Bandipur, Ranganathittu and Yercaud trip !!!

I have been touring a lot these days. Had been to yercaud, bandipur and ranganathittu. check out the photos of yercaud and ranganathittu. Very shortly will be posting bandipur photos.





I poornima and arvind . poornima playing pranks

A beautiful Red flower

water droplets on leaves.

beautiful valley in yercaud

I Rana and arvind

poornima sitting pretty !!!

A view of Kliyur falls. It was such an awesome falls !!!

Poornima, arvind and rana standing in a flower house in montford school.

I , arvind poornima and rana with poornima's car

crocodiles in ranganathittu


Night Heron


Lots of birds on a tree branch.

Encounter with Elephants

Three days back I was going through the newspaper when a small article in the third page caught my attention “ Two people trampled to death by a pachyderm (Elephant)”. I started reading the article with more interest…” two people were trampled to death by elephants near kagathala halli near talagatpura police check post …….” Suddenly a shudder went through my body as I remembered that it was the same area where I had a nasty encounter with a group of elephants.
This incident happened in 2003, November and this could have well been the last day of my life !!!
My friend abhilash and I were working on a project, which involved us to trace the path of elephants in bannerghatta national park. Because every year during the months from August to December they cause a lot of havoc in the nearby villages by destroying fields, trampling people and very huge losses to villagers. This project was self sponsored and brainchild of abhilash and we wanted to submit this report to forest department and government Basically we wanted to prove that these elephants are not rogues but people are illegally blocking their path by drying up the natural lakes, granite quarrying and ETC.
That day, we got a phone from two villagers (ashwath and manju). We had asked them to call us if they sight any elephants nearby their village.
So, as soon as we got the call we equipped our self with handy cam and cameras and started to bannerghatta. It took us approximately 1 hour to reach that place.



Bannerghatta national park is very close to Bangalore (25kms). Its area is 102 sq Kms and connects to jungles near hosur-Salem towards south and mekedatu and then kollegal towards north. Fauna of this forest includes fox, bison, elephants, deer, snakes and very rarely leopards !!! Tigers have been wiped out of this place long ago.

We reached a place called HULI BOONU (tigers cage). This place was named after forest department caught a tiger in 1980, which was causing a lot of menace in the vicinity, by cattle lifting.

Ashwath and manju were eagerly waiting for us. They told us that they saw elephants between Holi bonu and Ragi halli village. The elephant herd Consisted of five adults and one calf.

Abhi was driving the maruthi van; I was ready with handy cam, camera and ashwath and manju were looking out for elephants. We were going in a very slow speed of 10-20 Kmph. After traveling some 5 Kms we reached a sharp bend in the road. Abhi decided that there is no use searching elephants like this in vehicle and the best way to trace them is by foot!!!. So we got down and parked the maruthi van behind some bushes. But since it was white maruthi van we were not able to camouflage it. Elephants resent white colour, I don’t know the exact reason why they hate white but they have a history of attacking anything white. We didn’t want our van to be smashed so it was decided that I take the maruthi van back to huli bonu and wait for the call from Abhi while abhi, ashwanth and manju go in search of elephants. Somehow I didn’t like the idea of leaving them without any vehicle when six elephants are lurking in the vicinity !!!.

