KODCHADRI - 2

Before you read this, I ask you to read the first post as we did this trek because of our previous experience. This time however we knew the correct base camp.

At around 2pm on 18Th Jan, we decided to go on a trek to Kodchadri. Within 5 hrs. We did all the shopping and reached the city railway station at around 7:30 – 8:00 pm. luckily we got the tickets to Shimoga. The train was at 11:00 pm. So we went to ‘Pai’ near Anand Rao circle and our dinner.

After a sleepless night in the train, we reached Shimoga at 6’O clock in the morning. We caught a private bus to Sampigekatte which was a 4hr. journey and finally we reached Sampigekatte at 10:00am. We then hired a jeep till the base camp and started our trek. At first all of us were walking together but after a while, we halted to remove our full arm t-shirts which we wore during the train journey. God knows what was wrong with Acharya he never stopped. So virtually It was me and Nitin who did the trek together and Acharya did a solo! Lol

It was a very hot day. The temp was around 35’C and we started the trek without having our breakfast. We walked in that jeep way which we actually thought was the trekker’s path. Out of all the treks I’ve done so far, this was the easiest path but the toughest trek! This was the worst season to go for a trek in that path.

After trekking for two hours, we reached the grassland on the top which is the best thing about Kodchadri. This is the ‘Galipata’ spot. We were so delighted to see the grassland that we threw our bags and me n nitin had a photo session for half an hour! The wind speed was amazing. We thought we’d reached Kodchadri but it was still 2km. away. We met a biker who told us this. We were damn hungry, tired but started walking again. At around 3pm we reached Kodchadri.

We went to bhatt’s house and had our lunch. Then we relaxed for half an hour. At 5’O clock, we started our trek to the sunset point. We met a group of people from England who I guess came to attain salvation! Lol

The Sunset was superb and we thought of staying there but we’d left our bags at bhatt’s house, so had to come back. It was 6:30pm and was pitch dark. We collected few twigs to cook our dinner and some big ones for campfire and continued our night trek back to Kodchadri. One the way, I placed my foot in a place where landslide had occurred and fractured my leg. We reached there at around 7’O clock and cooked puliyogre and rice for dinner. For the first time in life, I helped someone in cooking. After dinner, we planned to put the campfire and sleep around it but it was very windy and our sleeping mats were flying. It was impossible to sleep there and we went to bhatt’s house and slept inside. Next day morning, we got up at 7’O clock, drank milk and started trekking down in the trekker’s path, not in the jeep way. For me, walking with a fractured leg was almost impossible but I’d no other option but to trek down. We started trekking down the mountain and again took the wrong route. We crossed two mountains and we reached an end point. All the dried up streams looked like paths and we gambled with it. Thankfully after walking continuously for hours, we reached a house in the forest. From there, we went to Hitlumane falls and met some locals. Nitin and Acharya played in the falls I’d to only watch as my leg took its toll. I couldn’t walk. The locals told us a different route and after resting for 1 hour, we started trekking in the path they told us. Again we took the wrong path and we were climbing the mountain which was inclined at almost 85 degrees. We couldn’t come back as it is not possible to trek down such a steep mountain, you can only climb up such mountains. We didn’t know what to do and we shouted and gave signals to the locals whom we couldn’t see but we knew they were somewhere close by. To our surprise, we got the signal from them and went in the direction of the voice and found them. They showed us the route and after a 7km. trek from there, we reached nittur at around 3’0 clock. My leg was paining like hell and I couldn’t walk. We went to a hotel and had our food. We took a bus to Shimoga and reached there by 9’O clock, had our dinner and took a bus to Bangalore. We reached here by 5’O clock in the morning.

This was our second trek to Kodchadri but we missed the way again. However this was far better than the first and I’m sure you will agree with me if you have read the first experience.
If we had not met those locals in the forest, I wouldn’t have written this story. Thanks to those tribals who saved us.

