A night at the "CRICKET STADIUM" !!!!!!

Yes ! Yes ! Yes ! India vs. England world cup match is been shifted from Eden gardens, Kolkata to chinnaswamy cricket stadium, Bangalore. I decided to be a part of that match on the same day when I heard the news.

it was announced in the paper that tickets will be sold in the stadium on 24th Feb...the match was on 27th Feb... chinnaswamy stadium can hold around 43,000 people in it...but with all the issues of shifting the venue, giving tickets to the English ppl, passes etc, only 8000 tickets were sold to the public !!!

So to make our dream come true, Me and my cousin guru rushed in to the stadium on 23rd night at 9.30 itself...we could hardly see 200 odd cricket fans eager to buy the tickets. We had decided to buy 1250 rs ticket thinking that there will less queue for this category, but actually we were WRONG !!! as the time passed by people came in huge numbers and by around 12.00, there were many as close to 5000. some were sitting on the footpath, some were on the trees, some were asleep in the cubbon park and the heat had already turned on. It was like a family of people waiting was some occasion to start. and literarily it was an occasion !!!! watching India play on England live , that too in a event like world cup is not a joke. it’s a dream come true for many of the fans, including me :) 

We walked through the streets, in and around the stadium waiting for the queue to form...but the police guys were reluctant of allowing to do that before 8.00 am ( 24th Feb. ). on a day like this, sorry a night, tat too mid night like this, it was hard to make out ones face with only a few street lights on. but it was tooo easy to recognize a policeman with the helmet on his head and a lathi in his hand. some of the fans were trying to form the queue near the ticket counter and all followed them ..finally finally ,there was a loooong queue in which we fought ourselves to be at it...tat too we were standing in the position where there were around150-200 ppl standing in front of us...we were happy that we will get the tickets for sure. no one allowed anyone, not even their brothers, close frnds to join in between since all had the fear of not getting the ticket if the numbers increased. I dint even realize that my happiness had to be only for 10 mins until the police started waving their lathis at the queue...all ran for their lives ...literarily it was a crowd explosion !!! people ran in all directions...I lost my wildcraft cap in this rush :( ,within a minute, in a queue of around 10k people, not even one was visible near the ticket counter...so then I realized wat was the effect of lathi. Oh My God..those policemen were ruthless for the fans . but the fight for standing in the queue did not stop there.. each and every time people came near the ticket counter, police were chasing them and it happened like a see-saw kind of a thing. 

people accumulating near the stadium did not stop. they kept coming in large numbers and by 3.00 am , there were almost as many people who can fill the whole stadium. camp fires began in the cubbon park..there were many groups and each group lit up a camp fire to get rid of the cold. some were talking about the police, some were making fun about the incident that happened, and almost all were connected to cricket in one or the other way.

Finally when it was 5.00 am, flood of people were rushing towards the ticket counter and this was the time we decided not to go ahead any further and go back instead .we left stadium with a feeling of something lost and reached home..and in the morning news I could see that there was a lathi charge on the people and during this incident , many were injured..so I thought it was a wise decision that we left stadium early. 

     It was a special feeling in whole of waiting for one piece of paper for more than 7 hours, and that sleepless night brought me to see the city totally in a different angle.

Ettina bhuja trek [ jan 15th 2011]

The weekend was not to be wasted roaming around the same old boring streets of Bangalore. It was an instant idea that clicked in guru’s mind to hike ettina bhuja. So we set our minds and our luggage and headed towards ettina bhuja. We took 10.08 pm bus to dharmastala and we were lucky enough to get seats in the front row. Our plan was to reach dharmastala, take 7.20 am bus from dharmastala to shishila and start the trek. Since our bus got punctured near shiradi ghat and had to wait for 1 hr, me and guru decided to go for other means of transport. We found a tanker coming and we were lucky enough to get a drop to a place called nelyadi. From there we took a jeep to kokkada and 8.30 bus from kokkada to shishila. [ one can take a bus from Bangalore to dharmastala, again 7.20 bus from dharmastala to shishila. Take a jeep from shishila to holegundi and trek starts from here. This can be done if one can manage their own breakfast and lunch and who doesn’t require a guide].

We had called up a person named gopu gokhale on Friday itself and had told him of our trek plan. Gopu stays in shishila and assists trekkers by providing them the breakfast and packed lunch. He also assigns a guide if required.

Since we were late, we missed 7.20 shishila bus and had to take 8.30 bus. After reaching shishila, we directly went to gopu’s house. We were served with hot idlys and chutney for breakfast. By this time our guide chennappa was ready with a auto and we started towards holegundi, the place where the trek starts.

We started our trek from holegundi through the jeep track for half a km and we had to cross kapila river here. After crossing the river, take a right turn and proceed. A trek for another half a km, one can find a small deviation ( if observed carefully ) which heads towards a beautiful waterfall. At the first look, i felt as if someone has crafted this and have let water into it. It was mind blowing. After  spending 1 hour there taking snaps, enjoying natures beauty, we were back to our original route and continued our trek towards ettina bhuja. A serious and continuous trek for another 2 kms, we could find the route splitting  into two. Here we have to take the left route and proceed ( people going without guide take the right route and will get lost ). Small breaks here and there and we were almost half the distance covered. Now I had the first glimse of the huge, mighty, gigantic ettina bhuja, standing tall and proud. Another half a km, we see the route again aplitting up. Here also we have to take left route which heads towards the mountain. ( these are the only 2 routes which misleads ppl who go without a guide ).

 

Listening to the chirping sound of birds, enjoying the pleasant wind of trees, we were almost 90% reached. After having lunch ( chapattis and palya ) , we decided to camp at the same place. One can find stones and wooden lobes used by previous trekkers for camp fire. It was a perfect place to camp. We dumped our bags here and headed towards the peak. It was 5.30 in the evening and a trek for another half an hour, we were at the peak. The nature and its beauty can be experienced here with a range of mountains, birds flying around, sunset was about to happen and it was perfect. The sunset here is the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.

We spent 1 hour at the peak.That one hour is one of my most amazing experiences. As the sun went inside the clouds, we headed towards our camp place. Our guide lit up the campfire and it was horribly cold. The chill of the winds made us shiver and the  warmth of the camp fire made us feel good. Around 9.00 pm we had our dinner and within 10 mins we were inside our sleeping bags.

The next morning, we woke by 6.30 and the hot tea made by our guide began our day with a fresh note. Sunrise had already happened.Around 200 mts down from our camp place, we could find water body. So one need not worry for water here. Then quickly after the breakfast, we started climbing down. it took us 2 hrs to climb down and we reached holegundi. We took a auto from holegundi to shishila and hot lunch was waiting for us at gopu’s house. We had lunch to full of our stomach and took a 4.00 pm bus from shishila to dharmastala. Took a 9.20 pm rajahamsa bus from dharmastala to Bangalore.

I would  say the trek was moderately tough. It takes 5 hrs to climb up and 2 hrs to climb down. sleeping bags are compulsory as the wind will be severe. Tents will also do. Carry enough food and water. As I stated before, one can trek without a guide by choosing correct path. It was one of the most beautiful treks I have ever had and I will remember it for a longer time.