Lucia

Are you within illusion? or illusion is within you?

Are you into the body? Or is the body part of you?

Is space within the house? Or the house within space?

Or are both space and the house within the seeing eye?

Is the eye within the mind? Or the mind within the eye?

Or are both the eye and the mind within you?

The movie begins with these lines from the Kannada poet Kanakadasa. You know that you can expect something different, considering that this movie has quite a bit of trivia involved. Director Pawan Kumar(of Lifeu Ishtene) was disillusioned by the industry, and it's proclivity towards 'profits', 'commercialism' rather  than 'good, clean cinema'. Inspite of his first movie having got good reviews, no one came forward to support 'Project Lucia', let alone listen to the script. Everyone was playing it safe, betting on remakes and big stars. You can read about the background in his blog post : Making enemies. Pawan decided to make the audience the producers, to make this experiment a crowd funded one (The 'Production' credits roll 2000 names). Read more about this here.

The result has been nothing short of a roaring success, as the movie goes beyond barriers and shows what is possible, if one believes in himself. Lucia demands your full attention from frame one. Frames switch between colour and black and white. Characters live two lives, one in the real world, and one in their dreams. Some shots are of the first person view and some, as an observer. There is one sided love, heartache, and there are songs. We are happy to see Nicky live the life of his choice in his dreams, but we are sad too, as we know reality will hit soon. Dream and reality are shown parallelly, and we brace for the ending, when the truth in unveiled in a beautiful way :) That is all I can disclose.

Life runs on hope

There are some really heartwarming scenes towards the end, as Nikki tries to revive Shankranna's Talkies, come what may. Songs act as accessories for the moment, rather than taking away the crux of what is meant to be conveyed. And that's the way it should be.

Sathish Neenasam, who plays Nikhil, deserves a big applause! He has played both his characters in this movie with aplomb. His acting is very real and believable. Shruthi Hariharan is bubbly and fresh, and has come a  commendable job. The cinematography and editing are top class and really mesmerising, they deserve a standing ovation for such fine efforts! There are some really wonderful moments in the movie, and the editing is top class. And I cannot recollect many movies with better casting.

There are some beautiful messages in the movie, one being - "Your little life is someone else’s biggest dream”.

You cannot simply 'review' a masterpiece like Lucia. You just have to go and watch it. It does not matter which language you speak, or which part of the world you live in. This is good cinema.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

Revolutionary road

Revolutionary road is a movie based on Richard Yates novel of the same name. Directed by Sam Mendes (of American Beauty fame), the movie is about a young married couple living in the 1950's, in Connecticut. They are a couple trying to come to terms with life and its realities.

From the onset, the movie paints a tense atmosphere between the couple. Somehow they are not content with things around them, and that manifests into rapidly- escalating situations where they say things that they do not really mean. She is grappling with her dreams of becoming an actress, and he is in a dead-end job. He thinks that they are meant for a more grand life and she paints a picture of a new beginning in another city. For a brief while there is hope, but can they overcome their doubts and insecurities? Both of them cheat casually, maybe to seek temporary outlets to their problems and situations. There are some brilliant performances here, one worth mentioning is from Michael Shannon, who plays John Givings. He plays an insane, who speaks truth stripped of all pretence, and through the masks. The couple cannot face his harsh sermons, and we witness some stand-offs.

The times have been beautifully recreated by the cinematography and costumes department, it is a joy to watch and observe people and their manners of another age. The background score is heart warming, and it accentuates the mood of the moment.

Di Caprio and Kate Winslet act together in a movie for the first time post- Titanic. And their performances are stellar! Kate is devastatingly beautiful as April Wheeler, and has put her soul into the role. She has emoted the varying moods of her character wonderfully well. Di Caprio has done a great role too, that of Frank Wheeler. He is all charm, and we see Frank's insecurity in his eyes.

*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy their respective owners*

Ooty cycling attempt 2, June 2013

After the abysmal failure of Ooty cycling attempt one, the plan was fine- tuned. We headed out and bought a BSA cycling rack. It looked quite promising when we tested it. World environment day had happened on June 6th, and we wanted to mark the occasion by launching a second raid to Ooty, that fabled land.

