My Trip to Hyderabad in 2011

It was one of those long weekends in Bangalore in the year 2011 when I decided to take a quick trip to Hyderabad. I was new in Bangalore and it had been some time since I joined my finance job. At that point of time I was wondering whether I should pursue a CFA program and who better to consult than my college super-senior Swami who was in the same domain in Hyderabad. I booked the train tickets quickly and left for the City of Nawabs..

Once I was out of the station of the Twin City, I boarded the bus to land at my friend Sandeep’s place. Now, Hyderabad buses are one of the oldest buses you would have seen in your life. In fact, the speed at which the bus was running could more or less be determined by the noise caused inside the bus because of loose parts. That said, the bus fare was considerably lower than that in Bangalore. I just hope the status of buses would have got upgraded by now.

Swami had asked me to meet at NTR Marg. We reached the place well in advance and were strolling on the road. The date was 09-Sept-2011 and Ganesh Pooja had just ended. The process of ‘Murti Visarjan’ was in full swing and therefore a bit of road was blocked as well . In ‘Murti Visarjan’ the idols prepared in festivals are supposed to be immersed in water bodies once the festival gets over. Now, I have been seeing this immersion happening in my hometown Gorakhpur since my childhood and I used to be surprised as I didn’t like the way they took the the idols to the bank of Rapti river and push it to the water. I somehow, found it little disrespectful towards Gods.

On querying elders, I got to know that the idols are supposed to be carried on the boat to the centre of the water body and it should be gently left to immerse over there. Probably, what forced the people to immerse idols just like that is the number of idols outnumbering the boats to a great extent, Worse, following the immersion, the local swimmers would dive in the water and snatch whatever jewellery they can from the gods. Yes, those jewellery are artificial ones but even they fetch the swimmers some value. Here in Hyderabad, fortunately the immersion was happening with the help of a crane (Fig 1.0). Another fact is that idols were supposed to be made of clay and with the help of natural colors and therefore once immersed in water will not deteriorate the quality of water. Now-days, the idols are made of plaster of paris and along with it, the artificial colors make the water toxic which is an unhealthy practice.

Once we had a brief view of Ganesh Visarjan, we went to explore T Anjaiah Lumbini Park. The park was sufficiently big and colorful for the children to play around. There are much bigger parks in Bangalore but there was something different in this park; be it the number of swings, the waterfall (to click photos), the laser show or the boat trip to Gautam Buddha Statue in the middle of Hussain Sagar, one of the largest man-made lakes. There was a long revolving tower on which we took a ride. It went to the maximum height. The three dots kind-of things in the photo (Fig 1.1) were the baskets we sat in and therefore the height of these towers can be assumed. The ride was quite unique an experience!

We met Swami in the NTR Gardens which was at a walking distance from this park and was similar and bigger to Lumbini park. The evening was spent in the market around the world famous Charminar. This was very similar to the old market of any city and you can get a good deal if you negotiate. I bought an informal belt which is used till date. The language you come across in Hyderabad apart from Telugu is a unique dialect of Urdu called Hyderabadi Urdu. Hindi and Urdu (spoken in India) don’t have much difference apart from their vocabulary and generally one who speaks one can understand the other. I found it funny (no offence intended) the way they speak Urdu over there. For example, ‘Why’ is ‘Kyon’ in Hindi while in Hyderabadi Urdu it is ‘Kayku’ but the drag with which it is spoken seems funny.

While the majority is a Hindu population, the Muslim population is a huge minority and therefore is the prevalence of Urdu in language and Nonveg in food. I was a vegetarian (with my friend Sandeep who is a permanent vegetarian) those days and we went to a Chinese restaurant. We didn’t taste Biryani over there. Yes! You read that write. Neither did we taste Biryani nor we dealt in pearls. Hyderabad is so much more beyond Biryani and pearls. By the way, one plate biryani has so much quantity in Hyderabad that it is generally sufficient for two people.

