’t die, he will simply sublimate into light. This is a pervasive belief in the religious thought of Tamil Nadu. Of course, many great saints who were not siddhas are said to have dissolved into light, too. (nandanAr, sambandhar, sundaramUrti nayanar). The most recent instance of such sublimation involves rAmalinga aDikaL in the nineteenth century. This case is interesting because the local British authorities (who then ruled India) investigated and verified his disappearance from within a locked room.
4. Another major characteristic of the Tamil Siddhas is their universalism – the belief that all religions lead to the same reality. This is an ancient Tamil tradition and the Tamil Siddhas are the rightful guardians of this view. Many examples exist, such as tiruvaLLuvar, tirumUlar, tAyumAnavar (who says “I have researched all religions of the world; they all end in the very same silence”), and most recently, vaLLalAr rAmalinga aDikaL.
Some Tamil Siddhas
The following are some of the better known and relatively influential Tamil Siddhas. It is, by no means, a complete list.
1. tirumUlar
2. bhOgar
3. SivavAkkiyar
4. kAkabhuSunDar
(also referred to as kAkapusunDar or kAgabujanDar)
5. paTTiNathAr
(some would not count him as a Tamil Siddha)
6. pAmbATTi siddhar
7. kaDuveLi siddhar
8. azukaNNi siddhar
9. kongaNa nAyanAr
10. bhadragiriyAr
11. kudambai siddhar
12. rAmalinga aDikaL
The inclusion of many other famous names can be argued for or against. We can obviously include agastiyar and tiruvaLLuvar. On the other hand, the famous nAyanmArs (appar, sundarar, mAnikkavAchagar, jnAnasambandhar) were primarily bhaktas, not yogis. The great tayumAnavar was (like ramaNa maharshi) primarily a jnani, not a yogi. Legitimate siddhas like sadaSiva brahmEndra, who lived in Tamil Nadu, are not categorized as Tamil Siddhas because they composed their works in Sanskrit, not Tamil. In any case, it is important to understand that we are classifying these individuals for the sake of convenience and clarity; such classification has only limited, local utility. To truly define these people would be like "trying to grab a beam of light !"
The great Kumara...
Myself and a couple of friends had planned a trek to Yaana and visit places around Sirsi. Tickets were booked and all plans set, but on friday morning my friends expressed their unavailability. So had to cancel the bus tickets and I joined another group to do the Kumara Parvata trek. An amazing experience it was!
Location:
Located in the border of Kodagu and Dakshin Kannada district, Kumara Parvata peak stands tall at around about 5900ft tall, and is the second tallest peak in Karnataka. (The tallest peak is Mulyangiri). This peak is one of the most beautiful peaks in the whole of Western Ghats. And the trek to this place is usually two days with different start and end points. The peak stands almost in the middle of this trek. You can either start from "Bidalli" from "Somvarpet" (Coorg) side (in Kodagu district) or from "Subramanya" (South Kanara – in Dakshin Kannada district) side.
The trek is a total of 27 kms (approx). From Somvarpet side to the peak is approximately 13 kms and the trek from the peak to Kukke Subramanya is around 14 kms. The entire trek route is surrounded by green hills, and you can rarely take your eyes of the greenery and the thick forest trees. It is not a popular tourist spot and hence it is still in its pure form, without any pollution or artificial flavor added to it. This is also one of the challenging treks in Karnataka (both in terms of distance and some steepness). Many people prefer to start the trek from the Kukke Subramanya side and I am not sure if that makes it easy. But we guys started from Somvarpet side.
How to Reach:
There are KSRTC buses from Bangalore to Kukke Subramanya and Somvarpet. The closest railway station is Hassan. Somvarpet is around 5 hours by road from Bangalore and is close to Kushal Nagar (in Coorg). If you reach Somvarpet, you need to take a local transport (hire a jeep?) and reach Bidalli and start the trek from there. Somvarpet to Bidalli takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Date: 13th and 14th May 2006
Our Experience:
Unlike most of my previous treks, this time I went with a totally new set of people. We (Kamesh, John Sir, Devaki, Vikram, Gopal, Shama, Bhargav, Sushila and myself) were 9 of us. Before I get to the details, here is a quick intro of the people:
Brief Intro of the trekkers:
Kamesh – He (in his late 20’s?) runs this organization called ‘Mars Adventure’ and is a national-level rock climber (and coach). He is into many adventure activities and organizes some over the weekends for others to participate.
John Sir – He must be around 55 yrs old but the kind of energy he has is just amazing for his age. He is now running a trust which does strength and endurance trainings.
Devaki – She is John Sir’s better-half, and is working in a software firm in Bangalore. She is also energetic for her age, but at times she would rather prefer to be sitting and relaxing!
Vikram – He must be in his early 20’s and is the son of John and Devaki. Not surprisingly, he is into all kind of adventure stuff.
Gopal – He is an avid trekker, and has his own group of people. This time, like me, his friends had to drop out and he joined for this one.
Sushila – She is from Goa and was on a vacation in Bangalore(!!!). She is a social worker and this was her first trek!
Bhargav – He had just completed 8th standard and unlike other kids who spend summer vacation at home in front of computer monitors, he wanted to go for a trek.
Shama – She had just completed 10th and was awaiting her results. Like Bhargav, this was her first trek.
It was the first trek for Bhargav, Shama and Sushila and given that it was one of the challenging treks they were attempting, they were all curious to find out about what a trek is.
Travel to Somvarpet/Bidalli:
We left in a Qualis on Friday night around 10:30 PM. 9 people (+ driver) in a quails is a tough ask. With the trek bags occupying some space inside the quails (as it didn’t have the provision to tie them all up on top of the quails), we barely managed to squeeze in.
Shama and Bhargav were excited and their excitement didn’t let them go to sleep. Bhargav had been dreaming for this moment for 2-3 days. Gopal, me and Vikram promptly fell asleep after a day long work.
The planned route was through Kushal Nagar but with some construction going on and the driver’s limited information on these route, we were kind of lost and were searching for the roads around 3:30 AM. Finally after a 45 minute aimless roaming around, we managed to get back on track. At around 5 AM, the vehicle was running out of gas and we stopped at a gas station (18 kms from Somvarpet) only to realize that he wouldn’t open the pumps before 6 AM. We took our sleeping bags and mats out didn’t hesitate to sleep under the skies in the gas station. That one hour of sleep was blissful despite the mosquitoes.
Morning breakfast and start of trek:
By around 8 AM, we reached Bidalli. There were lots to carry in terms of tent, sleeping bags, enough amount of food to last the full trek (which included oranges, apples, onions, carrots, cucumbers, rice, aval, biscuits, some spices, etc.), water, etc. The first-time trekkers were given minimal baggage and the rest shared the load. After a quick breakfast made of bread and jam, we started the trek at 9 AM. We made sure that we had our water bottles filled as there aren’t too many water streams on the trek route.
Start of trek
Entering the forests: Sunny, tasking and the Leeches:
The first 1 hour was trek through a road under construction. It was more like a jeep trail and the heavy bags on our back made the steep trail look even steeper. It wasn’t long before we started having views of the amazing and never-ending landscapes. The initial part of this stretch witnessed quite a few local people in their fields. The sun was starting to pinch and we were just hoping the trek wouldn’t be so scorching once inside the forest areas and amidst trees. Almost at the end of the roads, there is a water outlet to refill our bottles.
On the jeep trails
As we were about to enter the forest trail, we had to pass through the forest security post and had to pay an entry fee. After that, we passed through a “hanging” bridge below which the water stream was still. After we passed this, myself and Kamesh exchanged bags. I was hoping that his bag wouldn’t be that heavy. But it was more of an illusion but still that bag was a bit comfortable on the shoulders (again, an illusion or the feeling that I need to justify the exchange!).
People were getting exhausted pretty fast, though surrounded by trees, as the climb was steep and it was a bit humid too. The trail had a good number of leeches. For many, this was the first experience with leeches. Instead of walking, people were more concerned about a leech on one of their shoes and while they try to remove it, another couple more would stick to the other shoe. Though people were scared as to what the leeches would do, Kamesh didn’t want any one to help any one else so that they face the challenge head-on. With some initial jumping and shouting, people learnt how to get rid of the leeches or how not-to-be-bothered about leeches.