The day began early, with me heading to 550's place to help secure shadowfax onto the rack. Harnesses were double-checked, lest something give way! Heading to my place, Shadowfax was secured too. Both cycles had their front tyres removed, to decrease weight on the rack.

On ring road. Forgot to set the lens to auto focus

I spent the journey looking back to the cycles, we were very anxious that that rack would give up and the cycles will fall :| so ultra care was taken to glide over undulations slowly, much to the chagrin of fellow motorists. A few in bandipur pulled over, fooled into thinking that wildlife has been spotted :P

Not supposed to stop in the forest, but did so , to secure the harnesses

Looks a little scary now!

Crawling through bandipur and Mudhumalai, we reached theppakaadu, where we thought we could park the car. Unfortunately the proprietor of the hotel said we could not, which meant we had to go to Masinagudi in search of a parking spot.

At masinagudi, a kind gentleman agreed to help the cyclists. We kept the car, unloaded and fixed the cycles.

Unloaded. To be assembled.

Jing was kind(confused) enough to listen to us, and designed a logo for the trip. A wheel and the earth, with a leaf appearing to connect the two. It was beautiful, and we stuck the logos them to our bags and let them flutter in the wind, spreading the message to go green! We are yet to pay him for this, though :P

Dreams fluttering in the wind, raring to go

550's wardrobe malfunction delayed t=0 slightly, and off we went at 10:30 Hrs! First stop theppakadu, junction where paths bifurcate to Mysore, Gudalur. 7 Km till here. From here to Gudalur it is 17 Km and we made short work of it, aided by the pleasant climate and generous roads.

Sandwich break

We rolled into Gudalur by noon, and had a big lunch at a really nice place. 50 Km from here to Ooty, a seed of doubt was planted now :D

Speciality parking, primary prerequisite. Cycles to be in line of sight/ accessible at a moment's notice. Paranoid about this fact!

Post a sumptuous lunch, we pedalled on, to be encountered by a big gradient. Something like this was not tackled, so we pedalled on cautiously and slowly. Half hour into the ride, we felt that we were in soup :P to add to the lingering confusion, a few muscles decided to play havoc to test our decision making :P

A swift regrouping later, we enumerated our options - haul a truck, head back to Gudalur? Entirely unsure, we decided to 'at least push the cycles towards Ooty'. Equations of average speed/ time were shredded, to unmask more shades of uncertainty. The constant drizzle further engulfed minds in fogs of doubt. So we ate some corn:

The cinders did a great deal to the souls cold to the bone!

And moved on towards Ooty, thinking that Ooty would be the destination for the day somehow. Dragging our feet, we pushed the cycles up the slopes, hoping that some truck would stop and haul us till Ooty :) To make matters worse the rain increased and now it was a steady pour. Fortunately, a goods auto chap took pity on the cyclists pushing their cycles and offered to haul us till some place Unfortunately, he did not take us the whole way, and we ended up just shy of Naduvattam, a picturesque village by a lake.

The next 1.5 hours was spent in Naduvattam shivering in the cold and rain, waiting for the truck chap to finish cleaning his truck! When we did get hauled into the truck, the rains kind-of increased, and I guess we came close to freezing on the top of that truck, struggling to maintain balance while the truck swerved on those curves!

The remnants of the day was spent in discussing 'Will power', 'The 50Km theory' and 'How much to pay Jing (for designing the logo):P', in high spirits.

Cycles secure in the room!

Day two was a more relaxed affair as it would be downhill on the kalhatti hairpins :D It was a very long time since I had gone on this road so I was raring to go! With 36 Hairpin curves, this section was the most steep I have seen ,around here. More care was taken to check and double-  check brakes and the quick release.

On the way down - day 2

 Soon the hairpins began , as announced by the board below. At this point, the view opens up and it is breathtaking to see the road snaking through the forest. A few clicks, and we were off.

The famed Kalhatti hairpins!

 There are some beautiful views along the way, but you have to be careful not to take your sight off the road. Speed builds up rapidly here. One cannot go without braking for more than 5 seconds,  the gradient is that high. All along the way down, one smells burnt rubber and metal, as vehicles splutter to make it up (and the novice's burn their discs on the way down). It takes some understanding of how things work, on this route.