Next day, Sandeep had already booked a Qualis to visit the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. We started at 0700 hours and there were nine people (excluding the driver). Now ten people in a Qualis is quite a crowd but that was its own kind of fun. The seating arrangement was 3 people each on front and middle seats, and 4 people on the dual seats in the third row facing each other. The dam was some 140 kms away from our location and I was calculating in my mind that it would take 4-5 hours (including breaks) to go there. After spending around 2 hours over there we would be back in 5 hours. Having started at 0700 hours we would be easily back in the evening and I could catch my scheduled trains at 2100 hours. But destiny had something else in its mind. Having crossed some 120 kms in 4 hours we faced a massive traffic jam. We were not much sure of the reason behind the jam but Ganesh-Visarjan could have been one of the reasons.

Jam, jam and traffic jam. Fortunately, ours was a Qualis where the back door can be opened upwards (unlike Tata Sumo). It was around 12 noon and was pretty hot. Qualis was crawling like a snail and by keeping the back door open we were getting fresh air and the following auto-rickshaw was getting a shade (of the back door) as well. That was the longest period of time I had ever experienced a traffic jam. So, to cover the initial 120 kms we took 4 hours and to cover the rest of the 20 kms we took another 2 hours. My train scheduled at 2100 hours, was hardly leaving my mind running thoughts of different probabilities.

It was a strange arid road with no food-stalls, drinking water etc. We took a sigh of relief on reaching the Natural fountain (We had left the artificial dam at the place where the jam started). Extremely hungry and thirsty we had the exorbitant, tasteless egg-biryani over the only food counter over there. The fountain was ok. Since I was the only person who had to be in the city before 2100 hours, after spending around one hour over there I prodded Sandeep to ask everybody else to come back for the return journey. Somehow, I had the feeling that jam would be less on the way back.

I don’t know why carrying water didn’t come in anybody’s mind while starting from the Natural fountain. We again got stuck in the traffic and there was nothing except the omnipresent Airtel network and vehicles. All of us became thirsty and we desperately needed water. We asked the driver to come on his own and started walking on the road. We walked some 3-4 kms until we came across a hand-pump. I don’t know how much water I drank at that point of time. By now it was already 2000 hours and I understood that I will miss my train. We had a good view of the dam in the evening and had some food nearby. I asked the driver to drop me at the Bus Stand since since it was already 0000 hours and I knew that there were no train / private bus at that point of time.

The next bus to Hyderabad was at 0630 hours next day and fortunately the bus stand had a dormitory. I got the top bed of the unusually high bunker bed. Once I was flat, the distance between the fan and my body was so less that if I had raised my hand straight, it would have got hit by the fan. Thanks to the tiring day, I had a sound sleep that night. Next morning, I boarded the bus and enjoyed one of the best highways from Hyderabad to Bangalore.

Canon's new cameras: Canon EOS 200D and Canon EOS 6D Mark II.

Canon announced the launch of two new cameras to commemorate the National Camera Day: Canon EOS 200D and Canon EOS 6D Mark II.

EOS 200D is for those who are thinking of their first DSLR camera. It comes with a 24.2 megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor, capable of getting crisp pictures apart from having the flexibility to crop image with without compromising on the quality. The in-built DIGIC 7 image processor can increase the ISO speed to 25,600 which is helpful in reducing motion blur in low-light conditions and thereby getting good quality pictures. The Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology ensures that the camera focuses really fast and continues tracking the moving subject during Live View and movie shooting modes. It also features a Vari-angle LCD monitor, Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth for your convenience. The Canon Camera Connect app lets you control certain features from your phone.

Canon EOS 6D Mark II may be suitable for people who have photography experience with DSLRs and want to switch to full-frame photography. It is the lightest camera in the segment of EOS full-frame DSLR line and has a 26.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor. This sensor delivers exceptionally clear images even under low light conditions apart from getting you the background blur effect. It also has the Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology for high-performance focus tracking. The DIGIC 7 image processor provides high image quality in dimly lit situations. The camera has a versatile Vari-angle touch panel so that you can use it from different angles. With 45-point all cross-type AF system, you can focus more effectively on different subjects. This camera is equipped with a 7650 pixel RGB+IR metering sensor, a color detection AF, Wi-Fi, NFC, GPS receiver, Bluetooth which will come handy in professional level photography.

How to fix Error code OX80070091

How frustrating it an experience is when you come across an error message on your computer. You might have seen the Error Code OX80070091 when trying to delete a folder. The message further says, “An unexpected error is keeping you from deleting the folder. Error 0x80070091: The directory is not empty”. This sounds creepy to you. If you are the administrator of the computer, why can’t you delete the folders? What’s worse! Because of this error you may not be able to install new apps / app updates and therefore it becomes important to troubleshoot this error asap.