A quick break and the steep rocks:
Around 11:15 AM, we took a break for around 15 minutes. Oranges and some biscuit packets helped re-energize. The place we breaked, had a good number of leeches, and people were trying to remove their shoes and socks to make sure there aren’t leeches inside the shoes. We continued the trek and this time people started going at their own pace and the group was split into many sub-groups.
We got the first glimpse of the entire stretch of greenery and untouched forest cover around noon. A quick break and we were on the way and it was around 12:45, the trail came to an end and we had a huge and moderately steep rock in front of us. As I was ahead of the rest of the people, I started climbing up and reached the top of it and started taking pictures of the rest of the people climbing up. Though steep, didn’t require ay wall/rock climbing skills.
Left: First glimpse of greenery, Right: The steep rock climb
The climb did exhaust the first timers and we breaked around 1 PM and had some cucumbers and water. Kamesh kept telling us that we still have a long way to go and we have to make it fast so that we reach the peak well before sun-set. All the quick-food items were getting exhausted pretty fast and we didn’t have the time to break somewhere and have a full-cooked meal. The plan was to reach the peak and cook.
Without wasting any further time, we started heading up north and faced (1:30 PM) another set of huge rocks but this wasn’t as steep as the previous one. This patch of rock was covered by very dense forest trees. Since the entire stretch of rock was a bit too long, we parked in between to catch up on our breath. A group photo was due at this spot.
Around 2:15 PM, we realized that we were close to the peak. Kamesh had pushed us so that we would reach well on time. Because of the height, the air was thinner and climbing got more difficult. We took a quick break so that the tired souls could rest. At this place, there were these little insects (looked like a hybrid of mosquito and fly) which would bite you if you are wet (sweat) and idle at some place. The really tired ones didn’t bother about the insects and the others managed to keep moving around the place and use their caps/towels to brush aside the insects.
A view enroute the peak
Reaching the peak:
The peak was probably 15 minutes away and the nearest source of water was around 15 minutes trek down (in a slightly different route, which is the route to the Mantapa and is also the route to Kukke Subramanya). Gopal and Kamesh filled up the bottles while the others were resting.
Around 2:45 PM, we were at the peak. We put the bags down and went across in different directions to have a glimpse of what surrounded us – the endless number of hills, patches of clouds, breezy winds, greenery, greenery and more greenery! We were the only group at the peak and that added to the experience!
The peak
Cooking, pitching the tent, etc:
The peak had lots of small rocks (very similar to the ‘discuss’ used in athletics), arranged in some order! And a Shiva lingam (a mini temple it was – a photo frame of Shiva, a bell, a lamp etc.,) was also found. Me and Gopal spent sometime taking lots of snaps of the vastness around us. Soon, we were all back to work. Gopal, Me, Vikram and John sir pitched the tent; Kamesh was getting the fire up for cooking burning some dry and dead wood; Sushila and Devaki started cutting vegetables and were preparing to cook; Shama and Bhargav helped everyone with their part.
Left: Food items, Right: Working with passion!
Finally around 4:00 PM or so the food was ready. We had made mixed vegetable rice and everyone filled themselves. Tired and exhausted, no one wanted to move out of their place and everyone lay flat (and many did have a power nap) on the ground enjoying the nice breeze and clear skies.
Left: Myself, seeing things in a diff. perspective, Right: After food nap
Preparation for the night:
Around 5 PM, Vikram, me and Kamesh went down to pick some dry woods so that we could have campfire in the night. Gopal, Shama and Bhargav went in to fill in the empty bottles and didn’t re-appear for a quite a while. Vikram and I had to go down to check if they were OK and didn’t lose their way. By this time (around 5:30 or so) the visibility had gone down because of the thick clouds around us.
Cloudy and invisible (5:45 PM)
6 PM it was and people were game for some tea. It was getting colder and the clouds left a lot of mist on our clothes, hair, and even on the eye-lids! The hot tea am sure help re-energize the spirits. We had the campfire going and were warming up for the night.
Lightning strikes:
The visibility was no more than a couple of meters and everyone was close to the campfire and seated. I was standing and looking at my camera trying to change some setting I suppose, when we heard a really loud thunder and something struck me on my right toe and I jumped a couple of feet back with my camera. I felt as if it was some huge bomb just blew up underneath my foot and I could imagine all the small discuss-like rocks at the peak blowing up all around the place. Took me a second or two to realize that the small rocks were still in place and it was a huge thunder. And those seated actually had the luck of seeing the lightning striking my foot and they were just a meter or two away. A bright red/white mixed lightning had just struck my foot and I was still lucky to be alive! Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the bright rays though it hit right below me.
The lightning and thunder scared the hell out of almost everyone. People started suggesting that we should not camp at the peak and that we should go down etc and also started investigating as to why the lightning struck me and not others (the reason people arrived at was that I was holding a metal object-camera). But after all the talk, we decided to stay back and we immediately went into the tent. With most of them scared to touch any metal objects (our vessels), me and Vikram cleaned up the vessels and got it closer to the tent.
Words building:
It soon started raining and there we were cozy inside the tent and playing words building (with place names). It wasn’t too late before people started coming up with names like “xxx” pura/halli/nagar etc., and justifying that this place exists some where in the world. Places starting with the letters Y, E, X was getting difficult to recollect! While this was going on, another group of guys (from Kerala I suppose) reached the peak fully wet and lots of leach bites. They started the campfire (which we had put off) and were cooking some noodles etc., while we came out of our tent to have dinner (the left over rice from day-cooking). It was around 8:30 PM. After dinner, we spent sometime around the campfire and soon we hit the bed (rather tent).
Sunrise and Moonset:
By 5:30 AM the light from the sun was barely beginning to show up though it was cloudy. The moon really hadn’t set by then. As always, I was out with my camera to photograph some really breathtaking views of the sun/clouds and the landscape around. Words definitely can’t capture the beauty of the place there and I am not sure if pictures can either for it was a really amazing morning. You got to be there to get a real feel for it, but for now, let your imagination go beyond boundaries while watching the photos. The valley between the mountains was completely filled with clouds and they were rising up just similar to the huge waves (those that are really ideal for surfing) in the beaches!! The bright orange rays from the sun barely managed to find its way out of the clouds-filled sky.
Moon setting, Sun rising and the Clouds gushing
People spent the next one hour going all around the peak to enjoy the natural beauty around, a quick morning tea for the tea-drinkers, a few had a chat with the two other groups (one from Kerala and one from Mangalore) who had camped (rather stayed) there in the night.
Start of day 2 trek:
We started packing the tent and that’s when we realized that there was a leach – big and gluttonous – still alive, but unable to move. I suppose, the whole night it was right between my head and John sir’s neck. Some leach bites on John sir’s neck and probably a bite on my head.
Before packing it up
River crossing activity:
By 8:30 AM we set out to hike our way down to Kukke Subramanya. Passed through a good steep climb down the rocks to reach a thin and narrow water stream (where we had filled our bottles the earlier day). We filled our water bottles, removed some leaches off our shoes/socks and put the bags at one place. We spent the next 2-3 hours doing some river-crossing with the ropes (though there was no river/stream). Kamesh had packed all the gear required (ropes, harness, etc.,) and it took us a while to get the rope tied across a 60 ft distance. After some effort to ensure safety and tension in the rope, we were set to cross that distance on the ropes. Devaki mam having done before gave us a quick demo but came down really tired. In turns one by one got to do it and for most of them the going was easy and the last few meters while coming back was a bit hard. Though hard and tough, almost everyone tried it the second time and even the third time. I had some burns and boils on the hands (just because me/Vikram/Gopal decided to individually time our performance and were literally racing against time). And not having done before, you really don’t get the nuances of the sport – what to do and what not to do – and it was a good leaning experience but I still managed to come out a couple of seconds early!!.
Left: Steep climb down on the rocks, Right: River-crossing on the ropes
Cooking lunch:
Having decided to have the lunch at the same place, people split the work load amongst themselves (collecting woods, making fire, cutting vegetables, filling water, packing the equipments used for river-crossing, etc.
Sushila hurts her knee:
After an hour, around 1:15 PM we were set to leave the place. This point was the last source of water, so we filled all our bottles and we knew it was going to be tight as the weather was a bit sunny, the trails with less shade and we had a good 12-13 kms to trek before we reached a place with water.