As I said in the beginning, among all the treks I’ve done so far, this was the easiest path but the toughest trek.



- Vishwas. V




Name: Vishwas. V
College: DSCE (BT)
Age: 19

Name: Nitin. G
College: BNMIT (EC)
Age: 19

Name: Pavan Acharya
College: BMSCE (IT)
Age: 18

My Speech

INAGUARAL SPEECH OF ALUMNI, AUDEN PUBLIC SCHOOL
BY VISHWAS.V

A warm welcome to all of you present here.
Before I begin my formal remarks, I must express my appreciation for all of you present here, in person or in fond memory. I wouldn’t be here today if it were not for my teachers and mentors.

We have joined here today in a reunion, between you and your former classmates and the teachers at the school school which helped shape our future. An Alumni event like offers you with an opportunity to visit the familiar classrooms and the campus which refreshes our memories.

When you entered the school today, no doubt you recognized some physical changes. But our greatest assets lie in all of us who have come out of school life into the real world. It is the responsibility of all of us to mentor the current students and convey the message of excitement and opportunities in the real world.

We are the ambassadors of this prestigious institution. It is our duty to see to it that the current students of our school find the right path in their professional life.
Society looks to you for answers to social and economic questions. I am confident that you are more than willing and able to give something back to the society that nurtured you. So why don’t we inspire them with our work or ideas?

This Alumni Association, I hope will cater the needs of it’s members as well as the current students of our school and will serve the purpose of an Alumni.


Mission:

“The mission of the Alumni Association is to improve communication between the students, teachers and parents. This association seeks to foster loyalty, lifelong relationships, commitment amongst all Alumni – Present, Future and to participate in the best interest of the school. This association will also co-ordinate in programmes that instill good will and pride, and provide opportunities for Professional growth and Social interaction.”


Let me explain briefly what I have in mind.









Activities Planned:


• Annual homecoming lunch and meeting in December or January in School.
• Maintenance of Alumni website.
• Maintenance of database.
• Alumni banquet.
• Class parties in private place.
• Recognition of the alumnus or alumna of the year.
• Seminars for the current students.
• To bring about News bulletins at regular intervals.

Office bearers:

• President : Ramanna Sir
• Secretary : Meena M’am
• Treasurer : Shantala M’am
• Website and Database maintenance : Vishwas.V
• Fund raising group : Sneha Rao, Vatsa
• Breakfast, lunch and dinner chair : Pavan .Y, Vinod .R.M
• Venue Surveillance : Nitin.G, Suma Rao
• Meeting coordinators :Akshatha Rao, Siddharth, Pavan Acharya


For all the activities that are planned, we need lots of money. Hence we have thought of keeping the lifetime membership fee of Rs. 1000. However, we haven’t decided on this. So we need your suggestions. You can drop in your suggestions in the Suggestion box or mail them at alumni.audenpublicschool@gmail.com

Thank you.

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AUDEN PUBLIC SCHOOL – ALUMNI MEET REPORT
Date: 12-01-2008

The Auden Public School Alumni Association is pleased to announce that all of us had a wonderful and a memorable alumnus meet in the school. This was the first ever Alumni meet and the association was formally inaugurated. All of us honored by the presence of our founder, Secretary and our teachers.
Most of us gathered at the school auditorium at around 3:00pm. Some of them even came from distant cities.

The meet started with nostalgic moments of meeting all our pals and teachers. Mr. Ramanna, the founder of our Institution formally inaugurated the Alumni Association and shared his vision for the Association. This was followed by a speech by Mrs. Meena, the Secretary of the School who emphasized the strengthening the Alumni and assured support of all kinds to the Alumni Association.

Some students shared their memories of the school. This formal meeting couldn’t have ended without the teachers sharing their experiences with us.

We had an open forum at this time where all of us could interact. This was the best day of the year for most of us.
This was followed by a snack break and the informal meeting continued till 7:30pm. By this time, we had created a huge database and we dispersed.