It is a pleasure to sit and see these houses on the hill

Kids in a village on the way down

 I remember Bharath speaking about one straight stretch, where he struggled even with the lowest gears, with people walking past him faster than he could cycle. I knew it when I saw this :

Scary gradient, straight road here with speed breakers on one side!

 Going up here would be a true test of ones resolve, pure mind over matter stuff. It will take a strong will and huge lungs!

:)

A lot of fun to go downhill here

 There is a very perceptible change in temperature upon completing the slope and hitting the plains. Cycling down, we made our way to Masinagudi, Theppakaadu and Bandipur reserve. Post Gundulpete we hauled another truck to take us home :D

See the little one ? :)

My cycle named after this cafe :)

With two failed attempts at scaling Ooty, many lessons were learnt, and we promised to fine - tune the plan

 for the final assault!

KHS goes to Bandipur!

Ooty was in the scheme of things. Something which had to be done. As we knew that it cannot be done in a day, we made the plan like this: reach Masinagudi on day 1, and keep day two to attempt ooty. Plan was to set out from Mysore at 05:00 Hrs. As luck had it, things did not turn out the way they were planned :D

550 reached Mysore only at 1:00 Hrs in the morning! We met at ring road - Bhogadi road junction at 06:15 Hrs, and set out towards the noble journey.


Day 1          : Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Bandipur
Distance      : 78.6 Km

Looking good on ring road

 The weather was clement, the spirits high. It was good fun to cycle on ring road at the golden hour. Post Kuvempunagar area, while enjoying a downward slope, the cycle pump fell on the road and was damaged slightly :| I secured it properly and moved on. This was not the main blip. Ring road is under construction at many places. There are sections with no paved roads. Before we could reach Nanjangud road, shadowfax was punctured! Shaken but not stirred, we dismantled the rear wheel, removed the tyre, and patched it up!

Great mind at work

My first patch - neat!

Shadowfax minus rear wheel on a lappy bag :P

This endeavour took a good 45 min! We made our way to our breakfast stop, Nanjangud. Riding on this road is scary, as the road is narrow. Vehicles zip past you regularly, and you are left mumbling prayers all the while. If you are planning to cycle this stretch, it is a great idea to reach Nanjangud before 07:00 Hrs.

We stopped to check the tyre air pressures at a bunk just beyond Mysore airport, and were asked questions like - we will not take responsibility if the tube explodes, etc :P

On reaching Nanjangud, We quickly gobbled up a lot of food, juice, filled up the water bottles and set out. It was 09:00 Hrs and we were already 2 Hrs behind schedule!

Some primal feelings and reactions are evoked in people, seeing cyclists. I learnt this. Everyone is extremely happy, and memories of childhood are brought to the surface, I guess :) Wear a helmet, and the emotions are amplified! The kind of support that we got from people in this journey was mindblowing!! People waved, cheered us on, showed us the 'thumbs up' sign everywhere! Everyone on two and four wheelers would turn back, smile and cheer for the trip :) Or was it the pure shock of seeing two cyclists go on in this crazy hot weather?! This mode and concept of travel was a true revelation!

Had very refreshing mosambi juice here

Post Nanjangud, the sun was beating down upon us really bad. The heat reflecting off the tarmac made it all the more hotter. I think we stopped at all tender coconut and juice vendors from Nanjangud - Gundulpet :) It was all mental now, to go on, and devour kilometre after kilometre, to reach the next stop.

550 / Shadowfax

Dreamcatcher / Me

We reached Gundulpet at 12:45 Hrs, had a lunch consisting of more buttermilk than solid food :D . The buttermilk was very refreshing after all the cycling! We knew that we were in soup, as masinagudi was another 40 Km away, and we did not want to get stuck in bandipur amidst the elephants!! With the idea 'what happens, happens' , we filed on, eager to get to bandipur first.

The sun was completely overhead now, and we realised the true toughness of doing this route, in this weather. I could feel my arms and feet burning in the sun. With no option in sight, we cycled on. Came across this village in a steep location along the way. Had a field day answering the curious kids questions
:)

Rowdy gang

We cycled to bandipur entrance finally! It was an exciting and nervous feeling. The guard at the entrance was not interested in our apprehension, with us asking questions like 'is it ok to cycle in bandipur? :P' so we moved on. It was 15:15 Hrs now. Truly spent, we were cycling on willpower rather than anything else now. 20 Km more to go. A steep , winding road. My FR deraiuler decides to give me some trouble. The bottle cage is preventing me shifting gears. Strange, that this should happen now. Fixing it would time ,even though it is a simple thing. With patience running out, with exhaustion looming large and patience running out, a unanimous decision is taken to head back and stay in some place.