After an hour of trek on the green and grassy hills which gave a very good view of the hills around, we saw this place, which I assume is Mantapa (where most trekkers camp). We took a very short break and had some apples. As soon as we started moving, Sushila felt a strong pain in her knee and was finding it difficult to walk. With some quick first-aid, we set out again. The other hills around with some dense forests and black clouds added to the scenic landscape.
The Mantapa
The different landscapes on the way back
Reaching bhattara-mane:
The next place we wanted to break was bhattara-mane. With Sushila having pains while walking, a part of the group went slow and the rest of them went ahead. Around 4 PM we reached bhattara-mane. The host there had a big vessel full of buttermilk and we guys managed to finish it all. We filled our bottles with water and couldn’t rest for a long time since we had a good distance to go. By 4:30 PM, we were on our way to Kukke Subramanya and our estimate was that it would take 2 hours to reach and with some forest trails on the way, we were expecting lighting to be an issue.
At Bhattara-Mane
The last frontier:
Since Sushila was suffering with pain, Kamesh carried her bag and we asked her to lead the group so that everyone would go together. Till around 6 PM, we managed to go together and after that the group got split into 3. With trees covered all around us, there was very little natural light and not many had torches. Devaki mam, John Sir, Bhargav and Vikram went ahead, while Gopal, me and Shama were managing our way with one torch. Kamesh and Sushila were coming behind us and we guys managed to carry Sushila’s bag as well. Gopal and me would wait at intermittent places just to make sure Kamesh and Sushila were coming behind. Managing the torch was a mess but after a while, we started feeling comfortable with the darkness just that our step ahead needed more caution.
Just stepping outside bhattara-mane
Left: Sun rays through the clouds, Right: The wilderness and dark trail
A good one and a half hour of trek in the wilderness and darkness (with so many fireflies glittering like the stars) we reached the Kukke Subramanya temple (7:40 PM). Sushila, though in pain managed to trek the entire distance. The trek was exhausting for most of them and everyone was filled with sweat and looked really tired.
Wrap-up at Kukke Subramanya:
We stopped by at a fruit shop and had a couple of fruit juices while having a break. By 8:15 PM, we left to the river (Kumara Dhara) near by and had a good bath in the water (which was barely flowing). It was almost 9:30 PM by the time we were set to leave for Bangalore.
While coming from Bangalore, me, gopal and Vikram had to squeeze into the back of the quails along with the 9-10 bags. This time, not wanting to take that uncomforting travel, we managed to put all the bags on top of the quails and tied them up. It took some time and effort as the Qualis didn’t have the top carrier. This also meant that we couldn’t close our windows at the back. We left at 10 PM towards Bangalore. Since some of us were hungry we had asked the driver to stop by for dinner.
Dinner on our way back:
Till 11:45 PM, the driver didn’t stop anywhere and out of desperation, we asked him to stop at a hotel which was on the road-side. Kamesh, me, Gopal and Sushila had a parota/idli dinner and while we were coming out we asked the driver if he had some stuff. To our surprise/shock, he said that there is a better restaurant 15 minutes away and that he will have it there!! Hmmm. It was getting really cold in the back and at our next stop, I managed to pull out a jacket and towel to wrap myself up from the bags that were tied to the top.
Finally, we guys reached Bangalore around 6 AM. After a quick exchange of email addresses and/or phone numbers we guys parted.
Kamesh had organized the trip very well and Kamesh/John Sir had got all the food items that were needed. So for the rest of us, it was no so much planning and that helped a lot. Though the qualis ride back and forth was a bit tiresome, the trek and the events over those two days was a very exciting experience.
Location:
Located in the border of Kodagu and Dakshin Kannada district, Kumara Parvata peak stands tall at around about 5900ft tall, and is the second tallest peak in Karnataka. (The tallest peak is Mulyangiri). This peak is one of the most beautiful peaks in the whole of Western Ghats. And the trek to this place is usually two days with different start and end points. The peak stands almost in the middle of this trek. You can either start from "Bidalli" from "Somvarpet" (Coorg) side (in Kodagu district) or from "Subramanya" (South Kanara – in Dakshin Kannada district) side.
The trek is a total of 27 kms (approx). From Somvarpet side to the peak is approximately 13 kms and the trek from the peak to Kukke Subramanya is around 14 kms. The entire trek route is surrounded by green hills, and you can rarely take your eyes of the greenery and the thick forest trees. It is not a popular tourist spot and hence it is still in its pure form, without any pollution or artificial flavor added to it. This is also one of the challenging treks in Karnataka (both in terms of distance and some steepness). Many people prefer to start the trek from the Kukke Subramanya side and I am not sure if that makes it easy. But we guys started from Somvarpet side.
How to Reach:
There are KSRTC buses from Bangalore to Kukke Subramanya and Somvarpet. The closest railway station is Hassan. Somvarpet is around 5 hours by road from Bangalore and is close to Kushal Nagar (in Coorg). If you reach Somvarpet, you need to take a local transport (hire a jeep?) and reach Bidalli and start the trek from there. Somvarpet to Bidalli takes about 45 minutes to an hour.
Date: 13th and 14th May 2006
Our Experience:
Unlike most of my previous treks, this time I went with a totally new set of people. We (Kamesh, John Sir, Devaki, Vikram, Gopal, Shama, Bhargav, Sushila and myself) were 9 of us. Before I get to the details, here is a quick intro of the people:
Brief Intro of the trekkers:
Kamesh – He (in his late 20’s?) runs this organization called ‘Mars Adventure’ and is a national-level rock climber (and coach). He is into many adventure activities and organizes some over the weekends for others to participate.
John Sir – He must be around 55 yrs old but the kind of energy he has is just amazing for his age. He is now running a trust which does strength and endurance trainings.
Devaki – She is John Sir’s better-half, and is working in a software firm in Bangalore. She is also energetic for her age, but at times she would rather prefer to be sitting and relaxing!
Vikram – He must be in his early 20’s and is the son of John and Devaki. Not surprisingly, he is into all kind of adventure stuff.
Gopal – He is an avid trekker, and has his own group of people. This time, like me, his friends had to drop out and he joined for this one.
Sushila – She is from Goa and was on a vacation in Bangalore(!!!). She is a social worker and this was her first trek!
Bhargav – He had just completed 8th standard and unlike other kids who spend summer vacation at home in front of computer monitors, he wanted to go for a trek.
Shama – She had just completed 10th and was awaiting her results. Like Bhargav, this was her first trek.
It was the first trek for Bhargav, Shama and Sushila and given that it was one of the challenging treks they were attempting, they were all curious to find out about what a trek is.
Travel to Somvarpet/Bidalli:
We left in a Qualis on Friday night around 10:30 PM. 9 people (+ driver) in a quails is a tough ask. With the trek bags occupying some space inside the quails (as it didn’t have the provision to tie them all up on top of the quails), we barely managed to squeeze in.
Shama and Bhargav were excited and their excitement didn’t let them go to sleep. Bhargav had been dreaming for this moment for 2-3 days. Gopal, me and Vikram promptly fell asleep after a day long work.
The planned route was through Kushal Nagar but with some construction going on and the driver’s limited information on these route, we were kind of lost and were searching for the roads around 3:30 AM. Finally after a 45 minute aimless roaming around, we managed to get back on track. At around 5 AM, the vehicle was running out of gas and we stopped at a gas station (18 kms from Somvarpet) only to realize that he wouldn’t open the pumps before 6 AM. We took our sleeping bags and mats out didn’t hesitate to sleep under the skies in the gas station. That one hour of sleep was blissful despite the mosquitoes.
Morning breakfast and start of trek:
By around 8 AM, we reached Bidalli. There were lots to carry in terms of tent, sleeping bags, enough amount of food to last the full trek (which included oranges, apples, onions, carrots, cucumbers, rice, aval, biscuits, some spices, etc.), water, etc. The first-time trekkers were given minimal baggage and the rest shared the load. After a quick breakfast made of bread and jam, we started the trek at 9 AM. We made sure that we had our water bottles filled as there aren’t too many water streams on the trek route.