Well, if you thought the meet was over, you are wrong. Most of us went to hangout with our old pals. This shows the affection and unity amongst the Alumni even after graduating from school for so many years.

Special thanks to the school founder, Mr. Ramanna, Secretary – Mrs. Meena and the principal – Mrs. Shantala Ravishankar for their support in organizing this event. We also thank the office bearers – Sneha Rao, Vatsa, Pavan .Y, Vinod .R.M, Pavan Acharya, Vishwas.V, Nitin, Siddharth, Manisha, Archana, Anagha and Anup for organizing this event.

- Vishwas.V(2004 batch)
On behalf of the Alumni Association.

We Shouldn't be alive

This is a brief description of our adventurous journey into the Western Ghats.

We started our trek from after getting permission from the forester.
We were at the base at around 7:30am and took our first step into the gates which led us into our most traumatic trek. After a 5.5km trek in the Western Ghats, we reached the wonderland, the Arishinagundi Falls. Then we came back for a kilometer and took a deviation in the path which we thought would lead to our destination, Kodchadri, Followed by this was an eight hour long journey (up the hill). We really don’t know how many mountains we’ve crossed to reach Kodchadri, but it was the toughest path among all the trekking we’ve done so far. At around 3:00pm, we were almost exhausted of our energy and then we had the glimpse of Kodchadri. It was no sign of happiness because it seemed to be miles away and steeper. At around 4:30pm, we reached the top of the mountain that we were climbing and next to us was the mighty peak of Kodchadri. It was very sunny and hot and the mountain was again steep. We found a path which was down the hill and thought it would lead us somewhere to the base of Kodchadri and followed it. We were totally exhausted and all smiles were lost on our face. It was around 5:30pm and we still didn’t know that we were entering one of the thickest regions of Western Ghats and we were desperate to reach the top of it. Then it was the most frightful moment of our lives. We were walking along the path and suddenly I heard a sound and the very next second, stood a mighty Gaur (commonly known as Bison) 10feet in front of me. It attacked me and I jumped from the mountain and caught hold of a stump of a tree with my left hand. It then ran towards them (Pavan Y, Pavan Acharya and Vinod) and because they were together, it probably got scared and ran back. I climbed back with Pavan’s help and reached the path that we were walking. After walking in the same path for sometime, we realized that we were going away from our destination and by then, it was getting darker. We had no other option, but to move forward. We knew we were lost in the jungle. It was getting dark by that time.

According to our plan, we had to spend that night in a lonely house at the top of Kodchadri and so we didn’t carry any food for that night.
At around 5:45pm, it was much darker and our chances of survival were very less. We decided to stay there and cleared the dry leaves and twigs in that area. We only had a matchbox with us and no kerosene or any other fuel. With great difficulty, we lit few twigs and sat around it for rest of the night. We had no food, no water left with us. Many wild animals came near us but not close enough because of fire. For the next thirteen hours, we were sitting in around the fire and we were not sure of going back alive.

We started to go back in the same route at 7:15am.At around 8:30am, we reached the place here Kodchadri was next to us but we were desperate to come back to Bangalore and came down the hill to the base in around 5hrs.We never reached Kodchadri, but were lost in the jungles of Western Ghats.


It might sound fictious for some, but for us who were lost in the jungle, attacked by a beast, experienced all kinds of animals coming towards us at night, truth can’t be any lighter.



For me, who stood 10ft in front of the mighty beast, it would definitely take time to recover from it and plan for our next trek to the ‘Western Ghats’.




Yours truly,
Vishwas.V











Name : Vishwas.v
Age : 18
College: Dayananda Sagar
Course: Engineering (BT)

Name : Vinod.R.M.
Age : 19
College: Don Bosco
Course: Engineering (EC)



Name : Pavan Acharya
Age : 18
College: BMSCE
Course: Engineering (IT)


Name : Pavan.Y.
Age : 19
College: KSIT
Course: Engineering (Mech.)