Let’s have a look at some of the probable causes because of which this issue can happen:

·         Check if you have logged in as an administrator. It is important to check this because as a secondary user, you can not delete some files / folders.

·         The hard drive has bad sectors

·         The drivers have become corrupt

·         The temporary folder is flooded with junk files

Below are some methods which will help you in resolving this issue.

·         Method 1: Use your existing antivirus.

o    Login with your administrative access and scan your computer with the existing antivirus / Microsoft Defender. See if the problem still exists.

o    Restart your computer and try deleting the intended file / folder to see if the issue is resolved.

·         Method 2: You should remove the junk files on a regular basis which doesn’t just occupy unnecessary space in your computer but can also make your system unstable.

o    Hold Win, Press X

o    Click “Command Prompt (Admin)”

o    Click “Yes”

o    Type “cleanmgr” and press Enter

o    Select the drive which you want to check (we recommend doing this for all drives one by one)

o    The process will start and you will be notified the space you can claim on the respective hard disks.

o    Review and Check all the Radio Buttons to remove unnecessary files

o    Click ‘Ok” for the process to start

o    Check if you are still able to delete the intended folder (the Error Code OX80070091 is resolved or not)

·         Method 3: Check the folder’s properties to confirm if you actually have full administrative rights

o    Open Windows Explorer app

o    Open the Parent Directory of the folder with this issue

o    Right click on the folder and click on Properties

o    Click on Security > Advanced > Owner

o    Change the ownership to “New Owner”

o    Select “Replace Owner” in both “Sub-container and Objects”

o    Once the changes have been saved, try deleting the intended file / folder

·         Method 4: You can take help of the File Checker Tool to resolve this.

o    Click Win logo

o    Type cmd

o    Hold Ctrl & Shift simultaneously and press Enter

o    Type chkdsk/f/r and press Enter and press Y

o    The Disk Check will start working once the computer restarts. Give it some time before trying to delete the intended file / folder.

·         Method 5: An alternative way to run the File Checker Tool is below. The difference is, this one focuses more on repairing bad sectors:

o    Hold Win, Press X

o    Click “Command Prompt (Admin)”

o    Click “Yes”

o    Type chkdsk C/f/r/x

o    Press Enter to let it scan your computer. Once this is done, restart your computer and try deleting the intended file / folder.

·         Method 6: Sometimes, the drivers are not updated resulting in Error Code OX80070091 and other errors. You need to update drivers to check if this issue gets resolved.

o    Open the path Control Panel\System and Security\System in Windows Explorer

o    Click Device Manager

o    Expand all the options and check for a yellow exclamation before any device

o    If you find one, right click on it and click on Update Driver Software...

o    Restart your computer and try deleting the intended file / folder to see if the issue is resolved.

·         Method 7: Use System Restore as one of the last options. ‘System Restore’ restores the settings for a specific past date but it doesn’t affect your files. This options comes in handy if you had created a Restore Point at that point of  time when the error was not there

o    Click Win logo, type and click on Settings

o    Click Update & Security

o    Click Recovery

o    Select ‘Go back to an earlier build’

o    Choose the date when this issue was not there

o    Run the tool and restart the computer

o    Either the intended file / folder got deleted or you should be able to delete it manually now.

·         Method 8: If even after using the System Restore option, the file / folder is there / you are unable to delete the file / folder, the last option is to erase everything from the computer and take it back to Factory Settings.

o    Take a backup of your important files offline or online

o    Click Win logo, type and click on Settings

o    Click Update & Security

o    Click Recovery > Reset this PC

o    Click Get Started > Remove Everything

o    Further there will be two options ‘Just remove my files’ and ‘Remove files and clean the drive’. We suggest you to go with the second option.

o    The computer will restart and take a considerable time to go to Factory Settings.

o    This option will start your computer afresh and all the old folders (including the folder with the error) will get deleted resolving your issue.

The last step will make your computer in the state when you bought it. You need to move the old files manually to the computer and install programs / apps from scratch. Your issue should be resolved and you should be able to delete that creepy file / folder using the steps mentioned above.