Start of trek
Entering the forests: Sunny, tasking and the Leeches:
The first 1 hour was trek through a road under construction. It was more like a jeep trail and the heavy bags on our back made the steep trail look even steeper. It wasn’t long before we started having views of the amazing and never-ending landscapes. The initial part of this stretch witnessed quite a few local people in their fields. The sun was starting to pinch and we were just hoping the trek wouldn’t be so scorching once inside the forest areas and amidst trees. Almost at the end of the roads, there is a water outlet to refill our bottles.
On the jeep trails
As we were about to enter the forest trail, we had to pass through the forest security post and had to pay an entry fee. After that, we passed through a “hanging” bridge below which the water stream was still. After we passed this, myself and Kamesh exchanged bags. I was hoping that his bag wouldn’t be that heavy. But it was more of an illusion but still that bag was a bit comfortable on the shoulders (again, an illusion or the feeling that I need to justify the exchange!).
People were getting exhausted pretty fast, though surrounded by trees, as the climb was steep and it was a bit humid too. The trail had a good number of leeches. For many, this was the first experience with leeches. Instead of walking, people were more concerned about a leech on one of their shoes and while they try to remove it, another couple more would stick to the other shoe. Though people were scared as to what the leeches would do, Kamesh didn’t want any one to help any one else so that they face the challenge head-on. With some initial jumping and shouting, people learnt how to get rid of the leeches or how not-to-be-bothered about leeches.
A quick break and the steep rocks:
Around 11:15 AM, we took a break for around 15 minutes. Oranges and some biscuit packets helped re-energize. The place we breaked, had a good number of leeches, and people were trying to remove their shoes and socks to make sure there aren’t leeches inside the shoes. We continued the trek and this time people started going at their own pace and the group was split into many sub-groups.
We got the first glimpse of the entire stretch of greenery and untouched forest cover around noon. A quick break and we were on the way and it was around 12:45, the trail came to an end and we had a huge and moderately steep rock in front of us. As I was ahead of the rest of the people, I started climbing up and reached the top of it and started taking pictures of the rest of the people climbing up. Though steep, didn’t require ay wall/rock climbing skills.
Left: First glimpse of greenery, Right: The steep rock climb
The climb did exhaust the first timers and we breaked around 1 PM and had some cucumbers and water. Kamesh kept telling us that we still have a long way to go and we have to make it fast so that we reach the peak well before sun-set. All the quick-food items were getting exhausted pretty fast and we didn’t have the time to break somewhere and have a full-cooked meal. The plan was to reach the peak and cook.
Without wasting any further time, we started heading up north and faced (1:30 PM) another set of huge rocks but this wasn’t as steep as the previous one. This patch of rock was covered by very dense forest trees. Since the entire stretch of rock was a bit too long, we parked in between to catch up on our breath. A group photo was due at this spot.
Around 2:15 PM, we realized that we were close to the peak. Kamesh had pushed us so that we would reach well on time. Because of the height, the air was thinner and climbing got more difficult. We took a quick break so that the tired souls could rest. At this place, there were these little insects (looked like a hybrid of mosquito and fly) which would bite you if you are wet (sweat) and idle at some place. The really tired ones didn’t bother about the insects and the others managed to keep moving around the place and use their caps/towels to brush aside the insects.
A view enroute the peak
Reaching the peak:
The peak was probably 15 minutes away and the nearest source of water was around 15 minutes trek down (in a slightly different route, which is the route to the Mantapa and is also the route to Kukke Subramanya). Gopal and Kamesh filled up the bottles while the others were resting.
Around 2:45 PM, we were at the peak. We put the bags down and went across in different directions to have a glimpse of what surrounded us – the endless number of hills, patches of clouds, breezy winds, greenery, greenery and more greenery! We were the only group at the peak and that added to the experience!
The peak
Cooking, pitching the tent, etc:
The peak had lots of small rocks (very similar to the ‘discuss’ used in athletics), arranged in some order! And a Shiva lingam (a mini temple it was – a photo frame of Shiva, a bell, a lamp etc.,) was also found. Me and Gopal spent sometime taking lots of snaps of the vastness around us. Soon, we were all back to work. Gopal, Me, Vikram and John sir pitched the tent; Kamesh was getting the fire up for cooking burning some dry and dead wood; Sushila and Devaki started cutting vegetables and were preparing to cook; Shama and Bhargav helped everyone with their part.
Left: Food items, Right: Working with passion!
Finally around 4:00 PM or so the food was ready. We had made mixed vegetable rice and everyone filled themselves. Tired and exhausted, no one wanted to move out of their place and everyone lay flat (and many did have a power nap) on the ground enjoying the nice breeze and clear skies.
Left: Myself, seeing things in a diff. perspective, Right: After food nap
Preparation for the night:
Around 5 PM, Vikram, me and Kamesh went down to pick some dry woods so that we could have campfire in the night. Gopal, Shama and Bhargav went in to fill in the empty bottles and didn’t re-appear for a quite a while. Vikram and I had to go down to check if they were OK and didn’t lose their way. By this time (around 5:30 or so) the visibility had gone down because of the thick clouds around us.
Cloudy and invisible (5:45 PM)
6 PM it was and people were game for some tea. It was getting colder and the clouds left a lot of mist on our clothes, hair, and even on the eye-lids! The hot tea am sure help re-energize the spirits. We had the campfire going and were warming up for the night.
Lightning strikes:
The visibility was no more than a couple of meters and everyone was close to the campfire and seated. I was standing and looking at my camera trying to change some setting I suppose, when we heard a really loud thunder and something struck me on my right toe and I jumped a couple of feet back with my camera. I felt as if it was some huge bomb just blew up underneath my foot and I could imagine all the small discuss-like rocks at the peak blowing up all around the place. Took me a second or two to realize that the small rocks were still in place and it was a huge thunder. And those seated actually had the luck of seeing the lightning striking my foot and they were just a meter or two away. A bright red/white mixed lightning had just struck my foot and I was still lucky to be alive! Unfortunately, I couldn’t see the bright rays though it hit right below me.
The lightning and thunder scared the hell out of almost everyone. People started suggesting that we should not camp at the peak and that we should go down etc and also started investigating as to why the lightning struck me and not others (the reason people arrived at was that I was holding a metal object-camera). But after all the talk, we decided to stay back and we immediately went into the tent. With most of them scared to touch any metal objects (our vessels), me and Vikram cleaned up the vessels and got it closer to the tent.
Words building:
It soon started raining and there we were cozy inside the tent and playing words building (with place names). It wasn’t too late before people started coming up with names like “xxx” pura/halli/nagar etc., and justifying that this place exists some where in the world. Places starting with the letters Y, E, X was getting difficult to recollect! While this was going on, another group of guys (from Kerala I suppose) reached the peak fully wet and lots of leach bites. They started the campfire (which we had put off) and were cooking some noodles etc., while we came out of our tent to have dinner (the left over rice from day-cooking). It was around 8:30 PM. After dinner, we spent sometime around the campfire and soon we hit the bed (rather tent).
Sunrise and Moonset:
By 5:30 AM the light from the sun was barely beginning to show up though it was cloudy. The moon really hadn’t set by then. As always, I was out with my camera to photograph some really breathtaking views of the sun/clouds and the landscape around. Words definitely can’t capture the beauty of the place there and I am not sure if pictures can either for it was a really amazing morning. You got to be there to get a real feel for it, but for now, let your imagination go beyond boundaries while watching the photos. The valley between the mountains was completely filled with clouds and they were rising up just similar to the huge waves (those that are really ideal for surfing) in the beaches!! The bright orange rays from the sun barely managed to find its way out of the clouds-filled sky.
Moon setting, Sun rising and the Clouds gushing
People spent the next one hour going all around the peak to enjoy the natural beauty around, a quick morning tea for the tea-drinkers, a few had a chat with the two other groups (one from Kerala and one from Mangalore) who had camped (rather stayed) there in the night.
Start of day 2 trek:
We started packing the tent and that’s when we realized that there was a leach – big and gluttonous – still alive, but unable to move. I suppose, the whole night it was right between my head and John sir’s neck. Some leach bites on John sir’s neck and probably a bite on my head.
