My encounter with Mr Russell's Viper.

It was a sunny afternoon of saturday in the month of december 2010.We had recently moved in to our newly constructed home which is rather in the midst of a lot of green cover. Me along with my brother and a common friend were in the balcony when all of a sudden my friend noticed something moving on the road, it was a huge snake, we were shocked and surprised to see such a big snake.It slowly crept into pile of woods that were placed in the vacant plot beside my house.We thought it to be a cobra and were eagerly waiting on the balcony to get another glimpse of it. It was pretty big in size, may be around 5.5 feet in length, with diamond shaped brown colored markings all over its body. I quickly got out my cybershot sony camera hoping to capture it, felt like a wildlife photo grapher for few minutes :-)
                                             My 3 hours long wait to get another glimpse of the creepy creature, gave me lot of thoughts to ponder upon.I was thinking about the wildlife photographer's dedication & passion to shoot the animals, spending months & years together in the wild.

 

                                          
                                                                   My patience got paid off, the snake hesitantly started creeping out slowly out of the logs. Me and my brother quickly went down the stairs to capture the venomous creatue in our camera, while my wife, mother and nephew were still in the balcony shouting out at us to be cautious with the dangerous animal. I turned on the camera instantly and started clicking at the snake in all possible views and ways before it went into the logs all over again for the noise that we made trying to click a picture of it. For the rest of the day it did not come out, poor creature, we must have scared it to the core. Later that day i did a google on the variety of snake species found in India and got to know that it was a highly venomous snake, Russell's Viper. Some of the facts that literally shivered me about Russell's Viper were

1. Russell's viper is one of the most dangerous snakes in all of Asia.
2. Once bitten, people experience a wide variety of symptoms including pain, swelling, vomiting, dizziness,   blood incoagubility and kidney failure.
3. It accounts to the maximum fatalities among snake bites in India.

I got to know from the locals that there are a plenty of them in here, these days whenever i am outside my house, my hope of sighting another Mr Russell's become stronger. This encounter of mine with the creepy creature has installed lot of respect and admiration for these wonderful animals. No creature is dangerous until and unless threatened upon by man. It is we human beings who have trespassed into its territory. They are the rightful owners !

Tips for a Better Sleep

The quality and quantity of your sleep can make a sizable difference on how productive you'll be the next day. Here are few tips to help you get the sleep you need and deserve:

1. Unwind early in the evening. Try to deal with worries and distractions several hours before bedtime.

2. Give yourself "permission" to go to bed.
Recognize that some minimum amount of sleep is essential for body to rejuvenate.

3. Develop a sleep ritual. Doing the same things each night just before bed signals your body to settle down for the night.

4. Keep regular hours. Keep your biological clock in check by going to bed around the same time each night and waking up close to the same time each morning – even on weekends.

5. Create a restful place to sleep. Sleep in a cool, dark room that is free from noises that may disturb your sleep.

6. Sleep on a comfortable, supportive mattress. It's difficult to sleep on a bed that's too small, too soft or too hard.

7. Exercise regularly. Regular exercise can help relieve daily tension and stress – but don't exercise too close to bedtime or you may have trouble falling asleep.

Get connected with nature @ Chingara

It was one of those trips that we really din't plan much in advance. Our initial plan was to visit the honeyvalley resort which was more popular one than chingara.Later i felt chingara also was not a bad option.



Chingara is around 40 kms from Madikere.I heard it is much nearer to Virajpet (another town in coorg district). There are direct buses from Bangalore to Madikere and also to Virajpet from Bangalore.

We took the KSRTC service to Madikere, it was 4 a.m in the morning and we were in Madikere bus stop, it was very cold. I enquired from the depot manager about KABBINAKAD, the place were chingara is situated.I got to know that there was no direct bus and i had to change route.

Some of the auto drivers proactively came forward to offer their service, but i was not too keen to go because of the huge amount they asked for and more over it was a new place for me.

We waited in the bus station and got into our first bus at aorund 5 45 am. It was still very dark, all sort of thoughts about the connecting bus and the resort were coming to my mind. The driver advised us to get down in a particular place and then get catch another bus.

We finally reached KABBINAKAD and to our surprise the jeep from resort was already awaiting us. The 4 wheel drive to resort was just awesome.



Chingara is in the midst of a private coffee estate with huge forest cover.For people who want to get connected with nature, this is their dream place. There are lot of trekking trails to near by mountains and i also heard that the second highest peak in karnataka is also here.

Next morning we visited a near by private water falls, hahaha, you know why i say this as private? there was nobody else other than me and my wife in the waterfalls.It was very adventurous.




The food at chingara is very simple, but very delicious.The people are welcoming and very friendly. The rooms are neat and tidy without a television.

For nature lovers and people who want to get away from busy and hectic city life, people who want to spend some time all alone or with family, this is the right place.




I am already planning my next trip to Chingara :-)

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History of Bangalore

Bangalore is situated over the Deccan Plateau at an altitude of 949 meters (3113 ft.) above sea level, which gives it possibly the best climate among all the cities in India. Legend has it that Bangalore got its name from the words “Bendha KaaLu” (which means boiled beans in the local language Kannada). King Veera Ballala of the Vijayanagara kingdom was once lost in a forest and happened to stumble upon a lonely cottage. An old woman that lived there could offer the starving king only boiled beans “Bendha kaaLu” and the place came to be known as “Bendha kaaLu ooru” (ooru in Kannada means a city). BendhakaaLooru later came to be known as BengaLooru in Kannada and Bangalore in English. However, historical evidence shows that “BengaLooru” was recorded much before King Ballala's time in a 9th century temple inscription in the village of Begur. Even today "BengaLooru" exists within the city limits in Kodigehalli area and is called as "HalebengaLooru" or "Old Bangalore."

The present day city was designed by Kempe Gowda in the year 1537. Kempe Gowda I, who was in charge of Yelahanka, built a mud fort in 1537 and with the help of King Achutaraya, built the little towns of Balepet, Cottonpet and Chickpet, all inside the fort. Today, these little areas serve as the major wholesale and commercial market places in the city. Kempe Gowda's son erected the four watch towers to mark the boundaries of Bangalore which are traceable even today and they stand almost in the heart of the present city.