Bangalore and Non-Veg Food

Bangalore has undoubtedly, one of the best weathers in India which probably is the reason for so many IT companies settling here. In turn, Bangalore attracts people from across the country making it one of the most cosmopolitan cities. The food joints here leave no stone unturned to ensure that one gets non-veg food varying from Lang-sha (North-Eastern States) to Awadhi Biryani (Uttar Pradesh) and different food from other states. Bangalore has not been always like this. I got to know from a news article (link below) that in Malleswaram, the hub of the city it was difficult to get liquor, leave alone non veg food, twenty years back. Being a vegetarian was considered to have a ‘higher social status’ since that was more or less, at par with Brahmins. 

We have a plethora of options for having non veg food now in Bangalore. Ranging from street food stalls to military hotels to 5 star restaurants these food points ensure that one get nearly all kinds of non veg food that fits in her budget. Talking about military hotels, it was difficult to get the origin of the name by searching on internet however, we get a vague idea that these military hotels were set-up to serve military people. Mostly these military hotels are non veg and don’t burn a hole in your pocket. 

Some streets in bangalore become a paradise for nonveg connoisseurs in the festivals particularly Ramadan. People will be thronging around stalls having non veg delicacies in Shivajinagar on Ramadan evenings. If you’re lucky you get to taste camel’s meat otherwise the normal stuff like mutton samosa (half the size of a regular samosa), chicken burger, beef / mutton kebabs, caramel custard and last but not the least sulemani chai are served. These stalls are temporary ones and hygiene-minded people may hesitate a bit to have food here. Some stalls are open post midnight in Shivajinagar for latecomers. Other places where these stalls can be found are Tilak Nagar, Rahamat Nagar and Frazer Town.

While now-days there’s a lot of debate going on what to eat and what not to eat and some atrocious incidents have also taken place (particularly in North India) for people eating / storing beef, Bangalore is a relatively safe place to have non veg food with the variety, unlikely to get anywhere else.

My new phone - Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (4 GB RAM with 64 GB memory)

I recently bought the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (4 GB RAM with 64 GB memory) for $210 (13,500 INR). Considering other phones with the same specifications, this was a steal deal. This was my first experience with a Xiaomi device and I must say that there are reasons why the brand is called ‘Apple’ of China.

Let’s quickly have a look at the Pros and Cons of the phone:
Pros: • Once you’re logged in to your MI account, all the messages and call logs will appear on your phone just like you left it with your last Xiaomi device. • The in-built apps like Cleaner, Security Compass, Notes work like a charm. • The battery easily lasts for 1.5 days with mixed usage. • It has great customization options. You can even flip the placements of buttons (multi-tasking on the right and back on the left or vice versa) or turn their lights off • Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 SoC works flawlessly in most of the situations. I had a good experience playing Asphalt 8.
Cons: • It still uses micro USB when the whole world is adopting USB Type C. • It takes a while (around 2.5 hours) to charge the battery from scratch.

Homeschooling - Concept

Since time immemorial, children have been gathering chunks of knowledge by a mentor aka Guru. Format of this education may have changed from ‘Ashrams’ to ‘International Schools’ but the basics remains the same. A Guru disseminates the knowledge and in the end seeks ‘Gurudakshina’ which is paid by the disciple. However, it is not mandatory from the Guru’s side to ask ‘Gurudakshina’.

Let’s come to the modern way of education system. Children still go to a bunch of Gurus who don’t seek any ‘Gurudakshina’ but are on the payrolls of the educational institution. To ensure that these institutions don’t run out of money to pay to their hired Gurus, they keep charging money in different formats from children’s parents. The basic school fee is justified to some extent; what is not justified, are the different charges which they name very innovatively as Development Fee, Infrastructure Fee etc.

Adding on to that, the nexus which the schools have with different uniform-and-book-shops is highly condemnable. The nexus pressurizes school to ask parents to buy books, stationary, uniform and all other not-that-necessary stuff from a particular shop and everybody wins in this deal except the parents.

Some parents have started working on a concept called homeschooling to combat this situation. Here, the children instead of going to school learn at home with the help of parents and if required, a tutor comes into picture. Directly homeschooling helps the parents to get more involved with their children and as a bonus, children don’t get molested by the teachers in the school (we have enough examples of this; Don’t we!).