Before packing it up
River crossing activity:
By 8:30 AM we set out to hike our way down to Kukke Subramanya. Passed through a good steep climb down the rocks to reach a thin and narrow water stream (where we had filled our bottles the earlier day). We filled our water bottles, removed some leaches off our shoes/socks and put the bags at one place. We spent the next 2-3 hours doing some river-crossing with the ropes (though there was no river/stream). Kamesh had packed all the gear required (ropes, harness, etc.,) and it took us a while to get the rope tied across a 60 ft distance. After some effort to ensure safety and tension in the rope, we were set to cross that distance on the ropes. Devaki mam having done before gave us a quick demo but came down really tired. In turns one by one got to do it and for most of them the going was easy and the last few meters while coming back was a bit hard. Though hard and tough, almost everyone tried it the second time and even the third time. I had some burns and boils on the hands (just because me/Vikram/Gopal decided to individually time our performance and were literally racing against time). And not having done before, you really don’t get the nuances of the sport – what to do and what not to do – and it was a good leaning experience but I still managed to come out a couple of seconds early!!.
Left: Steep climb down on the rocks, Right: River-crossing on the ropes
Cooking lunch:
Having decided to have the lunch at the same place, people split the work load amongst themselves (collecting woods, making fire, cutting vegetables, filling water, packing the equipments used for river-crossing, etc.
Sushila hurts her knee:
After an hour, around 1:15 PM we were set to leave the place. This point was the last source of water, so we filled all our bottles and we knew it was going to be tight as the weather was a bit sunny, the trails with less shade and we had a good 12-13 kms to trek before we reached a place with water.
After an hour of trek on the green and grassy hills which gave a very good view of the hills around, we saw this place, which I assume is Mantapa (where most trekkers camp). We took a very short break and had some apples. As soon as we started moving, Sushila felt a strong pain in her knee and was finding it difficult to walk. With some quick first-aid, we set out again. The other hills around with some dense forests and black clouds added to the scenic landscape.
The Mantapa
The different landscapes on the way back
Reaching bhattara-mane:
The next place we wanted to break was bhattara-mane. With Sushila having pains while walking, a part of the group went slow and the rest of them went ahead. Around 4 PM we reached bhattara-mane. The host there had a big vessel full of buttermilk and we guys managed to finish it all. We filled our bottles with water and couldn’t rest for a long time since we had a good distance to go. By 4:30 PM, we were on our way to Kukke Subramanya and our estimate was that it would take 2 hours to reach and with some forest trails on the way, we were expecting lighting to be an issue.
At Bhattara-Mane
The last frontier:
Since Sushila was suffering with pain, Kamesh carried her bag and we asked her to lead the group so that everyone would go together. Till around 6 PM, we managed to go together and after that the group got split into 3. With trees covered all around us, there was very little natural light and not many had torches. Devaki mam, John Sir, Bhargav and Vikram went ahead, while Gopal, me and Shama were managing our way with one torch. Kamesh and Sushila were coming behind us and we guys managed to carry Sushila’s bag as well. Gopal and me would wait at intermittent places just to make sure Kamesh and Sushila were coming behind. Managing the torch was a mess but after a while, we started feeling comfortable with the darkness just that our step ahead needed more caution.
Just stepping outside bhattara-mane
Left: Sun rays through the clouds, Right: The wilderness and dark trail
A good one and a half hour of trek in the wilderness and darkness (with so many fireflies glittering like the stars) we reached the Kukke Subramanya temple (7:40 PM). Sushila, though in pain managed to trek the entire distance. The trek was exhausting for most of them and everyone was filled with sweat and looked really tired.
Wrap-up at Kukke Subramanya:
We stopped by at a fruit shop and had a couple of fruit juices while having a break. By 8:15 PM, we left to the river (Kumara Dhara) near by and had a good bath in the water (which was barely flowing). It was almost 9:30 PM by the time we were set to leave for Bangalore.
While coming from Bangalore, me, gopal and Vikram had to squeeze into the back of the quails along with the 9-10 bags. This time, not wanting to take that uncomforting travel, we managed to put all the bags on top of the quails and tied them up. It took some time and effort as the Qualis didn’t have the top carrier. This also meant that we couldn’t close our windows at the back. We left at 10 PM towards Bangalore. Since some of us were hungry we had asked the driver to stop by for dinner.
Dinner on our way back:
Till 11:45 PM, the driver didn’t stop anywhere and out of desperation, we asked him to stop at a hotel which was on the road-side. Kamesh, me, Gopal and Sushila had a parota/idli dinner and while we were coming out we asked the driver if he had some stuff. To our surprise/shock, he said that there is a better restaurant 15 minutes away and that he will have it there!! Hmmm. It was getting really cold in the back and at our next stop, I managed to pull out a jacket and towel to wrap myself up from the bags that were tied to the top.
Finally, we guys reached Bangalore around 6 AM. After a quick exchange of email addresses and/or phone numbers we guys parted.
Kamesh had organized the trip very well and Kamesh/John Sir had got all the food items that were needed. So for the rest of us, it was no so much planning and that helped a lot. Though the qualis ride back and forth was a bit tiresome, the trek and the events over those two days was a very exciting experience.
Driving to Goa.
Preparation
The problem of making decisions started even before we began the trip. The question was 'what car to take'? The options were to take my car, another fellow traveller's car or to rent one. The criterias for selecting the car were comfort, speed and tolerance to bad roads, and economics. It would cost big time to hire a car but getting a big car would mean a comfortable journey. Finally we rented a car from a rental company, as this would also shield our cars from risks of a long journey. After working out our choices on the cars, we zeroed in on a Ford Ikon. Our choice turned out to be a good one. At the end of the journey, we are glad we took this car and not any thing lesser. As a good part of the journey was spent with the car, this travelog may also end up being a review of the car, and the roads we passed by. Of the three of us, only two could drive and we decided to drive alternately as directed by fatigue. But for both of us, driving happened to be more fun than tiring business!. Since we had a car, we packed in as much stuff as we could without worrying about having to carry too much luggage. To quote an example, I took three sets of footwear with me. Without the car, I would have settled for the one I would be wearing. There was not much effort required in preparing the car, as the rental company had it in a fairly good condition.
We designed our routes with the help of tracks from India over land(a website that no longer exists) and maps of India.
Day One
We left Bangalore around 6pm Thursday. As usual, we were late against the planned 4-30pm. The first day's plan was to reach Shimoga as early as we can and catch some sleep there. The road to Shimoga comprises of 70kms of National Highway 4 from Bangalore to Tumkur and 200kms of National highway 206 from Tumkur onwards. The whole journey is slow and painful. The first part of the journey has very high traffic. Though the roads are empty from Tumkur, we face many bad stretches of road that makes things no better. The car performed pretty well in both parts of the road. It had the much-needed pickup for overtaking in the highways. Shocks performed beyond our expectations in bad stretches. The only problem was the vibration in the steering wheel at speeds above 100. I was surprised to see that in such a sturdy car. We drove at speeds of around 70 to 120kph. Driving at 120s would normally not have been possible but we had a leader to help us out on the road. For nearly an hour, we tailed a Hyundai Accent that was going at very high speed. We discovered it is a good idea to tail another vehicle in the night than driving on the open road. That way, we have little to worry about visiblity problem and safety in fast driving. The driver of the Accent seemed to have a good control over his car and was driving at fairly high speed. We would not have managed such speeds if we had not tailed him. We reached Shimoga at around 12-45 in the might. After deciding to rise at around 6 in the morning we hit the bed thinking of the next day's drive.
Day 2
On the night of day one, the music system in the car had suddenly stopped working. This was the worst thing that could happen to all of us. No music for next four days! Lot of you would agree that it would be something tough to live with. So first thing in the morning, we called the 24-hour helpline of the rental company and asked them how they could help. Naturally, there was little they could do sitting in Bangalore. Since it was too early in Shimoga, we could not find anyone who could get the system in shape. So cursing our luck, after a good breakfast, we hit the road around 7am.
JOG FALLS
We had to continue on NH 206 for next 160kms. Next destination was Jog, which is around 100km away from Shimoga. The road was fairly decent and we cruised on smoothly. On the way, we stopped in the town of Sagar and found someone to have a look at the system. But that did not help and we had to continue without music. We reached Jog around 10am. I have probably been here a 100 times but it is always nice to come back once again. We stood there looking at the waterfall for around 30 minutes.
