Thursday, August 6, 2009

On the road to Kabini

We go on a lot of road journeys. And a lot of times, i come back saying that i am never sitting in the car for that long ever again......but when i look back and think about all the trips we've taken, some of the road journeys have been the best and most memorable.

The key is not drive for too long at any go and to stop and have a closer look at all things interesting you find on the way. But a lot of times, we are so much in a hurry and so excited about our destinations that we forget to enjoy the journey itself.
We recently drove from Bangalore to Kabini and that was one of the best journeys ever!! The scenery was beautiful and we kept stopping to admire everything we saw - from trucks and tractors to the hills and fields.
there were swings outside most of the temples.....a young boy told us that they were for the gods.




after crossing mysore, the villages started and we wanted to stop every 5 mins to take the stunning scenery in!!


With us on the journey was our friend who had come from the US for a vacation and she wanted to take snaps of everything on the way!! Initially we kept pulling her leg everytime she made a request and by the end of it, we realised that everything is amazing if you want to see it that way!!
We took photos of everything from roadsigns to all the cattle and dogs and cats on the road and throughly enjoyed it!! This is what we had stopped doing somewhere along the way.......
Thanks a lot Vandy for giving it back to us :)
the roads were wonderful to drive on and the scenery kept us engaged throughout





the rains had made the whole countryside clean and everything was so green!!

The best part was meeting all the most interesting people. There were ladies working on the fields, carrying water and firewood, kids playing, men making new machans and farming.....so many different things that so many different people were doing......

little boy with the most amazing smile :). we met him near kabini dam.


we were driving by and saw her on the road....i stopped to take a snap and she ran to us asking for money......felt so bad!! gave her a 20rs note and she was most grateful.
The journey to Kabini has totally revived me!! I think we're going to be doing a lot of road journeys for a while now!!
A beautiful large frangipani tree near a temple....
wonder how it looks when it flowers....







milestones on the way.......
























































Saturday, August 1, 2009

The ugly, the bad and the good :)

Been a while since i blogged.....for 2 weeks, all i thought about was what to put up in my next blog!! But i'm back!! I actually missed blogging!! This is about what happened in between which made me stop for a while.

The Ugly.
We're not in the Great Driving challenge anymore. And trust me it took me a while to say that so unemotionally. The first few hours after our names were not in the minesweep, it didnt register well enough. And i was fine for a while.....changed my facebook status, told friends and family that we didnt make it and that it was ok, thanked everyone and sat in front of the comp again like nothing had happened.
And then it dawned!! WE WERE NOT IN THE TOP 12!!
All i wanted to do was sleep then!! it was 4 or so in the afternoon and i slept. Slept for over 4 hours and then got back to the comp to check if something was wrong and we had missed our names......we hadnt.

The Bad.
The next day was fine. I accepted that we had not made in and that everyone who had were pretty good. There was no bitterness.....nothing. The bad part was telling everyone!! All our friends had been as excited about this as we were and they were all dissappointed. My mom had totally expected us to make it and she felt really bad.

We both had been on our computers, campaining and chatting and blogging and checking the progress of everything from 7 in the morning to 12 at night for a whole 10 days and we suddenly felt lost!! didnt know what to do!! The withdrawal symptoms lasted a few more days before things got back to normal. Even now, i keep going to the Great Driving Challenege site and checking blogs and following the contestants but i miss it. I really do.

The Good.

The reason this blog is not called the good, the bad, the ugly but the other way round is because thats the way it is in this case. We were really dissappointed, then we accepted it and finally were so glad we took part as there are way more precious 'goods' than the bad or the ugly!! :)

We've got in touch with so many friends!! Sai talked to his school mates after 17 years!! I never realised that i had not talked to so many of my friends in ages. So many things had changed and now i'm proud to say that i am up to date on most of them!! :)

We made so many new friends. One of the most diffcult things to do after you're finished with school and college is to make lastings friendships. But this experience taught us that its not true. We can still make friends if we try, it only a question of time and patience. And i am so so glad because we met so many new like minded people, so many kindred souls!! Its been an amazing journey.

We got closer to so many friends. We got so much support and following from people we probably didnt expect it from and that was so so heart warming!! I only wish i could be half as nice as them and do this selflessly when someone needs me. After this, i know i will :)

And we've changed......all for the good!! We've started blogging, wanting more than ever to take better pictures, travelling with more passion now, looking at everything in a new light!!
Another positive is that we are not giving up despite not making it. We're definetly taking part in the next Driving Challenge!! The minute i knew they were thinking of having a season 2, i was elated!! And Sai was just as eager to take part again......and next time, we'll be better prepared!!

To sum it all up, its been one of the bestest things we've done as a couple and i've enjoyed it to the hilt.....every bit of it - the ugly, the bad and the good!!
Thanks TDGC :)

Leena