We cycle back to the entrance, and move into a deserted looking resort. And convince the owner to slash staying tariff by >50 %. Cyclists discount :D

I realise the extent of my sunburn. Patches burnt into my arm and feet :| I soak myself for a while, and then interchange the bottle cages on dreamcatcher. Problem fixed :

Roaring to go!!

The place is serene, with a clean room. The evening brings with it beautiful hues in the sky. And a good small ride on the cobbled area in the resort (showing off dreamcatcher to the others :D) . Being on the edge of Bandipur reserve, it is peaceful. Perfect time to reflect, with The Beatles / Floyd in the background, in high spirits :) A sumptuous dinner brings to end this long, enriching day.


Day 2          :  Bandipur - Mudhumalai 
Distance      :  21.6 Km

The cycles, ready for day 2

Day 2 begins at 06:15 with bread - omlette - tea in the resort. We re trace the same route as yesterday, enter Bandipur with renewed vigour. There is a pleasant nip in the air. It is cool and soothing. The sun rises. Riding in Bandipur is like meditation. The hum of the cycle tyres does not intrude the chirping birds. We are not intruders, merely messengers of peace.

The long, winding road

It is very beautiful to see the deers stare back, with their doe - eyes :)

Could somehow stop (and not scare away) and click these deer

The monkeys too chill and do their thing:

Monkeys

Finally we come across a wild elephant! The huge fellow is feeding himself, just by the road. As he is in a small ditch, I contemplate taking out my camera and clicking a picture of him. Then I think otherwise, stop for a moment, admire the pachyderm, and move on :) A good decision. Soon we cross the border and move into Mudhumalai. A first!!

Break on through to the other side

The elephants get a bath

Newton's 3/4th law

It is 09:00 Hrs, and stomachs growl again. We polish off idlis with some sambar/ chutney and plan the return journey!

We positioned ourselves at a place where lorries might stop if we tried :P Luckily, the very first chap we hauled, stops. We haul the cycles and begin the return journey as planned :

Return journey leg 1 :P

Vitruvian man

The chap zoomed past the forest. It was a little unsettling on the lorry back, as it was unloaded, and lorry suspensions are stiff!!

This is how an empty lorry (with a laptop bag :P) looks like

He dropped us in Gundulpete, as he would take another route from here. It was time for breakfast part 3! I had some juice. We cycled for a while, scouting to stop another vehicle to drop us till Mysore! Luckily, we get this goods auto chap heading to Mysore. In no time, the cycles are hauled :

Alien

Surfing

The auto chap dropped us in DD Urs road by by noon

All in all, it was a really amazing experience! An oath to reach Ooty (with slight modifications to the trip plan) is taken :) By cycle, of course!

Republic day ride with Old friends

I think this ride with avenger and blue fish was being planned since the 19th century or something, really. Am just so glad that things fell in place and we set out!! A big thanks for the boys not in the game for making this ride!! :) To add to the anticipation, I could not wait to load those new cramster colts and roll :)


Day 1          : Mysore – Nanjangud – Gundlupet – Kalpetta - Pookote lake - Kalpetta
Distance      : 168 Km

I hardly slept the previous night! Mulling over loading the saddle bags, did a dry loading, to check out the way to secure the harnesses and stuff. Republic day began early, at 06:00 Hrs, and me and blue fish headed to the junction near avengers's home. It was cold, but Rakshith's full hand Pro rider gloves saved the day for me. Thanks man!!

So the classic 350, the avenger and my 150 Dts i headed out on the ring road. Somewhere near betta we felt that we must stop for a bike photoshoot, here are the results:

Fish's ride

Fish and his classic bask

I am out of words!

One picture is reviewed

 Avenging the sun

I think we spent an hour here, and clicked bucket loads of pictures!! As it was the golden hour, it was a great time :)

Traffic was sparse. By the lake in Nanjangud, we longed for another stop and more pictures :) hey, we were in no hurry

Fish does a bane :D

Spot 7 differences :P

After a few more clicks, we headed to Nanjangud for a good breakfast, and set out to Gundulpet. I had done this route two weeks ago, and it was a true pleasure to ride on this stretch :) Open stretches, sparse traffic, enchanting surroundings.