We then went around the waterfall to the cliff where water goes down. It is a great view to bend down from the top of the cliff and see the water falling. And we were at the perfect time of the day to see the falling waters forming a rainbow. It was very beautiful. Words fail on describing this. I just sat there on the cliff speechless for a few minutes, seeing the majesty of the 900ft fall.
Our next destination from here was Murdeshwara, also called Mrudeshwara I think. Jog is the starting point of drive into the Western Ghats. It was my turn behind the wheels from here. :-) The road thru the Western Ghats is very picturesque and goes thru dense rain forests, hills and valleys. The stretch of around 25kms was great fun to drive. We stopped on the way at a Vista Point to have a look at the Sharavathi valley.
A few words about the Sharavathi valley: This is one of my favourite places and I have been seeing this place since my childhood days. But the place was totally different this time around. They have built a dam against the flow at the end of the valley. The result is a much-widened river, lot of trees submerged and huge amounts of forest lost. The river is now so jampacked that in within a distance of 20kms, there are 4 dams built into it! Now there are lot of places where you see concrete where all you would see before was trees trees and more trees. I wish people were saner and leave the pristine river and valley undistrurbed. I wish they learn to protect the nature before they destroy everything and is too late.
MURDESHWARA
We drove 70kms more to reach our next rendezvous, Murdeshwara. We were there at sometime around 2pm. This place is an (almost) island with a very narrow landmass joining it to the mainland. I was here around 10-15 years back. Then, the island was a small hill with a Shiva temple built in a small portion of the island. The narrow landmass joining the mainland was asphalted and both sides of the road were beaches!!
I was at surprise here too. Where there was just a temple in the island, now there is a big hotel right next to the sea, there is a restaurant built a few meters in the sea and a whole lot of new constructions. More than all that, the most shocking thing was that the hill itself was brought down to make way for some more construction!! It is actually illegal to construct anything within 200m from the seashore, but that did not seem to deter any one.
We spent rest of the day near the beach. It was good fun. We walked around the beach for sometime, played frisbee for half an hour and then got into the water and stayed there until the sunset. After 7, we went inside the temple and spent some time there. Around 8pm or so, we left Murdeshwar and went to Honnavar for the night's stay. I feel this was the best of all the 4 days of our trip.
Day 3
After two days of journey by car, I slowly began to realize a few things that I found missing in the car. It did not have a remote fuel lid, remote boot opener and driver side power windows. The gears and clutch were hard but that was probably because of how old the car is and when was it serviced. The music system was nowhere close to the one that I was used to. And air conditioning was pathetic for the size of the car; it used to take ages to bring the temperature down. Probably I was pampered a bit with my car, but I did feel those are essential things in a car, never mind they are only accessories. Handling and driveablity of the car were excellent and that was something really important. At least, the 'josh machine' lived up to its nickname. In the next part of the journey, we had to travel on National Highway 17 all the way north until we reach Panaji. The highway runs close to the coast and sometimes you can get a good view of the sea from the road. Road was in pretty good condition and driving was a breeze. After driving for an hour or 2 the road was going on a hill and we noticed a beautiful beach around 2kms away from the road. It was a pretty long beach and the there were a lot of green hills near the shore. We drove down near the beach for a look. It was mostly empty but for a few fishermen. We asked them if they could take us to an island we could see from the beach. They seemed to be willing but circumstances not. It was very windy that morning, so rowboats would take a long time, and the only mechanised boat available there was short of fuel. So we just whiled away for half an hour near the waters, taking pictures et al and continued furthur.
Next, we stopped on the way at Karwar port. Unlike some other ports, these people were letting in visitors for a small fee. So we went inside and even got a chance to take a look inside one of the 2 ships parked(anchored) there. They were not very big ones though.
GOA
After Karwar was our last destination in the route: Panaji, Goa. As soon as we left the borders of karnataka, the road turned bad and narrow. We drove for a few more hours till we reached Panaji and arrived there for lunchtime. The first thing we did after lunch was to get the music system repaired(Thank god!). Around 4pm or so we started off exploring beaches near Panaji. The first one was Calangute. It is probably one of the most well known beaches here. It was too crowded so we got off the place quickly and went to next place. I think the name is Baga beach or something. This one was crowded too, so we just continued. A little after sunset, when there was still some light, we reached Vagator beach. This was a good place and fortunately not very crowded. We walked into the beach and sat there looking at the sea for an hour or more, and found an accomodation near the beach. This became our base camp for our furthur explorations in Goa.
Day 4: Chaos and Confusions
So here comes the 4th day, the last full day in Goa. It was a good day of learning how disordered and chaotic can an unplanned trip can become. Our agenda for the complete day: watersports. For all of us, this was the major attraction of Goa, even more than the famous beaches. The previous day, we had gone to nearby Taj Holiday Village inquiring about it, only to be told to come again the next day and ask. In the meantime, we also had called up Barracuda Diving about what we can do tomorrow, and again did not get much detail.
We called Taj in the next morning to find out that there weren't any interesting options. So the first thing, we simply headed to 'Cida de Goa' beach resort near Miramar, Panaji where Barracuda Diving was supposedly located. On asking, we were given some watersport options in the resort, like WindSurfing, speedboat and more. But Barracuda Diving had recently shifted to Marriott beach resort that was a 10-minute drive from there. So there we go to Marriott and finally met people from the diving school. Our plan was to Snorkel and spend the day while understanding whatever we can about diving. But it so turned out that the boat that goes to diving site had left around 30 minutes back and the next schedule is 2 days later. We were stranded with nothing much to do for the day. It is too hot to get into a beach or something during mid-day. We then decided on whiling our time till evening and return to 'Cida de Goa' to learn some windsurfing there.
So, with lot of time to spend, we entered a nearby Barista and spent half an hour. From there, we went to Old Goa to visit the 17th Century built Church of St Francis of Assisi. Old goa is nearly 20 minutes drive from Panaji. All these times, we were talking how good an idea it was to take a car here. Without one, we would have been stuck to one or two places and could have moved around very little. The St. Francis Church also housed a museum and had some paintings from the Portugese days. Believe it or not it was the first time in life I was going to a Church! I was moved by the majesty of the place and the calmness that it evokes. Strangely, I felt the same good feel that I had felt under the stars when we were sitting the previous night on the Vagator beach. We lit candles and sat in the Church for sometime. I felt I could sit there silently and spend all the day. Visiting the Church was a good decision and that made the best of the day.
We returned to Panaji from there, finished our lunch and again went to Barista. Around 4pm, we returned to Cida de Goa to try windsurfing. It so turned out we had not done good homework again. They had no staff to teach you windsurfing, so all you could do is hire a surfboard and hit the sea if you are a pro. Same with snorkels too. So the remaining options were the not really pleasent ones - like parasailing, speedboat rides and the like. So just to minimize our disappoinement, we bought some boat rides and returned from there.
The only bright spot of the day was visiting Barracude Diving School. Karen from the school informed us about some promotional package where they introduce to diving gears and also give you a session in swimming pool(FYI: you have to begin in swimming pool even for a profession course). And one such session is scheduled in a 'Sun Village Resort' the next morning. So planning about that, we returned to the basecamp after dinner. We then went to Vagator beach(that was around 9pm I guess) with some mats and torch and decided to spend some time in the night there. The evening tides were rising and the sea was much more active than the previous day. We were there for an hour or so watching the tides and the stars. I think it is really nice to sit in a beach during the night than day, as long as you don't get into water. Nearly 30 minutes after we were in the beach, we noticed lot of crabs were coming out of their hide. Since they were small and stayed away from us, they were not a problem. But after an hour we saw the numbers growing and wherever you see, there were crabs crabs and just crabs. To me, it was nice to see so much life around even near a populated beach, but it was definitely not a good idea to stay there any longer. So we left around 10pm and hit the bed. We had one night and almost half day more in Goa.
Day 5: The last day
Missed an update from the previous day: We also visited a lighthouse nearby after sunset. Until now I used to think light houses are a thing of the past but apparently that is not true. From the hill where the lighthouse is located is a panoramic view of lights of Panaji city at night, and Mandovi River near the sea. We saw quite a few boats and cruises enjoying the night on the river. We all wished we were in one of those boats and also contemplated on buying boats and living near the shores. :-)
This day, 4th November 2002 was the last day in Goa. Only thing that was remaining to do was to go to Sun Village Resorts at 10-30am to get a hang of diving and then start driving to Bangalore. We got up fairly early and decided to checkout nearby Arpora Fort. It was a good idea to go there. Fort was located on a hill with very long view of seashore. One side was the Vagator beach and to the other side, sea water made an entry into the land, forming a bay. Or was that a river? There was no one around whom we could ask, but from the map we had, it looked like a bay. Looking at the sea and the waves not from the beach but from somewhere a few hundred feet high gives a completely different picture.
