For the Love of Nagala : 2

“Kaapaathunga”... echoed all through the jungles of Nagalapuram... Not your regular frantic S.O.S calls, mind you!!!... Amidst rip roaring laughter & mayhem, jumped Krishna Kumar into the crystal clear pool with a sleeping mat closest to his heart n chest – wonder if he would have even held anyone/thing else that close people!!!

Until thence, little did we know that this Chennai grown Andhra kiddo was capable of such sense of timing... that only a few hours earlier, was he ragged in near cold-blooded fashion by one of our very own [let me not name him as yet] to share his cosy little sleeping mat and the blanket too... ;)... could only have added a certain punch to his deft touch of humour folksies...

Krishna was not the only Hero amongst us though, The King – self proclaimed singam, Mr.Ladakh - Karthikeyan, himself announced his arrival with a Honda Activa at the start of the trek and kept our laughing bones broken literally by his wry sense of humour..

I could go on & on; leaving all of you with a big wide smile on your face thinking what could you have probably missed - For the Love of her Highness has always been very dear & near to our soul. Nagalapuram has never been the same every time we have stepped into her fold.

Count-down to year 2009, N12, when we [Paari, Karthik Yadav and Sujai] began trekking with a big bang, thud n splash [read as follows – a huge boulder rolled down our path splitting me and Paari safely and splurged into the Nagala stream], our sojourn ever since has been a fantastic one indeed – a picnic that showed us a glimpse of what flash floods could be like, the silver jubilee trek that tested the mental stamina & acumen of some of us – a few social treks & one day treks to the other side of Nagala later – She has never left us thinking about being something that we are so used to on a weekly basis and rightly so – She remains the Home of CTC.

It can only be befitting that we show some of the freshmen & Ladies, an iota of what Nagalapuram has in store for them. The distinction this time though was to split the teams into two batches – early morning & post lunch - and let people join in their convenience – the afternoon batch of course was the preferred one to most of the Chennaites. Logistics issues notwithstanding – the trek was converted to a post lunch start & end a day laters trek. A few hiccups & stop overs later, Nagala was in our sights. A moonlit evening was a blessing in disguise – food was distributed amongst the 37 member team and around 7 PM, the ascent to magic pool had begun.

To sleep under an open canopy lit by Moonlight & star filled skies is always a dream come true for most of us. Nagala 20 has been the best trek till date in that sense... the difference every time has always been people to add to the best of memories. Winter nights & camp fires are an awesome twosome – a perfect valentine couple... which most of us realised at 5 AM in the morning... J ...

Day 2 began with a lazy walk to the crystal clear pool – an hour n a half later, plans for lunch unfolded. Chapattis, noodles n soup – a super two course meal followed by leaps n jumps into the magic pool; Come 2 PM – the descent to first pool had begun – yet another dip in the clear waters – a customary group pic on a farewell note. FLN 2 finally drew curtains on a very happy & satisfying note.

Come to think of it, As we step into our 3^rd year at CTC, the only thing that could ever remain constant and what would possibly drive us, teach us, help us learn – Mother Nature – could not have been summed up better than this song: 

It is in you, to carry on

It is in you, to lay down fears that hold

It is in you, to find your way home

And this time around & forever...

Is it love that you crown?

And this time around & forever...

You'll be more than who you are

 For the Love of Nagala 2:  Paari, Yadav, Rock Bala, Ram & Hari