I left that place with a very uncomfortable feeling. Just as I reached the huli bonu I got a call from Abhi asking me to comeback as soon as possible!!! The elephants have proved to be very nasty customers as just when they were approaching the bend a big lorry carrying granites (there is a granite quarry in the area) passed them and the elephants panicked, as there was a calf between them. So probably they thought someone is trying to harm them. So they charged the lorry but lorry driver drove fast and escaped them.
When I reached that place ashwath and manju (villagers) were totally panicked and immediately got into van.
Then we devised another plan, where ashwath, manju and I will go inside the jungle for elephants and Abhi will be ready waiting for us on road in car!!! . I know this was sounding crazy. I knew that elephants could really run fast we stand no chance against them.
Reckoning all these I along with manju and ashwath stepped into the jungle.
We all parted ways, ashwath and manju climbed a sand mound and were trying to locate the elephants and I was alone deep inside the jungle ready with my handy cam. My heart was beating faster than ever. I was trying to be as silent as possible and there was no wind. I felt lucky as elephants have a very keen sense of smell and hearing. Wind would have given away my position. But due to dense vegetation I was not able to make out where elephants were.
Just like that I simply took out my mobile phone (it was in silent mode). I saw many missed calls from Abhi !!!. He was desperately trying to reach me. Just then again he called me, he was shouting like mad. “ Just get away from there !!! You’re directly standing in the path of elephants. They are just few feet away from you!!!” I was not able to make out anything due to dense vegetation. Just then I heard a loud angry trumpeting from the elephant close by towards my left !!!. The elephants might have sighted ashwath or manju who are on a sand mound or scented me and they started charging in my direction. I could make out the breaking of tree branches and loud swishing of its trunk.
I looked out for manju and ashwath but they had already run away towards the road. I was left alone !!! I started running like crazy; my heart was beating very fast I thought it would burst out of my mouth.
I had never run soo fast in my life. Looking back now and then and thinking that elephant would be on me any second. I could still hear the elephants charging behind me. I don’t know for how much time I had run but I was totally exhausted, I had bruises all over my body and my jeans and t-shirt was torn while negotiating thorns while running. Finally I reached road and was relieved to see Abhi’s van !!. Abhi was shouting and asking me to run faster but I had already exhausted all my energy, somehow I reached the van and collapsed in it. Ashwath and manju were already inside the van. Abhi sped away as soon as I got in. I looked back to see a huge elephant standing near the edge of the road!!!

I was too shocked to speak anything. But unfortunately we were actually heading towards ragi halli village. We need to turn back if we want to go back to Bangalore hence have to pass that same area again where elephants are there !!! So we turned around.
This time I half came out of the window with handy cam and camera ready. Abhi was driving tensely. When we approached that area suddenly out of bushes two elephants charged towards us. Abhi accelerated the van and I took some pictures of them but video came out too shaky as my hands were shaking !!!
When we came back to huli bonu I was happy that I was still alive, Abhi was totally excited and ashwath and manju swore that they would never come with us again!!!

Even now I shudder whenever I think of this incident

one more photo from shivana samudra trip

one more photo from shivana samudra trip
Originally uploaded by satishds79.

Rhapsody of water

DSC01013
Originally uploaded by satishds79.

Had been to shivanasamudra few weeks back with my Caritor colleagues. Shivanasamudra is an island that lies 120 km from Bangalore. It is a hydroelectric station, which was the first enterprise of its kind in India. The twin waterfalls Ganganachukki and Bharachukki (200 feet) are the most alluring spots near the island. Here the river Cauvery divides into two streams and cascades 75 mts down a deep rocky gorge. I was totally awed by these waterfalls and was happily clicking away snaps from my friend bhargav’s cam. These snaps are my favorites

Our Class Get Together !!!

It's been a long time since we had any get together(s) so wedecided to meet On Sunday .Venue: Nilgiri's, Brigade Road.Time: 10:30 AMPeople Attended: satish, pradeep (Japan lambu), pradeep (Dubaichotu), ashwini simha, aarthi, tripthi, alok, KP (Krishna prashanth),hamsa, thilak.I hadn't checked our group mails for a long time so I didn't knowthat there was a get together on the Sunday. I was totally surprisedwhen alok called me on Friday!!! . Alok called me to tell me aboutget together and that day itself lambu pradeep, tripthi, aarthi andhema had called me!!!…It was very nice to talk to you Guyz after along time.I was looking forward for the get together on Sunday.Sunday morning I got up at 10!! And by the time I reached theNilgiri's it was 11:15…I heard some loud noise coming from a cornerin the hotel…I thought who else can make such noise other than ourINSTRA 2001!!!…Everyone was busy in chatting and eating…they hadalready finished eating some pastries, samosas and milk shakes.I Was very disappointed to see lambu not getting any chocolates fromJapan (kalla nanna maga)…we were chatting and eating there till 12:30and later we decided that we will go out somewhere. There were lot ofsuggestions from everyone and later we decided to go to NandiHills!!!Lambu pradeep and thilak went to pradeep's home to get car …so westarted at 1 pm. Since it was already late we decided to go toSammy's dreamland…but when we reached there it was closed!!!…So wethought of going to some dhaba.We went to Malgudi's restaurant near marathahalli outer ring road. Itwas 3:00 pm and everyone very tired and hungry. So we ate heartily(but the veg platter starter was very horrible!!!).From there we went to Mega bowl and played some bowling …I (chotupradeep and me one team) aarthi and tripthi had a contest in whichtripthi won and aarthi 2nd place, I and chotu were 3rd.By the time we reached homes it was 6:30…totally tired but we had anice time together…we need to have more get togethers…. lookingforward for next meeting and expecting to see more numbers next time.