We stopped past Gundulpet for a butt break. And headed out towards Bandipur! This stretch is wonderful too! With glimpses of the hills around us, we zip through the  long winding roads. It does not seem like we are heading to a forest - there are many open spaces, and the mind and eye wander.

Bandipur was calm, beautiful, and surprisingly brown! Was a little surprised. Summer must be coming close soon?

Bandipur roads - please do not over speed!

Three musketeers

At one place, there was a long queue of vehicles waiting ... for a herd of elephants to cross the road. I was very happy that people actually heed to the signs 'Elephant crossing', and 'wildlife has the right of way' :) Complete and utter respect for the pachyderms, and very rightly so!!

Mean biker boys!!

Framed!

Once we enter Kerala, the roads get a little bumpy. Here we are somewhere along the way:

Status update ;)

While I fiddled with tungsten balance:

Does this compo work?

Once we enter Kerala, we go on the NH 212 road to Calicut. The landscape changes again from forests to greenery tamed by man. We get some pretty farms and fields on the way. Quite a scenic ride. Roads are pretty nice, too. We reached Sultan Bathery, and headed to Kalpetta, our luggage dump point. We reached Kalpetta at noon, and checked into Hotel Affas. Decent place with no frills attached. The plus point being, it is a complex a little away from the highway, with a secure parking area. Very important point! Oh, and for all you veggies, fear not. We have an Udupi hotel right next door!

We dumped our luggage in the room, freshened up, and went to hotel PPS to satiate our growling stomachs. Food was excellent! There was a strong possibility of overeating and crashing back in the room later :) Somehow will power lured us beyond. We set out with an aim to visit at least one tourist place now that we were in Wayanad!

 The beautiful tea estates begin to appear as we ride past Kalpetta. The rainy season is the best time for this area, when green would be in abundance and the beauty, alluring. We could not control not taking a detour to this estate. Beautiful place.

The estate and the dream

Detour

Pookote Lake
              Beyond Kalpetta, Pookote lake is a picturesque lake, with hills surrounding it, and with a pathway to walk around the lake. Being a long weekend, it was really crowded! And I mean, really crowded! Fish had a heart - in- gill moment, when a chap in a zen scraped his Bullet, while the zen guy decided to take an abrupt reverse! We gave him a not-so-zen earful.

Pookote lake is pretty

 We walked around the lake and exercised photographic limits and boundaries to the extreme. Fish also learnt a lot from the photowalk. Results:

Gravity?

Me clicking the above pic :P

Tea time lapse

Post pookote , it was time for another tea break at a roadside stall. After all that's the real deal, is it not?

The machines

There is someone on avenger's shoulder!!

And just a few turns after tea:

I love my helmet,bike and this pic a lot :D Thanks to  blue fish for clicking!

After this, we got back, listened to some good music, spoke about life, and called it a day in high spirits ;)


Day 2          : Kalpetta - Gundlupet - Nanjangud - Mysore
Distance      : 139 Km

Got up, and there was a lot of mist outside, which was nice! Cleaned the bikes, gobbled good breakfast at the Udupi hotel in the complex and set out to Mysore! Just out of Kalpetta, a beautiful coffee and pepper farm tempted us, so we did some off-roading and went into the farm :)

The farm, the path and the holy Trinity

Ze peppers

Just trying to get some good light

Throughout the trip, fish had shown us this Black and white picture of a biker, helmet on, next to his bike. Looked like it was clicked somewhere in Leh. And it was beautiful! We went crazy drooling over it. We decided that to recreate the picture would be the ultimate tribute. Just before Bandipur, we found a spot which would do justice to this noble purpose. Avenger rode through the woods and we happily devoted the next hour perfecting this art. Results are good, i'll say :

A befitting tribute

In the woods

Add caption

After this we headed towards Mysore. It was a great trip to catch up with old friends. It is really surprising that this is the first two-day trip with these fellows! Road trips, especially with friends whom you have known for ages, are truly liberating. We really should do more of such stuff, people! Don't grow old so soon :)