Theoretically, parents are supposed to prepare a time-table for children which includes her studies, extra-curricular activities and projects. The child stays at home and learn under her parents’ supervision. One of the negative aspect of homeschooling is the child missing out with the social interactions with kids of her age, which she would be getting engaged in her school. Parents have come out with web forums to make an attempt to resolve this situation.

Like-minded parents plan and meet (along with their children) at mutually agreed places so that the child get a hang of social interactions. Getting connected on web means that parents can discuss study related issues with each other and strive for a resolution. We have examples of individuals like Hilary Duff and Williams sisters who were homeschooled and have created a niche for themselves.

Where the road took a U turn!

It has been nearly three and a half years since I wrote my previous post. Well, post my PG, I got busy in my job and got married in the month of Feb, 2013. How I got married to a girl of my choice is an altogether different story and would get published in some other post. Instead of visiting some tourist place for honeymoon, we thought to spend some time together with our parents in Gorakhpur. The reason for this was that both of us were supposed to stay in Bangalore; a city far away from Gorakhpur and we wouldn't have got much time to spend with them. However, we did have a very short visit to Mysore in the month of April 2013 where we commuted by bus and train.

We were thinking of something adventurous when a motorbike-trip came to our mind. The question was ‘where’? We had already been to Coorg in a rented car. So, we thought to go to Mysore, take a halt of one night and proceed to Coorg the next day on our motorbike. We started with the preparations. The main problem was to carry the luggage bag. My pulsar 180 is designed like a racer bike and isn’t supposed to have much room for luggage. We finalized the bag and hung it on the grab rails. The grab rails were strong for sure (those are the only support for the pillion). Sellotape came extremely handy each time to strongly cling the shoulders of the bag. So, whenever we had to detach the bag from the motorcycle we cut the sellotapes using a pair of scissors.

Day 1:

We left our home at 7 am on Dec 14, 2013. There was the usual traffic jam around Gorguntepalya railway crossing otherwise we moved smoothly until we caught the SH-17. Thereafter we started zipping past the streets. It was little cold early in the morning but the weather became comfortable gradually. We ensured that we take adequate breaks so as to avoid fatigue. Khushboo had prepared aloo & sattu (roased gram et al flour) paraathaas the previous night and kept those in the fridge. We carried them straight out of the fridge on our journey. We stopped at a drive-in between Channapatna and Maddur. It was little unusual gulping the cold paraathaas down with hot coffee.

We proceeded further and took 3-4 breaks of 10-15 minutes each, every 30-40 minutes and reached Mysore. I was trying to maintain a speed between 70-75 km/hr. I had read somewhere that bikes driven between 4000 and 5500 revolutions per minute render the maximum mileage. The maximum speed which I was able to attain was 110 km/hr and at that speed too the bag was clung tightly. We had prior reservations in Hotel Mayura (a division of KSTDC). Now KSTDC has two hotels in Mysore: Hoysala & Yatri Niwas.

There was a substantial difference of Rs. 500 of Non AC Double bedroom in both the hotels. Both the hotels seemed to be located on the same road and we wondered on the price difference. To experience further on the difference, we booked Hoysala on the way onwards and Yatri Niwas on the way backwards.

After reaching Mysore, we took some rest. Gaurav’s (my colleague who came from Bangalore to attend my wedding long back) family was there in Mysore and he invited us for dinner at his place. We received a very warm reception from his family. Vast is the word which comes to my mind when I think of that dinner. What not was there! Veg Kadhai, Butter Paneer Masaala, Saambhar and three other kinds of side dishes. Akki Roti, Neer Dosa, Chapaati were the staples. For deserts there were Suji Laddoo, Ganesh Halwa, Ice Cream and Gulab Jamoon. Additionally there were banana chips and bananas. After the dinner we received our wedding-gift and bid farewell to them.

Day 2:

Next morning was the day which I enjoyed the most. We departed from Mysore at 8 am early in the morning and caught State Highway 88. The road was smooth and without any thing peculiar happening in between, we stopped at a restaurant called Halli Mane.

We had a decent value-for-money breakfast over there. Before Coorg we again took a halt at a Café Coffee Day (Mysore Madikeri Road).

The weather was very balanced; neither too much sunshine nor too cold!

After reaching Madikeri, we approached towards Bhagmandala where our room was booked.