Some more Pics from my chitradurga trip

Recently had been to kunti betta in mandya district. And i dd some rapelling over there. It was such a wonderful experience !!!. i was very afraid in the beginning but later i enjoyed it a lot.






These are some of my favourites which i took in chtradurga

Sap Certified Solution Consultant !!!

I and my friend karthik attended SAP teched'05 and we both got certified!!!. I took BW ( business information warehouse) exam and he took ABAP Work Bench exam.

I am just copying the wordings from my friend Karthik's blog...it goes like this:

Last week I attended SAP TechED 05 here in Bangalore It was very big event conducted by SAP. They started Tech ED from Last year and continuing. Whole purpose of the event is to introduce SAP Practitioners to the new technical roadmap SAP has built and moving. It was amazing !! I was impressed by the ingauration part of the event. They had Karnataka's folk dance called 'DoLLu kuNita' to welcome the guests to the stage. We had key notes from SAP AG Directors, who had come from different part of globe. There were about 2500 SAP Practitioners from all over India. It was a three day event.We also had an oppurtunity to take up the SAP Certification exam there I appeared for
Solution Consultant mySAP BI - Business Information Warehouse and cleared it with 80% !!!...unbeleivable hehehe

Trip to Chitradurga

Recently I had been to chitradurga fort. It is a magnificent fort with seven layers of wall in circum circle for defense against enemies. It is called yeelu suthina koote in Kannada .
Chitradurga, on the highway linking Bangalore with Hospet, is famed for its massive Kallina Kote (Palace of Stone) fort, a marvel of military architecture made impregnable by the Nayak Palegars. It has 19 gateways, 38 posterior entrances, a palace, a mosque, granaries, oil pits, four secret entrances and water tanks. And the legend of obbavva , During the rein of Madakari Naayaka, the city was besieged by the troops of Haider Ali. A chance sighting of a woman entering the fort through a crack in the rocks led to a clever plan by Hyder Ali to send his soldiers through the crack. The guard on duty had just gone home for his lunch break and his wife Obavva was his temperory replacement. Noticing the soldiers emerging out of this crack, Obavva was not perturbed. Using the Onake (wooden stick used for pounding grain) she killed and quietly moved the dead, so that hundreads of them entered and fell, without raising any suspicion. The guard, Obavva's husband almost had a heart attack, when he returned from his lunch break. His wife was standing there with a blood stained Onake and strewn around her were the bodies of soldiers.
Here are some of the photos of that magnificient fort.

Bon voyage my friend MS

I am back after a long time. Life has been hectic from past few months , going to office in the morning and coming back to home late night only to catch a few moments of sleep I should rather say nap !!!. No time to think what I am doing in life.

My friend anil’s (we call him MS) father passed away recently. Three long years he has waited and struggled to get a PG seat and when the wait has come to an end (he has got a M.S seat in NUS Singapore) his father is not there with him to cherish the moment. I feel very sad for him, when he got the seat he was very ecstatic his parents were very happy for him. When he had started to prepare for GRE in 2001 our friend nagaraj passed away it had troubled him emotionally a lot so he couldn’t take up GRE. He wrote GRE in 2003 he had got a very good score and got into 4 U.S universities!!!! But as the fate would have its own will, He was rejected VISA 3 times! And again in 2005 he took up TOEFL and at last got into NUS Singapore.
His joy has turned into sorrow suddenly. He left to Singapore on 22nd night with a heavy heart. The next time I see him I want to see a very confident MS.
Way to go my friend. All the best in your life .

My Traits In Photography!!!

