"Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your
head with silver liquid drops.
Let the rain sing you a lullaby…."
The
rain did kiss me lovingly this Saturday when I got an opportunity to go the
magnificent Devaragundi Falls…with the Gypsies!
It
all started as a rain trip very early morning on a rainy Saturday… A Tempo
Traveller full of Gypsies including me, embarking on a long journey to witness
this splendor of nature… A TT ride with the Gypsies always includes initial
ice-breakers to help those new to Gypsies and also the sacred Gypsies anthem…
For
records, the Gypsies anthem is an ode to the nature and inspires the Gypsies to
be full of life like nature itself…
A
TT ride with the Gypsies also includes stopping at some place for breakfast…
This time we stopped at a place called K.T - A typical rural house with
thatched roofs, bare brick walls and minimal lighting. As I entered the
“eatery”, the breakfast table setting and people sitting in a linear fashion
besides each other eating idli-sambar reminded me of the prasadam served at
temples… In the next room however, the arrangements were like a regular
eatery..and that is where we settled to have the first meal of the day…
This
eatery serves its own special tea called K.T tea… looks awesome with a white
layer of milk below a brown tea layer with froth on top…for just Rs.10….and
tastes amazing…!
After
about 3 hours of road journey we finally reached the Mallikarjuna Temple at the
foothills of Western Ghats… which was to be the start of our journey on foot to
the Devaraundi falls. The ancient Mallikarjuna temple is famed for the big
fishes that are found in the waters surrounding the temple… Visitors here feed
the fish with puffed rice (We did it too)…and fishing here is forbidden…
It’s
a sight to behold when, as the puffed rice flakes touch the water, a school of
big fishes rises suddenly from under the water and struggle to catch every bit
that they can lay the mouth upon...After playing with these aquatic wonders for
sometime…we proceeded on our journey to the Devaragundi falls…
The
way to Devaragundi involved a 3 km climb uphill through thick forests dotted
with a small house or two and endless stretches of arecanut farms. We had to
cross two streams, brave leech attacks and follow the rocks along the waterfall
for some way to reach the main falls….And then the fun that followed was mind
blowing…
It
so happened that the water was flowing very aggressively, the water around it
was deep, the rocks around slippery, it was raining and we were forbidden from
entering the water lest some accident happens… However, Mamu - a daring Gypsy -
set out to check the water depth with a stick nearly 6 feet long at various
places and for some time in the beginning he was thoroughly disappointed in the
beginning as the stick was disappearing in the water with no sign of it
touching hard ground… And then admist shouts of “don’t get in the water” , he
found a way to get behind the waterfall… what followed was the entire gypsy
regiment slowly and surely crawling behind the falls and posing for pics…
Meanwhile,
the Gypsy head, Nitin, found a way to cross the stream and get to the other
side of the waterfall… Now the Gypsy regiment, found an adventurous roundabout way
across the stream and getting back to the original halting place from behind
the falls… enjoying every bit of this amazing waterfall…! And then some of us
just standing in front of the falls where the water allowed us to stand without
a threat and enjoying the water mist rising from the falls….That was enough to
get drenched to the core… What a feeling to just stand there and feel the
“kiss” of the rain and the loud but sweet lullaby of the waterfalls. And ask me
how difficult it was to leave that place… though all of us were shivering after
frolicking in the water for nearly an hour!
KT tea
Feeding the fish at Malikarjun temple
Crossing streams to reach Devaragundi Falls
The Devaragundi falls
This amazing trip to Devaragundi waterfalls was followed by lunch during which Ram got attacked by an obese leech…! It was also followed by the fast flowing stream swallowing one of Nitin’s sandals, due to which he decided to throw the other sandal also…on Karan’s suggestion that it will be useful for whoever finds it if a pair is present.
The
entire trip was dotted with Sahana’s laughter and Charan’s Photography due to
which we have a whole lot of memories to cherish.
The
day ended with a tasty dinner at Bitto-da-dhaba, loads of lassi.