We deliberately chose Bhagmandala (36 kms away from Madikeri) for our stay as it was marooned from the main Coorg population and the usual hustle-bustle of a hill station. Also, the fact that it had a good proximity to Talakaveri temple which is said to be the origin of the Cauveri River. On the way, the roads were so sloped at times that I drove my motorcycle in neutral gear for a few kms with the engine off. After reaching the KSTDC guesthouse over there, we refreshed ourselves, had lunch and took some rest.

We left for Talakaveri temple at around 5 in the evening. The temple was located at such a height that the road stopped itself and took a U turn there. By the time we reached there, we got to know that the temple is slated to close in 15 minutes. We had our “darshan” in a rush and stopped at the aforementioned resort on our way back. The peculiar fact about this resort was its proximity to the Talakavery Temple. One can easily walk her way to the temple and can explore various scenic views of Bhagmandala (the temple is located at one of the highest points in Madikeri). The resort was a very moderate one with the per person charges of Rs. 500/-per day. The service seemed to be bare-minimum with only one person acting as a cook, caretaker et al. A group of college students was enjoying campfire when we reached there. It seemed to be a nice place to stay for a group of young people of at least 10 or more.Since we enquired about several resorts before coming here, a gentleman named K.V. Nayakcalled us and invited us to visit his resort  despite telling him that we’d already booked our room elsewhere. He just wanted us to come to his resort and have a look over there. We didn’t see any harm in that and anyways that resort would have fallen in our route to Talakaveri temple.

By the time we decided to go back, it was already 08.15 pm. The distance from that resort was our hotel was around 5 kms and the road was COMPLETE dark with no traffic at all. A silence with chirping of small creatures ensued on the way. I was little apprehensive if I came across any unusual creature. But we reached safely to our hotel at around 9. We had dinner and being tired because of the long journey in the first half of the day, fell asleep. I had already planned for the next day to see the sunset from the top of the temple.

Day 3:

Next day, we left the hotel at 05.50 am early in the morning when it was dark and foggy. There was complete darkness and the usual chirping of birds et al. Slowly sunshine had started making its way. Khushboo looked back as I kept driving and asked me if what she saw was water or clouds. I didn’t remember any water-body in that area and had a look myself. Oh my god! It seemed it was all clouds backwards and we felt like we were ascending from clouds.

We reached the Talakavery temple at around 6.10 am.

Coincidentally, the group of students which we met last night was also there to view the sunrise. Besides the temple there are stairs to go to the top of a hill. We immediately took the stairs. Khushboo took rest twice while climbing the stairs while I was alright. It wasn’t her fault. There were some 300-400 stairs on the way. After reaching the top of the hill we realized what a panoramic view was in front of our eyes! We were on a hill and had a view of many other hills around us.

The hills looked like emanating from clouds. In other words, we could see vast range of clouds beneath us. The sun was on the verge of rising in the sky and wind was blowing fast enough to make us feel little cold. We took many photographs of the scenes.

Gradually the sun rose completely in the sky and the sunshine ate all the clouds. Very slowly, it was all sunny and became little hot. I was reminiscent of my last visit to this place in Sep 2010 when throughout our visit to this temple, it has been drizzling.

Now I feel that monsoon is the best season to visit Coorg.

Be that as it may, we were there on the top when everybody else left but slowly the sunshine was becoming more direct and we thought to leave.

Since we were staying in Bhagmandala, we thought to take a tour of the main town Madikeri. We left on our bike at around 11.30 to cover the approximate 38 kms of the distance. Driving on that route was such an adventurous experience! Paths were steep and curved like anything besides the fact that the paths were surrounded by coffee and other spices’ plantation. At times, Mountains were there on one side and trenches on the other side. We reached Madikeri and had lunch in this humble Kerala restaurant named Greenland.

After that we departed for Abbey falls when those unfortunate moments of a small accident came into picture. Khushboo was navigating the way to Abbey Falls when we came across a split road and were not sure whether to take the left one or the right one. I slowed down the bike and she asked me to take the right one. I immediately swung the bike little right without looking back. A mini bus passed us completely but its rear dumper got stuck in my front brake-lever. Fortunately the bumper got detached from the bus instantly but that was enough for us to have lost our balance on the bike and we were flat on the ground. The bike’s speed was bare minimum 5-10 km/hr. The mini bus stopped immediately and the driver and/or caretaker started shouting at us as in why didn’t I give a signal before turning right. It was my fault indeed and so we maintained a low profile. I developed minor scratches on my leg. On asking, the caretaker was kind enough to give us a sealed bottle of water as we couldn't find any source of water over there.