Recently i had been to Mavathur Lake near kanakpura to shoot some birds with a borrowed camera( abhis EOS camera)...but unfortunately coudnt shoot any i coudnt even go near them...when i started to slowly walk towards then they fly away!!!...i tried vainly to get them. So had to contend with some sceenaries...here they are...

Liger...Liger Burning Bright!!!

AMAZING ANIMAL....!! The 10ft Liger who's still growing... Liger------ He looks like something from a prehistoric age or a fantastic creationfrom Hollywood.But Hercules is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves everytime he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one,standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is thelargest of all the cat species.On a typical day he will devour 20lb of meat, usually beef or chicken,and is capable of eating 100lb at a single setting. At just three years old, Hercules already weighs half a ton. When he is fully grown he is expected to reach 12ft( from tip of his nose to the tip of his tail!!!), and almost 900 pounds!!!. He is the accidental result of two enormous big cats living closetogether at the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species, in Miami,Florida, and already dwarfs both his parents. "Ligers are not something we planned on having," said institute ownerDr Bhagavan Antle. "We have lions and tigers living together in large enclosures and atfirst we had no idea how well one of the lion boys was getting along with atiger girl, then lo and behold we had a liger." 50mph runner -------------Hercules has the strength of a lion and the speed of a tiger, reaching 50mph.












He will also grow a mane like his father, but just a small one, andsports his mother's tiger stripes on his huge body. And when he opens hisfearsome mouth he can both roar like a lion and give a purr-like snort like his mother. Not only that, but he likes to swim, a feat unheard of amongwater-fearing lions. In the wild it is virtually impossible for lions and tigers to mate.Not only are they enemies likely to kill one another, but most lions arein Africa and most tigers in Asia. But incredible though he is, Hercules is not unique. Ligers have been bred in captivity, deliberately and accidentally, since shortly beforeWorldWar II. Today there are believed to be a handful of ligers around the worldand a similar number of tigons, the product of a tiger father and lionmother. Tigons are smaller than ligers and take on more physicalcharacteristicsof the tiger.Famous cross-breeds --------------------- There are hundreds of hybrids in the animal world, some common such asthe> mule - a cross between a female horse and a male donkey - and somemore unusual, such as the labradoodle, a mix of labrador and poodle. Other exotic hybrids include the zeedonk, a cross between a zebra anda donkey; the zorse or zebroid, a zebra/horse cross; and the beefalo, an American bison/ domestic cow cross. Another rare creature is the wolphin, the offspring of a whale and a> dolphin. Back in the big cat world zoos in Japan, Germany and Italy have bred leopons, a male leopard/lioness cross, while Salzburg Zoo in Austriahas bred jaguar/leopard hybrids known as lepjags

A Passing Thought....

i am quite irritated today actually and the cause of my irritation is Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress"....
i was very much impressed after reading his previous book " Da Vinci Code". the da vinci code is truly a very good book. it was page turner and from the word go
it was a very good read.
Da Vinci Code book is actually a fiction based on the true facts . I was shocked to read that there were really organisations like "opus die" and "priory of scions"
opus die - it is an organisation which follows hardcore catholic principles like " corporal mortification"...i.e people tie thorns to their body and endure pain because
jesus also had to go through that pain!!!..it is head quartered in NEW YORK.
Priory Of Scions - it is a secret organisation which protects some old documents. these old documents is also called "holy grail" which is beleived to have true facts
about jesus christ ( i.e jesus christ was a great inspirational leader but a mortal..it was also beleived that jesus had married a women called mary magadlene and had
daughter during the time of his crucifix)...church doesnot believe this and wants to eliminate those documents.
i have searched in internet and truly these organisations exist!!!

and also i never knew the leonardo Vincis paintings had soo much hidden codes and meanings!! ( leonardo vinci was beleived to be a member of priory of scions).
his potrayal of most beautiful woman in world " MONA LISA"..was actually not a woman!!! but a combination of man and woman!!. mona lisa means man and woman.
and also . his other famous painting "Last Supper" had clearly depicted mary magadlene in it!!....if u see it there are 13 gospels(his followers) of jesus sitting around him
but if you see clearly the guy next to jesus is a woman not man!! ( if you have read about jesus christ . mary was a prostitute sent by roman rulers to diviate jesus. but
actually mary was a royal blood who married jesus!!!...church had propagated these stories in order to show that jesus was divine with no woman influence!!)
i have observed these paintings and they are true!!!

