Coorg on Wheels

Coorg On Wheels

(Note: This camp was in April and I am writing about it now. Sorry for the delay.)

6^th April, 2017

My alarm just didn’t stop. You have no idea how quickly one gets up when your alarm sound is a Hamilton song, especially Guns and Ships. At 4:45 it is not ideal to torture your body but I did. I was the first one down on the dinner table and soon my friends followed. After a nutritious breakfast of bananas and cereal, my uncle got the SUV and we left for the Bangalore stadium. Just in front of it was our bus stop. This bus was taking us to Coorg, Karnataka where we were to participate in an INME camp called “Coorg on Wheels”. It was an 8-hour journey and we travelled with other kids we didn’t know.

My friends had arrived in Bangalore the day before. After picking them up from the airport and breakfast, we went out for walks and stormed the backyard. Throughout the bus ride they were quiet until one of them made a big mistake by saying Virat Kohli was horrible. We were travelling with passionate Bangalorians who immediately called him out. They then got into this feud and were arguing the entire bus ride! It was amazing!

We reached camp at two in the afternoon and were greeted by our Camp Head, who we referred to as CC. He did the normal things like the ground rules and maps and other things. We were given time to rest and set up our rooms and then started some ice breaking activities for us to get to know each other.

7^th April, 2017

Today we had to plan for our expedition. We had started by a morning run to the top of a hill where there was a ground. There was a beautiful scenery waiting for us and we exercised to the breeze. After breakfast we started prepping our cycles and gear. We learnt the various parts of the cycle and what to do in case of any emergency. Then the fun began. We rode to cemented area on top of the camp where we actually got used to our bikes. There was also a very steep climb which I was able to conquer only after several tries.

After lunch, we got down to business. We started making our list of items we need for our pantry and other equipment for the wellness of our cycles. One boy, Siddharth (the oldest) and I took control of the entire project as the other were just horsing around. It turns out, it was way more difficult then we expected as we had to write down exact figures in kilograms. We also had to write down the menu for each day.

I feel like this was very important as when we actually got all the things planned out ourselves, we were instantly aware about our responsibilities, which is one thing that I take back from the camp. We all must learn our responsibilities and implement them to help not only other buts also ourselves.

After dinner we loaded all our stuff on the truck and then had the last bath we were going to get in a very long time.

8^th April, 2017

Today was the day. After our morning exercise we packed up the truck and bon voyaged our way out of camp. After a couple of downhills and some off road cycling we finally got to the toughest part of our climb. It was paved road, which was good. Just as we started we heard a loud screech and were immediately told to get to the side of the road. After 5 minutes one of our instructors went up to check what had happened and we found out that a car had burst one of its tires, because of the steep climb. That immediately left everyone feeling faint as we realized that a car had not been able to make the climb. We were next.

We made it. After 2 hours of pedaling in the sun, we finally made it to lunch. That’s right. Lunch. Not camp. Lunch. It was near a temple that we parked our cycles and had our lunch, achaar with beans and parathas. We needed it. After regaining our strength, we cycled on up rocky parts until we finally reached the first destination of our camp. It was one the foothills of a hill, we ditched our cycles on the slope and just clambered to lie down, facing the sky.

As time passed, the fog covering the hill extended and almost reached the bottom. We saw this as an opportunity to climb up the hill, completely hidden from the view of our instructors. We climbed really high and tossed the frisbee around until we were called down. We learnt how to pitch our own tents, which was harder than I expected as these were old and we were accustomed to the new quick assembly ones. Then came the actual work. We were divided into 3 teams and everyday each team had to do a different task such as- washing of utensils, sourcing things from the truck and cooking- in rotation. For some reason throughout the camp I was the only one sourcing things every time. Maybe because I had loaded the truck when coming.

One thing that I found really cool was the way to go to the bathroom. There was no bathroom! You had to go behind the bushes. BBA- Behind the Bush Activity was first considered to be too gross for one to handle but by the end, we were okay.

9^th April, 2017

The next day was going to be great. I knew it. Because after every uphill, there was a downhill! We got about 2 kilometers of cemented downhill, after which we were on the open road. We then started getting some sort of uphill but that too was gradual. But it got more intense but after yesterday’s mess I had vowed never to give up and to just continue pedaling.

This is one important thing that we need to keep with us throughout life: we must never give up. My inspiration was, after every tough climb there would always be an amazing downhill. This doesn’t only have to do with cycling, but can relate to anything in anyone’s life. We have to push ourselves and extend our limits and reach our goals.

We kept ascending the hill until we reached our next camp, Ant Palace. With a million red ants. I swear I could see some ants in our food. Now, one guy insisted on cooking the food on his own. My team was cooking today and Tejas (the abnormal one of the two) wanted us to leave. It took him 5 hours to get the food ready. This really teaches us that we need a team to back us up. We cannot physically do all the work alone and need to trust the people around us to their job. What one guy can finish in 5 hours, a team of 6-7 could easily finish in under an hour.