Despite our mood becoming very upset after this incident, we continued to Abbey Falls. To reach the falls, one has to walk downstairs on a narrow path surrounded by trees. It is a giant fall viewable from a hanging bridge. We had a few pictures and had a good time relaxing over there trying to forget the incident. 

It was around 5 when we left Abbey Falls. Since there wasn’t any decent restaurant around the Guest House where we were staying (apart from the Guest House’s one, the food of which we became little bored with), we planned to had the food packed from the Hotel Green Land in Madikeri and then leave for our Guest House at Bhagmandala. We left Madikeri at around 0645 hours. The sun was setting and darkness was slowly creeping into the picture.

We met many vehicles / people on our way from Bhagmandala to Madikeri and that’s why I presumed that the same situation would last there in the evening as well. The reason for taking the liberty of leaving Madikeri as late as 1845 hours! Little did I know what was there in store for us. As we left Madikeri, the traffic and population started becoming less. Coffee and other plants’ plantations would look like jungle in dark through which we were traversing. Slowly, the road became darker and the only source of light was the headlight in my motorbike. Once in a while we used to get a vehicle coming from the either direction and / or going to the same direction. We were also coming across small shops and houses randomly but at a very low frequency. We travelled 60-70% of the 38 km drive alone with nothing in sight but the road and the jungle (I agree that they were plantations, but we felt like travelling on a road amidst an unknown jungle in night which was scary). I was once again afraid what we would do if we come across any unusual creature. The roads were once again steep and curved but this time it was far scarier than adventurous.

That 38 kms ride was a journey of lifetime. However, we reached safely to our Guest House at around 2000 hours. We had the parceled food and then started planning for the next day’s event. Since I had been riding the motorbike for the last 3 days, we thought to take some rest the next day and explore the local area on foot.

Day 4:

As mentioned earlier, Bhagmandala was a place away from the usual hustle-bustle of a hill station. After having experienced the rush since the day we started, we thought to pass this day just like that. We had breakfast at the in-house restaurant, but sitting on the gate of the guesthouse and staring the silent road. The road was so silent that once in 10 minutes would a vehicle pass it. It were these calm moments for which we zeroed in on Bhagmandala. There were small shops which would serve the daily necessities of a layman and that was it. We roamed around the place and checked out the coffee beans plants.

There were a small pond and an old temple nearby with nothing unusual. There were a couple of very humble restaurants in the vicinity. While going to Madikeri we had spotted a home which serves food to outsiders as well. We thought to explore that option and were on our bike for that. It was some 15-20 kms from our place. Both of us not being very hungry, we just ordered one meals and pork as a side dish. 

Now, pork is prepared in this region in a different way; be that as it may I didn't like eating pork. With nothing unusual in the evening we slept early as we had to depart for Mysore the next day.

Day 5:

We got ready and left Coorg by 8 am. At around 9.15 am we reached Madikeri and had breakfast at Greenland. There were sad moments as we were leaving the beautiful hilly regions. I was enjoying my driving this time as well but the excitement was less compared to the experience which I had when we entered Coorg. We ensured that we take enough number of breaks to avoid fatigue. Driving at an average speed of 65-73 km/hour, we reached Mysore at around 2.30 pm. This time we had a booking at Yatri Niwas. There wasn’t a major difference between the two adjacent hotels Hoysala and Yatri Niwas. The Hoysala had a slightly more premium feeling. Both hotels were just okay. We had a roam at local markets near the Railway Station over there in the evening. This being the 5th day of the journey, we were little tired.

Day 6:

Next day we left the hotel bag and baggage and had breakfast in the main market over there. On the way from Mysore to Bangalore we came across another Hotel Mayur (River View). We thought to check it out for future reference. That hotel had a nice view of the bank of Cauvery River. We left from there and took a number of halts to avoid fatigue. With nothing unusual happening we entered Bangalore. Traffic warmly welcomed us back to the normal rush of our busy lives.