just browse through internet and you will get abundant information about this.

after readig this book i immeidately brought his another book " Digital Fortress" and i should tell that i am quite pissed off after reading this.i read digital fortress in three
days and all the time was thinking that it would become interesting like da vinci code but it never took off!!...it is truly a mundane book. he keeps reffering the
same old codes and terminologies from his old book da vinci code. he has taken readers for a ride.
infact i was soo angry after reading that book i took out JIM CORBETT'S My India and read the first chapter.
the beautiful bengal tiger ....the beautiful naini tal...the himalayan foot ranges....all these had a soothing effect on my nerves.

Why Does My Heart Feel Soo Bad?!!

Today i was in jayanagar for some work. i was going in my vehicle and i passed my college, suddenly a wave of nostalgia gripped me.
i saw students coming out of the college...they had a sparkle in their eyesi could see them very enthusiastic, energetic and full of life. bryan adams "summer of '69"was playing in my car....i was suddenly thrown back in time.few years ago...i was coming out of the same gate of my college, careless and carefree as ever. dreams in my eyes and enjoying life to the maximum...our only concern and worry wasmarks!!!...come friday and, we used to bunk classes and ran to the nearest cinema theatre to stand in queue for tickets. sitting in the last bench and cracking jokes on our dearlecturers and getting thrilled whenever any girl giggles to our jokes.
my heart felt heavy and i became sad thinking of those days....where are those days gone?...what has happened to that sparkle in my eye?..people tell methat i have become more mature after my college days..what does that mean?..does that mean i have lost innocence? does that mean i have lack of emotion?
i and sisya aravinda talk about this soo many times..in college days we didnt have money or any other luxury but still we were happy now we are earning and can afford any kind of luxury still we are not happy, why?just as these thoughts were running in my mind..i got a call from my project leader, he was asking me about my reports and etc..i remembered that i had to run to office..there is lot of work pending... nowa days i spend my days thinking and waiting for weekend so that i can sleep on saturday and sunday (many will agree with me). this is life and we have to move on. someone had said "all good things must come to end!!" soo true...bryan adams "summer of '69" was still playing in the background " those were the best days of my life..."

The Ghost And The Darkness

Hi friends,
How was my first post? Hope you enjoyed it. In this post I will write about the Hollywood movie ‘ghost and the darkness’.The basic facts of the story are portrayed truly in the movie. In 1898 two large male lions attacked workers in Africa building a railroad bridge and devoured about 140 humans before being shot. The rogue lions were nicknamed the Ghost and the Darkness by the superstitious natives. In the movie Val Kilmer played the courageous Irish engineer Col. John Henry Patterson who was in charge of building the bridge. Hollywood brought in Michael Douglas as a great white hunter to assist Patterson, but in true life Patterson hunted and killed both lions himself. The biggest visual discrepancy between Hollywood and the true story of the man-eaters was the physical appearance of the lions themselves. In the movie the lions were great beasts with huge manes around their necks. In real life the Tsavo man-eaters didn’t have manes at all and resembled female lions. Their stuffed hides are on display at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History and their photos are on the museum website. They look quite unlike the fierce male lions in the movie. In the movie Patterson was hit in the head by a wandering owl and knocked off his hunting platform placing him in great danger from one of the lions. In real life he was hit by an owl on his stand, but fortunately maintained his balance and didn’t fall. Like in the movie the real life Patterson did have a misfire on a borrowed rifle and missed an easy opportunity to kill one of the lions. Patterson also did build a huge wooden trap in real life that was baited with Indian Workers armed with rifles and protected by metal bars. This scene was depicted in the movie and the movie trap looked identical to old pictures of the actual trap. The result in real life was very similar to the movie. One of the man-eaters did spring The trip wire and was trapped inside the trap. The workers were so frightened they fired wildly through the bars and finally a bullet broke one of the slats in the trap door allowing the lion to escape. Unlike the movie there was no fire in the real life incident. In the movie many of the victims were Africans. While by most accounts that is true, most of the labor to build the railroad was supplied by indentured Indian laborers and the Tsavo lion reportedly killed 28 of the Indians. These workers were nicknamed ‘coolies.’ By some accounts 90% of the thousands of Indian workers in Africa died from disease and injury.