Something that happened in the night really startled us. It started out with light rain but went on to get heavier and heavier until it was termed a storm. We were immediately sent to the makeshift shelter made between a building and the truck with a tarp and made to sit there until the weather was okay. One of our tents almost flew away. I hope it wasn’t our because, oh the smell it would make when we got back. We sat on tarps but I actually got into the truck with some other instructors. We made some soup and had some candy cake. We were all in a jovial mood and singing and dancing.

10^th and 11^th April

Today we would ride to our final destination. It was rigorous uphill, much more than our first day’s climb but was generally easier to tackle than the first. It was much longer and I even fell really badly twice. We also got to a point in the opening of the mountain. We could see the whole of Coorg and could also see our camp across the valley. Now came the toughest part of all – to reach camp we had to cross this ditch which had a sharp downhill and then almost immediately an uphill. The land was muddy and soggy due to the previous nights rain and many people slipped. But that was immediately balanced by the camp that we entered.

This was actually a sort of farm house and somebody had lent it out to us. It had a proper ground for pitching tents, a kitchen with a choola fueled by sticks and a storage cabinet for our supplies. Since we were going to be here for two days we unloaded the entire truck which was a tiresome process as it included crates and sacks and cylinders and what not. Once we were set, we were delivered the quickest lunch of all which was absolutely delicious. We started complementing the team and quickly realized that is was made from a ready-made packet of MTR bisebille bhat.

At this campsite we really got down to talking to our instructors and learning their background stories and their inspiration to actually come down here and do this. We had five- Sanjeev Sir, Baba, Shanti, Kaka and Ankur sir. I got to talk to Ankur Sir and Kaka, as they were quite involved with us while the others doing things like planning the next phase of the trip or making phone calls giving updates.

We had this really fit guy nicknamed Kaka who never actually told us his real name. He was from Manali and did this for fun. He was any way into adventure sports and was especially good at skiing. His idea of a perfect life was to earn by working for INME for 8 months of the year and then chilling for the next 4 months doing whatever his heart desires. He was a really talented singer and his dream was to go onto Indian Idol and other competitions. His motto for life was “Just chill!” (emphasis on chill). Ankur Sir was actually working for INME behind the scenes, organizing it in terms of communication and other stuff. Sanjeev sir was the head of the company who was extremely fit and who we could trust to lead us in the right direction (pun intended). Baba also took the responsibility to help us in our cycling, always giving tips and techniques. He took part in many competitions requiring skill, dedication and hard work. He was just of to Madagascar for a competition. Shanti helped us cook and literally saved us from burning through all their hard work (pun, yet gain, intended).

The next day was going to be our last out in the woods. We were not cycling but were climbing the mountain Thadyanamol. We climbed for an hour and a half and reached our destination to be immediately surrounded by greenery on all sides. We saw an Indian flag on top and many rocks to climb and take pictures. After clicking all the pictures in the world, we returned back to base.

 

One incident that was particularly funny took place in the night. Celebrating our last day, we were served paneer and chicken, cooked only by the instructors, therefore tasting amazing. We were allowed to stay up late, and immediately laid out the tarp and began a session of “ghost stories”, and some of them weren’t even scary. But, once, the comedian in our group Ganesh was telling us a story. He started out with the usual Hindi movie lines, ‘poora jagh sannata tha. Kute bhok rahe the’, and suddenly the neighboring dogs barked, scaring the daylights out of us. Almost immediately everyone screamed and got off the mat, running in different directions. The session concluded with us deviating the topic to 26/11 and people started “battoing gyan” about different events. However, this was cut short when we were told to go back to bed, which was led by lots of moans and groans.

12^th and 13^th April, 2017

Today we would be riding back to camp. We had a lot of ground to cover and we had so much downhill! But just about then, after getting of the open road we came to the part we most dreaded- the uphill to camp. From the day we sat in the jeeps to get to camp, I knew, if this was the uphill we had to do, we were screwed. And it was. After pushing and pedaling and falling down and getting sprayed at with water, we finally could hear the cheering of the camp. We charged up the hill and were greeted by the smaller kids of C-1. They had a banner saying ‘welcome back’ and smiles on their faces.

That day we bathed and just relaxed. That day the younger kids were playing helter skelter which was like an Olympics. We too wanted to participate but our request was denied. We just sat there until we were forcefully asked to leave. But that had one upside- we got a head start on the burgers and fries. That night it was drama night where the kids performed skits and advertisements.  My friend and I performed a skit impromptu, and even sang ‘Country Roads’.

The next day we were leaving for Bangalore. We left at around 2 pm and reached by 1030. This times bus ride was great, as we played many games together and sang our lungs out.

All in all, this trip taught me a lot and I made a lot of friends. I recommend that everyone go for at least one INME camp as it really exposes one to the different aspects of life. It gives you a time where you can evaluate yourself and think about the things that need attention. It helps you find peace with yourself.