We returned from the fort and drove to the resort. Had a filling breakfast there that lasted beyond lucnhtime. :-) When we came out of the restaurant, the diving crew had already arrived. There were a few people already in queue and we had a bit of waiting to do. During the wait, I had a fairly long chat with the divers and got to know a bit about the sport, the fish you get to see down there, some enjoyable experiences of the divers and a lot more. One of the guys was telling about a story where he was standing still in water, and fish would come to him out of curiocity, repeatedly bang into his goggles while he got a close look at the fish. He also talked about some friendly fish that would let you swim with them in the school. All that made me all the more enthusiastic about diving(marketing?) and there, my turn had come to dive. I put on the gear. It consits of a belt with some heavy metal piece attached to it to ensure that you can get down the water easily, a pair of long shoes you might have seen in tv that helps you move forward, a jacket that has the air cylinder attached to it, an air regulator/mouth piece to inhale water from and goggles. Even wearing all that was not a simple job. :-) After putting on the gear, I struggled a bit to get used to breathing with the mouth but soon got used to doing that. Then it was all like a breeze going around the pool. It was a good experience. We all returned back hoping to come back for a full time course, time and money permitting.
So there we started our drive back to the city around 12pm. Even the drive back was good. Most of the drive was thru a lot of greenery. After half an hour or so, we entered the western ghat region and started steep and curvy climbs.
The picturusque drive lasted for nearly 45 minutes when we reached the planes of Deccan. We drove on continuosly for 4 hours and arrived near Hubli. We had to pass via Hubli-Dharwad bypass road that seems to be a newly built toll highway. The road was surprisingly good, wide, away from villages and was almost deserted. We got a chance to put the car on a stress test and managed to reach speeds as high as 150kph, very safely. Must say this is faster than the speed limit in many states in US. Even after this, the road was pretty decent all the way till Bangalore. Most of the time, we stayed at 90 to 110kph. It helped us to reach the city a little earlier than projected - at around 12-30am and we were able to catch some sleep that night, before heading to work the next day. And the next day, I woke up to the grind, again. :-))
The problem of making decisions started even before we began the trip. The question was 'what car to take'? The options were to take my car, another fellow traveller's car or to rent one. The criterias for selecting the car were comfort, speed and tolerance to bad roads, and economics. It would cost big time to hire a car but getting a big car would mean a comfortable journey. Finally we rented a car from a rental company, as this would also shield our cars from risks of a long journey. After working out our choices on the cars, we zeroed in on a Ford Ikon. Our choice turned out to be a good one. At the end of the journey, we are glad we took this car and not any thing lesser. As a good part of the journey was spent with the car, this travelog may also end up being a review of the car, and the roads we passed by. Of the three of us, only two could drive and we decided to drive alternately as directed by fatigue. But for both of us, driving happened to be more fun than tiring business!. Since we had a car, we packed in as much stuff as we could without worrying about having to carry too much luggage. To quote an example, I took three sets of footwear with me. Without the car, I would have settled for the one I would be wearing. There was not much effort required in preparing the car, as the rental company had it in a fairly good condition.
We designed our routes with the help of tracks from India over land(a website that no longer exists) and maps of India.
Day One
We left Bangalore around 6pm Thursday. As usual, we were late against the planned 4-30pm. The first day's plan was to reach Shimoga as early as we can and catch some sleep there. The road to Shimoga comprises of 70kms of National Highway 4 from Bangalore to Tumkur and 200kms of National highway 206 from Tumkur onwards. The whole journey is slow and painful. The first part of the journey has very high traffic. Though the roads are empty from Tumkur, we face many bad stretches of road that makes things no better. The car performed pretty well in both parts of the road. It had the much-needed pickup for overtaking in the highways. Shocks performed beyond our expectations in bad stretches. The only problem was the vibration in the steering wheel at speeds above 100. I was surprised to see that in such a sturdy car. We drove at speeds of around 70 to 120kph. Driving at 120s would normally not have been possible but we had a leader to help us out on the road. For nearly an hour, we tailed a Hyundai Accent that was going at very high speed. We discovered it is a good idea to tail another vehicle in the night than driving on the open road. That way, we have little to worry about visiblity problem and safety in fast driving. The driver of the Accent seemed to have a good control over his car and was driving at fairly high speed. We would not have managed such speeds if we had not tailed him. We reached Shimoga at around 12-45 in the might. After deciding to rise at around 6 in the morning we hit the bed thinking of the next day's drive.
Day 2
On the night of day one, the music system in the car had suddenly stopped working. This was the worst thing that could happen to all of us. No music for next four days! Lot of you would agree that it would be something tough to live with. So first thing in the morning, we called the 24-hour helpline of the rental company and asked them how they could help. Naturally, there was little they could do sitting in Bangalore. Since it was too early in Shimoga, we could not find anyone who could get the system in shape. So cursing our luck, after a good breakfast, we hit the road around 7am.
JOG FALLS
We had to continue on NH 206 for next 160kms. Next destination was Jog, which is around 100km away from Shimoga. The road was fairly decent and we cruised on smoothly. On the way, we stopped in the town of Sagar and found someone to have a look at the system. But that did not help and we had to continue without music. We reached Jog around 10am. I have probably been here a 100 times but it is always nice to come back once again. We stood there looking at the waterfall for around 30 minutes.
We then went around the waterfall to the cliff where water goes down. It is a great view to bend down from the top of the cliff and see the water falling. And we were at the perfect time of the day to see the falling waters forming a rainbow. It was very beautiful. Words fail on describing this. I just sat there on the cliff speechless for a few minutes, seeing the majesty of the 900ft fall.
Our next destination from here was Murdeshwara, also called Mrudeshwara I think. Jog is the starting point of drive into the Western Ghats. It was my turn behind the wheels from here. :-) The road thru the Western Ghats is very picturesque and goes thru dense rain forests, hills and valleys. The stretch of around 25kms was great fun to drive. We stopped on the way at a Vista Point to have a look at the Sharavathi valley.
A few words about the Sharavathi valley: This is one of my favourite places and I have been seeing this place since my childhood days. But the place was totally different this time around. They have built a dam against the flow at the end of the valley. The result is a much-widened river, lot of trees submerged and huge amounts of forest lost. The river is now so jampacked that in within a distance of 20kms, there are 4 dams built into it! Now there are lot of places where you see concrete where all you would see before was trees trees and more trees. I wish people were saner and leave the pristine river and valley undistrurbed. I wish they learn to protect the nature before they destroy everything and is too late.
MURDESHWARA
We drove 70kms more to reach our next rendezvous, Murdeshwara. We were there at sometime around 2pm. This place is an (almost) island with a very narrow landmass joining it to the mainland. I was here around 10-15 years back. Then, the island was a small hill with a Shiva temple built in a small portion of the island. The narrow landmass joining the mainland was asphalted and both sides of the road were beaches!!
I was at surprise here too. Where there was just a temple in the island, now there is a big hotel right next to the sea, there is a restaurant built a few meters in the sea and a whole lot of new constructions. More than all that, the most shocking thing was that the hill itself was brought down to make way for some more construction!! It is actually illegal to construct anything within 200m from the seashore, but that did not seem to deter any one.
We spent rest of the day near the beach. It was good fun. We walked around the beach for sometime, played frisbee for half an hour and then got into the water and stayed there until the sunset. After 7, we went inside the temple and spent some time there. Around 8pm or so, we left Murdeshwar and went to Honnavar for the night's stay. I feel this was the best of all the 4 days of our trip.