An exciting discovery in the movie by Kilmer and Douglas was the den of the man-eaters. Patterson also discovered what he thought was the man-eater’s den (complete with scattered human bones) and took pictures of it. The location of the cave was lost for nearly 100 years until it was rediscovered by American scientists one mile from the Tsavo railroad bridge on April 30, 1997.The men used an 1899 photograph of the cave to confirm their finding. No bones were found in 1997 and there is some speculation as to whether it actually was a den for lions. It may have been an African burial cave Disturbed by animals or possibly was a hyena den. I also discovered an earlier 1952 film called Bwana Devils told the story of the Tsavo man-eaters. and his account of how he hunted and killed the lions is well worth reading. Hollywood did a good job of retelling the story about the man-eaters in The Ghost and the Darkness and I look forward to a future movie about the famous Bengal tiger in India and Nepal that killed over 400 people. This tigress known as Champawat killed 200 men and women before being driven out of Nepal. She moved to India and continued to kill bringing her total up to 436 before she was tracked down and killed by the famous hunter Jim Corbett in 1937 and also a great man-eating leopard of rudraprayag, which then had created a flutter in Indian parliament. It had killed 125 people (official figures). Even it was shot by the greatest hunter of all time jim Corbett.

LIONS OF TSAVO

Hi Friends,
Welcome to my blog. This is my first posting…since I have a passion for wild life and read lot of Jim Corbett books and Kenneth Anderson books. I will start with a posting on lions of tsavo
If I tell ‘LIONS OF TSAVO’ nobody will ever have a clue about it but when I say ‘GHOST AND THE DARKNESS’ then quickly you can remember that it is a 1996 Hollywood blockbuster movie
Starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas. The movie is based on the true tale of man-eating lions in Africa .
I will give you the true accounts of the story that actually happened in Africa and in my next post I will write about how the Hollywood movie differs from the actual facts.
In March 1898 the British started building a railway bridge over the Tsavo (SAH-vo) River in East Africa. Over the next nine months, two large male lions killed and ate nearly 140 railway workers. Crews tried to scare off the lions and built campfires and thorn fences for protection, but to no avail. Hundreds of workers fled Tsavo, halting
Construction on the bridge. Before work could resume, chief engineer Lt. Col.John Henry Patterson (1865-1947) had to eliminate the lions and their threat. After many near misses, he finally shot the first lion on December 9, 1898,and three weeks later brought down the second. The first lion killed measured nine feet, eight inches (3 m) from nose to tip of tail. It took eight men to carry the carcass back to camp. The construction crew returned and completed the bridge in February 1899. Lions Rarely Eat People We will never know why the Tsavo lions became man-eaters, but two factors may have contributed to their unusual diet. In the 1890s, an outbreak of rinderpest disease killed millions of zebras, gazelles and other African wildlife. Lions had to look elsewhere for food, and attacks on humans increased across the continent. Poor burial practices may have also contributed to the Tsavo tragedy. Railroad workers who died of injury or disease were often poorly buried, or not buried at all A scavenging lion coming across this easy meal might start going after live humans.



After completing the railroad, Patterson became chief game warden in Kenya and
Later served with the British Army in World War I. He published four books and
Lectured widely on his adventures. After speaking at The Field Museum in 1924,
Patterson sold the museum the lion skins and skulls for the then-sizeable sum of $5,000. The skins arrived in less-than-perfect condition--old and dry, they had been cut down into rugs. (In real life the lions were even larger than they appear as taxidermy mounts.) Gunshot wounds and thorn scratches also blemished the skins. Museum taxidermist Julius Friesser did an extraordinary job creating the life-like mounts you can see at The Field Museum. Call the Hair Club for Lions although both of these lions are male, neither has much of a mane. Lion manes vary from place to place in color and thickness; Tsavo-area lions are often mane less. This may be a "family trait" common in the area--although we don't know if these two lions were closely related. John Henry Patterson’s 1907 book THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO is available on the Internet and his account of how he hunted and killed the lions is well worth reading.