Monday, July 27, 2009

Nagala Trek

Getting up early in the morning at 3:30 happens only when you are going for an outing. I too was going for one such outing, a trek in Eastern Ghats. We were going to Nagala which is about 90 kms from Chennai. There were seven of us. All excited and charged up for the first trek of their lives.


We reached the starting point of out trek after some effort. We started at about 9 am. We had to reach a dam beyond which were the lush green forests in Eastern Ghats, where we were to trek. Those lush green hills made a beautiful site. We started our way into the jungles on those hills, and our destination was a pool. On the way we were going up and down the hilly terrain. It was lush green, completely under tree cover. I had seen such places before only on Discovery and Nat Geo. It was a wonderful place to be in. Swarms of butterflies moving around you, birds chirping, water flowing down in small streams, and the view of brilliant jungles and hills all around.


When we reached the pool we were somewhat tired. There we had our lunch and after that just plunged into the pool. The cool water of the pool was really soothing. Two little streams coming from uphill were feeding into the pool. It was a wonderful site. We enjoyed in the cool waters of the pool for a few hours and then got ready for our return trip to base camp. Well, return trip was fun till we were walking in the jungle under the tree shade. But once we got under the open sky at 3:30 in the afternoon we could really feel the heat. We were emptying packets of Glucon D in water bottles and having it to get some instant energy. Finally after a long tiring walk we made it to our car. And ya since our water bottles were empty we got a chance to have water from hand pump, in the village where we had parked our car. And also, we had used some fresh water, from the streams flowing down the hills. Fresh naturally purified water :).


This was my first experince of a jungle and also a trek. And it was a wonderful one. I will cherish these memories for a long time to come.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Ability... A misplaced premise?



I just finished watching Troy. Yes, for the first time and let me tell you it is an awesome movie, worth every second of it. The two main characters in this movie are, the great warrior Achilles, who fought for glory, and the Trojan, Hector, who fought for Troy.


Achilles was the greatest of all the warriors. He was made for the kill. His abilities were unparalleled. But all he fought was for glory. No other motive, no other purpose, but just to get his name remembered for a 'thousand years'. Although Achilles might have been a noble man, but all he sought was glory.

On the other hand there is Hector, who was also a great warrior. The greatest warrior in Troy, 'the tamer of forces'. He was also the noblest of men. He fought the great war, for his people, for Troy.

Apparently very few people knew about Hector, before this movie was released. I wonder why is it so. Is glory, the only thing that matters? Why is the story of Hector not told as passionately as that of Achilles? Is it because Hector did not fight for glory, or because Achilles was a slightly better warrior? Does that ε (epsilon) difference in ability to fight matter so much? It is ultimately the motive behind every action that matters. Isn't it?

"Take away the motive, and you take away the sin."
- Cervantes

PS : All my views about Achilles and Hector are based on what I understood about them from the movie, Troy.