Day 3
After two days of journey by car, I slowly began to realize a few things that I found missing in the car. It did not have a remote fuel lid, remote boot opener and driver side power windows. The gears and clutch were hard but that was probably because of how old the car is and when was it serviced. The music system was nowhere close to the one that I was used to. And air conditioning was pathetic for the size of the car; it used to take ages to bring the temperature down. Probably I was pampered a bit with my car, but I did feel those are essential things in a car, never mind they are only accessories. Handling and driveablity of the car were excellent and that was something really important. At least, the 'josh machine' lived up to its nickname. In the next part of the journey, we had to travel on National Highway 17 all the way north until we reach Panaji. The highway runs close to the coast and sometimes you can get a good view of the sea from the road. Road was in pretty good condition and driving was a breeze. After driving for an hour or 2 the road was going on a hill and we noticed a beautiful beach around 2kms away from the road. It was a pretty long beach and the there were a lot of green hills near the shore. We drove down near the beach for a look. It was mostly empty but for a few fishermen. We asked them if they could take us to an island we could see from the beach. They seemed to be willing but circumstances not. It was very windy that morning, so rowboats would take a long time, and the only mechanised boat available there was short of fuel. So we just whiled away for half an hour near the waters, taking pictures et al and continued furthur.
Next, we stopped on the way at Karwar port. Unlike some other ports, these people were letting in visitors for a small fee. So we went inside and even got a chance to take a look inside one of the 2 ships parked(anchored) there. They were not very big ones though.
GOA
After Karwar was our last destination in the route: Panaji, Goa. As soon as we left the borders of karnataka, the road turned bad and narrow. We drove for a few more hours till we reached Panaji and arrived there for lunchtime. The first thing we did after lunch was to get the music system repaired(Thank god!). Around 4pm or so we started off exploring beaches near Panaji. The first one was Calangute. It is probably one of the most well known beaches here. It was too crowded so we got off the place quickly and went to next place. I think the name is Baga beach or something. This one was crowded too, so we just continued. A little after sunset, when there was still some light, we reached Vagator beach. This was a good place and fortunately not very crowded. We walked into the beach and sat there looking at the sea for an hour or more, and found an accomodation near the beach. This became our base camp for our furthur explorations in Goa.
Day 4: Chaos and Confusions
So here comes the 4th day, the last full day in Goa. It was a good day of learning how disordered and chaotic can an unplanned trip can become. Our agenda for the complete day: watersports. For all of us, this was the major attraction of Goa, even more than the famous beaches. The previous day, we had gone to nearby Taj Holiday Village inquiring about it, only to be told to come again the next day and ask. In the meantime, we also had called up Barracuda Diving about what we can do tomorrow, and again did not get much detail.
We called Taj in the next morning to find out that there weren't any interesting options. So the first thing, we simply headed to 'Cida de Goa' beach resort near Miramar, Panaji where Barracuda Diving was supposedly located. On asking, we were given some watersport options in the resort, like WindSurfing, speedboat and more. But Barracuda Diving had recently shifted to Marriott beach resort that was a 10-minute drive from there. So there we go to Marriott and finally met people from the diving school. Our plan was to Snorkel and spend the day while understanding whatever we can about diving. But it so turned out that the boat that goes to diving site had left around 30 minutes back and the next schedule is 2 days later. We were stranded with nothing much to do for the day. It is too hot to get into a beach or something during mid-day. We then decided on whiling our time till evening and return to 'Cida de Goa' to learn some windsurfing there.
So, with lot of time to spend, we entered a nearby Barista and spent half an hour. From there, we went to Old Goa to visit the 17th Century built Church of St Francis of Assisi. Old goa is nearly 20 minutes drive from Panaji. All these times, we were talking how good an idea it was to take a car here. Without one, we would have been stuck to one or two places and could have moved around very little. The St. Francis Church also housed a museum and had some paintings from the Portugese days. Believe it or not it was the first time in life I was going to a Church! I was moved by the majesty of the place and the calmness that it evokes. Strangely, I felt the same good feel that I had felt under the stars when we were sitting the previous night on the Vagator beach. We lit candles and sat in the Church for sometime. I felt I could sit there silently and spend all the day. Visiting the Church was a good decision and that made the best of the day.
We returned to Panaji from there, finished our lunch and again went to Barista. Around 4pm, we returned to Cida de Goa to try windsurfing. It so turned out we had not done good homework again. They had no staff to teach you windsurfing, so all you could do is hire a surfboard and hit the sea if you are a pro. Same with snorkels too. So the remaining options were the not really pleasent ones - like parasailing, speedboat rides and the like. So just to minimize our disappoinement, we bought some boat rides and returned from there.
The only bright spot of the day was visiting Barracude Diving School. Karen from the school informed us about some promotional package where they introduce to diving gears and also give you a session in swimming pool(FYI: you have to begin in swimming pool even for a profession course). And one such session is scheduled in a 'Sun Village Resort' the next morning. So planning about that, we returned to the basecamp after dinner. We then went to Vagator beach(that was around 9pm I guess) with some mats and torch and decided to spend some time in the night there. The evening tides were rising and the sea was much more active than the previous day. We were there for an hour or so watching the tides and the stars. I think it is really nice to sit in a beach during the night than day, as long as you don't get into water. Nearly 30 minutes after we were in the beach, we noticed lot of crabs were coming out of their hide. Since they were small and stayed away from us, they were not a problem. But after an hour we saw the numbers growing and wherever you see, there were crabs crabs and just crabs. To me, it was nice to see so much life around even near a populated beach, but it was definitely not a good idea to stay there any longer. So we left around 10pm and hit the bed. We had one night and almost half day more in Goa.
Day 5: The last day
Missed an update from the previous day: We also visited a lighthouse nearby after sunset. Until now I used to think light houses are a thing of the past but apparently that is not true. From the hill where the lighthouse is located is a panoramic view of lights of Panaji city at night, and Mandovi River near the sea. We saw quite a few boats and cruises enjoying the night on the river. We all wished we were in one of those boats and also contemplated on buying boats and living near the shores. :-)
This day, 4th November 2002 was the last day in Goa. Only thing that was remaining to do was to go to Sun Village Resorts at 10-30am to get a hang of diving and then start driving to Bangalore. We got up fairly early and decided to checkout nearby Arpora Fort. It was a good idea to go there. Fort was located on a hill with very long view of seashore. One side was the Vagator beach and to the other side, sea water made an entry into the land, forming a bay. Or was that a river? There was no one around whom we could ask, but from the map we had, it looked like a bay. Looking at the sea and the waves not from the beach but from somewhere a few hundred feet high gives a completely different picture.
We returned from the fort and drove to the resort. Had a filling breakfast there that lasted beyond lucnhtime. :-) When we came out of the restaurant, the diving crew had already arrived. There were a few people already in queue and we had a bit of waiting to do. During the wait, I had a fairly long chat with the divers and got to know a bit about the sport, the fish you get to see down there, some enjoyable experiences of the divers and a lot more. One of the guys was telling about a story where he was standing still in water, and fish would come to him out of curiocity, repeatedly bang into his goggles while he got a close look at the fish. He also talked about some friendly fish that would let you swim with them in the school. All that made me all the more enthusiastic about diving(marketing?) and there, my turn had come to dive. I put on the gear. It consits of a belt with some heavy metal piece attached to it to ensure that you can get down the water easily, a pair of long shoes you might have seen in tv that helps you move forward, a jacket that has the air cylinder attached to it, an air regulator/mouth piece to inhale water from and goggles. Even wearing all that was not a simple job. :-) After putting on the gear, I struggled a bit to get used to breathing with the mouth but soon got used to doing that. Then it was all like a breeze going around the pool. It was a good experience. We all returned back hoping to come back for a full time course, time and money permitting.
So there we started our drive back to the city around 12pm. Even the drive back was good. Most of the drive was thru a lot of greenery. After half an hour or so, we entered the western ghat region and started steep and curvy climbs.
The picturusque drive lasted for nearly 45 minutes when we reached the planes of Deccan. We drove on continuosly for 4 hours and arrived near Hubli. We had to pass via Hubli-Dharwad bypass road that seems to be a newly built toll highway. The road was surprisingly good, wide, away from villages and was almost deserted. We got a chance to put the car on a stress test and managed to reach speeds as high as 150kph, very safely. Must say this is faster than the speed limit in many states in US. Even after this, the road was pretty decent all the way till Bangalore. Most of the time, we stayed at 90 to 110kph. It helped us to reach the city a little earlier than projected - at around 12-30am and we were able to catch some sleep that night, before heading to work the next day. And the next day, I woke up to the grind, again. :-))
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